Monthly Archives: July 2018
“No Worries! The God Who Is Both Leader and Companion!”
Most of us are afraid of the future, to a greater or lesser extent. Some of us are so prone to fear that we even fear the past. (We don’t usually think of fearing the past, but that is only because we call our fear of the past “regret.”) And, frankly, the present can also be pretty intimidating.
That doesn’t leave a lot of time to not be afraid, does it?
There is a sense in which every day is terra incognito. A saying (attributed to various people) goes something like this: “Most things are hard to predict—especially things in the future.” That lack of knowing what will in happen in any given day is pretty intimidating.
Humankind has struggled with such fears for a very long time. It may be more intense these days, but I doubt it. Times change, but our fear of the changing times does not.
Certainly, this was a struggle throughout the ancient Near East. The Bible has a lot of “fear nots,” which suggests that there was a lot of fear coursing through the veins of ancient Israel.
The book of Deuteronomy is attributed to Moses, and is his last will and testament. He is speaking to the nation of Israel which is just about to enter the Promised Land. Moses repeatedly tells the people that he will not be going in. The land and the future are terra incognito. However, Moses assures them that God will go ahead of them, and that they don’t need to be afraid.
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8, New Living Translation)
I looked at the Hebrew for this verse. It is interesting that the personal pronoun “he” is used a couple of times, even though it is not, strictly speaking, necessary. Apparently, Moses wanted to be very emphatic in pointing out that God Himself would go ahead of the people.
But this verse tells Israel that God will not only go ahead of them. God will also go with them.
It’s a wonderful picture: the God who goes before us and who goes with us. God goes before in order to lead the way, but God also keeps us company, as we go.
I have to say, in all honesty, I have a difficult time believing that most of the time. However, when I do believe it, I can face the unknown territory of the past, the present, and the future a lot more calmly.
“There’s a Lion on the Loose!”
I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder at the young age of fifty-two. My wife’s response was, “This explains a lot!”
That may be true. A.D.D. is a real thing and a real explanation. However, as with anything else, A.D.D. can be used as an excuse. When anything—even something real—is used as an excuse, it becomes unreal and evil.
So, recognizing that I am more prone than the average bear to have difficulty paying attention does not give me a free pass. Quite the contrary! It means that I need to spend more emotional energy seeking to focus on what I need/deeply want to do.
The same thing may be said about me that was said by one wise commentator about the lazy person and the lion in Proverbs 22:13. “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!’” Christine Roy Yoder comments on this verse,
No excuse is too absurd for the lazy. One pictures the sluggard curled up inside (e.g., 19:15, 24; 26:14-15) and pointing outside, stammering about an imaginary lion wandering the streets (cf. 26:13). . . . [T]he verb räcaH (“to kill”) is typically used for a homicide that particularly offends the community, such as the killing of an innocent citizen . . . . The sluggard’s unprecedented use of the verb to describe an animal attack and, implicitly, to characterize himself as innocent lends further ridiculousness to the claim. (Christine Roy Yoder, Proverbs, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009), 226.)
Whether I am struggling with A.D.D. or laziness (and I do struggle with both), or with anything else, the underlying principle is the same: No excuses allowed! Perhaps the A.D.D. and laziness are not the most serious problem anyway. Perhaps it’s the excuses that are fatal. The excuses are the lion, and they will devour my dreams, my time, my very life.
But how can I recognized an excuse, you ask? One simple rule of thumb is this: If I am having to spend very much time explaining why something is right, either to myself or to someone else, it isn’t an explanation. It’s an excuse.
So, I think I’ll declare a new holiday: No Excuse Day. It is a floating holiday, and will be observed only on days that begin with the letter “T”: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Tomorrow, and Today.
“OF CHANGE, HEARTS, FULL MOONS, AND LOVELY SUNRISES”
Are you familiar with the Joe Raposo Sesame Street song? It has a nice, catchy tune and really profound lyrics.
“I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star
I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star going by
While lookin’ at my feet, at a crack in the sidewalk
An old tin can by the side of the road
I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star going by
While studying a brand new hole in my sneaker
And finding a quarter and an old bus token
I nearly missed a rainbow
I nearly missed a sunset
I nearly missed a shooting star going by
Looking down at the ground means you know where you’re going
No head up in the clouds to lead you astray
But you can’t ever have any kind of dream that way
Looking down at the ground means you know where you’re going
No head up in the clouds to lead you astray
But you can’t ever have any kind of dream that way
While looking at my feet at a crack in the sidewalk
An old tin can by the side of the road
I nearly missed a rainbow
Elmo nearly missed a sunset
I would’ve missed a shooting star going by
I nearly missed a rainbow
Don’t want to miss that sunset
I wouldn’t miss a shooting start going by
Passing me by
Passing me by.”
Sometimes, we all lose our focus.
So, I was waiting for my ride to the twelve-step meeting this morning. I was walking around looking for change in the parking lot at Planet Fitness, keeping one eye out for someone arriving for an early morning workout. People who haven’t had their second cup of coffee can be a little less than alert than they need to be.
I found a dime, which gave me great cause for rejoicing. It also inspired me to keep looking. No more money, I’m afraid.
And then it hit me: It was a cool, clear morning with a big bright full moon. The sun was already making its presence known, and there were some lovely fluffy clouds in the eastern sky, roughly the color of orange sherbet. And here I was, with my head down, looking for a few coins! I was missing the real treasure.
This is especially ironic because, just an hour or so before my treasure hunt, I had read the following words from Matthew 6:21, in my 3-Minute Retreat from Loyola Press:
“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”
Then the retreat master for the day made these simple, yet profound, comments:
“Whatever we claim as treasure in our lives is where we put the bulk of our effort and energy. Over time we generally grow in understanding of what is really important to us, and we let go of some things in order to have the time and energy for things that are more important. For people of faith, treasure is found in the love God has for us, in our love for God, and in the love we have for others. The choices we make each day are based on what we treasure.”
I would only add that God’s creation is also something we should treasure.
So, I quit looking for coins in the parking lot, and instead spent a bit of time worshiping the God who made full moons, sunrises, and cool mornings.
“Confidence: Cultivating Courage in Others in the Little Things”
“Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the LORD is finished correctly.” (1 Chronicles 28:20)
David was about to die, and was encouraging his son, Solomon, to build the temple. “Be strong and courageous, and do the work!” says David.
Does it really take courage to build a temple? Yes, as a matter of fact, it does!
My wife and I just did a little project at our house. We were having the kitchen remodeled. Others did the really hard work—installing the cabinets and setting the countertops.
However, when the company that was overseeing the project wanted $400.00 to hook the kitchen sink back up after the countertops were set, my wife and I decided to do it ourselves.
Now, I come from a family of very capable artisans and fixer-uppers. However, I am an outlier in my family. Words? Yes! Fixing stuff? Generally speaking, no!
However, my wife used a major incantation to relax my very uncourageous muscles. She said, “We can do this.”
“We” is such a magic word!
A friend confirmed my wife’s spell. He even said that we would have fun doing it. And we did! (The same friend said that we should not try to wallpaper together. He warned me that divorce lawyers camped out around wallpaper stores in order to drum up business. Warning duly noted!)
“We can do this,” she said. And we did! And, yes, it really was fun!
We tend to think of courage as something soldiers and firemen demonstrate. I don’t doubt that this is true. However, there are the smaller chances for courage that are also important. To show courage is a wonderful thing. To encourage courage in others is perhaps even more wonderful.
I conclude with a note that I left at my wife’s place at the table this morning.
“My Dearest,
One of the gifts that you give me is confidence. You have a can-do attitude, not only for yourself, but also for me.
When you believe that I can do something, I have more courage to at least try. And sometimes, really quite often these days, I succeed!
Courage is not simply a gift we are given or achieve. Courage is a gift we give others.
With Great love and Appreciation,
Your Sweetheart
“Warning! Cautionpassenger Approaching!”
I receive a wonderful word-of-the-day each weekday from the site https://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html. (You can and should sign up for this free daily e mail as well.)
This week’s words are “tosspot words”. Tosspot words, according to Anu Garg, are compound words made up of a verb (which occurs first) and a noun. The noun must be the object of the verb. (There are other definitions of the word “tosspot.” These include a person who drinks too much, or anyone who does anything objectionable. It is one of those wonderful British all-purpose insults.)
Today’s word was “cutpurse,” which in an old word which means the same thing as “pickpocket.”
Anu told a wonderful story of going home to India as a university student. He was on a train. Several men gone on the train at a station. One of them warned young Anu that he needed to be very careful. There were a lot of pickpockets around. Anu patted his billfold, which was still there. When he got off the train, it wasn’t. Apparently, the man who had warned him about pickpockets was the pickpocket—or cutpurse, if you will.
Anu came up with a wonderful tosspot word for the man who had warned him and lightened his load: “Mr. Cautionpassenger.”
This set me to thinking, not so much about words, as about reality. It may be that the people who are warning us are the real danger. Often people who are wanting to warn us about things may be the very perpetrators of the thing about which they are warning us. (The Apostle Paul warned us of the same thing. You may read Romans 2:1ff. for further details.)
Watch out for those who warn you to be careful about your investments. They may be about to sell you fraudulent stocks.
Watch out for those who warn you about liars. They are probably lying to you.
Watch out for those who warn you about sexual misconduct. They are probably on the make.
Be ware of people who warn you about people who warn you about people.
Be ware of all “cautionpassengers.”
We seem to live in a time when everyone is warning everyone about everyone. The liberals warn us of the conservatives, and conservatives warn us of the liberals. The Republicans warn us about the Democrats, and the Democrats do the same concerning the Republicans. Those who like to think of themselves as “independents” may be the biggest cautionpassengers of all, since they warn us of everyone.
I think that the real issue underneath the issues is fear of our own fear. However, those who encourage us to fear others, no matter who the “others” are, may be the real danger.
This danger is two-fold. On the one hand, we ourselves are easily manipulated by fear. On the other hand, we try to manipulate others with fear. We are all, at least in some measure, “cautionpassengers.” And, of course, this blog is a warning against all who warn you of things. Thus, my posting of this both illustrates and violates the very thing I am warning you about.
If we cultivated within our own selves deep integrity, we would not be as prone to manipulate others by their own fears. We might also be less prone to allow cautionpassengers to manipulate us with our own fears.
“LET’S PARTY!”
“His son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ’Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began.” (Luke 15:21-24)
The son seems to have been expecting only bare acceptance as a hired hand (verse 17), but he received an abundantly joyous welcome—indeed, a party—as a son. We always tend to underestimate God. The runaway son was expecting merely enough food to keep him from starving. Instead, he was the guest of honor at a feast.
This son, this son, who had demanded his share of the inheritance, even though his father was still alive, this son, came draggin’ his sorry butt back home, begging for mercy.
I am that son. So are you—or daughter, as the case may be.
And what do we expect? Mere acceptance, perhaps. If we’re lucky.
And what do we experience? God’s glad embrace and kisses. Words of affirmation. A wild party at which we are the guests of honor.
We talk a lot about the unconditional love of God, but we have no real idea. The parable of the Father’s lavish love for his runaway son (and the stay-at-home son as well), should shove us in the direction of a better view of God’s love. Sometimes, stories like this succeed in getting people to run, walk, or crawl in that general direction.
And then, there is the redemptive love of Jesus, as shown on the cross.
“A Reflection on Spoiled Milk”
“He that to what he sees, adds observation, and to what he reads, reflection, is in the right road to knowledge.
—Caleb Colton
We are not just feathers blown on the winds of a powerless life. We bring ourselves to our experiences. The dynamics of learning include, first, what happens – what we see or read or hear – and, second, what we make of it. So in our observations and reflections we consider what an event means to us.” (Excerpt from the book, Touchstones, published by Hazelden Press)
I used to think that reflection involved the big questions. Is there a God? If so, what is God like? What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of my life?
This morning, I realized that a reflection on spoiled milk will do nicely enough.
In our household, we buy milk when it is cheap. The problem is, we don’t drink as much of it as we used to. So we freeze milk. Sometimes, we even remember that we’ve frozen some milk.
The milk we had this morning—until I poured it down the drain about ten minutes ago—was spoiled. My wife casually, in her best non-accusatory voice, said, “I think some of the frozen milk was poured in with the fresh milk I bought.”
I was irritated. I was irritated because I don’t like wasting money. I was irritated because, I was the one who had poured the frozen milk on top of the fresher milk. I was irritated because I was irritated.
But I had just read this bit about reflecting, so I said to myself, “Self, why don’t you reflect on spoiled milk, and your attitudes, values, and actions?”
So, that is what I did. I got quiet and reflected. Here are the results of my reflection on spoiled milk.
First, the saying, “Don’t cry over spilt milk,” came to mind. Perhaps crying over spoilt milk wasn’t necessary or helpful either.
Next, I asked myself a really crucial question: What am I really irritated about? I didn’t like the answer, but here it is anyway.
I was irritated because I was trying too hard to please my wife and it wasn’t working.
You see, my wife likes to bake. This works out nicely, because I like to eat! And she bakes for other folks as well.
But, in order to bake, she often needs room in the fridge for her masterpieces. (And, no, that is not an overstatement or sarcasm. They really are masterpieces, though she rarely thinks so.)
If my Martha-Stewart-style wife needs to put things in the fridge, there has to be room. This is a simple application of the second law of physics that states that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Be that as it may, it’s a law.
Are you lost yet? Or is this entirely too simple for you? Truth is almost always both simple and elusive.
So, the reason I had poured the frozen milk into the jug with the newer milk was to economize on space. And the reason I wanted to economize on space was that I wanted to please my wife.
Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to please people, particularly people who are close to us—except when there is something wrong with it. If it gets out of hand, it leads to trying too hard to please people, which swiftly becomes irritating to both the pleasee and the would-be pleaser.
And, of course, when I reflect on my own reflection, I realize that my desire to please my wife is not really always my desire to please my wife. Instead, it is a sneaky way of manipulating her, of pretending that I am in control.
But that’s enough reflection for one day. I can’t handle too much truth all at once. Otherwise, I might go into psychological shock, which can be fatal.
“WHAT IS REALLY STRANGE”
DTEB, “WHAT IS REALLY STRANGE”
Some of us at the meeting this morning decided to walk from the church to the restaurant where we have our after-meeting. There had been a lot of rain, and as we were walking through a shopping center parking lot, we saw a strange sight.
“Look!” one of the guys exclaimed. He was pointing at something in a very shallow puddle of water. It was small, but was moving too fast for any of us to tell what it was. I thought it might be a very small snake. One of the other guys thought it was a tadpole. (He was probably right.)
We stared at it for what seemed a long time, until somebody said, “That is really strange.”
However, one of the men in the group said, “No! What is strange is four guys standing in a parking lot staring at a water puddle.”
The spell was broken, we laughed, and moved on.
Strange things abound in our world. The really strange thing is when humans notice those strange things.
There was a man tending a flock of sheep in a fairly barren area. Apparently, he was starved for entertainment, so he noticed things. But things rarely got weird. One day, they got very weird indeed.
He noticed a bush on fire. No big deal. He had seen that before. But he stared a little longer and furrowed his brow. Something was strange here: The bush was on fire, but it wasn’t burning up! He decided to go over for a closer look.
4 “When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ ‘Here I am!’ Moses replied.
5 ‘Do not come any closer,’ the LORD warned. ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.’ (Exodus 3:4-5, New Living Translation)
Apparently, the LORD speaking to Moses was closely related to the fact that Moses turned aside to see the bush. It wasn’t the burning bush itself that led to the call of Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. It was Moses’ curiosity. It would seem that God likes people to be curious, at least, under certain conditions.
Now, obviously, curiosity isn’t always a good thing. It can, in fact, be fatal. But the mere fact that something can be wrong does not mean that it is always a bad thing. (Sex and lots of other things come to mind at this point.) In fact the worst bad things are usually very good things, that have been terribly twisted.
Moses likely regretted his curiosity a thousand times. Getting the children of Israel out of slavery was not a cake walk. And once God had, through Moses, gotten the people out of Egypt, there was the matter of getting them into the Promised Land. The fact of the matter is that the people he had helped bring out of Egypt nearly drove the poor man (and God) crazy. (Read Exodus through Deuteronomy for further details.)
Nevertheless, the truth is this: Whether the Israelites knew it or not, whether Moses liked it or not, it was Moses’ curiosity that ended up being transformative.
I don’t know if our curiosity this morning about some life form in a parking lot puddle will ever be as transformational as Moses’ curiosity before a burning bush in the desert. However, I suspect that the ministry of curious noticing was good for us. And perhaps the really strange thing is that we don’t notice more strange things.
Let’s notice a few strange things today and every day. Who knows? It might be the beginning of freedom for ourselves and others. It might lead to a life-transforming encounter with God.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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