Lent Day 26: March 22

Lenten Reflection for Day 26

Date: March 22, 2012

Author: Mike Harris

Bible Passage: Lamentations 3:40–41 (NRSV)

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven.

Reflection:

This devotion has been difficult for me to write. I have been leaving and returning to it. Every time I get self-righteous or negative I abandon it in hopes that when I return I will have arrived at my neutral message. It has not worked.

I believe that every problem, regardless of the scale, can reach a good resolution if contemplated about. I believe that every problem, regardless of the scale, has been manifested out of a lack of contemplation.

God gifted humans with a very adaptable conscious mind. By observing something with our senses our brain adapts to understand it better. Apply enough observation over enough time and any problem is surmountable. This is what we have evolved to be. Our lives can be without stress. God has given us this opportunity. Unfortunately, our limitations have been our excuse not our responsibility. We sense we are incomplete. Instead of wondering why we look for a product to buy.

Originally, the Bible excerpt brought me back to our Western philosophical roots, all the way to the trial of Socrates. His crimes against the state were said to be the corruption of the youth. During his defense he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He encouraged his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and to think for themselves. For encouraging the examination of life Socrates was put to death.

Whenever a few people are in control of the rest they want to rest to think like they do or else they loose control. Today, a few people are in control. We call them the 1%. The rest of us are their cattle or do their bidding for them. It does not take much contemplation to understand that the system that empowers the 1% doesn’t work. But they have so much control now that it will take large-scale examination and contemplation to reengineer the system so opportunity is available for the rest of us. Unfortunately, I see more the pressure to join the 1% and be grateful for the scraps of opportunities they throw away. Thus, we live with more stress than we have to.

The opportunity for a low stress environment is still given to us by God. We just need to act a little less and think a little more about the way we spend our money, who we vote for, and what messages we teach our children.

Prayer:

Dear God: Guide us to examination and contemplation. Help us understand that these are our roads to a higher quality of life. Lead us away from the belief that things external to us can complete us. Leave us content with your wisdom that is innate within our minds. Help us gravitate toward that wisdom by way of contemplation. Give us the patience to see the results of contemplation and the courage to employ it as a means of achievement. Amen