Alienated
Notes
Transcript
Video
Video
Alienation from Nature
Alienation from each other
Alienation from our work
Each alienation is unique yet there is a strong relationship between them.
Each alienation facilitates another alienation.
There is so much to be discussed but lets focus on what was shared towards the end of the alienation from work.
When we work in absence of meaning we pose a risk to ourselves
Sense of meaninglessness
We are created to be active beings…we have a Creator who is active but His activity is NEVER bereft of meaning. There is not one thing that He does that has no meaning.
We majority of the time can’t comprehend what He is doing but that cannot lead to the conclusion that His activities are without meaning.
In the presence of prolonged meaninglessness two things happen
Mental Illness: we struggle with anxiety, depression and addictions
Pursuit of Meaning: we work to substitute or compensate the loss of meaning
caring about looks
seeking after success
popularity/prestige
possessions...
Relationships
Much of our economy is fueled by our loss of meaning
None of these pursuits can replace a true sense of meaning
SCARY: We spend the majority of our waking hours in pursuit of substitutes for meaning.
TRAGEDY: Is waking up late into life and realizing, your most precious commodity TIME, has been spent with little return.
Its in this dilemma that the Gospel of today picks up.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
The dilemma is ancient
The dilemma is ancient
6 You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.
We know what is important but struggle to allocate the appropriate time to it because we are too entangled/enmeshed in work that for many of us is bereft of meaning
We need to be humble and accept the weakness and pitfalls of humanity. None of us are immune to this alienation.
We all are suffering from this problem
PITFALL: Even those of us who have profession that directly help people, can fall into this problem. They help others but robotically and with an undertone of irritation.
9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. 10 “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce.
What do I do?
What do I do?
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”
They wanted to do things right by God…They aren’t asking for the power to multiple bread, they were asking how work in a way that would bring a deeper fulfilment, because they were tired.
This is why Jesus spent so much time teaching because it was a pathway to fulfillment and meaning that would last.
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Our belief in God cannot be relegated to a Yes/No answer. Its dynamic affecting every part of our lives and it is endless and rich just as He is endless and rich
Spiritual midget next to a spiritual Giant
Dedication to the journey
Dedication to the journey
We must challenge ourselves continually funnel our efforts into our relationship with God.
Find different ways to dive into scripture
To close our office doors for 15 min
Slip into the chapel at the hospital
wake up 20 min earlier when its calm in the house
make an appointment with your FOC
take up fasting in someway this lent
read a spiritual book
join bible study
None of these are incredibly overbearing but require a degree of planning and intentionality....but they are the steps to a deeper relationship
It is our relationship with God that breaths meaning back into what we do. It connects us with each other and it allows us to see the fingerprint of God in nature.