Lent Day 5 – Coming to Your Senses

I’m surrounded by noise. I live in the middle of the Urban Jungle of Southern California. To makes the noise matters worse, I have a 5 year old and 2 year old boys. There is an abundance of active noise in the house. There are countless toys, running, yelling, wrestling, cartoons, bouncing balls, not to mention endless requests and incessant complaints. There is also the sweet noises of jibber jabber, laughter and snuggles. In my daily life outside the home there is the noise of the latest podcast, music or phone conversations (hands-free of course), clients, voicemails, emails and texts. My wife and I have the noise of our own plans, complaints, requests and deep conversations. Overall, there is a lot of noise. Some of it, very important noise. However, my life is very noisy.

In this season I’ve sought to take intentional time to step away from the noise into more silence. What I’ve discovered is that I have more incessant noise to deal with than the noises around me. It is the noise in my own head. The head-noise consists of the countless thoughts and voices telling me all the things I need to get done, all of the should’s and supposed to’s of the day. Some of the thoughts are attacking and painful reminders of where I’m not measuring up to my own standards. Some thoughts are reminding me of my faults and sins, or overall disappointments. Some thoughts are dreams, plans and to do lists. Some thoughts are just random chaos. Some are haunting thoughts of fear and insecurity. All of the thoughts, with the accompanying feelings create an immense amount of noise in me.

When I attempt to sit quietly and calm myself to listen I am truly amazed at all of the noisy interference. I see that the noise is a distraction from me, a distraction from my true condition. In working through the loud distractions in my head I find I get stuck and lost. I can’t seem to escape it. However, I’ve found I way through the noise. I find that I must “come to my senses” to get out of the noise. I mean “senses” literally. I need to stop and see, hear, smell, taste and most importantly, feel. It is when I’m able to engage my senses that I know where I am and who I am. I can connect to being a human-being on planet Earth. I can more clearly hear my worries, anxieties and needs. I can see where I’m off my path of my life. I can smell the stench of sin and taste the sweetness of grace. When I engage the human gift of my senses I know me, where I am and who I am a little more clearly. I can see what I need and return to the care-taker of my needs.

Jesus launches a famous story of a Father with two sons. The younger, rebellious son, tells the Father he is as good as dead to him. This son takes his inheritance and blows it on a life of indulgent debauchery. When the parties all ended and he was in utter ruins, this younger son was feeding pigs and envying the swine food. Jesus says, the younger son “came to his senses.” Once the son heard, saw, smelled, tasted and felt where he was and who he had become he decided to go home to his father and beg forgiveness and get out of his mess. The story tells of an amazing reaction of the father. When the father sees the son a long way off he runs to him, embraces him, restores him and celebrates him. The father later exclaims to the older brother that the celebration was necessary because his younger brother was lost and now he is found! Coming to my senses is not easy. I don’t always like what I find. But, coming to my senses helps remind me that I have a home in my Father who forgives completely and loves tenaciously. He even celebrates me. The noise I desire to hear is the heartbeat of my Heavenly Father as he embraces my worn out body and tired soul. The noise I desire is the singing and dancing of joy and celebration of being found. If I have the courage to engage my senses they can lead me home to “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound!”