Spiritual Headphones

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It was a beautiful Southern California morning in the month of January. Clear, sunny, bright, with blue skies; snow topped the San Bernardino Mountains and a soft breeze flowed down cooling the air. It was a perfect day for a perfect run. Every step of the way was worth taking during the longest run in my entire life in preparation for the Surf City USA 2010 marathon. It was also a perfect day to listen to my favorite worship music and to meditate in my experience. I would like to share the numbers for that day:

The numbers are impressive when you see them like that! However, my run almost got spoiled, but not by the bigger numbers. It was not the number of steps I took, the number of beats I made my heart take, or the number of feet I had to climb uphill. It was not even how cold it was, or the number of water stops that forced me to bend my tired legs, or how long it took me to complete the run. I was bothered by the smaller numbers; perhaps by the two blisters on my feet, but most definitely, the pair of non-cooperating headphones that left me with two irritated ears.

I fought my headphones to keep them plugged. I pushed them. I twisted them. I screwed them. I held them with both my hands. I tied them around my ears. I wrapped them around with my headband. I pulled the cables over my shirt. I changed the position of my iPod. And I repeated every single one of these methods over and over without much success. I got very annoyed as not only my ears got irritated but also my spirit.

Paradoxically, my worship attitude deteriorated because I could not listen to the worship songs. I then remembered that verse in the Song of Solomon that reads: “Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards” (2:15 CEV). I had to catch my “little fox”, control the wrestle against my defenseless headphones, and fix my attitude to enjoy the rest of the run ahead.

Many of us may get similarly upset by the smaller things. Some situations are so typical that have joined the Annoyance Hall of Fame, such as pressing the toothpaste in the wrong place, leaving the shoes in the middle of the staircase, or changing the scissors from their proper place. We forget that “wrong”, “middle”, and “proper” belong to our perception of things. But more importantly, we forget how our attitude towards the smaller things can spoil our race of faith, the harmony in our homes, the peace in our relationships, and deviate us from our purpose in life and our higher goals. Our race of faith is radiant; we must seize the little displeasures that destroy our run.

Cucamonga Peak, photograph by Vladimir Lugo

While approaching the Cucamonga Peak around mile six, a thought filled my mind and accompanied me the rest of the way. An inspiration that helped me catch my “little fox.” When was the last time I got my spiritual senses irritated by my insistence to hear God? When was the last time I meditated on his words with the intensity to push them, twist them, and screw them into my soul? When was the last time I importuned him with my prayers and waited for his answer? No wonder the first commandment reads:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (NIV: Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

Take your spiritual headphones with all your strength to impress, talk, tie, bind, and write the motivating word of God into your heart. Love God with dedication, insistence, perseverance, fully and willfully. I cannot remember if my headphones stayed in my ears, but I certainly finished strong and heard his word in my spirit. We would like God to show us the big accomplishments, the amount of effort, if there will be suffering, how the atmosphere is going to be, how fast we are going to achieve our goals, how much money we are going to earn. However, and more often than not, God is not impressed by the numbers. He talks to us in the simpler things, the little adjustments, the one step ahead, and the invisible actions. The few words like the ones I share today to encourage you.

Use your “little foxes” to teach you the spiritual value of things and adjust your attitude for the rest of the road. Fight to keep your spiritual headphones plugged. Keep listening. After all, there are better headphones than those provided with your iPod.

Vladimir Lugo