Posts Tagged: clutter
“Clutter”
Clutter is a huge problem in my life: books and articles that I haven’t read (or have read, but won’t read again), basketball shoes, items in the garage that I have scavenged, but am not using, things of sentimental value that I never look at—the list goes on and on. Why do I hang onto things that just get in the way? Are these things really that important to me?
And then there are the internal things that I hang onto, hopes that have no hope of ever coming to fruition. The hope that I might see my children again is top of mind on this Father’s Day and most other days as well. The regret for how badly I’ve lived my life in the past. Missed opportunities. Resentments toward others.
Clutter has a million different faces, all of them ugly.
But in this moment, I can begin to declutter. In this moment, I can clean my desk. In this moment, I can throw away the cut flowers that I tried to salvage, even though they were over a week old. In this moment, I can celebrate the fact that I have children, even though I will never see their faces again. I can throw regrets into the garbage can where they belong. Today’s joys and pains are enough. So are my tasks for today.
John the Revelator had a vision of Heaven. It is recorded at the end of the Bible in Revelation 21-22. He saw many lovely things there. He didn’t mention seeing clutter.
“PURSUING PEACE WITH EVERYONE”
“Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness– without it no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14, Holman Christian Standard Bible)
I am not a peaceful person. I struggle to be at peace with myself, with me wife, with other drivers on the highway (I’m probably completely alone in this), with anyone who disagrees with me, even with those who basically agree with me. I tend to be an equal-opportunity non-peaceful person.
So, I don’t like Hebrews 12:14. Need? Yes! Like? No!
But I do not believe that Bible verses (or anything else in the universe) exists for me to like them.
On the other hand, the very fact that this command to seek peace with everyone is in the book of Hebrews suggests that folks in the church probably didn’t like it either. After all, if you have to write to someone to do something, the very fact that you have to tell someone something suggests that they might not be doing it. Right? I take some comfort from that fact.
However, while misery loves company, misery is still misery. And the truth is that being an un-peaceful person is pretty miserable.
In the original Greek, the tense of the verb “pursue” is a present tense. In Greek, the present tense suggests ongoing, continual action. We need to be continually pursuing peace.
And then there is the verb itself: diwkw.(diōkō). In secular Greek and in New Testament Greek, this word is used both literally and metaphorically. It means “to eagerly pursue” someone or something, either for a hostile or good purpose. Thus, in a hostile context, it can be translated with the word “persecute.”
But it can also be used for someone running hard in order to win a race. For example, in Philippians 3:12, Paul uses this word for how he lives his life as a follower of Christ. (Ironically, this same word is used by the risen Jesus when he confronts Saul/Paul about Saul’s persecution of the church. See Acts 9:5 for further details.)
The use of this particular word in Hebrews 12:14 for the quest to be at peace with everyone may suggest that peace is an elusive goal. You aren’t going to encounter peace strolling down the path to meet you. You’re going to have to chase it. Strife is natural to us humans. Peace is not.
So, how do I go about pursuing peace? Well, I can tell you two things that won’t help much: reading a blog post about peace, or writing a blog post about peace. (Okay, maybe those would help a little.) But what does work?
Let me mention a few things that help me—when I actually do them.
First, I am more likely to pursue peace with everyone else when I am somewhat at peace with myself. If I am a walking civil war, that war will spill out across my borders. Civil wars do that. Accepting myself as I am, with my particular blend of strengths and weaknesses, is a wonderful way to be at peace with myself. It is also a wonderful way to pursue peace with everyone else.
Of course, accepting myself as I am and being at peace with myself does not mean that I don’t try to make some changes for the better in my own life. In fact, doing the right things, living well, deepens my genuine at-peace-ness with myself.
Second, I will need to think about what peace would look like in relation to other people and situations. For example, I can tolerate a certain amount of clutter. (In truth, I can put up with entirely too much clutter.) My wife, however, does not like a bunch of dishes piled up in the sink. I try to tell her that I’m soaking the dishes, but after three or four days of soaking the dishes, that explanation wears very thin.
The solution is very easy. Pursuing peace with my sweetheart is not difficult. Wash the dishes in a timely manner, dry them, and put them away.
Hey! Maybe pursuing peace isn’t so hard after all!
Well, of course, this is a very small example. However, we all have to begin somewhere. And that brings me to a third and final practical suggestion. I will put this in all caps, bold font, so that neither you nor I can miss it. BE WILLING TO BEGIN SMALL IN PURSUING PEACE! A consistent pursuit of peace in small things will help you to pursue peace in bigger things.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to people or institutions that make a significant contribution to world peace. There may not be a prize associated with your and my quest to live at peace with everyone, but it does matter. Rest assured of that! It does matter!
What will you do to pursue peace today?
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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