I'm not really a big sci-fi movie fan. It's not that sometimes they don't stroke an interest, but more that they are hard to believe.
I once sat through a movie that had these two guys that went through time on a big adventure. Dude that movie was good. What was that one actor's name? Dude?
But there are somethings to me that seem scientifically inevitable. Somethings to me that are impossible not to believe. Take mortality. Our mortality is a reality. As soon as we are born we are on a path that leads to an expiration. Kind of like the yogurt that I'm eating that was purchased 2 weeks ago and should have been eaten two days ago. We are on "borrowed" time. So why is it so easy to forget about a truth that is so big it demands our attention?
Could it be that our attention is already directed? Who has the time to think about these things with kids, career advancement, academics, purchasing a house, losing a friend, rolling the trackball of a Blackberry, dancing a jig (you know you want to)... we're busy! Aren't we? It seems that busyness is the substance that numbs us of truth. It gives us purpose to our attention. It allows us to justify what we deem valuable. Could it be we think we are too busy when in fact we are creating the busyness? Why do we value busyness? Why is it so hard to slow down?
"For I am your guest - a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. Spare me so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more." Psalm 39:12b-13
Sounds like the psalmist would say busyness steals your smile. Why? Have you ever been a host? We are in the middle of planning Emma Grace's 3 year Birthday Blowout Bonanza (that is not the official title... thankfully my wife will chose the real one!) Creating an environment for anything takes exceptional work! Oh and patience. Blood, sweat and tears even. That is if you are the host.
But what if we are positioned to be guests? Being a guest suggests that we have been invited to spend some time in another location and we aren't staying. It also suggests that we are to receive hospitality from someone. This someone is a host. So in order to be a guest there must also be a host. Someone that has planned the party or the fancy "stick your pinkies out" appetizers. Come to think of it, for whatever reason most parties that we attend call for a gift. Maybe it's because we assume that the host is putting alot of effort into entertaining us or maybe because of the expense of the gathering itself. I'm not sure. All I know is that we always bring a gift to a shindig! But after all the pinatas are broken, the cake is devoured,the music stops playing and the gifts have been given we are off to somewhere else.
What if we really are travelers? Or "travelers as our ancestors were before us". What kind of traveler would you be? A traveler is someone on a journey in which they have taken off from their starting place and are on route to their destination. Someone taking in the scenery between points A and B. A traveler often leaves marks on the adventure. Maybe that mark is bungee jumping in Cancun or cow tipping in North Dakota. Or maybe just trash you threw out on the road between I-95 and the 528. But travelers leave marks.
As I write this my daughter is reminding me (by pulling on my leg and asking me to get off the computer and come play) of the bold principle and law that exists this very moment. We are guests traveling through... we are following ancestors and becoming them as well. What mark am I leaving? What kind of guest have I become? Don't buy into busyness. It devalues your worth. Believing that we are busy alters the direction of our life and ends in severe ramifications. You see the God of Jacob has a road trip planned for us (Jeremiah 29:11)... that is if we aren't too busy.
We are mere guests traveling through. We can enjoy the journey with Jesus because we know the destination is already determined. Drink in the expedition that has been penciled in. It will spare you and make you smile again!
TB
