"Monastics," says author Philip Yancey, "have a practice they call statio that means, simply stopping one thing before beginning another:
Rather than rushing from one task to the next, use for a moment and recognize the time between times. Before dialing the phone, pause and think about the conversation and the person on the other end. After reading from a book, pause and think back through what you learned and how you were moved. After watching a television show, pause and ask what it contributed to your life. Before reading the Bible, pause and ask for a spirit of attention. Do this often enough and even mechanical acts become conscious, mindful."
Philip Yancey worked for 10 years as an Editor and then Publisher for Campus Life magazine before beginning a career as a freelance writer in the 1980s. He has written over 20 books and is among this generation’s most respected Christian authors.
Yancey concludes, "I find that if I take time to pray for the recipient before beginning to compose a letter or before making a phone call, it makes the task less of a chore and more of an opportunity in which to receive or express God's grace."
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).
In July of 1998, consumer watchdog Ralph Nader published an "open letter" to billionaire Bill Gates. In it he points out Mr. Gates' immense wealth in comparison to almost every other living being on the planet. The letter begins:
Dear Mr. Gates:
An astonishing calculation comes from Professor Edward Wolff of New York University and presents an important opportunity for you. Professor Wolff, a wealth economics specialist, estimated that your net wealth is greater than the combined net worth of the poorest 40% of Americans (106 million people). That includes their home equity, pensions, mutual funds and 401(k) plans, but excludes their cars.
When Professor Wolff made his analysis, your net worth was only $40 billion. Now, according to the latest Forbes listing of billionaires, your assets exceed $51 billion, and that may be outdated outdated indeed ... $75 billion as of September 2013! ... So it is fair to assume that the mostly secondhand cars of these 106 million Americans can now be included and then some.
Nader went on to suggest that Gates call his good friend Warren Buffet to arrange a conference on "National and Global Wealth Disparities and What to Do About It." His hope was to enlist the help of Gates and all his billionaire buddies to draw up policies and plans to redistribute global wealth.
"With the dual sweep of the Gates-Buffett hands," Nader concluded, "the serious and consequential plight of humanity would become a matter of high alert for all those business colleagues and acquaintances of yours who aspire to move from success to significance."
No one, according to Nader, should be richer than any 100 million other people!
Regardless of our varying political positions on this issue, we can all agree that giving to the poor from a generous heart is certainly lauded in Scripture. And when it comes to the worldwide distribution of wealth, God leads the pack, far ahead of Nader, Gates, Buffet, and even Obama. Jesus--God in the flesh, King of the Universe, owner of eternity--refused to be any richer than even one other single person.
"Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8).
In that one act of selfless sacrifice, He utterly leveled the playing field and globally redistributed all the wealth of Heaven. Now ALL who believe in Him become "joint heirs" with Him (Romans 8:;17). Now ALL who believe in Him jointly own "the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). Now ALL who believe in Him possess the very righteousness of God Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus has shown us, by His life and message, what it really means to move from success to significance!