Hamster Wheel Theology

I have often used the stationary hamster wheel as a metaphor for the pace and quality of modern life, with the knowledge that many of us are running as fast as we can in our little wheels.

As entertaining as it may be for those observing the hamster (and possibly for the hamster - who really knows what the hamster thinks), copying hamster behavior doesn't get us very far.  It can expend vast amounts of energy and resources, but in the end, it accomplishes very little, and we remain exactly where we started - running in our wheels...

...unless we choose to get out.

"But I can't stop running," we often say, "because of X or Y or Z."  There are always excellent reasons (read: excuses) for not getting out of the wheel.  But if we stop, and listen deeply, we will find that there are even better reasons for ending our participation in the hamster wheel marathon - even if leaving the wheel means doing things differently (read:  change).

Henri Nouwen liked to use the image of a wheel in describing the spiritual life, but the hamster wheel was not what he imagined:

   I think of life as a big wagon wheel with many spokes.  In the middle is the hub.  Often...it looks like
   we are running around the rim trying to reach everybody.  But God says, "Start in the hub; live in
   the hub.  Then you will be connected with all the spokes, and you won't have to run so fast."
       Henri Nouwen, as quoted in Pilgrim Walk in the Woods, by Susanne Vanzant Hassell

Begin and live in the center - the core - and move outward through there - remaining connected with the center of our being (which is God).  This creates a mode of being that is efficient, effective, and energizing - and unlike racing in yon hamster wheel, the scenery changes.  And things happen.

I think the wagon wheel provides far more potential for the spiritual life than the stationary hamster wheel, and I'm happy to trade my custom designed fully equipped and well used HW in for something more useful.

What about you?  Are you ready to stop running in place, and step out into a new reality?

Blessings,
Kim