Pause In Lent No. 3 - Diligence (or lack of it!)
Categories: god-related-stuff, a-pause-in-lent
Date: 11 March 2012 15:23:05
I'm cheating a little with my Pause this week...I said I would follow the list in order, but I actually want to skip over to the fourth in the list, which is Diligence. Angela, over at Tracing Rainbows, and others, have already spoken very eloquently about diligence, but I was pondering this today, during the sermon that I couldn't understand about John 2: 12-25 (the Bible reference is just for information, and to show I at least understood that!)
Diligence: constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind.
I was pondering it, because I am very aware that my Lenten disciplines have rather gone down the pan this week. I have not constantly and earnestly made any effort to accomplish what I have undertaken!! In fact, I didn't read this week's chapter of "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" and I have written no cards/letters since last Sunday! It took me a week to post the ones I had written - I didn't have the opportunity to get to the Post Office - and now I still have one for the USA which needs to be taken to be weighed.
My Lent disciplines were hardly onerous but even so I still didn't manage to complete them...through nothing more than laziness. "Oh, it doesn't matter," I thought. "It's only reading/writing a card. I can do it tomorrow". But somehow, tomorrow came, and the task still didn't get done. It made me think a little of the scene in Gethsemane:
Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."
He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. "
He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them," Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
I guess that, while they started off with really good intentions - I will stay awake. Jesus needs me, and I've promised I will do this one thing. It's not much. Stay awake. Watch and pray. I can do that, easy! - soon their eyes started drooping and their heads hit the ground. So when Jesus came back and chided them, they must have felt terrible! Like them, I started off with great intentions - the first week, I wrote all my letters each day. However, the second week, I found myself playing catch-up, as I missed one or two days, and this last week - nothing! I'll have to write two a day now!! Even if it's only letters, I feel I've let him down.
If Lent is a time to be closer to God, to think about our relationship with Him, and to watch and pray with Him, I am so like those disciples! I am falling asleep (or watching the TV!) while Jesus says "Could you Dormouse not keep watch with me and write one letter?!"
Still, as Jesus gave his disciples a second chance (and a third!) I will pick up my pen this evening, and start writing. Though I may just stick to postcards until I've caught up! But, practically speaking, I'm running out of people to write to - would anybody like a card? Please email me with your address if you would.
***
On another note, I shivered a little when, searching for images to illustrate this post, I came across this one:
It's a set of CDs you can buy from a Church Website that tell you how to prosper (in a monetary way, judging by the cover) through diligence to God! "Prosperity will not come by desire, but by hard work, planning and acting on the Word of God" Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr! How I hate the Prosperity Gospel preachers!