Stop Striving After Wind ...

This is a carryover from our words on “awareness” last time. The topic is so important that we wanted to encourage you to think about it in yet another way.

Leo Tolstoy, author of “War and Peace”, is to this day considered one of the greatest writers and thinkers of all time. In commenting on the idea of being “aware” Tolstoy said this:

“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”

In other words, more often than not we are so busy with the tasks of life that we do not take the time to consider the facts of life, or what it means to be alive. And, in this, we slowly lose our grasp on the “awareness” of ourselves and of others.

This loss is dangerous.

As we shared last time, it our ability to be “aware” – to live as sentient beings – that makes us valued creation. But, Tolstoy died over 100 years ago. Can you imagine what he would admonish today given the busy and fast paced lives that we all seem to lead?

Ecclesiastes tells us, “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.” Part of being “aware” is taking the time to do so, which means we need to take time away from work and recreation – ie, watching television or playing video games. Taking the time to truly exercise our “awareness” feels like the significant investment of both the time and effort that it is, but it also pays the greatest of dividends.

So, we encourage you to stop striving after wind and take a moment – or two – to think about what it is you can do to emulate what it means to be “created in the image and likeness of God”.