day 78: Reentry Day

Monday always feels like a point of reentry. In the days of space capsules (before the Challenger was invented) the point of reentry was always a time of tension. I can remember during the Apollo years the news anchors using their drawn diagrams on TV to help us pinpoint the exact angle of reentry to avoid the astronauts either burning up or skipping out into space. The country would hold their breath to see if everything went according to plan. The image is very vivid to me even to this day. If you can capture the metaphor then you can also feel like Monday is a reentry point. We spend the weekend moving away from the trials and tribulations of work (or so we try). We spend time with family and friends to decompress. We use our Sabbath time to be renewed and healed from the week past and to ready ourselves for the week coming. We try and get things right within ourselves so when we head back into the office we are ready for what will hit us. Monday is definitely a point of reentry. Not only to the tasks and work in front of us, but also to the culture that surrounds us. Out culture is a strong force that is always on us. It is powerful; whether it be the news thrust on us, the entertainment that we can choose, the politics that have become more and more a staple of everyday conversation, the fashion that we see, or the pressures put on us to conform to those around us. The culture comes from us at all angles and Monday morning is our reentry into much of what we experience culturally. We cannot help but be in the culture to work and be productive, but as we know we are not to become of the culture. We are given a call to action in Romans 12:2: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think". Our ability to not be sucked into the the behavior and actions of those around us starts with how we think. We are not to become copies of the culture. As we head back into the office today to start this new week, use this week as the opportunity to begin recognizing how we can change our thoughts so that we don't become just a copy. Maybe this week would be a good week to begin giving yourself a little mental cue to remind yourself of the challenge Paul gave us in Romans. Each time you make a photocopy this week or print out a copy of something from your computer, stop for a moment and ask yourself, "am I thinking right to not become a copy of the world and what am I doing that demonstrates I am a new person?" If we start today with this new way of thinking we will not be a copy of the world and each and every reentry point will be at God's angle ensuring with His promises that we are safe and sound.

Reference: Romans 12:2 (New Living Testament)