So I am sitting here at Starbucks on Thursday morning, and I have writer’s block. Starbucks usually serves as a source of inspiration for me. I watch the people go by, the incredible cross-section of people who come in for coffee, and as I think about them, I imagine where they are coming from and where they are going, and before I know it, my column is written, based on a spiritual connection I have made in my musings,
But today, I have sat and sat, and nothing has come to mind. Writer’s block. There are lots of things on my mind this morning: concerns about some church things; concerns about things that I need to do, but have not done or have not been able to do; concerns about children at home. Rather than saying that these worries are creating writer’s block, it is probably truer that I am allowing them to hinder my creativity and thought process.
As I think about that statement, it would be so much easier to blame my lack of inspiration on my worries, than to say I have allowed them to affect me. A thought hits me: these thoughts about my lack of inspiration are probably also true of those moments when we find ourselves uninspired in our spiritual life and our church life.
We all have worries, whether it is situations or people, and it is easier to blame them for our spiritual struggles than it is to take the blame for allowing them to affect us. We all have a tendency to focus our attention, spiritual or otherwise, on the one area where there is conflict rather than focusing on the myriad ways that people support or help us, or the many ways that we are healthy spiritually. And before we know it, we allow that struggle to begin to spread in our thoughts, and pretty soon it is all we can see; we are paralyzed, uninspired.
This morning, my inspiration and this column came from naming the problem and processing it, being honest about my role in allowing concerns to cloud my thoughts. I wonder if the same might be true in our spirituality, that admitting our role in letting our thoughts and worries affect us might lead us to breakthroughs and inspirations, and spiritual growth. Blessings to you, and may worship this morning be meaningful for you.
Blessings, Sonny