Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Do not be conformed...

I've been focused this morning on the words from St. Paul's letter to the Romans...Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God...

I spoke these words out loud as I said Morning Prayer in the church. I sat down and thought a little about what Paul meant. Was he talking about our life style, our schedules, and our busyness. Did he mean to include only our morality and ethics in his list of things non-conforming.

I thought for a moment about my own life and work. Do I look any different from anyone who has tried to conform themselves to this world? Are there aspects of my life where I am intentional about not conforming to the way things are? I considered for a moment my prayer life. Sometimes I'm deliberate about praying the daily office. But some days, my only prayers tend to be those said under my breath as I race to a meeting. Its then that I'm all to aware of the need for grace.

My contemplation on these holy words was broken as my cell phone rang. (I had forgotten to turn it off before I started saying the morning office.) I was momentarily upset at myself for not turning it off, but the call was from a friend wanting to invite my wife to the mothers group she attends. I realized then and there that even in our conformity to this world, God still speaks. He speaks to us above the noise and den of this world, sometimes using the very noise of this world as His instrument. He speaks to us about relationships, and how important they are to us all. Relationship with Him and with each other. And in one way, I guess I'm not being conformed to this world, by using an instrument that fosters individuality and autonomy (computers and the internet) to talk about building personal relationship with other people and with God.

No comments: