You know the drill or remember it if you ever had a desk job. The boxes. How were yours arranged? One for filing, one for “pending” one for outgoing and one for incoming? In my Navy career, there were three times when I was the “Radar O’Reilly” for the band (wrong branch of the military, I know). Instead of the company clerk, I was the Administrative Petty Officer. It was one of my collateral duties when I wasn’t busy enough playing trombone. For those of you who think Navy musicians never worked or had a “skate” job, guess again! In the Navy, I could not let the in-box overflow, lest I incur the wrath of the Bandmaster, the only commissioned officer in the band.

Now that I am a pastor, I still should not let the in-box get too piled up. If you ever had one of those on your work desk, you know that cleaning out your in-box is a very humiliating exercise. Things that you just don’t want to deal with go into “pending” or even the “round file”, i.e. trash. Buried in my in-box, I am ashamed to say, is a half-sheet of paper that is a three-step guide to contemplative prayer. The three steps are “Stop, Look and Listen”. It is an invitation to cease work activity, get comfortable, and just listen for the still, small voice of God. It is a great twenty-minute exercise in being quietly aware of what God is saying to you. You may repeat a simple mantra in your mind, such as “You are my child. I love you. I am pleased with you. I am with you.” There is such value, satisfaction and purpose in this.

But as I said, this handy little exercise has gotten lost in the shuffle of my self-imposed busy-ness. Because, after all, I don’t want my congregation to think I’m a slacker, that I am just skating through my ministry! This half-sheet of paper deserves a more visible spot on my desk. So I will now tape it to…..let’s see…..too big for the computer screen…ah! I’ll tape it to my candle jar. I know I have a little-used tape dispenser here somewhere…

Lord, remind me to stop, look and listen to you. Let me not forget why I am truly here: to be still and know that you are God, to know you, not just about you. Help me to be aware of the word you have for me. How about this: unconditional love. May you who read these words be encouraged to spend twenty minutes, twice a day, with the One who loves you unconditionally. Amen.

Pastor Art