Living Shallowly

I have a friend who tells me that his time spent mowing the grass can be a spiritual experience for him. It wouldn't be for me -- if grass mowing were up to me, someone else would be doing it. I can see his point, though. Time spent mowing grass is by nature noisy enough to be insulating. I imagine time spent mowing grass could be time spent close to God (for him; not for me -- I would just be complaining how hot I was.).

I was reading Robert Schnase's new book, Five Practices of Fruitful Living. He says that we are recognize the difference between living life thinly and live live deeply. A life lived deeply is fruitful and abundant.

He goes on to say that God is in the depth, and we loose sight of God when we live shallowly. God is in the silence, in the questions, in the mystery. God is in the love of others, in the feeling of being still and in the discovery and exploration of life.

Often when I sit down to pray, the first words in my head are "Be still." When I go to reunion group (an accountability group), and I can't explain where I have failed to be a disciple this week and when I was closest to God, I know that I am living shallowly. I need to pay more attention to God. To Be still and know.

But I'm not mowing the grass.