channel the energy

I read a thought provoking writing from Jonathan Edwards this week. Not Jonathan Edwards the philandering politician, but rather a man who lived in the eighteenth-century. He was a pastor and I am told a key figure in the "Great Awakening." Here is what he said:

The nature of human beings is to be inactive unless influenced by some affection: love or hatred, desire, hope, fear, etc. These affections are the "spring of action," the things that set us moving in our lives, that move us to engage in activities.

When we look at the world, we see that people are exceedingly busy (yes, even in the eighteenth-century - this isn't a new phenomenon). It is their affections that keep them busy. If we were to take away their affections, the world would be motionless and dead; there would be no such thing as activity.

I also recently heard a modern day theologian, Ron Bell, talk about "Righteous Anger" and how maybe the things that make us angry - injustice, exploitation, etc - could be God trying to get our attention. These could be things God wants us to do something about and we should channel that anger in to a positive action; a blessing.

I don't want to be that person who watches a horrific event on the news, like genocide or human trafficking, and says, "oh, that's awful." Then turns the channel. Yes, my occupation affords me the opportunity to do something about such things, but it has nothing to do with what my job is. Even in this role I could grow hardened to the needs of others, in fact it is probably more likely because I am so inundated with the needs of others and sometimes they are legitimate and sometimes it is individuals just trying to scam the system and get something for free whether they need it or not.

My location or my job does not determine my response to the needs around me. Rather, as Jonathan Edwards points out, it is a matter of the heart. Where do my affections lie? Am I making room in my life for these things? What is determining how I spend my time? I encourage you to ask yourself the same questions, you may be inspired to action or make some adjustments in your busy schedule, like I did.