what's your MacGuffin?

So this morning I was checking out my ol' Twitterfeed and noticed an article by one of my favorite magazines Paste, and everyday they post a List of the Day - basically "best ofs" on various topics. On this particular day they listed the best MacGuffins in cinematic history. For those who don't know or are not planning on reading the article - a MacGuffin (a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock) is the element of the film around which all the characters are focused... As the list points out - the one ring in The Lord of the Rings trilogy for example. It is the driving force behind the plot, the reason the movie exists in the first place.

Well, it got me thinking about personal MacGuffins - please no jokes - as I tend to spiritualize things... Everyone has a reason for existing, everyone has something for which they are living. Everyone lives for one thing or another. The most successful people I know, or can think of are very conscious of that one thing, and so they intentionally center their lives around it... But the vast majority of people are living for an unconscious drive or an unrecognized desire. Their lives have no intentionality, and they can fool themselves into thinking their lives have no purpose - simply because they don't see it.

These people are living to run from the demons of their past or failures in the present- struggles from childhood, mistakes they have made as adults, feelings of inadequacy. And so they live - whether they know it or not - to exorcise those demons. They can't move forward because the MacGuffin of their lives has got them chained and they don't even know it.

Jesus said to "seek first the kingdom of God..." and really the entire Bible is about this move toward that kingdom... But in order for any of us to make that the real focus of our personal lives we have to really recognize what we are actually seeking first. What are we actually living for? What defines us? And then we have to be willing to give those things up and place our trust in the Creator of the world, and the Giver of our lives. That's easier said than done for sure. It takes a lot of work and personal responsibility and help from people who genuinely love you, but in the end it's the difference between living a life without focus and meaning and centering yourself on that which matters most.

what it means to relax...

So, as Jules and I have journeyed through this thing called pregnancy we have come to the time where Julie is having to sit back and "try" to relax. Now, this has been easier said than done, because she is an incredibly driven and active person. She loves to do projects around the house and clean and work in the yard. So for her to stay off her feet has been somewhat of a challenge. I, on the other hand, have no problem relaxing... in fact, I'm quite good at it. I'd go so far as to say, I am a genius at relaxing because no one needs to force me to lay down and take it easy. Some people may call that laziness... I call it having an unusual talent for resting...

Whether you find it easy to kick back or not, even the best relaxers can become overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, and worry. I can be awakened from an otherwise sound sleep with my mind racing with the thoughts of the approaching day. It's easy to be jolted back to reality from an all-out veg fest with the worry of tasks undone, or relationships that have faltered, or the uncertainty of major life events or decisions. So, how do we cope?

I remember as a kid going through major periods of anxiety. I mean, seriously worried about going to school or doing homework... and I would get a little panicky. Then one day a simple question entered my mind... "What's the worst thing that could happen?" I started to think about the reasonable consequences of a given situation and asked, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Now, that tactic works well for a child. I mean a child probably won't be thrown out on the street if he doesn't do well on a test. A child probably won't have his electricity shut off if he forgets to do an assignment... Sometimes the ramifications of adult decisions or mistakes are pretty serious.

But, yesterday our pastor referenced a Scripture that has really stuck with me and reminded me that the eternal consequences of life don't have to depend on my past mistakes or actions... they are entirely up to God.

Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

You know, our worlds may fall apart. But the Lord is a God of compassion and his love does endure and his peace can reign in the face of anything... if we but lean into him.