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Monday, July 23, 2012

Oh Hummingbird

"It is common for animals (even those like hummingbirds that have high energy needs) to forage for food until satiated, and then spend most of their time doing nothing, or at least nothing in particular. They seek to "satisfice" their needs rather than obtaining an optimal diet or habitat." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laziness
Humans, on the other hand...
Well, actually, humans aren't a lot more ambitious to work any harder than they have to than are most other things in nature...
http://christianwarriors.multiply.com/photos/album/9/pic#photo=25

"Extremely efficient predators have more free time and thus often appear more lazy than relatively inept predators that have little free time."
Most humans would rather lounge around in a hammock or take a "cat" nap...




Unless of course, it is something they are completely passionate about and/or find great pleasure in...
















But even then...

...after exhausting all of the energy he is able, and all of the resources available to him...

"11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. "

Is it a call to give up and do nothing?

Is it a call to set our sights on truth?

What is it that is the ultimate fulfillment?

"12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep."

9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. 12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

"Every revelation of God that is made to us—is a revelation of beauty. Everywhere in nature, in the flower that blooms, in the bird that sings, in the dewdrop that sparkles, in the star that shines, in the sunset that burns with splendor—we see reflections of God's beauty." J. R. Miller
He has made everything beautiful in its time! Ecclesiastes 3:11

"Maturity is learning to endure the pain of deferred gratification, when reality requires it; thus, the Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud proposes that “an ego thus educated has become ‘reasonable’; it no longer lets itself be governed by the pleasure principle, but obeys the reality principle, which also, at bottom, seeks to obtain pleasure, but pleasure which is assured through taking account of reality, even though it is pleasure postponed and diminished”.[3]
It's no use to fight it...

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Among the famous sayings of the Church fathers none is better known than Augustine's, "Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee."
"But the beauty of the Lord in a human life, is not merely a heavenly yearning. It is intensely practical. It is more than religious sentimentality, more than devout feeling, more than holy aspiration. True spiritual longing draws the whole life upward with it. Joan of Arc said that her white standard was so victorious because she followed it herself. We must have our spiritual aspirations—but we must follow them ourselves if we would make our lives beautiful. True holiness does not make people unsuitable for living well in this world. It has its visions of Christ—but it brings them down to brighten its daily path and to become inspirations to beautiful living. It has its joyful emotions—but they become impulses to self-denial and patient work for the Master."
J. R. Miller http://gracegems.org/Miller/beauty_of_the_lord.htm

So we must continue the work of 
The Road Less Traveled

 
Summer Breeze, Seals and Croft

2 comments:

  1. Sarah, once again, great job on the blog. I love the scriptures you used. They went along so perfect.

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    1. Lots of good writing by others was notated and accredited. Please feel free to click on and read the complete articles of the other contributions and see the full extent of their inspiration herewith.

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