"Frasier"

Frasier has won a lifetime achievement award for his work on his radio show as a psychiatrist. On the evening he is to receive the award, he steps into his former professors office to tell him. He blurts out that he is upset and he doesn't know why.

After much discussion, his professor insists that it is because he has built his life around his career, and that his career was based on learning to use psychiatry as a way to distance himself from fear and feelings.

Frasier disagrees and says that he is suffering from a mid-life crisis, and that if someone had called up his show, he would have been able to diagnose it in half a minute.

His professor suggests that he pretend to call his own show. So Frasier sits down and begins:

FRASIER: Good evening, Dr Crane. (pause) I love your show! (pause) I'm calling because I've spent my life working on my career, and now I feel.....empty.
Frasier then moves to the chair opposite the one he is sitting in and proceeds to diagnose himself.
FRASIER: This is a problem also known as....
PROFESSOR: (cutting him off) Rediagnosing. Deal with the feelings.
FRASIER: Last month in the New England magazine...
PROFESSOR: He's read it.
FRASIER: How do you know?
PROFESSOR: He's you. If you read it, he read it!
FRASIER: Well, this is a common problem and ah, as Freud once stated...
PROFESSOR: Stalling. Deal with the feelings.
FRASIER: There are a number of visualisation techniques you can use...
PROFESSOR: He already knows them! Why do you keep talking to him about psychiatric jargon?
FRASIER: Because that's all I have!!!
There is silence.
Then Frasier speaks to his 'caller'
FRASIER: I'm sorry, caller. I can't help you.

Later on in the show, Frasier steps up to accept his award. "Thank you for acknowledging my life," he says sadly. "I just wish I knew what to do with the rest of it."

It doesn't come across with such impact on the Internet. You don't get to see the body language or hear the tone of voice. But you can imagine.

And I think we all feel like Frasier sometimes. I know that I have. Sometimes we feel empty and we don't know why. And we don't know what to do about it. We don't feel that what we have done counts. We don't know what we can do to make the rest of our lives count.

Emptiness is painful. I know of many temporary fixes or distractions - careers, uni work, money, boyfriends/girlfriends, hobbies, a job, a ministry. And they dull the pain. But I know of only one permanent cure - and that is a vibrant relationship with God.

"Great," says one of my Christian friends. "I have a relationship with God, and I STILL feel empty."
I know. I was you last year.
Here's what I learned, and I hope it helps:
- Above all, please do not give up on God. Who else gives you eternal salvation? Where else are you going to go to fix the problem of sin?
- God hasn't abandoned you. He is there and He cares. If He didn't, He would never have sent Jesus to die for your sin. As I read in a book, "God hasn't brought me this far to leave me."
- Find someone you can tell about how you feel and get them to pray for you often.
- Do what you can to keep your side of the relationship with God going. Do keep praying and reading your Bible.
- Try new things. You will find something that connects you to God. For me, I discovered at Sonfest, it was praise (shoulda guessed, being a muso!). Try to do "your thing" often.
- This emptiness is not your fault. It is not God's fault. But if you are angry at yourself and at Him, you need to let Him know.
- Emptiness doesn't last forever.

The key is not just a relationship, but a vibrant relationship, one that grows and gets stronger every day.

And if my non-Christian friends haven't tuned out yet, then think about it. If you are definitely sure you wouldn't want to know God as a friend, what are your reasons? and if you discover what they are, are they good reasons? But if you do want to know God as a friend, are you willing to ask some questions to find out how? (If you are, I'd love to hear your questions and answer (or try to answer) them)

Frasier is one of my favourite TV shows and it's on channel 9 at 7pm on weeknights (except not this week, the swimming's on). It's a pretty funny show.