The Head in Motion
Commit thy works unto Jehovah, and thy thoughts will be established. Proverbs 16:3, The Darby Translation
William Manchester was a friend of President Kennedy, so it isn't surprising that he would write sympathetically of the man and the job in The Death of a President. His writ reaches beyond the Oval Office, though, when he notes that presidents rarely move from A to B and that multiple hats do not rest easily on a head so often in motion.
That, and the graphic work picture from Pastor Matthew Sink that the word distraction comes from a French torture involving being pulled apart by horses bring me to take quick recourse in Proverbs 16:3. We aren't sure precisely what will pull at us today, what happens we will try to keep a top our heads. Yet, we know there is integrity and wholeness in that first that may not be immediately apparent in every moment of every day.
We can't envision every turn the day will take. We can't list every complication that could happen under the broad umbrella of our work. But what we can do is to commit the work in advance to the Lord who, Dallas Willard insists, knows more about the details of our line of work than we do.
As Willard's trust in the Lord was so implicit and yet habitual that he often prayed briefly between papers he was grading, this can be our commitment of our words. What it lacks in the grandiose is more than compensated for by the channel of grace which deepens with each traversing.
As we make the mental commitment to give over general thoughts about the day and the unknown particulars we know clean noisily to them, our overarching narrative is simpler, if not easier, to follow. Our practiced refrain becomes, how do I serve You, Lord, in this? How do I experience You, Lord, in this, rather than guessing my way through with the subliminal suspicion that You will disown the whole mess at day's end?
Established thoughts trust the Lord enough to, borrowing from Anna Dugger's mantra in more difficult times than we will face, be brave for the next 15 minutes. Seek to love and lean on the Lord in the here and now, to put ourselves second to express His regard for His image in both the boss and the customer, and He will balance or recover the earthly hats we wear.
William Manchester was a friend of President Kennedy, so it isn't surprising that he would write sympathetically of the man and the job in The Death of a President. His writ reaches beyond the Oval Office, though, when he notes that presidents rarely move from A to B and that multiple hats do not rest easily on a head so often in motion.
That, and the graphic work picture from Pastor Matthew Sink that the word distraction comes from a French torture involving being pulled apart by horses bring me to take quick recourse in Proverbs 16:3. We aren't sure precisely what will pull at us today, what happens we will try to keep a top our heads. Yet, we know there is integrity and wholeness in that first that may not be immediately apparent in every moment of every day.
We can't envision every turn the day will take. We can't list every complication that could happen under the broad umbrella of our work. But what we can do is to commit the work in advance to the Lord who, Dallas Willard insists, knows more about the details of our line of work than we do.
As Willard's trust in the Lord was so implicit and yet habitual that he often prayed briefly between papers he was grading, this can be our commitment of our words. What it lacks in the grandiose is more than compensated for by the channel of grace which deepens with each traversing.
As we make the mental commitment to give over general thoughts about the day and the unknown particulars we know clean noisily to them, our overarching narrative is simpler, if not easier, to follow. Our practiced refrain becomes, how do I serve You, Lord, in this? How do I experience You, Lord, in this, rather than guessing my way through with the subliminal suspicion that You will disown the whole mess at day's end?
Established thoughts trust the Lord enough to, borrowing from Anna Dugger's mantra in more difficult times than we will face, be brave for the next 15 minutes. Seek to love and lean on the Lord in the here and now, to put ourselves second to express His regard for His image in both the boss and the customer, and He will balance or recover the earthly hats we wear.
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