Relationships

Come To Think Of It

If you’re around me for any length of time, you’ll probably notice that I’m a planner. My natural inclination is to think through the consequences of circumstances and to try to adjust my behavior accordingly. Although my proclivity towards planning even small circumstances has been the subject of much teasing, I have no real desire to change. I figure this ridiculous desire to plan has provided more good then bad. Plus, it makes me unique – anyone can be spontaneous.

As I mentioned, the plans I make are rooted in a desire to think things through to their logical conclusion. Unfortunately, a lot of my plans are about me and what’s going on in my life. I don’t take nearly the same level of care when I think about others. Others’ lives tend to be more of a cursory concern.

Mother Teresa once said, ” Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful, you will become more and more Christ-like, for his heart was meek and he always thought of others. Our vocation, to be beautiful, must be full of thought for others.”

Although there is much depth to be explored in this quotation, there are two things in particular that caught my attention. First, is that Christ’s thoughts were never of Himself. Many times in Scripture the Lord tried to get away and be refreshed only to see a need in the crowd and adjust His plans. Although He knew how to get what He wanted, and needed, namely rest, He choose instead to think of others and change His behavior. When our thoughts are of ourselves, we don’t provide ourselves the opportunity to do the same.

Secondly, Mother Teresa said that thoughtfulness caused our vocation to be beautiful. Although we may be inclined to believe that she was talking about her particular vocation to be a nun, in reality each Christian shares the same calling to serve Christ. Whether we are a teacher, a businessperson, a doctor or a politician each of us have the chance to make our vocation beautiful through the act of thinking of others. It’s this act that causes our vocation to be a ministry of Christ.

I may never think of others with the same great care that I plan for my own life. But someday, I hope to.

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Growth

Overflow

I was reading the March 2007 issue of Real Simple today. (Yes, I’m a little behind in my subscription.) There was an article about how to reduce stress, and it talked about how some people are receivers and others are transmitters. The author’s contention was that some people distribute their emotions to others while other people are receptors to those that surround them. It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I found myself squarely in the camp of the receptor. Any one who readily admits that they hate talking about themselves can never qualify for the tranmitter category.

The author suggested that receptors often take on the feelings of others and therefore increase their stress (again, not a surprise to people who know me.) The article further stated that one way to avoid this was to avoid the people who cause us stress. Through some carefully crafted techniques, people could minimize the amount of time that they committed to people who took more than they received. As someone who struggles with boundaries, this all sounded well and good to me.

However, one of the many things that I love about Christ is that He turned conventional wisdom on its head. While the Real Simple author’s suggestions sounded great, I’m not sure they were Biblical. God’s Word suggests that the problems start long before we categorize ourselves as a trasmitter or receiver. The problems start when we begin relying on our own ability to “love our neighbor as ourself” or to “turn the other cheek.” God did not intend for us to receive other’s problems on our own. We’re to use His strength; we’re just the vessels through which its poured. As Glenn Olds stated, “It is through dying to concern for self that we are born to new life with God and others; in such dying and rebirth, we find that life is lent to be spent; and in such spending of what we are lent, we find there is an infinite supply.”

In other words, despite Real Simple’s suggestions, we don’t need to worry about how to deal with a dearth of capacity when it comes to God’s goodness. We need to start worrying about how we are going to “manage” the overflow with which He fill our hearts.

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