Saturday, January 18, 2014

SPIRITUAL MAINTENANCE


















SPIRITUAL MAINTENANCE

                One millwright said, “I pray when I cannot take care of it myself, saving my prayers for things I cannot do… God expects us to …” But, a pipefitter quickly retorted, “There is such a thing as “PM prayer…”  For some forgotten reason, the discussion in our break-time crew meeting turned to prayer.  (for any non-maintenance folks, “PM” is not a reference to time of day, but to plant-maintenance theory.  There is the RTF (run to failure) approach.  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the mantra here.  Then there is also the PM approach (preventive maintenance).  The PM approach involves regular inspections and attempts to predict problems and deal with them before catastrophic failure.

                A light went on in my head!  Wow!  God is everywhere, even in a nasty, cold break-room full of calloused mechanics.  Out of the heart of this struggler and into mine, came His message – “take care of my business…” (cf. “feed my sheep”?!)  Spiritual “runnability” and “up-time” are directly affected by good maintenance theory and practice.  One can constantly run around “putting out fires” or one can plan, inspect, adjust, prepare…

                So, “PM-prayer”?!  How does this look in real life?  “Lord, get my boy off drugs…” could be an example of a desperate RTF prayer.  After years of neglect and inattention, one awakes to find his teenager looking for purpose and power in pills.  “Father, bless with deep faith and endless hope and undying love, the heart of the child who will one day meet and marry my little grand-daughter…” is more PM in nature.  And, our daily actions can take one theme or the other, “fire-fighting” or “fire-prevention”.

                On a personal level, how does one practice PM-spirituality?  Words that come to mind are “regular” and “routine” and “adjustment” and “monitor” and “lubrication” and “inspection” and “prediction”.  The idea of “spiritual disciplines” would be an outgrowth of this approach?!  Scriptural images of this mindset that come to mind are “shepherding” and “garden/vineyard-tending” and “wise-building”.

                RTF-spirituality is far too common, IMHO.  Sure, one can drive faster and farther if he does not stop to buy fuel.  And, oil-changes can be skipped, for a while.  But, on the side of the road, he will watch the wise driver wave as he passes by.  (perhaps, he will stop to help the poor fool?)  Remember the five wise and five foolish virgins?!  And, be thankful you are driving, not flying.

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