A Slower Pace

While I am always sad that Jesus had to go through what He went through on the cross, I am happy He did — for my sake and for your sake. I guess what is sad, is that it is our sin that put Him there. However, even greater than that is His love for us.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I woke up to a beautiful, God-created day. Outside my hotel window I snapped what I thought was a very serene picture of the Hudson River with the George Washington bridge in the background. Little did I know that by waiting just a few minutes, the scene would get better and the sun would rise directly in front of me.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While I think traveling is over-rated and I really enjoy being home with my family, the silver lining is that there are no chores, projects or distractions. That enables me to explore, wander, take time outs, ponder, and generally see things from a slower perspective that I might usually miss (because of all the aforementioned chores, projects and distractions).

Below are a few pix I took of this afternoon. An almost full moon hovering over Manhattan as the sun bathed the city in golden sunlight all viewed from across the river. The harmonious geese, ducks and waterfowl added audibles to these photos that enhanced my enjoyment of the scene.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I was recently listening to something that prompted me to ponder something that at the same time was profound but also incomprehensible (at least to me).

As created beings, we are bound by the physical world. A huge factor of this physical world is time — something we cannot slow down nor speed up. We are prisoner and slave to it and it marches on relentlessly. We put all sorts of parameters around it and try to control it. And while we cannot control it, about the closest thing we can do is measure it and maximize it. However, we all are guilty of wasting it, wanting more of it, and only thinking within it. On a daily or weekly basis, try counting the number of times that time impacts your thoughts, plans and actions. Whether it is “I’ll get to it later”, or “I don’t have time to…” or “Let’s do it next weekend”, we all are bound by this concept and fact of time. We also tend to frame so much of our spiritual on the time-bound physical (e.g. – not enough time to pray, only go to church on Sunday, occasionally read God’s word on a greeting card, etc).

However, (here’s where it gets cool) God is not bound by time. He isn’t bound by the invention of the Gutenberg press or text messaging. Noah’s ark or the U.S.S. Enterprise do not impress Him.

And a question popped into my mind that I had never thought of before — what if (because God isn’t bound by time) God sacrificed His beloved son Jesus 5 minutes ago for you? We tend to think of that cosmically important event as old, as 2000 years ago, as ancient history. But they weren’t – at least not for God. Because He is not bound by time. He laid down His only Son’s life for your transgressions, your sins, the areas in life where you suck! (And don’t get me wrong, I suck even worse – and He gave His Son for my transgressions, my sins, and my suckness too.)

What if God sacrificed His beloved son Jesus five minutes ago for you? Just so you could be reconciled to Him and have a way to spend everlasting life with Him.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net