{"id":602,"date":"2010-08-25T10:09:23","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T16:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=602"},"modified":"2010-08-25T10:09:23","modified_gmt":"2010-08-25T16:09:23","slug":"taking-no-thought-for-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/08\/25\/taking-no-thought-for-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking no thought for tomorrow…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the tensions that comes with living and leadership (whether leading a classroom or a family, a church or a company) is that you need to be thinking about tomorrow. \u00a0\u201cWhere is this ship headed?\u201d is one of the primary questions that leaders need to be asking, and it forces them to think about tomorrow, and even the day, or year, or decade, after that.<\/p>\n

Then along comes Jesus, and as he turns the gaze of the crowd towards the birds he says, \u201cLook at these little creatures. \u00a0They\u2019re not worried about what they\u2019re going to eat or wear, not worried about productivity reports or GDP growth. \u00a0In fact, they\u2019re not worried about anything, so content are they to rest in their confidence of God\u2019s provision. \u00a0He continues by saying, \u201cGive your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don\u2019t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. \u00a0God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes\u201d (Matthew 6:34 \u2013 \u2018The Message\u2019)<\/p>\n

Too often, though, this is interpreted as a calling to pursue some sort of zen emptiness as, for example, in another book<\/a> I\u2019m reading, which says: \u00a0Every moment we are wondering at the path of wind across the water or smiling to see a dog rest in the sun, we are not rehearsing our misfortunes<\/em>. \u00a0I\u2019m all for looking at my trees, and pondering the path of the ducks at the lake, but I think Jesus isn\u2019t telling us to perpetually drop out. \u00a0So what is<\/em> He saying?<\/p>\n

The answers come to me from climbing. \u00a0I was able to get out on real rock recently for the first time since a late fall ski injury. \u00a0(pics here<\/a>) My son, along with two other friends, went climbing. \u00a0To be out on the rock is to be reminded of what it means to live in the present moment. \u00a0I was able to lead climb a short and simple little face of rock and when one is leading, one isn\u2019t thinking about yesterday\u2019s failure, or the drive up, or the pretty birds. \u00a0One<\/p>\n

the next move<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

is thinking about this: \u201cWhat\u2019s the next move?<\/strong><\/em> How can I stay balanced while moving my left foot? \u00a0Shall I jam my hand in that crack, or reach for the little pocket in the rock?\u201d \u00a0There\u2019s nothing but the present \u2013 but the present is nothing more than an endless succession of \u2018steps\u2019 and then \u2018what\u2019s next\u2019, all of which are leading to the goal.<\/p>\n

I love this about climbing. \u00a0While doing some other activities, I too often brood, thinking through lists of failures and concerns and if the run is long enough, I\u2019ll think up a few potential worries that aren\u2019t even real yet, a list of \u201cwhat if\u2019s\u201d that leaves my mind aching as much as my joints. \u00a0I\u2019m prone to this in real life as well sometimes, what I call, \u201cpoisonous introspection.\u201d \u00a0But when I\u2019m climbing, I\u2019m utterly present, and that\u2019s the kind of person I need to be in real life as well. \u00a0Somehow, that capacity to be present is lost on as, as cataloged in the book, \u201cDistracted\u201d and evidenced by our increasingly short attention span and openness to interruption. \u00a0We need to swim upstream against these tendencies, and I\u2019m profoundly grateful that I still enjoy enough health to do that, because in climbing, like in real life, I need to:<\/p>\n

1. Know the goal for which I\u2019m heading <\/strong>\u2013 This is why I like to take some time out periodically and prayerfully consider whether I\u2019m climbing the right mountain. \u00a0My wife and I talk about where our marriage is heading. \u00a0Our staff and church council will meet in the fall to ponder \u201cwhere is our church heading?\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Climb<\/strong> \u2013 The top of the rock is the goal, so. \u00a01) put on climbing shoes, 2) put on harness, 3) check that harness is secured properly 4) attach carabiner, 5) tie figure eight note in rope, 6) attach rope to carabiner, 7) check that carabiner is locked 8) talk to belayer 9) ponder route on rock, 10) do first move, 11) look ahead, 12) do next move. 13) repeat 11 and 12 until you\u2019re done.<\/strong><\/em> This isn\u2019t climbing. \u00a0This is life. \u00a0When I\u2019m in the zone, I\u2019m so focused on the present that time disappears, along with worries, regrets, and fears.<\/p>\n

Living fully in the present, then, doesn\u2019t mean disengaging from life, or blowing up all your goals. \u00a0It means knowing the goal, knowing the steps, taking them, and continuing to live, picking yourself up with mercy and forgiveness when you fall, rejoicing when you don\u2019t, and finding the wholeness and fruitfulness that only comes when the gift of the present overtakes the shadowy inner voices that too often paralyze.<\/p>\n

The present is the best gift we have, which is why learning to live in it is so important.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the tensions that comes with living and leadership (whether leading a classroom or a family, a church or a company) is that you need to be thinking about tomorrow. \u00a0\u201cWhere is this ship headed?\u201d is one of the primary questions that leaders need to be asking, and it forces them to think about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking no thought for tomorrow...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the tensions that comes with living and leadership (whether leading a classroom or a family, a church or a company) is that you need to be thinking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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