Fight or Flight?

So, it's been a week since the last post, why not update.

I've been thinking some lately about my life, big picture kinds of things.  Where it's going, what it will look like down the road, and also what it's been up to this point.  It's hard to remember that a year ago I was toiling away in plus 100 degree heat for 10 hour days in a glass factory . . . my own fault I ended up there, but still.  I definitely feel like I've come a long way since then, grown, etc.  However, I definitely still need to be mindful of sins that I repeatedly struggle with.  One of my biggest is fight or flight.  Do I repent and deal with problems, sins, even just things I don't feel like doing?  Or do I search for the next distraction, the next "moment" as our culture is so fond of pushing where there is no past, no future, and all problems seem to slip away.  "Live in the moment, for the now", whatever that even means.  What you are inevitably left with is a pile of rubble.  The "moment" probably wasn't all that great in retrospect, all the issues of life are still there when you get back, and more than likely they have only gotten worse because you have delayed dealing with them.  

The most dangerous part about this desire to not be burdened with problems is when it becomes habitual, such that you are using anything at all as an escape.  I can make a pretty good case, based on personally experience, for just about any action having the potential to be an escape, as opposed to what it may have the potential to be.  Reading, hanging out with friends, eating, trips, sleeping, sports, even just simply sitting and enjoying the sun on a nice summer afternoon.  

This is not a motivational half time speech.  I'm not trying to spur you on towards achieving your best life now.  "You can DO IT, if you only give that extra little bit of effort, dig a little deeper."  I've got news . . . a little deeper, will always be there, you can never dig deep enough.  Rather, repent.  Repent.  Repent.  Repent.  Realize that we are so beyond capable of any good thing on our own that it is downright repulsive.  Pray.

"Its (meditation's) purpose is to clear one's mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on one's mind and heart.  It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God's power and grace."

-- J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Amen.