Every morning, when it isn’t cloudy, I’ve got a pretty good view of sunrise out my windows. I don’t pull down the shades, so the light wakes me up. It all happens so slow, so effortless and it reminds me that very little that I’m worried about actually matters. I love that God stops our progress, makes our physical bodies go into a temporary coma, then wakes us up again so we can get a little more work done. I used to have a ferret that ran around my room (and when he got out, the house) for about thirty minutes, only to suddenly collapse into sleep for an hour, and repeated this cycle all day. I always thought he was funny, but really, we humans do the same thing, we just have longer cycles.
I like that God made everybody speak different languages at the tower of Babel. It was as if He didn’t want human progress to move too fast, because human progress was bad for humans. I wonder if I worked all the time, without sleep, what stupid thing I would create, what stupid thingthat might make me feel like I could somehow be like God.
In the clarity of this morning, I’m thankful for sleep cycles that disrupt our progress, for children that stop your work and force you to keep someone you love alive, for the need to stop and eat, to stop and drink water, to stop and talk to friends. We buy billions of dollars in books that help us be more efficient, we praise the profit margin, and all the while, God is trying to slow us down, trying to remind us of what matters and what doesn’t, trying to stop our human progress, stop our creation of false Gods.
I’m grateful.
That view is incredible, I’m a little envious.
The tower of babel tends to frustrate me a bit, maybe because languages are not my strength. Four years of Spanish and I’d be lucky to order a complete meal. The story is great though, and you see if paralleled all over our lives. God tells them to go their own ways, spread throughout the world and populate it and when they don’t He says, “well, alright, guess I’ll just make it impossible to sit around and chit chat about how much you have in common.” (I’m paraphrasing.) Often in my own life, the Lord will tell me one thing and I won’t listen until He leaves me few options.
I like your words, Don Miller.
Don, regarding the “Your Story Is Your Life” talk, nice job–fun, informative, constructive–which must be very satisfying for you. I’m a bit floored by how much I got out of my time listening and taking notes. Thank you.
I love the message in this post Don! I very much agree with you and I’ve often thought if more of us would take the time to stop, pause, notice, and take in the seemingly unimportant moments, we would then realize they are not that at all–that they’re beautiful, simple moments that are opportunities to be in the present moment and consciously, actively acknowledge all we have for which to be grateful. I also love that you posted this particular picture with your commentary…I used to live in Portland and woke up to many sunrises that looked just like that photo. The astounding magnificence of that horizon was always cause for me to stop and pay attention, to give my thanks. Thank you for this lovely reminder.
OK, first of all, I really want to visit Portland.
Don, your words continue to amaze me, touch me and make me think – really think. I just finished Blue Like Jazz and I’m ready to read it again, just like I did A Million Miles… Thank you for sharing your love for Jesus and your love for others.
Don – Marty here, the drummer at Southland Christian Church when you visited us in March… loving your blog and I’ll be sure to keep returning here!
This post reminds of something a friend said to me recently… it takes a lot of slow, to grow.
Peace be with you brother.
Marty
because of this post I am contemplating going to sleep with the blinds up sometime. for some reason this scares me.
This blog hasn’t left me since you posted it. It was something I needed to hear, Thank you for being SO real. Your influence is incredible.
Well-worded: “You’d be a lot more efficient if…” I definitely lean toward the bizarre thought: that I could get so much “ministry” done if it weren’t for all these people! I’m working on a series of paintings for a good friday concert and at times have found myself avoiding people to make my art “better.” Huh? I love painting but it’s a dead thing, and I’d do better to mark the eternal things in my life and have everything serving those ends.
This post, like a previous one on rituals, reminds me to take time first and always for the things that slow my agenda down. Thanks Don.
An excellent point of view sir, dare I say divinely inspired. And may I say that I often find you as the source for many extremely well phrased and divinely inspired ideas. May the Lord of heaven, Jesus Christ, continually bless and inspire you!
Well . . . reading this, my brain felt like it was getting a well deserved spank. I tend to pride myself on my (now questionable)ability to stop and savor the moments of rest and distraction God gives me. And yet, secretly I resent not being able to conquer the world (or my day.) Today, I want to be grateful for all the “stops.”
[...] me to think and to look at life and God in fresh ways. Here’s his blog post If it weren’t for God, you’d be more efficient . Have a read and let us know what you [...]
God has a thing about people getting rest…it’s important for achievement of God’s purposes on the earth. God rested after the incredible creative achievement of “the creation”. I think He did that because He wanted us to know it was good. I don’t think He was tired.
I am amazed at the vastness of perspectives/interpretations you have with the Bible especially how it applies to real life. I used to think the Tower of Babel incident where God made us speak different languages was a curse to divide us. But then this is a fresh insight. I really appreciate all your insights on information/ideas about the Bible, life, events, etc. in your blogs, books, etc.
This is one example of how a person can be a door to new worlds.