Alternative Energy Solution

Yesterday I wrote a post on the F3 blog about once answer provided to us for the fatigue problem: OPTEMPO. I rejected the suggestion that we are tired because we do too much and need to slow down. This morning, I turned our Book of Common Prayer for an alternative answer and found myself in the Confession of Sin. There, I found five phrases that might be helpful.

1. "We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep." Like a sheep that wanders off from his shepherd, we can stray from a close connection to Christ. And, like the lost sheep, we suddenly look up and realize we have lost our way. We are not in His way. Think of the energy we burn in our agitated bleating to find our way back.

2. "We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own heart." The untrustworthy human heart. Into such wacky misdirection and folly it is capable of leading us. It runs completely against our culture that screams at us daily to "follow our heart" to write this, but I no longer trust my own heart at all. It has led me astray too many times. Once astray, I have worn myself out finding my way back.

3. "We have offended against thy holy laws." In obedience to His law we find peace and comfort. Outside of His will we are exposed to the circumstances of the World, and the World is a monster. I have yet to be punished for obedience, but I have been pounded like a tent peg when I have strayed. How tiring it was outside His will, and how refreshing within.

4. "We have left undone those things we ought to have done." Think how it grinds a man down to have the weight of undischarged obligation bearing down on him daily. How much worse when that obligation is divine?

5. "And we have done those things we ought not to have done." When I ran my life I expended as much energy in the doing as I do now that I have turned the yoke over to Him. Yet, I was so much more fatigued then. I have come to believe that those things I did at my own direction, contra to His will, were done on my nickel. Conversely, the things I do in His will are done with His power. In contrast, they are effortless. I contend that slowing down is not the answer. Rather, we seek His grace in accordance with the Confession of Sin. That is why our wise Episcopalian forefathers put it in the book.