Living in the Moment

Photo by Gary Coots ©2011

My company closed shop yesterday and went to Prayer Mountain. When I mentioned this to my life group, one of the members asked, "is it really on a mountain?" Thinking back to standing atop that hill, I realized that it's the closest thing we have to a mountain in north central Texas. The weather was even Colorado-like until late afternoon, when the breath of summer heat arrived. One of my favorite moments was when I stopped to watch a huge yellow butterfly dancing among the low-hanging tree branches. The terrain was dotted with solitary prayers in various attitudes, facing the stunning view of Mountain Creek Lake. (I often think of my coworkers as "people I love.") There they were, speaking to God from their hearts, savoring the time alone with Him. I was living in the moment.

My mind goes back to another experience I had earlier in the week. My friends and I lead some nursing home residents in a round of hymns each Monday morning. There I learned that no one lives in the moment quite like an elderly disabled (and often demented) person. Going from bed to wheelchair, at the mercy of whoever is around to help, she lives each moment as it comes. As we were leaving, I reached to touch a wheelchair-bound woman's hand. She grasped my hand, held it to her face, and said, "You're so warm!" Her hands and face were very cool. As we lingered, I realized that for her, only that moment mattered, and it was a good moment.

The Struggle for Freedom

The apostle Paul's words ring so true when I think about the sin nature that exists in all of us. It's just there. We criticize it in others in moments when we think we are doing okay; we feel remorse when we have times of just wanting to do better, planning to do better . . . and then realizing it's not within our power. "The trouble is with me," writes Paul, "for I am all too human, a slave to sin." 

What does that mean? It means that as humans, we are born into slavery. We don't consciously acknowledge it until we are caught in a dark and confining place, not knowing how we got there but recalling bad decisions we have made.

My first encounter with such a decision (and its consequences) was when I took a piece of candy from a dime store without paying for it. Yes, I was soon in a very dark place. I could have been Judas. I was compelled to confess to my parents, who had the wisdom to take me back to the dime store to confess to them and pay for what I stole.

In many cases, we get to that dark place after a series of bad decisions. In others, it results from one really big, bad decision that impacts not only our lives, but the lives of others, often for years. If we could look into the future, we might see that the impact goes on for generations!

Looking back at those decisions, we see the truth in Paul's words: "I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate." And again: "I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." And once more: "I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong."

Photo by Gary Coots ©2011

How perplexing to live in this state! As humans endowed with free will, we feel we are in control, yet the bondage-to-sin dilemma calls us to admit that we are imprisoned, longing for freedom. Some of us respond to this incarceration by turning up the pride. We sin loudly and proudly, as if it was our right to be and do that which offends.

Yes, sin has a hold on all of us. It is our master as long as we succumb to it and give it the power it demands. Then the sin nature takes over our thoughts and actions. I have learned that sin gains power when kept in darkness. When we hold on to it in that dark place so no one will know, it grows insidiously, taking root in our psyche. As Paul concludes, "So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it . . . And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." You know, it's the-devil-made-me-do-it" syndrome. "I want to do what is right, but I can’t. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it," offers the wise apostle.

Nothing examines the battle between the flesh and the spirit—and the one who rescues our souls from it—like Paul's agonized cry in Romans 7. As a follower of Jesus Christ, he longs for righteousness. "I love God’s law with all my heart," he says. "But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

I look around and within to observe myself, my family, and my friends, all subject to the power of sin in our lives. We all struggle with one or more behaviors, weaknesses, or inclinations that rule our days and nights, often defeating us in the daily battle. These sins limit us from the fullness of life that God intends for us. It might be an irresistible attraction to pornography, an inability to control spending, a philandering tendency that takes hold and won't let go. Maybe it is a physical addiction to something chemical or behavioral, a compulsion to take things that don't belong to us, a loose tongue that slanders others and betrays a long-time friendship. Sometimes it's anger and defensiveness that comes from a heart turned inward, hardened by things others have done to us. Or the cumbersome sin of omission, that nagging feeling that we could have spoken or taken action, but didn't.

The answer is indeed in Jesus Christ. How wonderful that our Lord and Savior delivers us from all of this, redeeming us from a life of error. All we need to do is call on Him. He not only cancels our sin if we confess and ask for forgiveness, but He also heals us and teaches us to forgive ourselves and others.

All Bible references are from Romans 7:7-25 , the New Living Translation

A Day to Remember Moms

Mother's Day 2011

Photo by Gary Coots ©2011

Last night I made a run to Walmart. I planned to pick up a few groceries and make a quick getaway, but I was soon swept up in the completeness of it all—Walmart has a little of everything, and cheap prices to boot. Before long, I was looking at plants, cosmetics, pajamas, and shoes. At one point, heading for the garden section with a plan to stop at health & beauty on the way, I walked through the wide corridor at the front of the store between the merchandise and the registers, and I saw a sprinkling of little girls who appeared to be unattended. They were of various ages and looked like they were connected because each wore accessories in hot pink, a confetti of shoes, hair ornaments, clothing items. Momentarily they scattered, and the littlest one—she couldn't have been older than three—realized she was alone and her mother was nowhere in sight. Reeling, she looked at her surroundings with eyes filled with fear. She walked back and forth, yelling "Mama! Mama!" and I could see that those around her were oblivious to her cries and her predicament. She was such a tiny, vulnerable creature in a huge place populated by people going to and fro, any of whom could, as my mother might say, "snatch her up." I went to assist her, and suddenly I spotted her mother about 50 feet away. There was no doubt about the connection between them. Mom was a beacon, a fortress of power and comfort with open arms and a welcoming countenance. The look in her eyes was one of great love, mercy, and relief as the little girl, now beaming with joy, took off running to her. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of my mother and my children, and those special moments when you know, "I am yours and you are mine." Today is Mother's Day, and I understand more than ever that the bond between mother and child echoes God's incredible love for His children.