Eucharisteo

Eucharisteo.... to be grateful, feel thankful, give thanks (Strongs 2168)

Learning joy, learning to live a life of thankfulness. Finding joy in everyday blessings, in the everyday graces of the Lord. Discontentment, self-condemnation, a critical eye, they are all poisons to the soul, destroyers of joy. Open, complete, pure, and fervent thankfulness and thanksgiving will always lead to and foster pure joy. We must learn thankfulness. Not just the occasional action, but we must allow it to permeate our lives, our souls, our character, until the outpouring of thankfulness comes as natural at any given moment in life. Contentment, true contentment, is found in thanksgiving.

Inward peace must never be sacrificed to outward ease.

"Jesus Christ teaches that inward peace must never be sacrificed to outward ease. A lie might often help us to momentary rest, a great black falsehood might be the softest pillow sometimes on which for the time being to rest and aching head. Of what account it is if there be great outward peace, while the heart is at war with itself, while there is a scorpion in the inner nature, stinging the conscience and inflicting mortal pain? Your plaudits cannot reach me with any measure of satisfaction if there be not an inward voice which attests that they are righteously bestowed – they fall upon me as foam flecks the rock it cannot penetrate. You might gather around your friend, pour upon him the billows of your approbation and applause, yet if his heart said to him, “You have no right to this,” all those billows would chase one another to their destruction, and never enter the soul they were intended to bless. 

On the contrary, you have also a profound truth – if there is really peace in your heart any outside storm can have no effect upon you. Jesus Christ adds by suggestion that no motive is to be relied upon that is not drawn from a divine center. Herein we fail so much – our motive has not enough reach. A man may be strong, but the stone which he may be attempting to remove out of his way be a real stumbling-block and ought to be removed, but if he have not leverage enough his strength is wasted in vain endeavor. What we want in life is more leverage, and that needful leverage can be realized only when there is a heavenly purchase. Every motive that is not profoundly religious expires ere it accomplishes any work that is worth doing. No heroism can sustain itself up to the point of conquest that is not inspired by an adequate motive. What is the adequate motive of human life? God’s sovereignty, God’s love, human stewardship, a profound and gracious sense of responsibility, and an appreciation of those opportunities for fulfilling that responsibility which constitutes the very glory and dignity of our human life. It may be that you are operating with too small a motive, your weapons are unequal to the war – there are no weapons equal to this contest that are not provided by the Almighty Captain of the fight" 

~ Joseph Parker, Christ's Finished Work: Studies in Matthew Chapters 16-28

On Finding Peace and Quiet

Peace.

Quiet.

Calm.

Contentment.

 All thing sought after, yet often found just out of reach.

In this age of technology where we have 4G internet in our back pockets (or hip holsters), social networking "push" notifications, instant e-mail activity, instant streaming of music, movies, videos, shows, and more.... isn't it interesting that we are also seeing the incidence of anxiety and depression skyrocket along with it? We have no lack of connectivity or means to satiate any desire we might come across. Even the Bible is available for smartphones in both print and audio! Yet, we still find ourselves drowning. 

Down, down, grasping at straws, gasping for air. 

Searching for quiet only to turn up void and empty handed.

Searching for comfort and peace in the very abyss that sucks our souls dry.

How can quiet really be found in the midst of the "noise" of the social networking crowd, where everyone has a problem and opinion, and they don't think twice about making their voices heard? 

How can contentment be found in the myriad of complaints, bad news, and evil tidings that greet our eyes at every turn of the newspaper or click of the mouse?

How is peace found in a big iMelting Pot of technology, in a world that never sleeps? 

Why do we scratch our heads in confusion when we lay down to sleep only to find that we cannot sleep? Our brains can't "shut off" because not only have we been programmed to keep up with a world that never sleeps, but every idle thought we think during the day that gets drowned out in the midst of the iCrowd comes rushing in as soon as we are still enough to actually think on it. 

Is it any wonder that we turn to our computer, mP3 players, social networking, instant streaming, and the like in our attempts to relax and find quiet, only to come away even more "static" filled than before? You don't seek noise to find quiet any more than you seek hectic turmoil to find peace. It just simply can't be done. You can't go to a place where the voices surround you and shout "Look at me!" and expect to be able to look within yourself, to look within to the Spirit of the Most High God who dwells within, and find the quiet and peace that you need. The two worlds are contrary. 

You don't go to an amusement park and get on a roller coaster when what you are seeking is stillness and quiet. It's impossible to be still when you place yourself within the confines of a world in constant motion, even if that world is virtual, and the motion simply a metaphor. You must first stop. Get off the roller coaster. Exit the amusement park. Find a place of serenity and calm. Then immerse yourself in it. Then and ONLY then can you hope to find the peace that you are searching for.

Then, be still.

Just stop. 

Be as still as a whisper, and just listen.

Listen and breathe, and be still.

Listen to the winds through the pines. The ocean's quiet song. The evening call of the summer crickets and accompanying chorus of frogs among the cattails and marsh reeds. The simplistic quiet melody that even the mind's eye produces when the static and white noise of the chaotic world is shut out. The whisper of stillness, the never ending music of quiet and peace. 

It can't be found in the myriad of technological options that we have. It's a peace so fleeting that it can only be found in yourself apart from the droning of everything else. The melody of the Spirit. The same Spirit that set all things in motion beats with a melody of majesty and peace within every born-again redeemed soul. A whisper that can only be sought in the quiet, in the stillness, where few others dare to tread. 

In a world of rushing, sleepless beings bombarded on every side with beeps, tweets, and rings.... the melody of the Spirit comes as a whisper in the night. That still, small voice. 

We cry out in anguish or frustration, "God, I want to HEAR You!" 

Yet, can that be possible, I mean, really possible, when we refuse to put down the distractions long enough to simply be still?

God never promised to meet us in social networking, on Youtube, or in newspaper headlines.

He did, however, promise to meet us here.

Now.

Just as we are.

Simply

Alone

In the Quiet of the Night and in the Stillness of a Secret and Quiet Place that not even Satan is privy to.

In the fervent chaos of relentless notifications, how can one hardly hope to hear themselves think?

What if....

What if simpler really is better?

Who needs internet in their back pocket anyway? Don't we have enough distractions as it is? Can we not let things wait until down-time on the home PC? Is that non-work related e-mail really so important that it can't wait? If a matter was so urgent, could they not just call instead? 

We, as a general people, need to learn to be still.

To sit back and listen to the harmony of the song of the stillness. 

To step outside, close our eyes, and

just

b.r.e.a.t.h.e.

Turn out faces to the sun and bask in it's radiance and warmth.

To smile, laugh, at the innocence and imagination of children, and then neglect to spoil the moment by instantly posting to our beloved social networking sites. There's time enough for that later.

To stop worrying about everyone else for long enough to 

simply

just

be.

Life is not a status update.

Turn off the music. 

Turn off the cute entertainment.

Turn off the automatic rockers and bouncers and simply sit and rock our babies. 

They are only small for so long.

In a microwave age, I know the years of childhood seem as never ending as the piles of laundry and dishes, yet we must live every day in light of eternity and realize that these times are all too fleeting.

Let our voices join in the harmonic chorus that comes out of the blessed stillness in simplistic and homely song.

Breaking the silence, yet never the stillness and peace of that moment.

We should take time to literally dance in the rain...

and in so doing, learn to count the raindrops as we count our blessings that rain down on us from on High from the hands of an eternally loving God, seeking to pour out His grace and cover all of those who seek Him. 

Every blessing, every gift, all comes to realization in the stillness.

The stillness that breeds peace and contentment.

That same stillness where we find that still, small voice calling to us from, and where we find our Lord and Saviour waiting. 

Grace and mercy flows from this stillness just as those summer raindrops fall so eagerly to the ground.

We need only seek it.

To TRULY seek it.

To seek Him.

To shut out the static of the masses.

To "de-tech" enough to be free of distractions.

To study to be quiet, to do our own business, and to work with our own hands as we have been commanded to do.

If we truly shall be judged by our works, then why waste our precious time on wood, hay, and stubble when we could be focusing on Kingdom Matters of gold, silver, and precious stones?

If we truly go to the ant, what do we find?

It's so easy to sit and chat, when we really should just be doing. 

Technology has it's place, that I am sure of. I have no doubt. However, is that place where ever and whenever we are, 24/7 without fail? How much quiet do we miss in the midst of the notification beeps, bings, and dings? How much precious prayer time do we miss out on because we take our troubles and trials to social networking instead of our prayer closet... and then get distracted? 

Almost as much as we miss out on as we sit and "pin" home organization and management ideas while behind us our homes sit unkempt and begging for attention. The only way anything gets done is if we DO it. The time for sitting and pinning or chatting is after the calling duties have been tended to. 

Ironically, the times of "doing" can be our most powerful and fruitful times of stillness if we can find it in ourselves to simply disengage enough to really focus. Our own unaccompanied songs of praise can lift us higher than any amount of Christian or Gospel streaming combined. Working quietly with our own hands as unto the Lord can lift our spirits higher than any amount of chatting, bemoaning, or blog-reading could do. 

There is great freedom in the call of work.

And in the stillness, the quiet of tech-solitude, we often find our most refreshing springs.

Don't believe me? Just give it a try. I promise. You won't regret it. 

In a tech-dependent society, I believe we can find great comfort and freedom in simplicity.

Next time you find the walls closing in....

Shut down the computers, phones, tablets, games, and videos.....

Turn off artificial noisemakers and "static".....

Stand up, stretch, close your eyes.....

And just simply

BE.