You are no better than your  “Paws” (not to be mistaken with the possessions of one’s Appalachian father -  as in “Paw’s chair” etc. ).  The care of one’s paws is especially important if you happen to be a lion or grizzly bear.  No matter how capable and powerful a creature may be, if it’s paws are not in good condition it will be limited.

So how’s your “Pause”?  I have come to believe this may be one of the most important considerations for any of us.  By this, I mean the ability to withstand the amazing energy of an impulsive thought or feeling before it instantly becomes a word or deed.

I must confess it has taken me far too long to learn the value of the “Pause” and far longer to begin to master the actual capacity to “Pause.

But I am convinced it is a very valuable  capacity to develop and worthy of all pursuit; that it is the essence of healthy development and a sure sign of the Spirit of God’s activity in us.  If you want to be “Fruity” [Galatians 5:22,23] you have to take care of your “Pause”.  No matter how capable or potentially powerful we may be, if our “Pause” is not in good condition, we will be limited.

It is a wonderful thing to watch very young children play and live utterly worry free.  Unfortunately for many, that season of worry free living is far too short, and for all of them the day soon arrives where they will have this uncomfortable new experience called worry.

Can you remember the first time this unfamiliar visitor showed up at your life’s door?  Did you ever dream he would be moving in to stay?  How much prominence have you given this guest?  Is he the first one you engage in the morning and the last one you engage at night?  Have you ever wanted to evict him but find it hard because there is just so much in the world that helps keep him around?

Is it possible that for some of us he has become such a familiar guest our lives would feel a little empty or abnormal without him?  After all, he does keep us busy.

Does it seem sometimes that  you have to be a child or blind like Mr. Magoo not to worry?  (forgive me young readers who don’t know about  Mr.Magoo… not to worry– go to this link http://www.toontracker.com/magoo/magoo.htm )  If you want a really radical idea about this check out Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:6,7

I am pretty sure it was Jack Nicholson who shouted at Tom Cruise in the movie a Few Good Men,  something like “you want the truth—you can’t handle the truth!”.

I wonder if that could be true of us?  I mean what if the truth would change our happiness to a state of mourning, would we still want it?

If the truth meant some of our dreams, pursuits, ambitions were empty, petty, shallow, superficial, selfish and unworthy of beings made in the image of God, would we still want the truth ?

Is it possible that the truth must sometimes initially be bad news before it can be good news?  Jesus said the truth would set us free, but what if someone doesn’t want Jesus’ brand of freedom?  What if someone loved living a lie, a fantasy, an illusion, instead of a life?

I wonder if we might not all need to prayerfully open ourselves to the Lord again and again throughout our lives and ask the question…

Do I really want the truth?  More importantly, can I handle the truth ?

Uncertainty.  Most of us have a love/hate relationship with it.  We want absolute certainty in some areas (such as our key relationships, our careers, or our economic future) and yet very few of us would want to know with certainty the time or manner of our death.  On top of this what we don’t want to admit, but deep down inside know, is that we live in a world where nearly everything is uncertain.  We try to drive this uncomfortable reality out of our minds.  We try to build our lives to somehow protect or insure ourselves into certainty and security, but it only takes a slight change of circumstance to remind us how futile such efforts really are.

If you have any interest in Jesus’ approach to the subject you may want to ponder Matthew 6:19-34.  Stay there.  Read and re-read until it starts to soak its way into your soul and then compare it to your own present approach to life’s uncertainty.

–Who knows, you may decide to trade yours in for His—

But I warn you, you will be an oddball joyfully out of step with the vast majority of jaw-clenching committed worry warts.

It was Socrates who said the “unexamined life is not worth Living” and to this I would heartily agree. But I would also add the “over-examined life “ is also  “not worth living”.

The vast majority of us 21^st century people suffer from massive sensory over-stimulation which produces atrophy of the soul and spirit.  (now if you are thinking ‘what does that mean?’ –it means you probably suffer from the condition I described).  We are created in the image of God.  We are not just beasts of instinct or mere function.  We are human beings, not humans doings. That being said, thoughtful reflection, the uniting of our imagination and deepest desires in fellowship with God, are where we find ourselves and find life.

But as important as that is, there are a few of us that have the exact opposite problem.  We live our lives before a self-imposed and inevitably distorted magnifying mirror.  Virtually everything is about us.  We are forever taking our own spiritual pulse and imagine somehow our personal spiritual progress has all of heaven on tiptoe.  I have never ever seen this produce the beautiful character of Christ in a person, but I have seen it produce a variety of spiritual deformities like those of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

So the answer is that exceedingly hard place to find and even harder to maintain, the place of “Balance”.

I assume we all tend to tip toward one extreme or the other and each has its dangers.  So which might you tip toward and what might you do to gain balance ?