COMFORT
What is comfort?
We are not much different you and I because we both long for comfort. What is comfort? Some people may define comfort as a general sense of well-being. In todays fast pace world life has become very complex and filled with an increased number of things that can go wrong. Could comfort be defined as simplifying life to a level where fewer things can go wrong? Some of us swear that we enjoy a fast paced life with a lot of variables. Where does our ego fit into this equation? We all like to feel important in our roles as employees, parents, friends and siblings. Generally we all just want to feel great in some capacity. What does it mean if we are constantly trying to feel great or important? Is this an indication that deep inside we are not feeling great or important? What is a feeling anyway? Some people take prescription medication to obtain a sense of comfort, while others have a personal vice like smoking, alcoholism or an illegal drug. Feelings can be chemically altered making our whole world appear differently through our own eyes. What about the eyes of others? How do other people see us? If we fix the way we feel inside be it naturally or chemically does it change the way we appear outside? Are we separate or do we experience all the same anxieties? Have some people mastered their anxieties or is this part of an act that people put on to convince others of their greatness?
The Road Blocks to Comfort
If all of the road blocks to comfort are lies, what are those lies? We are very complex multi dimensional creatures made in the image of God. Each of our dimensions goes two directions, looking in and looking out. The first dimension is how we see ourselves verses how others see us. The second dimension is how we see others verses how others see themselves. The third dimension is how we see God verses how God actually sees us. Does true comfort come from the perfect alignment of these three dimensions? Somewhere in the midst of misaligned dimensions comes fear of the unknown defined by the “what if” scenarios that keep some of us awake at night. How do we deal with the what ifs? Do we take a sleeping pill? Do we just expect the worst case scenario to happen and frantically construct battle plans in our head? Here is a great “what if”, what if 99% of the things your feared were lies? That would mean 99% of your frantic thinking was a waste of time and 99% of the sleep you lost was for nothing. What if I could give you 99% of your mind back, imagine what you could do with 99% more mind power. How about taking that 99% more mind and just not using it? Is this what defines spiritual rest? Could comfort be defined as inner freedom? Only the truth can set our minds free. Even if the truth is scary we must embrace it to be lead to comfort.
If Comfort was a Drug what would be the Ingredients?
To define comfort lets return to our mother’s womb. God designed a woman’s body to be the source of comfort in a number of ways. This is what I would truly define as the circle of life. As a man who was once single I can say that embracing my loneliness put me on a quest for a solution. Through a less then perfect search I began courting numerous candidates in search of true love. Love is multi dimensional so I dated a number of ladies looking for that special two way connection. I was uncomfortable being alone as in being without a woman until the day I met my beautiful wife Jana. The first thing I noticed was her pretty blue eyes, her smile and flowing blonde hair. When I was with Jana she was tuned in and completely present in the most beautiful way. As our love grew deeper our egos seemed to disappear and an amazing connection formed. Jana became a source of comfort to me and to this day she is always there for me. My wife is my home and without her our home would not be a home. Marriage is tricky and if not seen in the proper context a marriage can become the source of discomfort. For example sake I am using a healthy marriage to demonstrate a point. In a healthy marriage relationship love leads to consummation as a source of comfort and consummation leads to conception. Conception brings a life into a mother’s womb and she becomes the home for a developing baby. Inside her womb is warmth, nourishment and protection. As a fetus grows its environment adjusts and the womb grows. The mother and the baby both become uncomfortable as the baby grows. Child birth occurs when the body embraces discomfort and labor pains make this evident. The life that was inside a woman’s body is now resting in the warmth of her arms and nursing at her breasts. Babies are very honest as seen when they embrace their discomforts and cry. When a baby is hungry, thirsty or has a dirty diaper they cry. If a baby is healthy it cries. As a baby grows into a toddler this honesty is often regarded as misbehavior. At some point as we grow most of us stop crying, we start pretending and we stop embracing our discomfort.
You are Me and I am You
We are all the same and the minute we forget this fact we experience a sense of discomfort called loneliness. We all need love. We all need warmth. We all need to belong. We all hunger, we all thirst and we all are kept awake by the “what ifs” some nights. All of us want to feel great and we all want to feel important. At the most basic foundation of humanity we are all the same. The answer is not prescription drugs, illegal drugs, alcoholism or a life made frantic in an attempt to eliminate all the “what ifs”. The answer is not marriage, child birth, career or anything else people grasp hold of in an attempt to feel important. Your freedom comes from the truth and the truth is that you are not alone. The answer is in a word called presence. Right now I am present and I am writing truth that always was and always will be. The fact is that if you were not important you wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t exist. You and I are in this together. I lay awake sometimes at night too. You are my child and every father worries that one day their child will forget just how important they are. It is not what you do that makes you important, but simply who you are. As a mother loves her baby so do I love you. I loved you before you learned to walk, to speak or use the restroom. Yet today your identity gets tied up in all the wrong things. I will always be waiting at home for you because “I AM” your home.
