The Chase (04/18/2024)

Recently I saw a dog in the back of an SUV chasing the windshield wipers on the rear window. The driver was obviously in on the game because the wipers would run, the dog would chase and try to catch them through the glass. Then the wipers would stop, and the dog would sit patiently waiting for them to begin moving again. I must admit it was tremendously entertaining.

It’s probably no surprise that the incident got me to thinking about us and what we chase. We are visual beings for the most part. What shiny object or moving parts grab our attention and our energies? And we are physical minded. What do we physically see and want to physically catch? I came up with a host of things I see our modern world chasing: the right car, the right home, the eye pleasing wardrobe, the gadget of the month.

But then I thought of the spiritual. Are our chases restricted to what we can see, touch, wear, and drive? Does our mind detect the spiritual and want it as well? I know of many who would answer, “Yes.” But I can think of many whom I don’t believe value the spiritual as much as the tangibly physical. I thought of the scriptural texts that remind us that the physical is not lasting, it will pass away, but the spiritual, we are assured is eternal.

As I pondered the day and recalled the image of that playful dog in the back of that SUV, I had to ask myself what am I chasing? What am I patiently waiting for and then eagerly pursuing? What grabs my attention? What do I want to have caught by the end of the journey?

I took it to prayer. I begged the LORD for right vision that would allow me to see the essential and the fortitude that would carry me through to the end of the chase. I named what I valued: relationships, loving relationships with our LORD and with all my sisters and brothers and with myself. I prayed for sound judgment that would value those relationships above the physical possessions and transitory shiny and moving objects of the world.

As we journey in faith, hope and love during this Easter Season, let us hold close and dear the lessons of Good Friday and Easter Sunday: our LORD’s love for us that was His motivation for His sacrifice on Good Friday and the very power that resurrected Him on Easter Sunday. Let us remember daily that we are created in love, to love well our LORD and one another. As we look about us, let us recognize what is worth the chase and what is not, what is eternal and what is not, and let us choose our chases wisely and with love.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.