Forgetting to Remember God

Last updated on: November 30, 2008 at 10:55 am by JBW

Forgetting to Remember God 2008-11-30T10:55:41-05:00 JBW

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I completely forgot about God for two entire weeks. I know, that sounds terribly unspiritual of me. After all, couldn’t I have at least garnered a passing nod to the one who created me, to the savior of my soul?

Well, it wasn’t like I was purposefully ignoring God. Why would I do that? No, this was more like being gradually swept into a massive rip tide of the many tangible distractions going on in my life. As a result, for two entire weeks there was no morning scripture reading before work, no Sunday morning worship services, no spiritual meditation, no acknowledgement of God’s presence in my life, not even a brief prayer whispered in the frenzy of a busy day.

You see, I’ve been really, really busy.

“Wow,” I can hear you say. “That sounds so lame.” But it’s true. Between work pressures, family obligations, weekend travel plans, and keeping up with the driving required fulfilling the social and extracurricular schedules of my two daughters, I barely had time for sleep, let alone deep spiritual communion with the Almighty. It all kind of crept up on me and then crunched together during this particular two-week period — the tyranny of the crammed family schedule. I know. That’s so new-millennial-suburban-affluent passé, right?

And now the little Evangelical Preacher Voice in my head (who visits with me frequently) has become very agitated. He is convicting me quite effectively with his high and mighty rants about spiritual laziness, saying “there are no excuses for forgetting about God!” and he is threatening me with that very disturbing scripture from Revelations about the lukewarm Christians getting spit out of God’s mouth. The Preacher Voice also reminds me about the story of the famous Protestant reformer Martin Luther. When faced with an extremely pressing day, rather than skipping his morning prayer time, Martin Luther said “I can’t afford NOT to pray!” That man knew his priorities. He was spiritually disciplined, certainly. On his busiest days, Martin Luther woke up an extra hour early in order to have his time with Our Lord, giving him the spiritual strength that he would need to manage the pressures of his life.

Not me. Let’s just call a spade a spade. I am spiritually un-disciplined. Especially if sleep deprivation is at stake. Nine times out of ten, I’ll opt for that extra 20 minutes of sleep, because, you see, unlike Martin Luther, I will feel cranky and achy and unable to function if I don’t get a decent night of sleep. This then leads to irritation and cursing and all sorts of un-Christian-like behavior later in the day with my associates, so I’m sure you can see my logic and reasoning. “I can’t afford NOT to sleep!” is what I say. I can always pray in the car on my way to work, right? It would have been me snoozing right alongside Peter, James and John in the Garden of Gethsemane during Jesus’ darkest hour, when he admonished them for not staying watch with him through the night. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” is how Jesus finally summed up his disgust with them upon their third shaking on that fateful night. But I am sympathetic towards my three sleepy disciple comrades. “I know it’s important to you, Lord, but come on! I’ve been up for 18 hours and I’m exhausted!” And since Jesus is half-fully-God, I argue, He probably doesn’t need as much sleep as me.

To continue, click here.

Spiritual Disciplines

Previous Post

November 23, 2008

It's Okay to Feel Stupid Sometimes

Next Post

December 4, 2008 Forgetting to Remember God - 2

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ambition Blogging Career Culture Executive Career Development Failure Faith in the Workplace Family Feeling Stupid Leadership Managing People Purpose Reviews Spirituality Uncategorized Work-Life Balance

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the primary worship language in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Greek Hebrew Latin Aramaic