On Monday, the stock market was going down. Retirement plans were losing value.

What was I doing during that time?

For an hour or so, a couple of us were talking to a new employee. We talked briefly about retirement plans. He’s young. It isn’t high on his list. We talked way more about how we do what we do, the kind of community we are, the focus of our organization. We talked about changed lives. We talked about how central to how we do our work that idea is.

For part of the day, I proofed an annual report we do, a simple 11×17 summary of some  of ways that we’ve seen lives change around our place. One guy talked about all the trips that our minibus and van take, hauling people of all ages to and from church services, work projects, social events, camps, and other places. Another talked about a couple of high schoolers who are acting as leaders.

For part of the day, I was converting the podcast of Sunday’s sermon and uploading it to our website, a sermon about asking and seeking and knocking, a sermon about asking God to provide.

In short, I was looking for the kingdom of God. Jesus was talking about worry one day, about how much time we spend concerned about what we will eat and what we will wear. And he said,

“Make the first thing you pursue,

make the thing that you are pouring your inquisitiveness into,

make the thing that you are hunting under every rock for,

make the thing that guides your choices about what to think about,

make your top mystery to be understood

be the kingdom of God.

If you have any time left, you’ll notice God’s provision.”

You can look, too, you know.