Photo Courtesy of David MacDonald
Family Praying
There was a sign board outside the locker rooms at a fitness club where I used to work out. Several times a week someone would write a sentence of encouragement or challenge. I remember one sentence in particular: “Don't major in minor things.” I don’t think I have ever seen a reminder about priorities put quite so simply or clearly: “Don't major in minor things.”
Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In a sense he is saying that where one puts the heart is an indication of what one values. The problem is that when we value the “wrong things,” or “major in minor things,” there is a risk that it can become an addiction. By its nature an addiction is a constant drain on time and energy. At its worst it will entrap people within a narrow focus, and it has the power to destroy nearly everything it touches - addictions to alcohol, drugs, even work, come to mind.
Now, it would be easy to begin listing all those minor things in our modern world that have been raised to monumental status. A more helpful approach would be to examine ourselves to discover where we are majoring in minor things. And, while it is also important that communities do this too, each of us will have to start personally. It's the old thing about removing the log in our own eye before pointing out the speck in someone else's eye. [see Matthew 7:3-5]
So how do we figure out if we are majoring in minor things? There are three questions that help us to get in touch with our priorities:
“What do I think about?” A healthy lifestyle requires a wide variety of interests. When one becomes fixated on a particular train of thought, it can become an obsession that can interfere with life, upsetting one’s balance, sometimes allowing minor things to grow way out of proportion.
“What do I spend my time on?” I used to teach the discipline of time management. The first thing we did was to create a time log. An honest appraisal of when we actually spend our time give an unblinking assessment of our priorities. 100 years from now... it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account, or what my clothes looked like. But, the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child. Where do we spend our time?
“Where to I spend my resources?” A checkbook register or a cash flow analysis will paint a clear picture of what we value and it will put a dollar figure with it!
Honest answers to these questions will show us our priorities. If we are no happy with what we see it is helpful to share them with a valued spiritual guide. This will put us on to the road to recovering a healthy set of priorities. “Don't major in minor things.”
When Jesus was asked: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.” He didn’t stop there though: “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [Matthew 22: 36-39] One might say that Jesus saw this as the great priority.
This love is the heart of discipleship. It is the beginning point of all faithfulness. Before we can ‘make disciples of all nations’ we are called to be disciples, following this commandment of Christ as our great priority: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other priority greater than this! Don’t major in minor things!
The Rev. F. Richard Garland of North Kingstown, RI, is a retired clergy member of the New England Annual Conference.