Re-centering versus Resolution

The nation of America was founded and built upon tenacity and resolution.  From the founding of our country to this present time, Americans have made a lifestyle of working toward getting things done.  While this is represented everyday in the fast-paced lives that we all lead, it is also evident in the major events throughout our history.  For example, when the attack on Pearl Harbor led President FDR to make the decision for the U.S. to enter World War II in 1939, America ranked 39th in the world in regard to military preparedness.  However, just two years later, America was one of the top military forces in the world.  In 1941 alone, America launched more vessels than Japan did in the entire war.  Historians to this day call such efforts in America's narrative as nothing less than miraculous. Resolution is in the fabric of how we as Americans live our lives and view the whole sum of reality.In his book The Contemplative Pastor, Eugene Peterson contends that "the methods that make the kingdom of America...are not suited to making the kingdom of God strong."  Because we are a society birthed from mixture of principles of Christianity and Americanism, we are torn by the tension between working hard to "make it happen" and submitting to God by waiting and being still.  How are we to reconcile these sometimes conflicting viewpoints in such a way that we get things done and that our work has true meaning and value?This time of year is always an interesting juncture as we move from Advent season back into our normal rhythms.  For some, it will represent a dreadful return to reality - for others, a welcoming of routines that help us keep our sanity.  But for all of us, it is a marked transition from last year to the beginning of a brand new year.  This Sunday, we will look at an intriguing alternative to resolutions and recommitments as we look at the model of Christ's work life:  a redefining of "life" that centers on those things that we know to be true in the midst of busyness in order to find real meaning and a sustained purpose.