Looking ahead
So I was driving home tonight from work and I immediately turned my radio to 720 AM to see if the Cubs were still playing. Ahh, the comforting voices of Pat and Ron telling me that Ryan Theriot was coming up to bat.
I love listening to Cubs games. Really I enjoy listening to just about any baseball game on the radio. There's just something nostalgic about the hole thing. It makes me feel like I'm living out the golden age of America.
I realized that there was a problem with the way I had been listening to the games lately. This will take a little bit of explaining for those of you who aren't baseball fans. First of all the cubs haven't won the World Series in a really long time (I won't get caught up in number). The past few years, the Cubs have had a really good and competitive team and they've been projected to win by a lot of baseball talking heads for the past three years. The good news for Cubs fans is that they've been really competitive.
This means that when I've been listening to the games I've been thinking about how this game will effect how the cubs are ranked. I've been thinking of how it effects their chances of making the playoffs and doing well in the playoffs. However, over the past month or so the Cubs completely fell apart and it looks like they may not make it into the playoffs at all.
I realized that listening tonight was different. It was the first time that I was listening to a game not wanting them to win simply because of how it ranked them. I just wanted them to win this game tonight. It was only about tonight, it was only about this game. I enjoyed it a lot more. If they lost it didn't really mean anything. I just enjoyed it.
I think that most of us have a problem. This problem has nothing to do with baseball. We live in a society that is all about status and getting ahead or making progress. Just like I had been listening to baseball games thinking about how it positioned my team for the future, most of us are living life the same way. We live each moment wondering how it's going to position us for what's next. I don't think that there's anything inherently wrong with this. The problem is that it prevents us from enjoying the moment. We don't enjoy life. We don't enjoy what's happening right now, because we're so focussed on what's happening next.
I'm a geek. No... really. I'm about to lose you hear so stick with me please and keep reading. I like Star Wars. In episode one, two of the Jedi's are standing in a room. The two Jedi's are Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn. Obi Wan is thinking about some things that are going to take place and Qui Gon warns him not to do this. Obi Wan replies "But Master Yoda says to be mindful of the future." and Qui Gon replies, "But not at the expense of the present."
Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the present. This is a great philosophy. This is what I'm getting at
We are so concerned and worried about the future that we lose the present moments in life. This is wrong.
Jesus tells us to not worry about tomorrow. Most of us take this lightly, but I'm not sure that we should. We need to wrestle with this and understand what Jesus meant. We need to take Jesus seriously. Jesus' words are not always easy to digest and they don't always lead us to the conclusions that we had hoped for, but it's Jesus. Jesus doesn't always seem to make sense, but I've always found Him to be right, even when common sense dictates otherwise.
I love listening to Cubs games. Really I enjoy listening to just about any baseball game on the radio. There's just something nostalgic about the hole thing. It makes me feel like I'm living out the golden age of America.
I realized that there was a problem with the way I had been listening to the games lately. This will take a little bit of explaining for those of you who aren't baseball fans. First of all the cubs haven't won the World Series in a really long time (I won't get caught up in number). The past few years, the Cubs have had a really good and competitive team and they've been projected to win by a lot of baseball talking heads for the past three years. The good news for Cubs fans is that they've been really competitive.
This means that when I've been listening to the games I've been thinking about how this game will effect how the cubs are ranked. I've been thinking of how it effects their chances of making the playoffs and doing well in the playoffs. However, over the past month or so the Cubs completely fell apart and it looks like they may not make it into the playoffs at all.
I realized that listening tonight was different. It was the first time that I was listening to a game not wanting them to win simply because of how it ranked them. I just wanted them to win this game tonight. It was only about tonight, it was only about this game. I enjoyed it a lot more. If they lost it didn't really mean anything. I just enjoyed it.
I think that most of us have a problem. This problem has nothing to do with baseball. We live in a society that is all about status and getting ahead or making progress. Just like I had been listening to baseball games thinking about how it positioned my team for the future, most of us are living life the same way. We live each moment wondering how it's going to position us for what's next. I don't think that there's anything inherently wrong with this. The problem is that it prevents us from enjoying the moment. We don't enjoy life. We don't enjoy what's happening right now, because we're so focussed on what's happening next.
I'm a geek. No... really. I'm about to lose you hear so stick with me please and keep reading. I like Star Wars. In episode one, two of the Jedi's are standing in a room. The two Jedi's are Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn. Obi Wan is thinking about some things that are going to take place and Qui Gon warns him not to do this. Obi Wan replies "But Master Yoda says to be mindful of the future." and Qui Gon replies, "But not at the expense of the present."
Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the present. This is a great philosophy. This is what I'm getting at
We are so concerned and worried about the future that we lose the present moments in life. This is wrong.
Jesus tells us to not worry about tomorrow. Most of us take this lightly, but I'm not sure that we should. We need to wrestle with this and understand what Jesus meant. We need to take Jesus seriously. Jesus' words are not always easy to digest and they don't always lead us to the conclusions that we had hoped for, but it's Jesus. Jesus doesn't always seem to make sense, but I've always found Him to be right, even when common sense dictates otherwise.
~
Monday, August 31, 2009
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