Wednesday 25 April 2012

Sweeping Up


Last week I was driving in the truck to Midland from Barrie, and I spotted something that filled me with great joy.  I had been waiting to see it for months – since the first snow flake touched down last November, really.  To me there is something life affirming in its vibrant yellow hues, and dust-billowing bristles.  Spotting a common street sweeper in April is my version of other peoples’ first green shoot bursting forth from the dark earth.  It signals the recession of winter and the emergence of spring.  No longer do we need salty, sandy roads, for there will be no snow for six months. 

Although I’m not sure God got that memo yesterday.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I need that street sweeper to move through my life too.  I’ve got laundry piled up that needs folding, junk that need organizing, and boxes that need storing.  This compulsion to sweep up is so strong that I even organized a Big Spring Clean on May 12th at the Knox Church building.  9am to noon.  Ahem. Ahem.

After a long cold winter I am feeling the urge to sweep up and move forward with optimism towards spring.  Same goes with my spiritual life.  I’m looking for God to breathe new life into me this spring. How about you?  Want to get out of the winter blahs spiritually? 

I’m hoping that this new BASIC series at Knox, will help with that.  We are talking about God and the Church on Sunday mornings and then going deeper on Tuesday evenings in small groups.  Last night’s group went deep as we discussed the fear of the Lord, and I thought, ‘Yeah, this is my spiritual street sweeper.’

What’s yours?

A

Join us Sunday at 10:30 am and Tuesday nights at 7:15 pm.
For more info go to www.knoxmidland.ca

Monday 2 April 2012

The Sleep Study


I lay on my back, adjusting the scratchy hospital blankets.  Wires ran up and down my pajamas.  Countless electrodes were plastered to my body at the ends of each wire.  The wires were connected by a nurse to a box that lay under my pillow.

When she was done the nurse passed along some simple instructions: “Try to sleep,” she said, then turned out the light and closed the door. 

Sleep was not forthcoming.

Ironically a sleep lab at the hospital is the hardest place to catch any shuteye.  Maybe it was the sheets.  Maybe it was the wires snaking across my face.  Or maybe it was the fact that every move I made was being recorded on camera. On second thought, it must be all three.

It is weird knowing that someone can watch you while you sleep – exposed – vulnerable.  But what is even creepier is that all those little electrodes can tell the study observers much more than meets the eye.  They can tell how I’m breathing, if my eyes are moving left or right, if they are open or closed, if my toes are pointed, if my legs are moving.  There is absolutely no privacy at a sleep study.

Which got me thinking about how much I value my privacy. 

What if our lives were always on camera?  How would we act?  If there were electrodes hooked up to my brain and people could see what I was thinking, would I be pleased with that situation?  I can tell you right now that the answer is, No!

And yet God sees.  We forget that most of the time, don’t we?  I do.

He sees what I do when nobody is around.  He hears those thoughts that I never speak.  God sees.  God hears.  Do we care?

We should.

Today marks the start of Holy Week.  We begin to count down the last days of Jesus’ life.  We will watch him betrayed, sentenced, beaten, crucified, and risen from the dead.  And the thing is, he did all that so we could be forgiven for our sins – even the ones nobody else but God sees.

www.knoxmidland.ca