Stopping to Gaze (and graze)

It is apparent that much of our attention must be directed
toward the task of making a living. Additional attention must
be given tot he hundreds of details that have to do with what
we call “ordinary life:” making beds, preparing food, driving a
car, addressing mail, writing checks, changing diapers, etc.
Because these things require much or all of our feeble
concentration, I cannot believe that God intends for us to be
thinking about Him at all times. There are times when He
should receive all of our attention. In order to be balanced
we should not neglect those times that we have for pure
contemplation each day.
When we take those times of contemplation, we must
develop the habit of disciplining ourselves to the point
where we can quite easily shut off the eyes and ears and
entirely focus on Him. Now it is true that we are “receivers”
when it comes to God. None of us can give anything to Him
and we need to nurture this awareness. If we have the morning
chores on our mind, this will not happen. “Doing” the morning
chores is a thousand miles away from being passive.
And we define ourselves as “givers” when we do even the
slightest work toward maintaining God’s creation. There
needs to be time during the day when we just stop and gaze
at God. There will be time later on to worship God by mowing
the lawn or washing the dishes.
But these things define us as “givers.” In the realm of the
natural, physical dimension, this is fine. We are to be givers.
In the realm of the Spirit, though, we are “receivers” and we
must learn when to be “in the Spirit” in our giving and doing.
It is not natural. We must learn the art of being the “receiver”
when we are engaged in giving and doing. How we are taught
this is by forcing ourselves to take times of contemplation each
day where we block out everything and let God remind us who
He is and how we relate to Him as “receivers” of His grace
and mercy. Eventually we find that the spiritual habitually
overlaps the physical. This does not happen easily until a habit
is established. Growing into that person who habitually practices
the presence of God takes much work. And then we must make
sure that it continues to be a habit. This requires God’s gift of
discipline. Most people do not desire this and don’t receive it.
It is a gift that only a few will cherish and keep. And each
person is offered that gift (Gal. 5:22-23) along with many others.