Have you ever heard the adage, “When you start something you need to finish it?”
There is a joke about this. See what you think . . .
“A Dr. on TV said to have inner peace we should always finish things we start and we all could use more calm in our lives. I looked around my house to find things I’d started and hadn’t finished. So I finished off a bottle of MErlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminum scriptins, an a box of chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now. Sned this to all who need inner pees. And telum u luv12
Eugene Peterson, theologian and pastor writes, “We live our lives in the practice of what we do not originate and cannot anticipate. When we practice resurrection, we keep company with Jesus, alive and present.”
Think about it for a minute . . .
How much of our lives do we spend reacting to things that we don’t start?
So MUCH of life is a reaction. Our reaction. And our reactions are the catalyst for further reactions.
We have situations – both good and bad, that happen TO us. And our lives are determined by the way we process and live into those situations.
We also cannot anticipate what is going to happen.
So much of what we “react” to is a result of the free will of others.
If they are not in touch with their connection to the Divine, there are great odds that their reaction will impact our lives in a less than stellar way. So . . . truthfully, it is all relative.
The one thing we CAN control is how we react.
What if we focus our reactions in light of the resurrection? Thinking we stay in the here and now, fully alive, instead of projecting and reacting.
What if we practice just “being” present in life? Knowing that regardless of what happens, of what we have to react to, ultimately, regardless of how deep or big the pain is, we will be just fine?
Philippians 4:6-7 New International Version (NIV)
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
