Boring!!

What bores us? Is it the uninteresting, tedious activity that we all regularly encounter? Is it certain types of people, events or media? In this age of entertainment, I am easily prone to adopt the prevalent mindset that it is the responsibility of others to amuse or entertain me. If they fail to keep my attention through extraordinary antics, I simply seek fulfillment in another venue.

This outlook is demonstrated in a Sports Illustrated list written by John Donovan (posted on SI.com on May 30, 2003), identifying the "most boring superstars in sports". It included Tim Duncan, Tiger Woods, Kurt Warner, Bernie Williams, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Pete Sampras and Joe Sakic. It would appear from this list that if superstars fail to shock us with titillating and scandalous behavior, they fall into the category of the talented, but uninteresting. Quiet dignity, unpretentious manners and uncompromising character just don't make headlines.

This same mindset has the potential to infiltrate my relationship with God, causing me to approach it with an entertainment orientation. At times, I possess an attitude toward God and worship that suggests I am the one to be entertained or satisfied.

This tendency reveals the orientation of my heart. Rather than desiring to bless the Lord with my worship and actively pursue His Truth, I often approach God's presence seeking only to receive. With that kind of attitude, boredom is often the result.

What bores us, and what does it reveal about us? Dare we, this week, shed any self-
centered attitude of boredom and pray with the psalmist,

"Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me. For you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long." ( Psalm 24: 4-5)

Sharing the journey with you,