By Steve

A Shower: part 2

Okay, so this is not really an unleashing...but I am jumping up and down like a puppy just before being unleashed to run around freely in the dog park. So let's open up the gate and let our thoughts run around a bit. When we're through here, I'm sure we'll be thirsty, drinks are on me!

One: Why do I keep doing the exact same thing, but hope for a different result? Some have defined this as insanity. I had to get pretty cold until I finally considered trying something different. Why? How bad does life have to get until we'll consider a different way?

How many drinks?
How many different people in bed?
How many hours at work?
How many pairs of shoes in the closet?
How many times does he have to yell at you?
How many lonely nights?
How many lottery tickets?
How many lies?
How many attempts to win approval?

Could it be that you keep turning the handle the wrong direction, maybe it's time for a change. There is a way to live life as God intended us to live. Things to value. Ways to love. Purpose to live for. There is a community of people, the church (I promise you will find one somewhere where ever you live, keep looking), that will love you, accept you and walk life with you in a way that will help. I hope you don't freeze yourself to death before making a change.

Two: I can't just go through the motions. So many things in life can become meaningless rituals, from turning the temperature knob to:

working out
hobbies
telling your spouse/family/friends you love them
prayer/Bible reading/church
work

When routine loses any intentionality, mistakes can be made and we may not notice until its too late or damage has been done. Some things are easily changed, like quickly turning the knob to hot, but others are not so easy. Maybe we should engage each thing we do thoughtfully and with purpose. The decisions we make have consequences that we will live in, the choices we make matter. It just seems to me that many decisions are made everyday with little thought, much like reaching out and grabbing the knob. We just act. When asked, "what were you thinking," we really don't know how to respond, because so often we weren't. If the waters a little cool, then what do you need to do. Think about it. Act. Reach out and turn it up a bit. Don't just stand there by yourself in the cold, do something about it. But don't just go through the motions either.

Three: Sometimes it's not the thing thats broken, it's just that I'm using it wrong. Everything about my shower and hot water heater are in working order, the problem was me. Consider the many things that really heat you up, the problems with:

a co-worker/boss
finances
government
communication: lack of
bad drivers
people
The Church

It's possible that these things might not be working properly, but isn't it just as likely that I may be making a mistake...that the problem really is me. Maybe I'm the mean boss or bad driver. Maybe the most necessary thing for me to do is to take a serious look at myself and what I am doing. Am I helping.

One of the greatest gifts of life is to love other people. It seems to me that we sometimes think more about how others are loving us rather than how we are loving them. Sometimes I recommend to people to look at how the Bible describes love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Go ahead look it up, read it, print it out and tape it to your mirror. Next time you're blaming someone for something, look at yourself in the mirror through this list. Where did you blow. I know you already know where the other person messed up, but what about you? Maybe it wasn't so much the other person or thing, but you.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus never told us to go fix something? He always focussed on the individual. If we would all stop trying to fix or change things, even for just a moment, and consider our own spiritual formation...I won't predict what might happen, but I believe it would beautiful.

I haven't made that silly mistake in the shower last week, but it was helpful. Cooling off for a few seconds opened my mind to many things. I hope my experiences will help you too. Now enjoy the drink.