Monthly Archives: August 2020

“Enough Already!“”

On August 9, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I have never felt like I was enough—at anything. A sense of inadequacy pervades everything I am and do. Sorry to be so brutally out front about this, but there it is.

I’ve decided, just today, that I don’t have to be sufficient or adequate in any area of my life. At least, I don’t have to be sufficient or adequate on my own. That last phrase (“on my own”) is the crucial one.

Since the Garden of Eden, people have been trying to make their way in the world on their own. Do I need to tell you that this has not gone well? No, you’ve probably noticed.

We were not designed to “make it on our own.” We were made to help one another. Above all, we were made to be helped by God. To paraphrase a quote from a St. Augustine prayer, “Our hearts are inadequate until they find their adequacy in thee.” God is the source of our adequacy, our sufficiency, our enough-ness.

God called Moses to go back to Egypt to lead God’s people, Israel, out of slavery. “I’m not enough, LORD,” said Moses. And of course, he was right. But God said to Moses, “I am your enough-ness!”

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to Judah and the gentile nations. Jeremiah said that he wasn’t old enough. God said, “Shut up and prophesy!”

In discussing his gospel ministry, the Apostle Paul asked, “Who is sufficient for these things?” The answer that he expected was, “No one! Certainly not me!” But then, Paul said, “But our sufficiency is from God.”

So, I have resigned from my quest to be enough. It is not a godly quest, because it is not quest for God. Enough already! God is enough for me, for you, for the whole human race. In fact, God is more than enough.

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“We are All in this Together—and We are All Alone”

On August 8, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

One of my 12-step readings this morning started with the following epigraph:

“Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.

  —Rainer Maria Rilke”

Love is the only thing that is strong enough to embrace both our solitude and togetherness.

We are hearing variations of the slogan “We are all in this together” a lot these days. We are hearing it far more than we are living it out. Careful, elderly people like me are prone to judge those who don’t wear masks. Those who don’t wear masks are apt to do the same toward those who do. There are moments when I wish someone would speak (or shout) the truth:

WE ARE NOT IN THIS TOGETHER!

But there is something that combines our essential solitude and our equally essential togetherness. And that thing is love.

Love is not to be reserved for those who are like us. In fact, if I reserve love for only those who are “like me,” I will love no one at all. Nobody is really all that much like me. My wife and I are so different and disagree about so many things. If love were about likeness, we would hate one another. We are indeed two solitudes.

And yet . . . And yet, we two solitudes protect and touch and greet one another. We love.

But love can draw wider circles. Love doesn’t have to be limited to one person. Oh, yes, I agree: There are special relationships that are exclusive in how they are lived out. My wife is very special to me, and I to her.

On the other hand, love—as distinct from its individual and unique expressions—can grow to be as big as the Pacific Ocean. My wife’s and my relationship is a quiet and sheltered bay where we can be safe, where we can be together in our solitudes. But we need to venture out into the wider, wilder waters on a regular basis. Otherwise, the bay may become a stinky, stagnant swamp.

So, we are all in this together after all. We just need to live out that togetherness in a creative way that respects our own solitude and the solitude of others.

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“Mastering the Simplest Stuff”

On August 6, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I am always pleased whenever I master even the simplest stuff. For example, I have figured out how to put my wife’s and my measuring spoons back on the “ringy-thingy.” (“Ringy-thingy” is the best technical (??) word I could that I could find on the internet for the piece of plastic that holds measuring spoons together. Sorry!)

When she first bought them, I thought to myself, “How nice! They are all different colors, and we can keep them together on this nice . . . ringy-thingy!”

But then, I washed them. That was fine, but after drying them, The Problem began. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get the blamed things back on their holder (the ringy-thingy). I poked and probed and got nowhere fast. I spoke unkindly about the design and the designers. I thought some unkind thoughts toward my sweetheart who had purchased such instruments of torture.

But recently, something wonderful happened. I figured out how to get the measuring spoons back on the ringy-thingy. And it wasn’t even that difficult. I had mastered this simple task.

I’ve always struggled with the simple stuff. I was in the fourth grade before I could tie my shoes. And this was long before the days of Velcro. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to learn how to tie them. It was terrible embarrassing—indeed, humiliating—to have my mom or my teacher tie my shoes at the advanced age of nine. I felt very small and stupid.

Then, one day, I confided in my niece. She was two years younger than I was, and she had been tying her own shoes for a couple of years. Debbie was a good teacher. She very patiently and slowly went through the steps of how to tie shoes. When I was on the verge of tears and wanting to give up, she encouraged me. “No!” she said. “You can learn this!” And I did learn how to tie my own shoes!

So, across the years, I’ve noticed several important things about how I learn simple stuff.

  • The first thing I need to do is to get over thinking that simple stuff is simple. It isn’t. At least, it isn’t simple for me.
  • The next step is to realize that this not-so-simple stuff is going to take time and that I need to make lots of mistakes before I ever master it.
  • I need teachers who are patient, encouraging, and who break things down into little steps.
  • I also need to be patient—with my teachers, with the process, and above all with myself.

What simple stuff has been holding you hostage? Or are you holding your own self hostage?

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“Anniversary Thoughts”

On August 4, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Today is my wife’s and my forty-seventh wedding anniversary. Here are a few random thoughts about this momentous, gargantuan day.

  • I was amazed when she married me. I am more amazed now.
  • I didn’t think she would be as wonderful as I thought she would be.  I was right. She was even more wonderful than I thought she would be. In particular, her wisdom and sense of humor are much more spectacular than I knew at the time. (The fact that I am often the butt of her practical jokes—as well as the occasional recipient of hard wisdom—does not, in any way, compromise my delight in either her jokes or in her wisdom.)
  • I wasn’t mature enough to marry my wife or anyone else, but she was farsighted and patient.  She saw that I might someday grow up to be an actual human being. There have been some signs here of late that this might actually be occurring. However, let’s not be premature baby!
  • Laughter is a major ingredient in our relationship. Sometimes, we’re not even sure what we are laughing about, but who cares.
  • I am discovering that getting my own way and being in control aren’t nearly as much fun as getting out of my own way and being in love.
  • I have discovered that you really can love someone for a lifetime. There is enough mystery in every heart, mind, and soul to last for forty-seven years. Indeed, there is enough to last forever.

Happy anniversary, Princess! I love you so much!

“Celebrating Life Itself Today”

On August 3, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I just had a wonderful phone conversation with a good friend. He is one of a few people who always stimulate my best thinking.

He was wanting me to pray for him as he struggles with “a sense of direction” in his work during the covid-19 crisis. I suspect we are all struggling with similar issues right now. Even if we are not working in the nine-to-five sense, we are wrestling with some variation of the question, “How should I live my life in light of this pandemic?”

I suspect that, right now, having a clear sense of direction isn’t quite as important as it usually is. Perhaps the main thing right now is to just stay alive, and do just a little bit more than stay alive. Maybe being alive and staying alive is direction enough.

Maybe it always was. I was thinking about the throwaway question, “How are you today?” Perhaps we could make the question less routine with a life-affirming answer.

“I am alive today! And so are you! How cool is that!” Something like that.

Perhaps this terrible, deadly plague is reminding us of what we should never have forgotten—that life itself matters. Being alive is a great thing. Other people being alive is a great thing. Do we really need more than that?

Yes, I also believe in Life after death, in eternal Life through Jesus Christ. But even our mortal life is precious in God’s sight. Perhaps we should try looking at life, ourselves, one another, and all creation through God’s eyes.

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“The Problem with Racism and Isms in General”

On August 1, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “The Problem with Racism and Isms in General”

The problem (or at least a problem) with racism and other isms is that isms are a form of laziness. This applies to “Christianism” as well as atheism, to sexism as well as racism. It also applies to ageism, whether this refers to the labeling of the old, the middle-aged, or the young.

Racism and all isms are a form of laziness because these isms pretend that we can simply lump people into certain groups, and then make certain assumptions and judgments about them.

But humans, and perhaps all other creatures, resist such lumping together. Even dogs and cats can’t be lumped together. “I like dogs better than cats because dogs are friendlier!” Oh, really?! You’ve never met Gracie, then! She is a friend’s gray cat. She likes to sit on my lap and purr while I pet her.

“Baptist ministers all like fried chicken!” Oh, really?! I was a Baptist minister for many years. Yes, I did in fact like fried chicken. However, some of my colleagues hated it.

The truth is that people are themselves. They are messy, unique individuals with their own strengths and weaknesses, with their own likes and dislikes. Isms are a lame and lazy attempt to find a shortcut to actually knowing people.

Of course, racism and other isms are deadly. You may think that “laziness” is too mild a word to use for something so horrible and fatal. However, you may be underestimating how serious laziness itself is.

I once knew a lazy homeowner. He knew that the railing around his upstairs veranda was getting rotten. However, he was too busy (or lazy?) to fix it. A guest, not knowing the danger, leaned on it, and fell to the concrete below. He was paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life.

Lazy racism and other isms are a serious matter. I refuse to allow myself or anyone I love to bask in such laziness without a challenge.

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