Dream Catcher

Proverbs 15:9 -- "The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway."

Crunch time. 

How often in my life do I wait until the last minute to get started on a thing that I KNEW was coming due a long time ago? I have no idea why I do this to myself - and in the past few years I've made an effort to change this terrible habit. But it would seem that now and again, I'm still caught in that terrible rut of putting things off. Procrastination and I go a very long way back. 

As I read Proverbs 15:9 today I thought of the Ojibwe dream catcher. Over the course of several hundred years the understanding and interpretation of this beautiful part of Native American culture has changed - so much so that there are several tribes out there that find the commercialization and over-use of the thing offensive. The ONE thing that seems to be consistent in all of the tales and legends regarding this woven artwork is that it is meant to be a filter. Some would say that it filters out the bad dreams and allows only the good dreams to come through the netting. Some would say that it catches the good dreams and prevents the bad dreams from catching in the netting. But either way - these handwoven and sometimes intricate decorations are often tied to the folklore of what happens when we dream. All one has to do - is hang it over the bed. 

It would be kind of nice if our lives actually worked this way. All we'd have to do is set out our dream catcher and all the things that we think we want in this life could be caught within the tightly woven strings. But not only is it unhealthy to wonder through life with this mentality, it's downright harmful. Putting things off isn't just lazy - it toxic. 

Imagine a morning commute in bumper to bumper traffic. It's frustrating moving only a couple feet in the course of an hour. Not a lot of productivity going on in the stop and go - and there have been numerous losses of temper between the different commuters - some of which has lead to blood shed on occasion. Proverbs give us this image of a stop and go society. So cluttered with traffic is a lazy life that there is no easy travel from point A to point B - IF one manages to arrive at the final destination at all.  It's definitely more productive to travel along an uncluttered highway. And it's really pretty much up to us to decide which path we are going to take. Do we put things off and create a nasty, gnarly tangle of thorns in the way of our journey's progress? Or do we cling to diligence and rest assured that we have done the things that God has set out for us to do during our lifetime?

It NOT a decision that has little impact on our lives. In Proverbs we learn that being lazy IS actually destructive. It isn't just a matter of being slow to get things accomplished.

Add to that - Ephesians 6:6 reminds us to work for Christ from the heart. We are told to do all that we do for the glory of God. Getting caught up and often injured from the many snares of a lazy [thorny] attitude is NOT expressing our love for our Savior. It might even be exhausting the resources and energies of those around us that have to pick up the slack. 

As we gear up and get ready for another holiday season - I am reminded today to be wise with my time. I am reminded to remain focused on Jesus, to be diligent - NOT to put things off for tomorrow what I could and SHOULD get done today. 

I needed that fire lit under my tush.