Doing less. Being more.

David-the-Artist-Pastor shared an amazing quote this week from Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales. (I confess that I have Silly Songs with Larry on my iPod.  Why yes, my kids are too old to have experienced Veggie Tales.  No, I do not think it is odd that a grown up would have bought this album on her own just because she thought the Water Buffalo song was funny.)

Phil Vischer writes: "The more I dove into Scripture, the more I realized that I had been deluded.  I had grown up drinking a dangerous cocktail - a mix of the gospel, the Protestant work ethic, and the American dream...The Savior I was following seemed, in hindsight, equal parts Jesus, Ben Franklin and Henry Ford.  My eternal value was rooted in what I could accomplish."

We are raised in a culture of doing.  We work to earn a living.  We work to earn God's favor. Even our rest is filled with activity.  We watch television, we surf the internet, we play video games. We are measured by the things we do. We don't believe we are valuable simply in being who we are.

And so we spend  chasing the carrots. Or we get so protective of our "me time" that we refuse to play the game and opt out.

David-the-Artist pastor drew a parallel between the prodigal son and his brother.  Both wanted what the Father could give them.  One by working for it and the other by taking it and running.  But the Father? He only wanted the relationship with his sons.  The rest was just stuff.