February 11, 2007

I am intrigued with the title of a book I saw recently called, Wherever You Go, There You Are.[1] The book itself didn't seem that interesting to me but I love the title because it is absolutely true. There is no way for each of us to get away from our self. Wherever we go, there we are. 24/7, we are on the clock living out the seconds of our lives, doing what we choose to do, being who we are.

All of this is sobering especially when we are confronted by the word of Scripture that tells us "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Human beings are on the clock 24/7 with questionable hearts. How is that for a dose of reality? We're stuck with deceitful and hard-to-understand hearts, and there's not much we can do about it.

Fortunately there is a healthy and realistic way out of the mess we are in. The Bible tells us, 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord" (Jer. 17:7). What a turn of events that is.

How does one get from "deceitful" and "desperately sick" to "blessed"? The Biblical answer to the question is for us to put our trust in the Lord, to build our lives on God and to trust His presence is our story. To do this says the prophet of God is to "be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream" (Jer. 17:8). This place is the place of refreshment and nourishment, the place where one is not driven by anxiety in the time of drought.
This is the place to which we invite people and where we live ourselves. It is the place of God, and everyone is welcomed there.

[1] Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Paperback)