Auto Pilot

I sat, leaning back, comfortable in the driver's seat of my little yellow granny car, comforted by the sounds of wheels running along bitumen, the rhythmic click of the indicator, the hum of the engine and the soft tunes coming out of my radio turned down low. The glow of street lights overhead pierced the dark night, fresh air rushed through my window, wound all the way down, the cool breeze dancing around my short-to-medium length hair. I was deep in thought. Drowning in thought actually. Thinking about the day just gone, planning for the day to come, looking ahead to next year and every year thereafter. I was thinking about everything except where I was driving to. That was until I pulled into the driveway...of my old house. Auto pilot, it's a dangerous thing.

Have you ever been so consumed in thought or worry or concern or planning, that you switched your consciousness to auto pilot. Your attention turns to those pressing matters, relegating your day-to-day tasks to your subconscious. Sometimes you get away with it. Sometimes you drive to the wrong home.

Consciousness is an underrated thing and is becoming increasingly under-appreciated in the world of mobile "phones" (which double as mp3 players, cameras and internet modems) and multi-tasking. As I drove into my old driveway it hit me in the face like a sledgehammer: how easy it is to get stuck in the past or consumed by the future. What about NOW?

The question I had to ask myself was this: how often do I switch off to the present; and what am I missing as I'm cruising along? Every moment of everyday is an opportunity to experience God or to share that experience with someone else. If all I'm presenting in the present is a sub-conscious front, how am I meant to participate in those "God moments"? I ended up in the wrong driveway, I didn't even make it close to the right suburb. Our habits and routines can lead us in the wrong direction. We arrive in destinations that are familiar and comfortable, but may not be where God is calling us to be.

The challenge to be conscious is to be aware of how God is moving and working in our lives. It can be tempting to set our faith life to cruise control, but if we are truly alert and aware in the way we live out our faith than surely it will become clear how God moves and works in, through and sometimes, despite of us!