Moving right along...

I have to be careful. I began my last blog with a physics formula, so I had to do a heart check for self-seriousitis. I knew it first because I'm a language guy not a physicist... and I had to go digging to find the momentum formula. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't posturing.

More than anything I'm wrestling with the "so what" of my monologues on inertia and momentum. Always wrestling with the tendency to live in my own little brain-dom, I occasionally have to come down to earth and figure out what the freak I'm talking about and how it relates to the real world.

I think I'm getting a grip on this one. We have to keep moving. I know that sounds simplistic or boring or whatever... in fact I can hardly believe that's the best I came up with... but I think it's the secret to life. Keep going. But don't just keep moving, keep moving well. Whatever little thing that you feel was a God-honoring thing today, do more of that tomorrow. But don't do it like it's some formulaic "rubbing of the bottle so the geenie shows up," do it because what made you recognize that you had a God moment was God. That means that He found a way to communicate something, and you found a way to pick it up and actually take a step in the right direction.

The implications of that are bigger than I've ever really wrestled with I think. Because if I had wrestled with it, I think I would have much more momentum. I'm still pretty caught up in seeing the grand ME, and attributing most of what happens in the universe in some way to me or mine. George Harrison said, "All I can hear I, Me, Mine..."

But tucked away in a phone call or an encouraging e-mail or a wave to someone in the store is something that's outside of myself beacause it's not about myself. Those moments are the stuff of momentum. Instead I rush off to do my next thing my way and forget to savor the scent of God in the chance meeting or the hand lent to a stranger.

Unfortunately, too many times the idea of momentum in my life comes down to sin management. To be a better Christian I must stop being a sinner. Man. That's a tall order. But what if the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart, and what if my heart will be where my treasure is so what if I start giving of what's most important (ME) to someone or something else and watch my heart and my mouth follow? If I start putting some of my valuable time and energy into others, we'll soon see if my life won't follow suit, won't we? What if rather than simply focusing on tearing down the flesh that keeps me from the Spirit, I spend more time trying to build up all those spiritual moments where God rages in me and I sense for a moment the reality of eternity and the opportunity I have to run for it... and the mandate to run well.

The good southern baptist legalist in me want to clarify and say that I'm not being soft on sin (I guess I just did) but right now I don't think I want to say that. My every struggle with sin lets me know that no matter how hard I want to be, I'm soft. Sin beats me too often. So maybe I'm not the guy who needs to fight sin because too often I don't do a very good job of it. Maybe instead I need to spend time and buy lunch for the Guy in me thats bigger than my sin and let Him fight for me.

Momentum is motion. If you can't gain freedom by trying to stop something, then gain freedom through momentum. Go do something. Keep moving. Walk on. Go make a disciple, and try to show them how it's done by doing it yourself. What an expriement that would be, eh?