Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Fat Cat
I saw a fat cat lying on the sidewalk as we were driving out of our neighborhood this morning. There was a bird doing a dance just a few feet in front of the cat, but the cat did not even blink. As I was, once again, running late for work all of a sudden I felt very envious of the cat. It was laying in the shade just starting the day with nothing on its agenda – not even catching the bird. I wanted to turn around, go home, make myself a latte, finish my quiet time with God, finish cleaning the kitchen and putting away the laundry, call some friends I have not seen for a while, and just chill.
In the past few days I have been reminded from several sources how we in America are the richest 1% in the world. I struggle with feeling guilty about that, but this morning as I was processing a passage in James, I told God that I did not choose my circumstances, the time and place of my birth, or the social status I was born into. How then do I not feel guilty about that and live in my circumstances honoring God with what I have, enjoying the blessings, but being a good steward and help those in need. It sounds simple, but it’s really not. Do we not go to the movies? Do we never buy new clothes? Are we allowed to take care of our skin? Do I buy vitamins that keep the effects of the approaching menopause away? If I did not have a car I could not go to work. Should I even work? According to the statistics 99% of people in the world do not even have a choice to ask those questions. Which is the blessing?
But then I looked at my last week and have to admit that the time I spent with my two friends going to the movies was a huge blessing to all of us. We all needed some time to just be women. But then again we all live overloaded lives – some of us out of sheer necessity – and if we didn’t, could we do that without having to create that time.
Sometimes I find myself wishing that I would be content with being at home. But I also know that my academic, overactive mind would go crazy in about a week. I love my job. I am blessed to work with people and in an organization where the advancement of the Kingdom is the goal. I get to encourage amazing women who feel God has placed a calling on their lives. And I know that God called me here and I see Him working in many of the things I do.
James 5:1-5 says:
5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
I may not have defrauded anyone by what I do – or have done – in my life, but who is suffering because of the pace I keep? Are my children missing out? Or my grandchildren? Is my husband having to pick up too much of the slack? How about the very lonely single mother and grandmother who just can’t step into the grace of the cross because she is afraid? Or my sister-in-law who, finally after 12 years, is starting to ask for help in getting into the Word?
I heard a very convicting poem over the weekend.
Babel-on in Babylon
Brimming closets shoe racks bulge
One in every color, I’ll just indulge
My wildest whim will oft be met
Bigger, faster, give me, get
Travel-on, in Babylon
One in every color, I’ll just indulge
My wildest whim will oft be met
Bigger, faster, give me, get
Travel-on, in Babylon
May I go first, No you not care
My time is precious, you’ve lots to spare
I’ll slip in front and off I’ll go
See, I’m quite fast, and, well, you’re quit slow
I and me, fast friends, lifelong
Prattle-on in Babylon
My time is precious, you’ve lots to spare
I’ll slip in front and off I’ll go
See, I’m quite fast, and, well, you’re quit slow
I and me, fast friends, lifelong
Prattle-on in Babylon
Nip it here, just there a lift
I just turned 40, it was a gift
The eyes, the lips, the bosom’s new
Sculpted, lazored, injected too
No wrinkles left, the tummy’s gone
Journey-on in Babylon
I just turned 40, it was a gift
The eyes, the lips, the bosom’s new
Sculpted, lazored, injected too
No wrinkles left, the tummy’s gone
Journey-on in Babylon
Enough of me, how do you view me?
You get one, but give me three
I couldn’t bear to just say no
It’s my desire, and rightly so
Add another and on and on
Shuffle-on in Babylon
You get one, but give me three
I couldn’t bear to just say no
It’s my desire, and rightly so
Add another and on and on
Shuffle-on in Babylon
No end in sight that I can see
Today is blocked by the mirror in front of me
A wreck, a death, tsunami tide
It mildly stirs me, I must confide
TV claims thousands gone
Oh well, let’s see what else is on
Numb to the stunning sight of each new dawn
Sinking fast in Babylon
Today is blocked by the mirror in front of me
A wreck, a death, tsunami tide
It mildly stirs me, I must confide
TV claims thousands gone
Oh well, let’s see what else is on
Numb to the stunning sight of each new dawn
Sinking fast in Babylon
Like a lobster in a pot
Who begins to like the water hot
I’ve been duped, been tricked, been had
Convinced that truth was somehow bad
Evil coddled and cooed and purred
And beckoned me and called and lured
Now in a place with the light turned on
I’m racing home from Babylon
Who begins to like the water hot
I’ve been duped, been tricked, been had
Convinced that truth was somehow bad
Evil coddled and cooed and purred
And beckoned me and called and lured
Now in a place with the light turned on
I’m racing home from Babylon
Which of my motives for what I do, want to do, and wish I could do are from God, and which are just about bigger, better, and me? I don’t have answers to any of these questions, but I don’t want to stop asking. But this is what I think God says:
’Cause there's a bigger picture you can't see
You don't have to change the world, just trust in Me
'Cause I am your creator, I am working out my plan
And through you I will show them, I Am (Ginny Owens – I AM)
You don't have to change the world, just trust in Me
'Cause I am your creator, I am working out my plan
And through you I will show them, I Am (Ginny Owens – I AM)
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