Inextricable (Natalie Thompson)

I’ve heard it said that smoking is one of the most difficult habits to give up, not only because of the addictive nature of nicotine, but also because of the mental and emotional connections between smoking and many other familiar, daily activities and routines.

My co-worker, Mark, once told me about a friend of his who was a smoker. She finished a cigarette before leaving home, but upon getting in the car, she instantly lit up another. When Mark asked her why she was smoking another cigarette, she responded by saying, “Well… I don’t know… I always smoke when I’m in the car. That’s just what I do.”

Mark explained to me that, in many situations, this was her common course of action and reasoning—that his friend (like many other smokers) often was smoking not because of her need for a nicotine “fix,” but rather because in her mind, smoking was associated with these routine activities. (“I always smoke when I… drink, socialize, go to work, drive, take a break, etc.) Smoking had become a part of many other activities. It simply felt unnatural to engage in these activities without a cigarette in hand.

I have begun to wonder what my Christian walk and my faith would be like if I began to associate God (and godly activities such as worship, prayer, meditation, scripture memorization, witnessing, etc.) with all the other mundane activities in my life. How would things be different if I always prayed, or quoted a scripture, or gave thanks to God, simply because, “Well… I don’t know… that’s just what I do when I _________ (eat, drive, go to work, hang out with friends, etc.)”? What if I included God in so many activities that I couldn’t extricate Him from my life—not because of the “fix” He gives me, but because He’s been such a part of everything I do that I subconsciously react to every situation by first turning to Him and to do otherwise feels foreign and awkward? How would my world change if every situation felt unnatural unless my hand was in His?


~natalie