Creative Calm

Election frenzy is in full swing. Enough said!

Silver bells and candy canes will soon replace Halloween scarecrows on store shelves. I am convinced that some year the final fireworks display on Independence Day will proclaim, “Do your Christmas shopping early.”

What can we do to remain calm in a traffic jam world?

We’re going on a cruise to Alaska. Carmen’s siblings and their spouses plan to relax for a week, slow down, and reduce the pace at which life is lived.

But is that a good thing? Shouldn’t we always stay busy?

Jesus didn’t think so. When He and his disciples became so busy that they didn’t even have time to eat, He told them to “come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31). The Psalmist agreed with that when he wrote that God “gives His beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2).

Calm, like so many other aspects of life, can be profitable, or unprofitable. Sleeping life away because of laziness will not prepare us for election frenzy. Allowing time to “be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10), will provided needed respite when consumerism threatens to overwhelm us.

Embrace creative calm. “Rest in the Lord” (Psalm 37:7).