Nothing has changed. The central spiritual problem of our day is idolatry, our lack of focus on God. We give our best attention to so many things which ultimately give us no joy, no security, no purpose, no peace, no life. We postpone happiness to sometime in the future when we will get what we want, when we accomplish success, when we earn the degree, when we gather enough stuff, when the children are grown, when we can finally retire, but if we ever get there, happiness isn't waiting like we thought it would be. In the meantime, our attention shifts from one pursuit to another to keep us engaged and interested, but we lack an integrating center. We either focus on the wrong goal or we lack any focus at all.

Jesus put it simply: "You cannot serve God and stuff" (Matt 6:24). And as tempting as the god of greed may be, he might well have added others. "You cannot serve God and family." "You cannot serve God and success." "You cannot serve God and politics." "You cannot serve God and fame." "You cannot serve God and social causes." "You cannot serve God and power." "You cannot serve God and religion." "You cannot serve God and anything else, however attractive, however noble, however good." But we still try! We want God and stuff and power and fame and family and religion and everything, so we jump from this to that to get it while it all slips through our hands. "Who says you can't have it all?" asked the commercial a few years ago. God says you can't have it all. But we try, and it's exhausting! And the surprising thing is our own lack of awareness that we are even serving these idols at all.

Annie Dillard suggest our souls are asleep:

We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up. We teach our children to look alive there, to join by words and activities the life of human culture on the planet's crust. Yet, like so many will-less dolphins, we (adults) plunge and surface, lapse and emerge. We live half our waking lives and all of our sleeping lives in some private, useless, and insensible waters we never mention or recall.

The Yiddish have a great word for it: schlepping. Most of us are just schlepping through life. Then one day we wake up, and where has the time gone? Where has our life gone? Might as well go back to sleep and wait for the credits to roll.

Soren Kierkegaard observed: "Purity of heart is to will one thing." And Paul tells us what that one thing ought to be:

Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:1-4).

The life of the Spirit is all about setting your mind on Christ, paying attention to God so that you can act according to the intention of your Creator. Let it be so for each of us.

Dr. Quentin Madden

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