Posts Tagged: being productive
“Satisfaction: An Inside Job”
Father’s Day has been difficult for me for many years. I wanted to be a dad, and am glad that I had the privilege—four times, no less! I am glad that I was a dad, but I am not glad for the kind of dad I was a good bit of the time. I made lots of horrible mistakes, and made them repeatedly. I got some things right, but not a lot of them. I suspect that I am not alone in being glad to be a dad, but being very self-critical about the job I did.
However, I am determined that Father’s Day will not be as difficult today. Partly, that is because of one of the readings from Hazelden Publishing that I did this morning. It really spoke to me.
“Satisfaction Comes from Inside
Why do we continually expect to be satisfied by taking in and possessing things
from the outside? Amassing material goods and possessions more often than not
stimulates rather than satisfies our appetite. What we do and contribute
satisfies us more than what we have and consume.
When we are at peace within ourselves and in contact with our Higher Power, we
make fewer demands on the outside world. When we are able to use our abilities
in productive work and can give of our emotional and spiritual strength to
other people, we feel replete.
Nothing from the outside can bring us happiness if we are at war with
ourselves. Chronic dissatisfaction indicates that we have not turned our will
and our lives over to God’s care, but are still trying to run the show
egotistically. Complete surrender opens the way to satisfaction.
I want to surrender to the inner needs of my spirit.”
(From Food for Thought: Daily Meditations for Overeaters by Elisabeth L.)
I was especially struck by the sentence, “What we do and contribute satisfies us more than what we have and consume.”
The thing for me to do today (or any day), in order to have a good day is to focus on what I am doing and contributing today.
The past is the past. It isn’t going to change. But today lies open before me. I can either throw a poor-pitiful-me regret party, or I can be productive and contribute to the well-being of others. The choice is mine. It is also yours. Let’s choose wisely.
“BEING LOVED TOUCHES THE HEART”
A friend of mine in a twelve-step group I am part of is new to the program and young in years. However, he is very wise. He gave me a wonderful ritual: He touches his heart many times a day in order to remind himself of God’s love for him.
So, I have started doing this as well. I started it before I began writing this blog.
I used to think of symbols as being counterfeit substitutes for reality. Certainly, symbols can become hollow, emptied of all meaning.
However, symbols can also be powerful acted-out metaphors, pointing toward reality. And what reality is greater than God’s love for us?
To remind myself of God’s love for me is to remember than I am worthwhile. I have struggled with a feeling of unworthiness (if not worthlessness) since I was a small child. But, if God loves me . . ., oh my!
When I feel loved by God, I am more at peace and am more productive. When I touch my chest gently, I relax and can focus on the work at hand.
When I remind myself of God’s love for me, I am freed to love others as well. There is a saying that “Hurt people hurt people.” This is true. However, it is also true that loved people love people.
How about joining a club—the touching-the-heart club? Perhaps we can start a helpful trend!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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