Rat Race | Wayfarer

Hamster wheel — Image by sualk61 via Flickr

Climb the Abarim ridge and cry—
   you’ve made a total mess of your life.
I spoke to you when everything was going your way.
   You said, ‘I’m not interested.’
You’ve been that way as long as I’ve known you,
   never listened to a thing I said. Jeremiah 22:20c-21 (MSG)

The further I get in the journey, I perceive with greater clarity how blind I am to the entire concept of needs and wants. Life can be so materially easy, that spiritual need doesn’t even register with me.

When it comes down to it, we really are a people of wants and needs. And, we always mix up the two. Our needs are so well covered that the only thing left is wants. Because we have no concept of what it truly means to be in need, we feel our wants and tag them as needs. And so, our basic needs met without conscious thought, we spin in our little wheel of the rat-race cage, chasing after want after want after want.

How deaf am I to God’s still, small voice trying to speak truth to me while I, like a silly rodent, endlessly rattle on inside my little spinning wheel? How blind am I to the true needs of my soul and the pile of discarded acquisitions that lay broken and rusting in my wake? How am I going to see my true spiritual need, and the true needs of those around me when I am fixated on the perceived “need” of my next “want?”

Lord, have mercy on me. Help me discern clearly my true “needs” and selfish “wants,” and grant me the wisdom today to make choices accordingly.

"Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath." Exodus 31:17 (MSG)

In my youth I was a competitive swimmer. While swimming in a race, the act of taking a breath slowed you down. If you could keep from breathing on every stroke you could shave precious seconds off of your time and it gave you a competitive edge. The key was to push yourself as long as possible and worry about breathing after the race.

In the "rat race" of life, we get sucked into a similar belief. We push ourselves day-by-day to get as much done as possible, filling our lives with a blur of motion. The idea of "sabbath" has become a forgotten concept. If we stop, even for a moment, we might miss out on something. We might lose our edge. We may not be competitive.

I love the way the Message translates the Sabbath as "a long, deep breath." How often do I feel choked by my schedule? God knows that my spirit requires "a long, deep breath" on a regular basis. The discipline of rest feeds my body, mind and soul with spiritual oxygen. Rest is a holy practice I, too often, ignore.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and chucka_nc