This pandemic has been characterized often by weeks of confinement, restricted gatherings, and social isolation. This is hard on all of us to one degree or another. After all, we are by design and nature creatures of community. But even more so, we are creatures of activity and engagement. The silence that accompanies our inactivity is foreign to us. We are often not comfortable with our own thoughts. Consequently, we wear our headsets, turn on our televisions, search the internet, and scroll through Facebook. Busy-ness becomes us.
Yet times like these are genuinely good for us. They teach us to wait and give opportunity to reflect earnestly on our direction, our pursuits, and our priorities. Solomon wrote, “Ponder the path of thy feet and let all thy ways be established.” (Proverbs 4:26) To ponder means to think about something seriously. Important things demand serious considerations. The direction of our life, our pursuits in life, and the priorities we establish are important matters worthy of pondering.
But such pondering will only be as good as the value system employed to evaluate such matters. Moses taught us that life is fleeting and, consequently, not only demands such considerations, but that such considerations require us to appeal unto true wisdom. Listen to his inspired testimony from Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” He (Moses) acknowledges that this ability to both soberly and profitably examine our lives comes from God for he says, “teach us.”
It is God Who teaches us what things are truly worthy of our consideration and embrace. It is God Who gives direction to our path and strength to our steps that we may pursue those things. And, it is God Who enables us to discern our priorities among the many choices that confront us each day and to follow after them. Conversely, many men (and women) have climbed the ladder of success as they defined success only to find their ladder was leaning against the wrong building.
Take the opportunity that this “down” time has provided to give earnest consideration to things that really matter. I commend to your reading as part of this endeavor the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12. Read through it thoughtfully and reflect not only on the passage, but on your own life as well. I leave you with these words by Christ as he concluded (what we know as) the Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24). Then we shall apply our hearts unto wisdom!
From the Chaplain 