...a change of perspective

we have become a people of instant gratification...

drive-through fast food, banks, coffee houses, doughnut chains...
microwaves, "IMs", e-mail, texting, "beaming"...
downloads, online ordering, overnight delivery services...
280 channels, on-demand viewing, Broadband, satellite...
video rental services with pre-ordered queues...
so you never have to wait for the next choice...
speed dating, smart phones, Wi-fi, I-tunes & search engines...

when I was a kid, we had 3 TV channels that broadcast from 6 AM-midnight...
we changed channels by hand, we saw movies in a theater, played records, ...
& typed papers on a typewriter, using carbon paper for copies...
when we were away from home & needed to call someone...
we used a pay phone...

we re-heated left-overs in a pan on the stove or in the oven...
we "chatted" with "friends", face to face...
and got "messages" or "mail", written down on paper...
delivered once a day & never on Sunday...

life had a slower, more contemplative pace...
it was easier to enjoy the moment...
because you weren't rushing on to the next "thing"...
or, more to my point, pushed to the next thing by a beeping, ringing device...

you had the time to read a book, look at the night sky...
create something with your own hands that satisfied a part of your spirit...
you learned that anything worth doing, is worth doing well...
to take your time with a project, to be alone with your thoughts...

you learned patience...

to wait in hopeful expectation of a good outcome...
and if the outcome wasn't what you expected or wanted...
you had spent enough time waiting...
that you were able to come to terms with the way it was...
and could move on, learning to adapt or finding a way to change it...

ah, those were the good ol' days, weren't they ?

what ? you don't remember it quite that way ?

you remember being frustrated by the slowness of everything...
how you desperately wanted to, be there already...
but that frustration comes from being young & having no patience...
ask any teenager if they want their phone/computer/game to "be faster"...
and they'll say, YES !

we always want more...

more hours in the day... more RAM on our computers...
meals that materialize from nothing at the touch of a button...
better yet, being able to transport ourselves, anywhere or time...
more channels, more choices, more options, more standard equipment...

more mph[speed] in our vehicle as well as more mpg and rpms...
cleaner air, lower prices, higher test scores/grades, more time off...
faster, more realistic electronic games...
as we sit on the couch when we could actually BE playing/doing something...

it's all in our perspective...
after all, a wink's as good as a nod to a blind man...

or, we were happy, "then", because it was all we knew...
someday, future generations will wax nostalgic...
about the antiquated activities of today...
and complain that life was slower, "then"...
"worth living"... not like "today's impersonal lifestyle"...

I've come to this rant today...
after ruminating on some amazing things that I'm seeing God accomplish...

we aren't far enough down the road yet to say with provable certainty...
that these things will come to pass...
but at this point, this perspective, if you will...
I see some very good & encouraging things, quietly forming on the horizon...

in the past 2 1/2 years, I have seen God accomplish miracles...

did I recognize them as they happened ? no...
but then I've come to discover the true miracles of God...
tend to be very quiet, organic, unremarkable in appearance...
except that they absolutely change everything from that moment on...

there is no fanfare... no flashing lights...

someone asks a simple question... someone makes a simple choice...
and nothing is ever the same again...

it requires great faith in the goodness of God...
and in His plan for each of us...
as well as the courage to step out into the unknown...
to change direction, abandon your self or whom you thought you were...

but it's one step at a time...

and He is there... keeping you safe... step by step...

but to hear Him, we must slow down...
step away from all the clutter of life that we adopt...
in order to shut ourselves off from the truth of His plan for us...

surrounding ourselves with all the din of worldly noises...
so we can avoid dealing with the fear...
of just what He wants us to, give up...
in order to follow Him & His plan for us...

but when you have shed enough of the societal detritus...
demagnetized yourself, that is, desensitized yourself, as it were...
so that the trappings of the worldly clutter don't cling to you...
then you see how little you are truly giving up...
how unimportant it all is when compared to the peace & joy...
that being where & whom, God wants you to be, will bring...

only then have you shed yourself...
that anchor that weighs you down, earthbound...
and keeps your spirit from soaring free...
all the way to up to creating Heaven, here on earth...

the enduring message of Easter...
is that God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ...
to take our place and die for us...
that we might be reconciled to God & spend eternity with Him...

this gift is freely offered to all who have ever lived...
but you must accept it to receive it...
if you choose to let the world drown out His voice...
and you choose not to accept His gift...
you will have no part with Him...

and you'll have only yourself to blame...

so ask yourself...

have I ever really listened to His voice ?
do I need to adjust my perspective ?
is all,"this", drowning out His call to me ?
how much could it hurt me to listen ?

after all, just think of how much you might lose...

"...Whosoever will follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake ... shall save it.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? ...
(Mark 8:34-38)