:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

I hate going to the dentist. It’s never that bad. But as someone with some anxiety issues, reason and past experience need not intervene. While trying to think of something else, I turned to my old friend NPR.

There was this guy on talking about Goldman Sachs, the jerks who crashed the economy on the release date of my book, and how they screwed a lot of people by betting against their own investments. It sounded pretty shady and infuriating.

The reporter explained the basics, and about five minutes into the show I felt like I understood the situation. As I considered it, I realized that I probably wouldn’t profit all that much from listening to the show. I mean, what is a freelance writer and speaker in Eastern Connecticut going to do about a bunch of bankers holed up in Manhattan?

I began to think in terms of what would benefit me most, and what would last. This clearly was not it.

While I enjoy NPR, I even listened to Fresh Air on the way back, at that moment I realized that the most important and lasting thing I could do was to turn off the radio and to worship God. For someone who spends a lot of time thinking about his faith, worship can become a rare commodity.

The default for humanity is self. Even theology can become about ourselves, what we know, and building up our own reputations. Throughout scripture there is a tension between humanity’s focus on self and the place of God as the only one worthy of worship.

Intentionally disconnecting from the noise of life in order to worship God can turn a day from an effort to accomplish what I want to serving God with everything I do and asking him what he’d like me to do. Unless we’re convinced that God is worthy of our worship, we won’t give him his proper place as Lord of our lives.

Sometimes it takes the threat of a dentist to drive that message home.