Stop, Wait, Think
written by: Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. ”
Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting is hard for many of us because it forces us to think. Contemporary society has many more ways to avoid thinking. Our phones are handy avoidance machines. Our phones give us the ability to avoid thinking in any situation. Don’t believe me? My daughter was in a massive line at a Sporting Goods Store in Omaha over Thanksgiving break, and I didn’t see a single person out of over a hundred and fifty people whose faces weren’t in their phone. Thirty years ago, some people in the line would have talked to each other. Others would stand in silence and reflect. They might think about their day or how they might address a problematic situation. They might even consider deeper issues, like God.
Our world requires more intentional thinking than any previous time in history. I do not believe it is coincidental that stupid conspiracy theories and other idiocies like anti-vaccination groups hoodwink more people today. Even in the Christian Churches, church members, and even clergy seem incapable of taking the log out of their own eye. These churches called others to hell for sexual “inappropriateness,” but when their political leader(s) are sexual felons, they look the other way and rationalize sinful behavior. We will fall for any charlatan when we do not stop and wait for our thought process to return.
The Christian season of Advent calls us to stop, wait, and think. At its best, Christianity embraces the mind as well as the heart. The heart, with all its emotions, can lead us astray. When I let my feelings get too strong, it is like a wave of emotion overwhelming me. In those moments, I cannot reason; I am numb to my drowned thoughts. Only when I calm down and relax does rational thought return. When social media keeps us swamped in emotion, we can go days, weeks, months, and even years without the ability to reason. Faith without a balance of thought and emotion creates injustice.
Today, use the Advent Season to focus on your thought process. Treat stress-filled moments as your inner laboratory. Focus, intentionally, on what triggers your emotions. Next, what tends to calm your anxiety? Then, prayerfully ask God to bring your thoughts back into focus. Stop when your emotions get ahead. Wait long enough to take back control of your head. Allow your thoughts to return, and then think through what got you out of balance. Then, bring thoughtful consideration back to your feelings. The Advent Season is a blessing that brings heart and mind together in oneness with God’s guidance.
