fireworks are such an interesting way to celebrate America's freedom.
i don't know how common they are in other countries, but after watching them alone this year with a slight cultural filter [due to the lack of nostalgia resulting from feeling a bit lonely], i started to think about the symbolism & implications for such celebration.
i watched the sky light up with bright, captivating bursts & then the fade just before the resulting smoke caught even more of the explosion the next time around & lit up the sky again. everyone around me seemed to be in a trance, as if their gaze was locked on the light & nothing else around them could compete with the beauty. after the whole show was over, i meandered through the crowds in an attempt to find my way out of the stream of people and back to closer company. i noticed that as i was walking, a thick fog seemed to settle over the path i was following as the smoke somehow fell to crowd-level. don't ask me how; pretty sure they taught me in elementary school that smoke rises, but for some reason enough of it made its way down to interfere with the clarity of my escape.
what an interesting thing to do with our freedom, & a tragically accurate symbol...
i have nothing against fireworks, other than my dislike for the pollution factor, but it is a bit sad to me that this gaudy display is what we have chosen to remind us of our freedom. [bear with me...]
i began to ask myself what the 'fireworks' are in my life...
what are those things that i choose to devote my focus to simply for the sake of amusement? the quickest things to come to mind were the reality t.v. shows, chick flicks, and other distorted distractions i sometimes turn to for entertainment. certainly these 'fireworks' are not of any lasting benefit, but i don't think they're without effect either. just like the fireworks left smoke when it was time for me to find my way back to my car, these distractions definitely interfere with our ability to see the path the Lord has laid before us. how foolish we can be to seek out distractions, devote our attention to them, & then expect to walk away without being affected. we fill our lives with various things for their entertainment factor & then get frustrated when we turn back to God & can't see or hear Him as clearly. it's like staring at a flashlight - of course our vision is impaired when we look back to the path at our feet.
over the past week or so, most of the media distractions have been removed from my life [not even out of choice, just by chance], & thinking back, i am confident that the silence has been beneficial. whenever i think of silence, i am reminded of 1 Kings 19:11-13 & a quote i wrote in my journal from a former ministry staff member;
"God is in the silence. Seek it & find Him."
i am so thankful that my silence can be filled with prayer instead of drama & that i have come to a place in my life where talking to God is my initial inclination. i definitely see adverse effects from opting for other distractions & i guess watching the fireworks this year was just enough to stir up some introspective analysis.
sadly, instead of choosing those things to fill our time that will grow us and make a lasting positive impact on our lives, we too often opt for the sin that so easily entangles. not that i'm calling chick flicks a sin, but i believe that the effects of similar 'fireworks' are far too often underestimated.
i find it ironic that the fireworks Americans so closely associate with their freedom parallel the 'fireworks' many Americans freely choose to fill their lives with - things that actually enslave their minds & attitudes.
as a disclaimer, i'll have you know i'm not such an extreme conservative that i label these things 'evil' & run in the other direction, but i at least find my increased sensitivity beneficial as far as my own choices are concerned. this past Sunday, i visited Eagle Lake Camp with a few friends for their last chapel of the summer & Mark talked about something similar that would result from 'leaving the Christian bubble of camp.' he said that a summer of engaging with God leads to clearer 'reception,' & hence a stronger filter upon return.
this whole concept of freedom is not something i think i could do justice to in a single rant but it's definitely something worth exploring more, especially because
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery... You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you... You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love... So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." - Galatians 5:1, 7-8, 13, 16-17, 22-25
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." - Hebrews 12:1
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