Monday, September 21

Today’s Readings: Proverbs 27:1-27; James 4:8-17; Psalm 128

There are many aspects of life that the experience of being a pastor magnifies greatly. One of those aspects is involves the realization of how little control we have over our lives. Most folks, for instance, go through a good portion of their life maintaining the belief that they have complete control over every aspect of their life. Occasionally something happens to challenge that belief. A person might get terminated from their job, or get an unexpected illness or disease. Those events are relatively rare in the life of any one person, however, so it’s easy for the individual to forget about the unforeseen challenge and slide right back into the “I’m in control here” mode. As a pastor, however, we are drawn into the lives of several individuals – many of whom are forced to face situations beyond their control. In just one day’s time, for instance, we might spend the morning supporting a person who just got laid off from their job, make a hospital visit with someone who just had a stroke in the afternoon, and then spend our evening counseling someone whose relationship ended unexpectedly. As a result of the constant barrage of such startling occurrences, most clergy grow increasingly comfortable with the notion that we cannot control many aspects of our life. While this can be a challenging reality to accept, there is at least one huge benefit to this realization. It helps us live in the present and not the future. Today’s reading from James reinforced the importance of this lesson. “You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow,” the author wrote. “You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing” (James 4:14 from The Message). This provocative statement provides a wonderful opportunity to check in with you today. How would you characterize your approach toward life? Do you spend much of your time thinking about - and planning for - the future, or do you spend a good deal of your time with your head solidly planted in the present? Til next time…