It Would Do You Well To Be Bored

We place a high value on having something to do, staying busy, and being entertained.  As a result we fill our time with activities, scroll through Facebook updates to "see what's going on", and play mindless games on our iPads.  We are constantly filling our minds in the name of productivity but really we have fallen for  one of the greatest myths of the 21st Century.

Boredom should be avoided.

As a parent I hear the "boredom complaint" from my kids and I am quick to offer resolutions.  However I'm not sure this is the best remedy.  When quick solutions to boredom are offered no real thinking has to be done.  When 2 friends, a ball, and boredom are involved the sky is the limit on the kind of games that can be created.  Boredom isn't something to be fixed or avoided it is the space that can begin to incubate the next fresh idea.

If we allow it, boredom can become an ally in our pursuit of creativity and fresh thinking.

Boredom, once thought to be the no-man's-land where ideas go to die, might really be the lab where things are tinkered with and new combinations are discovered.

Life of Discontentment

Our pursuit of meaning and purpose in this world has become big business. Go to any bookstore and spend time looking through the "Self-help" aisle and you will find books on how to achieve "Your Best Life Now", how to live a "Purpose Driven Life", and what it takes to get "From Good to Great".

Many of these books are written by pastors trying to encourage "ordinary people" to step out of whatever "rut" they may find themselves in and become "extraordinary human beings". While these books may have their place I'm wondering if they do more to perpetuate feelings of discontentment than actually help an individual live a full life in relationship to God within the parameters of their current reality.

We spend time frustrated that we want more out of life in such a way that it pushes us further and further into to future. "When my life reaches a certain point then I will be satisfied". As a culture have we become so future focused that we can only feel despair in the present? In our "future focus" orientation are we missing out on what his happening around us now?

Within the self pursuit of purpose we are not only removed further and further from the present, but we are propelled further and further into a sense of hyper-individualism: "When will I be satisfied?" "How can my life find meaning?"

The Scriptures speak of a God that is continually relating to his people (plural) in the present; trying to shape them in an understanding of what it means to be a people of God in the midst of their current situation (even if that situation seems to lack significance or meaning). What does this mean for those that may be discontent with their present situation? How can one better listen and be shaped by God and find meaning and purpose today?