Scan

I have a virus protection program on my computer.  It automatically scans daily for viruses.  The purpose is to find things that are undetected to the naked eye that might be creating havoc and fix them.  It is good to scan periodically.  I think the reason it is called “scanning” is that the purpose is not to go into great depth and study everything about every program in every way and produce results for what is in the computer- just flag irregularities and fix problems. 

Similarly, I think real live scanning as a practice in two environments is important.  The first is a personal scan.  I do it daily in a set time with God.  I review my life, check my heart and ruminate on my behavior.  Is there anything that needs to be flagged and fixed?  That is part of my morning exercise in the word and prayer.  Frequently something emerges.  I’m glad I do it.  Everyone should. 

The other environment is a social scan.  I think this is perhaps done less than the other.  When I enter a social situation (boarding an airplane, at a church service, in a group meeting or walking in a crowd of folks on the street or in the mall) I like to scan to see what might be going on.  I do that so that I might raise (rather than dull) my awareness of my environment.  I want to see what might be happening around me.  People are important to God.  Even these people I don’t know.  So, I want them to be important to me.  I flag people for whom I might be able to pray or with whom I might be able to visit.  I don’t necessarily do it for the purpose of “fixing” anyone.  I am certainly available to be of use if someone is silently crying out for help in ways that is unnoticeable without intentionally paying attention.  However, my primary interest is to be more alert to that which is right before my eyes. It is to stay connected and see what God sees.  It is to pray for others whom I might not otherwise see.  It is to make myself available to be of help in the event that help is needed. 

The ironic thing about our present social situation is that we are often too engaged with our Ipod or Blackberry (social tools) to notice our present social environment.  The irony is that the more we are trying to stay connected with others (twitting and texting), the more we seem to disconnect from people around us.  So, stop and scan.  Do it daily for your personal life.  Do it regularly in your social environment.  Scanning produces some wonderful surprises. 

Comments

[Tom Murphy]

Love it Matt! Thanks for the word.