Pleasure

I read a book awhile back that had a profound influence on me. It was entitled: The War of Art, by Stephen Pressfield. It was not a Christian book by any means. That notwithstanding, it further opened my eyes to some things I have sensed and some things I have read in other places here and there.

To put it simply, he speaks of how life has a way of stealing our call. The busyness of living and the distractions of an online society can work to have us muddle through life, merely existing, and never work to develop our gifts and talents. We have to fight through it, thus the title of the book, The War of Art. Clever. The following is taken from this kick-in-the -pants book:

Most of us have two lives: the life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic? Ever quit a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever bailed on a call to embark on a spiritual practice, to dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, to commit your life to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, to crusade for the planet, to campaign for world peace or to preserve the environment? Late at night, have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.
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As we’ve spoken about worship the past few days and made an attempt to redefine it as something other than “…the lusty roar of the congregation.”(CS Lewis’ words), this battle comes sharply into focus. I will say very clearly that writing – daily – is one of the most difficult things I have ever undertaken. There is always something to fuss with or about. As I stare at my wee laptop, I am conflicted. There are so many things to be attended to, so many people to visit. I serve as a Pastor to a nifty congregation of ragamuffins that gathers each Sunday at an historic downtown theatre for church. I also serve as the Chaplain for the local Fire Department. In my spare time I am President of The Durango Celtic Society which puts on a huge Celtic festival each year. In between all of that I babysit, I sleep, cook, clean, do remodel work, eat, do gigs with our Celtic band, and, this past summer, I’ve been involved in a theatre production that runs through September. It is a busy life. Yet…there sits the wee computer. I am obviously attending to my MacBook now. I am doing so between setting up for church and the service itself. I am sitting in the Green Room of the theatre pecking away. Why? Because writing is, for me, an act of worship.

In the 1981 movie, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddel, the Olympic Athlete and Scotsman who refused to run on a Sunday, once said this: “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

Just so Eric. When I write I feel His pleasure. I hope you have discovered your act of worship and will go to war to make it happen each day.