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A couple of days ago I got back into town from my vacation in Colorado. The biggest thing that I noticed when I got back is life’s ability to pick up exactly from where it left off.

My trip was a very necessary break from all of the stress and chaos from the daily grind. I spent a lot of time just catching up on my sleep and sitting by the fire relaxing. I hadn’t sat in the same place for that long in who knows how long. We stayed in a cabin that my mom is refurbishing eight miles away from any resemblance of civilization, and even then it’s only a dot on a highway. On top of that you have to drive about thirty minutes to get the faintest cell phone signal, and while they are working on getting an internet connection out there, they don’t have it yet. For all practical purposes, we were in complete isolation.

Whenever you get away from all of the flashing lights and billboards of civilization you realize that life doesn’t really rush by as fast as you think. Life runs a lot slower pace when you’re not being distracted away from it. Don’t believe me? Try going and sitting in complete silence and stare at a blank wall for three minutes.

For some reason I think that we’ve all come to think that one of the worst things in life is boredom, but honestly, I think that boredom isn’t the problem itself. It seems to me that boredom is a symptom of a much bigger sickness, an addiction to entertainment. I don’t just mean multimedia, tv, internet, ect. I think those play a huge part in it, but on a whole I think that our addiction is even bigger than that. I think that most of us have gotten into this habit of being busy all of the time. And for the most part it’s really true. Off the top of my head I can tell you almost exactly where I’ll be at any given time in the next 4 days. We are a nation of day planners and routine appointments. Maybe you can relate to this. Have you ever been sitting around with a group of friends and gotten into the whole, “what do you wanna do?” “I dunno, whatever you want to do” whirlpool. That irritates me. But I think it illustrates my point in that we feel like we always have to be doing something.

I have often heard the analogy of culture being a current that pulls people into being influenced one way or another. I like this analogy a lot. Think about this, another reason that our society (for the most part) is like a river is because it does pull you in, alluring with ideals of acceptance and popularity, but also because it is constantly moving. It is so easy to get caught up in the constant flow of the current without a hope of escape. And how dangerous is this to our faith?

God specifically says, “be still and know that I am God.” Later the bible tells us to actively pursue a quiet life. Work hard to lead a simple life. It’s a warning… DON’T GET PULLED INTO THE CURRENT.

The irony would be humorous if it weren’t so depressingly true. We live in a nation where we promote free thinking and celebrate individuality, yet we’re all to afraid or lazy to think for ourselves and we all conform for conformities sake. Now I know that it’s not always as bad as I make it out to be, but I’m just trying to make a point.

Now sometimes we have the opportunity to get away and take a break from the drag of the current and our daily routines. We go on vacations and trips leaving our cares behind us. But anyone that’s ever tried to escape the problems of life by vacation knows that a lot of times they follow you wherever you go and if they don’t they’ll be patiently waiting for you when you get back. I think a misconception that many people have is that if you step out of the current for just a little while then you will be freed from it forever, but the current continues on whether your in it or not.

I really was glad to get away for fall break, yet even while I was away I missed the rush of daily routine. And the moment that I got back, things were already underway full swing. I got back five days ago and it feels like no time has passed at all. I thought to myself that by getting away from the routine for a whole week I would somehow break the cycle, but I was wrong. However what it did do, was give me an appreciation for a much slower pace of life and show me the problem with my own nonstop lifestyle.

We all need to learn to slow down and see God in everything around us. I was talking to one of my best friends and I was pointing out that we should be able to find good in everything, God in everything. Even in the things that we dislike there has to be someway that it can benefit us. That’s what God is all about, taking the hard and bad things in this life and turning them for good. The ultimate example of this is Jesus on the cross. He was brutally beaten and exposed for all the world to see His death, but God took that and turned it into the most awesome good when He conquered death three days later. The problem is, it’s nearly impossible to find the good in the tough things especially whenever we’re caught up and being dragged along by life’s currents.

May we all step out of the current and see God around us.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty