Obedience

This morning's daily reading is a blessing.

It is about obedience -- not always a popular point of conversation, especially for a kid like me who has struggled with obedience her entire life.

Perhaps that resistance has to do with the flip side of having a vivid imagination and a lavish sense of wonder.  It seems that nomatter where I am or what I am doing, there is a childlike sense of curiosity that sprouts and says "But look at this!  What would it be like if you went over there?  What else could you be doing?" 

I realize that God asks for obedience (indeed commands it) because without it all of God's creation (including us human creatures) would careen into chaotic disorder.  Obedience helps to maintain our intention and attention upon the people, places and things where God knows we are most needed. 

None of us lives in a vacuum.  We are constantly affecting others.  When we pursue our own interests (you know, those other Gods that whisper to us at all times) we wear the mantle of disobedience.  Ultimately that mantle, which may initially have seemed so attractive, evolves into chains of sin.  In disobedience we may think we are claiming freedom to do what we want.  But the reality is that we are not choosing abiding freedom.  Instead we are choosing a constrained way that is limited by the narrowness of our self.

These thoughts emerge on the day that marks the end of my time away.  Vacation is over.  I return to the definition of a more structured calendar. 

So, in obedience I ask of the God who is at the center of my heart:  "What are the riches of this day?"  "How will my cup run over as I obediently follow you each moment?"