{"id":1368,"date":"2008-09-25T09:52:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-25T09:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:12:15","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:12:15","slug":"dont-just-do-something-sit-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog<\/a>, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cThere was a wealthy man who had many assets. He said, \u2018I will use my assets to sow, harvest, plant and fill my granaries with produce, so that I will not need anything.\u2019 These were the things he was thinking in his heart. But that very night, he died.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course it has corollaries in the canonical sayings attributed to Jesus, as well.<\/p>\n

But I find something compelling in this variation of the text. I think it is the sense of urgency\u2026<\/p>\n

It haunts me.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of that line chanted<\/a> by a ghostly voice at the end of every night in sesshin, our intensive Zen meditation retreats.<\/p>\n

Let me respectfully remind you,
life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken\u2026 awaken\u2026
Take heed.
Do not squander your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course the how of not squandering is complex.<\/p>\n

For some this might mean eat, drink and be merry.<\/p>\n

For others it might mean take on that project.<\/p>\n

For, me, it is a call to the deep\u2026<\/p>\n

Summarized nicely, I think, in a sign I once saw posted at the San Francisco Zen Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Just Do Something, Sit There.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas. Jesus said, \u201cThere was a wealthy man who had many assets. He said, \u2018I will use my assets to sow, harvest, plant and fill my granaries with produce, so that I will not need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Just Do Something, Sit There<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas.Jesus said, "There was a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Just Do Something, Sit There\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas.Jesus said, "There was a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monkey Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-25T09:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T19:12:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SNuaoO7e3JI\/AAAAAAAABRo\/2ybc-1jnuLg\/s400\/Hakuin2.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html\",\"name\":\"Don't Just Do Something, Sit There\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-25T09:52:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-01T19:12:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"Over at the Forbidden Gospels Blog, Professor April DeConick just posted one of my favorite logia from the Gospel of Thomas.Jesus said, \\\"There was a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/09\/dont-just-do-something-sit-there.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/\",\"name\":\"Monkey Mind\",\"description\":\"Easily distracted...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\",\"name\":\"James Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ford\"},\"description\":\"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. 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