Take time to appreciate God's awesome power

"Be still and know that I am God."

Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But how, exactly, do we DO it? How do we quiet our thoughts long enough to concentrate on how awesome our God is? Society is no help. Just go to a professional baseball game and you will know what I mean. No longer do you see grandpas with their grandsons watching nine-inning games, sharing a box of cracker jacks and a Coke. Too old-fashioned, I guess.

Nowadays the stadiums have "alternative entertainment" for the youngsters. There are swimming pools, jacuzzis, video arcades, blow-up slides, "See how fast you can throw a baseball" calibrators, contests on the field between innings, and mascots trained to pose on command for a photo shoot. Many fans now bring their PSP's to the game so they have something to do as the batter walks to the plate. Sit through three hours of baseball? With at least four-to-five minutes of idle time between innings? Surely you jest.

We are all being acclimated to a fast-paced, entertainment-at-all-costs lifestyle. How did we, the older generation, ever make it? We had teachers who lectured nonstop for an hour. None felt compelled to provide activities to reinforce what they were teaching. If we acted up, we were smacked or sent to the principal's office. Nowadays, if we fail to entertain in the classroom, we "lose" the child; he/she tunes us out. One of my friends quit teaching because, as he put it, the only way to keep his students' attention was to put a stick of dynamite between his knees and blow himself up.

My girlfriend just bought a new vehicle. The back of the front seat headrests are each equipped with a DVD player, just in case her two grandchildren can't agree on what movie to watch. And get this -- the infant seats face the rear of the car. These babies aren't yet even old enough to face the front to watch a movie! My friend claims she's just thinking ahead.

I remember traveling across country with our three young sons. They had a coloring book and a magnetic board on which they could move little shavings around to make beards or funny hairstyles on a framed face. If they got tired of that, we would sing songs or play the Alphabet game, and sometimes we would just talk. And sometimes they would hit each other or make each other cry when playing "Rock Paper Scissors." And then we would pull over at a rest stop so they could run around and wear themselves out.

Parents of this generation are buying television sets for their children's bedrooms. That way the young ones can even go to sleep to noise. Teenagers do their homework with their IPODs plugged into their ears, and many brag about the hours they spend on Facebook each night.

We have no idea how to be still, how to quiet our spirits, much less set an example for our children to do the same. After all, there is so much to do, errands to run, business to accomplish, emails to catch up on, appointments to keep. And then we read a scripture like this one: Be still and know that I am God. And we nod our heads and say, "Amen, Amen," and remind ourselves that TOMORROW we'll get right on it. But none of us ever do.