Monthly Archives: January 2024

“Character is the Real Lesson”

On January 19, 2024 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning.

For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet kicked me off after I had finished it, but before I had been given credit for it. I did it again. This time, my internet stayed up long enough to give me credit for it. Then I finished a second lesson, only to be kicked off the net before Duolingo had acknowledged my accomplishment.

Uncharacteristically, I did not get too frustrated. I don’t know how much frustration is the right amount, but I suspect that I got it about right. For me, this is a miracle on the order of the parting of the Red Sea. I am an incredibly easily intimidated and frustrated individual.

What helped me to cross my own personal Red Sea and escape slavery? (And yes, my captivity to frustration and fear really is a form of slavery.) I think that what helped was that I realized what my real lesson was. Actually, there were two real lessons.

The first was that my goal is to learn Spanish, not to get points or get back to the Diamond level, which I briefly inhabited. This is a very important lesson that I am having to relearn every day. Spanish is not about points or rankings. Neither is life.

The second—and even more important—lesson is this: God is not simply interested in my learning of another language. God is interested in me learning to let my character be transformed. I am not a patient person. My piddling internet issues are helping me to learn patience.

In a sense, patience is the opposite of frustration. In a deeper sense, every frustration is an invitation to training for patience. Ultimately, character and its development comprise the real lesson.

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“The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”

On January 1, 2024 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”.

What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked!

Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5, New International Version)

I have spent my life trying to help others get the speck out of their eyes. My heart may have been in the right place, but my focus was not. I should have been trying to get the planks out of my own eyes. Then, I would have been much more helpful to others who really do need help. After all, even a speck in the eye is a seriously painful problem.

But first, the planks in my own eye! And how do I know what they are? My own planks are my blind spots. How can I even figure out what they are?

Psychologists might talk about projection as a means of determining my plankish blind spots. Projection is the tendency for me to identify and critique the bad qualities of others which I think I see in them, but which are definitely in me. So, whenever I see (or think I see) a speck in someone else’s eye, I need to hit the plank alarm and consider myself.

Another way to identify planks is to ask other people. I don’t always have the courage to do that, but when I do, the rewards can be astonishing. I need to ask my wife and good friends about my planks. Then, I need to shut up and listen.

And then, there is God. Prayer is not just asking God for what I want. It is also asking God about the planks in my eyes.

Sounds like a pretty dreary 2024 doesn’t it? But then again, perhaps the really dreary thing is to have planks in the eyes and not know it. If a speck in the eye is seriously painful, how much more a plank!

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