Time to get serious

"Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1.8

The apostle James warns of the dangers of introducing doubt into our prayers: it acts like a cancer, eating away at their integrity and power. In our (social) media-saturated age, the danger is not confined to double-mindedness, nor even to prayer. Such are the distractions that intrude everywhere all the time that we are in danger of producing generations of vagrants, endlessly flicking from one thing to the next while flitting from one place to another - never committing, always moving on.

There is a world of different between the polymath and the dilettante. The dilettante dabbles, while the polymath addresses many endeavours in depth, doing justice to each. Christians are called to one thing: following Jesus. This works its way out in life as loving God unreservedly and our neighbour as we would like to be loved ourselves. From these two expressions of our commitment to Jesus all else flows. The challenge is to refer back to that original intent - to follow Jesus - to make sure that whatever we do enjoys depth and integrity.

Getting serious is not about moping around with a long face. But it does involve rolling up our sleeves and committing. Where appropriate, we can do that with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts. That way not only does our task seem lighter but we spread joy as we go - even and especially where sorrow and suffering are involved. This is not to diminish the reality of hardship and grief but to lessen their pain and induce hope, faith and love.