Disciples Path:  Week 3 – Day 4 – Turning AUTOPILOT Off

Ecclesiastes 3:1-12

There’s a season for everything

    and a time for every matter under the heavens:

    a time for giving birth and a time for dying,

    a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,

    a time for killing and a time for healing,

    a time for tearing down and a time for building up,

    a time for crying and a time for laughing,

    a time for mourning and a time for dancing,

    a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,

    a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,

    a time for searching and a time for losing,

    a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,

    a time for tearing and a time for repairing,

    a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,

    a time for loving and a time for hating,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

                Continuing our discussion of the discipline of presence, today we talk about the tendency to live with AUTOPILOT turned on.  Many of us have routines that we follow throughout the day that we are well accustomed to performing.  Routines are not a bad thing; they provide structure to our lives and enable us to do required tasks and make sure we attend to the things that need tending.  But there is a danger our days becoming so habitual that we move through a day with blunted awareness of what is going on around us.  We are on AUTOPILOT. 

In this state, we miss important moments and opportunities.  We skip the beauty around us.  We inadvertently ignore needs of people right in front of us.  Our feelings are dulled and we sometimes mindlessly wander into trouble because we aren’t really present to our surroundings.  We’re alive, but we’re not really living. 

The scripture from Ecclesiastes reminds us that each moment has the potential for unique opportunities and purpose.  We are only able to perceive this when we are fully present in the moment – when we consciously turn off AUTOPILOT.  When we do this, we increase the chance that we will see and embrace the opportunities that come our way.  We may even hear the Spirit whisper what we are looking for.  We “will take hold of the life that really is life” (1 Timothy 6:19)

Prayer:  Lord, I confess I have missed so much because my AUTOPILOT was on.  Teach me to be ever present in the moments of the life You have given me.  Amen.

Song:  Steven Curtis Chapman – See the Glory