Color me Disney. Last week, I pondered the positive side of a Pollyanna outlook. Today, I pulled up one of my WDW vacation pictures for a little inspiration.
The truth is, I have a couple of really juicy ideas to write about. I even have some excerpts from the book I am currently writing that I wouldn’t mind sharing. But, frankly, it’s the middle of summer, and the only thing saving me from the heat is my wonderful a/c and dreams of ice cream.
So, what about a list of five things we can be doing on hot summer days to offer the love of Christ to those who are of the world and not just in it?
Write a blog post! 🙂 Or better yet, read some blog posts and find someone you can encourage in their own walk with Christ. Many of us writers are much better communicators when we can put something on a page (or computer screen) then when we are speaking in person. Let’s put those skills to use to be encouragers of the Word.
Turn your favorite hobby into an act of giving. I enjoy knitting. I’m not very good at it, but I can at least cable-stitch a decent lap or baby blanket. I buy soft yarn and take my time knitting as I am able. When I complete a blanket, I wash it to make sure it smells nice and holds up. Then, I give it to a friend of mine who works for a community outreach group. She passes the handmade blankets on to nursing homes and/or programs that provide clothes to mamas who have nothing to take their newborns home in.
Clean out your closets. Did you know that anyone who has to go to the hospital for a suspected sexual assault has to give up all their clothing as evidence? Most hospitals have some kind of program to take in clean, nice clothes as replacements. Or, your nice clothes that you don’t wear anymore could go to your local outreach organization for them to distribute or sell in their thrift shop to fund programs that do things like help kids get supplies for school.
Stock up on some cool bottles of water and canned goods or snacks and make the circuit in your car. When you see one of the people on the street corner with the signs about needing work or money, hand them the bottle of water and a protein bar. You could even have a typed or handwritten message about God’s love for us to hand to the person as well. The policeman out on patrol wouldn’t mind some cool water on a hot day either, I’m sure.
Phone an acquaintance. We all have people in our lives that we know and have felt a call to reach out to, but we just haven’t gotten the courage to do it yet. What better excuse than a day too hot to be outside to give them a call? Depending on the situation, it could be under the guise of making sure the person has enough resources to make it through the heat (like an elderly neighbor on a fixed income who may not be able to afford the a/c) or to just say hello.
I know none of these suggestions are particularly earth-shattering. They also are nothing new. I have blatantly taken them from ideas of kind acts I have seen others do. Grace is such a wonderful gift, may we never take it for granted. So, even on lazy, summer days, we can find ways to be the hand of grace toward others for the One who makes all things new for us and through Whom all things are possible.
In a culture where even our favorite “good” guys often come with a bit of a dark side, it may be difficult to fathom (if you are younger) or remember (if you are older) the days when a hero could be so good, we used terms like “syrupy” or “wholesome” to describe them. But the 1960 Disney film, Pollyanna offers just such a hero. In fact, the young girl from this film who maintained a positive attitude in the face of all things to the contrary became so synonymous with the concept of goodness that those for whom goodness is an uncomfortable concept turned her name into an actual insult: “Don’t be such a Pollyanna,” they’ll say. And what they mean by that is that you are putting your head in the sand, ignoring reality, and being just, plain stupid.
But Pollyannas are actually quite the opposite. In fact, Pollyanna is a forerunner of an idea that has been around since time began, but that cycles in and out of popularity, like so many things: the concept of CHOICE. For no matter where you turn in the pages of history, or even your Bible, those who find peace are those who master the ability to realize that we choose how the things that happen to us will actually affect us. By choosing positive, God-directed thoughts, we keep ourselves on the narrow way of Kingdom citizens. Let’s see how Pollyanna did it.
As the story opens, Pollyanna has every reason to curl in the fetal position and hide in the attic room her aunt has stuck her in following the death of the young girl’s missionary parents. She could be angry that her aunt owns the town and yet sees her as a charity case. She could even be cowered by the servants who snarl at her and warn her not to get in the way.
But Pollyanna has been raised to be made of sterner stuff. First, she introduces to anyone who will listen the “glad game,” a way of thinking her father had taught her when the missionary barrels brought crutches instead of dolls to play with. If any situation comes up that might make Pollyanna feel down, instead she looks for a way of thinking about the circumstances that could be a good thing. She CHOOSES to be glad.
Guided by Pollyanna’s aunt, the local minister spews fire and brimstone from the pulpit each Sunday that leaves his congregation with a case of indigestion to last for the rest of the week! One day, as the preacher is alone at the top of a hill worrying himself over how little he seems to reach that congregation, up comes Pollyanna with a folded note to deliver from her aunt. As the preacher finds himself sharing his lamentations with the young girl, she has a bit more wisdom to impart from dear old dad.
If you look for the evil in mankind, expecting to find it, she tells the preacher, you surely will.
“Abraham Lincoln said that,” Pollyanna concludes. She goes on to explain that about the time her father found that quote, he had begun his study of what he called the “glad texts.” These were the verses where God instructed us to be happy, to find joy, to embrace love. Pollyanna tells the preacher there were 800 of them. “My dad said, ‘If God told us 800 times to be glad and rejoice, He must have wanted us to do it,'” she tells him.
The next Sunday, the preacher has obviously done some thinking about choice. He delivers the happiest sermon of his career. And, he lets Pollyanna know there are actually 862 glad verses. He knew because he had spent the better part of the night before staying up to count them.
Last week, I offered the roadmap to beginning your walk with Christ. With Christ in your life, you’ll soon discover that CHOOSING a Pollyanna world is more than possible, mainly because you are no longer facing the challenges of this world alone. The moment you accepted Christ as your Savior, repenting of the sinful life you have led, that we have all led, you were open for the entrance of the Holy Spirit, our Helper in this world to shine the light of Christ for those still in darkness.
There are many places in the Bible that likewise show a CHOOSING plan of action. Here is one of them, from Romans 12:9-21:
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Each day, you are exposed to messages from television, the music you listen to, the billboards on the street. Many times, you don’t even have control over the messages that you are being bombarded with. But you do have the ability to CHOOSE which messages you will accept as truth. And you will have a growing understanding of God’s truth the more you study His word, communicate with fellow believers, and spend time in earnest prayer. Don’t forget, the devil has a real stake in making us believe the things that will keep us down, like “God can’t forgive me,” or “Nobody cares about me,” or “the Church will just judge me.” But God’s truth is about love and a believing community. Don’t let the devil make you confuse what feels good with what is good (but more on that another time).
For today, embrace the “glad game.” Choose to see the light in your situation instead of the darkness. Pollyanna managed to affect her entire new community in a positive way. It may have been a typical Disney ending, but it’s an ending God gives us the right to CHOOSE. Just open your hand and reach for it.
A Christian Treasure Map (clipartlog.com)
It was a sunny, summer afternoon, but a cloud of sadness and worry and death hung over our house like the proverbial monster in the closet that nobody wanted to talk about. My grandfather had died eighteen months earlier at the young age of 52 in a faraway hospital in the big city. My grandmother had lived with us for a time, gone to help my aunt on her mission trip in Mexico, and was now going to live in the used but serviceable mobile home we could afford to get her with the small proceeds from the sale of my dad’s “ancestral” home and the pittance of a widow’s salary from social security, which for a carpenter who charged just what he thought a job was worth came to a whopping $400 a month in 1981.
In prepping the lot beside my great-uncle’s house for my grandmother’s trailer to set upon, my uncle, just 33, developed what appeared to be an appendicitis attack. When the doctors opened him up in the nearby Lamesa hospital, what they discovered was cancer, an overwhelming amount of it. They sewed him back up and sent him home with pain medications and hospice care. He had a three-year-old son, a four-year-old marriage and a handful of months to live.
When you are 11 years old, these things tend to happen more around you than to you, swirling around you in black clouds of that which cannot be defined. On this particular afternoon, alone at home with my sister somewhere in the house, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to do something.
I knew just enough about the Bible to be dangerous. I believed in God. I prayed to God. I had often wanted to go forward to be a part of what the preachers were talking about at the end of every sermon I attended. But, as my dad explained to me, I wasn’t old enough yet to really understand what it was I was stepping forward for. You’re fixing to agree with him.
Because what I knew about God included the use of sacrifices, I figured, why not give it a try? I thought about what meant a lot to me. My practically-flattened teddy bear, “Sugar Bear,” came to mind. (My sister to this day takes great delight in comparing her plump version of this same bear to the one I slept with and on, apparently, each night, as he resembles my sister’s version on permanent Weight Watchers). So, with not much assurance of what I was doing, but with the optimism born of ignorance only youth can bring, I snuck into the back yard with Sugar Bear, placed him on a pile of cinder blocks, and offered him as an exchange for my uncle’s improved health.
This take on theology was bad on so many levels, I don’t even know where to begin. Also, note that since I wasn’t allowed around matches, I didn’t even think to light the teddy bear on fire, so who was I kidding? I thought the sacrifice would work by God just reaching down and taking my teddy bear? It may have been the most egotistical moment of my life. (Unfortunately, for me, it probably wasn’t the most egotistical moment in my life. I’m sure I’ve done worse.)
Luckily for me, I have since learned much more about the meaning of sacrifice in our relationship with God and the exact role of Christ in that relationship. Within a year of my ill-fated attempt at “miracle making,” I was indeed baptised into the family of God. And then the real learning began.
In my first adult Bible, a KJV from 1977, I have marked the step-by-step guide of verses to share with somebody who is ready to be led to Christ. I want to share those verses with you in case you have never seen them in this particular order before, or if you yourself have been wondering what all this Jesus “stuff” is all about. We begin in Romans 3:10:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans 3:23 reiterates:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
After establishing that none of us are blameless before God, we need to understand why blamelessness is so important:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:(Romans 5:12)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)
And how is Jesus a gift to us? Turn to Romans 5:8:
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Now, we understand why we needed something to get closer to God, which is because we all have sinned, and we see that God’s plan was that Christ’s sacrifice would wash away that sin once and for all. So, what do we have to do? The next steps come in Romans 10: 9-13:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Even 31 years later, I can remember sitting in class with my Sunday school teacher, Patty Taylor, who had us all mark these verses in our Bible, including our starting point and the verses to go to next, like a treasure map to the greatest prize of all time! I have quoted this treasure map in the KJV from the original Bible where my young hands marked this all out, full of anticipation of being able to share this very map with somebody else some day.
Today, I’m sharing it with you. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I talk about God all the time because He is a part of my life (though, believe me, I am NO saint). However, in 31 years, I think this is the first time I have actually shared the treasure map I have offered to you today. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity.
I grew up in the era of fire and brimstone from the pulpit, and I tend to lean in that direction way too often, seeing the cup half empty instead of half full. But, the whole point of our Gospel Treasure, this thing we carry within us every day and everywhere, is that our cup is overflowing! What a wonderful gem to shine. No wonder Christ emphasized His role in casting Light into the darkness.
So, I say to that 11-year-old trying to pray away a teddy bear in the cool breeze of a summer afternoon many years ago, focus on the promise we carry, which is the love of God. The ultimate sacrifice has already been made. Now is the time to pay it forward.
These steps would be a hard struggle, even without a world of temptation around me. In fact, without the Spirit that dwells within me, I would find it impossible to see the narrow lane that is the way of God, much less stay anywhere near within its bounds.
Even though the love of Christ makes who I am more important than what I do, the process of being love and goodness is not without obstacles. The television beckons on a daily basis, slipping past me words and actions that would not have passed the censors when I was a child and yet are OK for even day-time airwaves. I still turn the television on. With the boon of electronic publishing, I have thousands of books at my fingertips. Do historical romances count as “clean” fiction? I doubt it. But, you’ll find quite a few of them on my Nook account.
“Do not be deceived,” Paul tells the Corinthians. “‘Bad company corrupts good morals'” (1 Cor 15:33).
The devil doesn’t show up looking like some horrible creature you want to shrink from, but as the appealing figure you only know as a deceiver if you really pay attention.
Which brings me back to the Spirit that dwells within us, the mechanism by which Christ makes “His burden light” (Matt. 11:30). Through the help of concentrating on the Spirit, we will find ourselves more sure-footed on the narrow path:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Galatians 5:16-18
The last part of Paul’s admonition to the Galatians may seem contradictory. What did he mean by not being under the Law? Remember, for one, that in the time that Jesus walked the earth, the Law had become a thing that lost sight of its main goal in overwhelming minutiae. Christ told the Pharisees it was not what was on the outside that made them unclean, but what was in their hearts, remember? In living by the Spirit, what Paul is saying is that we are no longer caught under the minutiae of the Law that gets us focused on the wrong things. Instead, with the Spirit, we are guided by the love and goodness that Christ exhibited while He was on this earth. And this kind of living, rather than losing sight of the Law, inevitably ups the ante.
This piece has turned into one of those “sinners in the hands of an angry God” kind of approaches, when it promised something very different, so let me deliver on the promise of the title. Spending time in the Spirit takes practice, just like any other skill. You build up to it. You have to commit to it. But, the more you do it, the more you realize that it is so much more rewarding than the entertainments or activities that you used to do to fill the voids in your life that simply don’t cut it any more. (And you do still seek television time and good books to read. You just find yourself liking a different variety of entertainment on television more than what once interested you.)
Whenever somebody goes through a great tragedy, we often wish them the “peace that surpasses all understanding,” the peace that comes from God alone because He alone knows the truth about what is (Philipians 4:7) . But I think we get flashes of understanding when we practice our Holy Spirit muscles.
For those of you that own a cat or dog, there is nothing more peaceful than one of these creatures curled up in perfect slumber. How many times during a week do I find myself scurrying around with chores and work, glancing up to see my cats in blissful slumber and envy them their perfect peace?
And yet, if I would just take a page out of their books, stop for a few minutes, or an hour, and go to my Father with a request for that same kind of peace, won’t He grant it? Didn’t Christ give us that very example throughout His time on earth? Look at all the examples of moments when He took Himself aside to be alone in prayer.
So, here’s to knowing the peace that surpasses my cats’ naps, to daily exercises in the Spirit, to a world of wonder when we see through the eyes of God’s love.
Thanks to one of my biggest encouragers in the WordPress community, Cathy, I am honored to be nominated for the Family Blog Award, which emphasizes the concept of community that proves blogging is more than just a passing fad.
Longer ago than I care to remember, I studied anthropology as well as English at the university. For one graduate class, I was able to combine the two disciplines in a paper that used the theories on how cultures change espoused by anthropologist Frank Turner to analyze the poetry of my writing mentor, a great poet named Walt McDonald.
One of Turner’s main principles about social change is that it begins on the outskirts of society, in what he calls the realm of anti-structure. In this environment of anti-structure, the outcasts exist on equal footing, actually finding more successful “solutions” to the “problems” in the conventional way of doing things. The bad news? Eventually, the anti-structure itself becomes structured, and the process begins again.
We can apply this principle to the way Christ exacted change during His time on earth. He and the disciples definitely worked outside of the structured rules of the Pharisees. When Christ rose again, the early church continued this tradition. Remember the early monasteries, where the brothers shared all things equally? Eventually, though, these brotherhoods became institutions. Martin Luther, working on the outside of church thinking, sowed the seeds of the Reformation. The cycle began again.
Now, I’m not saying that blogging on Christian faith will lead to a revolution in church thinking or doctrine, but I do look upon my blogging as a way to spread the word of what I pray the Holy Spirit has given me the skill and the insight to say. Reading the blogs of other writers on the subject of Christianity, I feel that I have found a community of believers out there who feel the same way. Some of you may be very active extroverts in your churches or communities. Many of you, like me, may be more introverted, tending to view the world from the edges, but still having so much to say that the outlet of blogging has been a real blessing.
The rules of this award including nominating fellow bloggers whom you feel have helped you in your WordPress journey. I believe you are supposed to shoot for ten other people. Being a strong believer in anti-structure, I will likely fail to get ten listed :), but here are some bloggers who have helped me feel a part of a growing community of believers who are speaking so that the rocks have no need to cry out:
From biblical-based advice on living a more God-centered life to honest reflections on the challenges of daily living (including the ever-dreaded visit to Wal-Mart!), this blogger means what she says and says what she means–and she takes the time to give others encouragement with personal comments, too!
This blogger’s daily devotionals are deep, insightful and end with a great prayer to get you started on a God-filled day. I appreciate getting to read such good writing that is also obviously prayerfully considered.
This young blogger has been given a real talent by God that she is openly struggling to find the best use for. Honestly, I see a lot of my own struggles in her posts. Some, I have overcome. Some, I still struggle with. But, it always helps to know that we are not alone in our feelings. I appreciate her honesty and openness.
Encouragement in this writing life can come from many places. It might be awards like this one, where you get to take a moment and reflect on the fellow writers who have helped you grow your own skill. Or, it may come from stranger places. Flipping through radio channels this week in my car, I happened on a Glenn Beck interview. I don’t really know that much about Beck. I don’t keep up with politics. But in this interview, he was discussing a book he’s written. What struck me was that he spoke about the Holy Spirit as a kind of muscle that we need to exercise if we expect to be able to use it with any effectiveness. We can’t just let it lie dormant in us once we have accepted Christ and then expect it to work wonders when we’ve been walking around as if it weren’t even there.
For a person who has been trying to grow her faith and lessen her fear, what a wonderful analogy to hear! God is so powerful. It was nice to be reminded (as I was heading to yoga to do some exercise for my body) that I need to keep up the work I have started of exercising my Spirit muscle as well. Blogging is one way I exercise that Spirit.
What have you done for your Holy Spirit muscle lately?
Thanks to all of you bloggers for the words that fill spaces you don’t even know exist each week in people’s lives. Let’s keep encouraging each other and strengthen our walk by faith.
Last week, I talked about starting the journey of emptying myself to make room for God in my thoughts, choices, and way of life. I also noted that this is a process of growing that I will have to begin again each day. So, what practical steps can I take to make my mission a reality?
My first step has to be paying more attention to my thoughts. Do you ever really listen to yourself? My brain is going all the time, and most of that time does not involve thoughts one would call “God-worthy.” In fact, many times, my thoughts are busy being critical of myself and others. If I can do a better job of listening to my inner dialogue, I will immediately improve what my tongue actually says as well.
One of my current reads is the book on the Sermon on the Mount, Invitation to a Spiritual Revolution, by Paul Earnhart. This morning, I read his thoughts about Christ’s teachings on faith. Like the emptying of the self, faith is also a daily practice. Earnhart defines faith as “an active, practical force which affects the whole of life,” and little faith as that “which has not been carefully thought out and applied.”
When I allow myself to get worried about anything, I am practicing little faith, or actually no faith at all. But, as Earnhart points out, I am not alone. He uses the example of the episode when the disciples were in the boat with Jesus in the storm and got so nervous. They had seen Jesus perform so many miracles, but they still didn’t fully understand the truth of Christ. If you understood and had faith that the One who had created all things was in the rocking boat with you, would you have any reason to worry about the storm swirling around you?
Like the man who came to Jesus for healing for his son, but at the same time plead with Jesus to “help me with my unbelief,” I spend my days tottering between facing the world with open, peaceful arms and worrying over the smallest of issues. But, what Earnhart had to say this morning was worth applying to my life:
It will help us if we realize that the freedom from fear to which Jesus calls us is a lesson we master over time, by long practice–by reminding ourselves again and again of what the cross says about the unchanging faithfulness of our Father’s love and by prayerfully taking our burdened thoughts to Him (Phil 4.6).
By watching my inner thoughts, I now have an ever better saying than just “Stop!” to turn my negative thoughts toward the positive thoughts that bring us closer to God:
I will not be anxious!
I will have faith that grows!
When my mind is empty of the critical thoughts and anxiety, then I can hear God. I can fill my head with the Bible verses I am working to memorize. I can fill my head with images of the wonders of nature that are often as close to God as we can get. I can go from faith-challenged to faith-warrior.
Sometimes, when coincidences happen, you start to think maybe God is telling you something He wants you to listen to. I had just such a set of coincidences this week.
It began when I decided to grab my copy of the Oswald Chambers classic, My Utmost for His Highest, during my morning Bible reading and turned at random to the January 5 entry. Chambers has chosen for his text the episode in John’s account of the gospels where Jesus predicts Peter’s denial of Him (chapter 13). Christ tells Peter that the loyal disciple cannot follow Him at that moment. Skip ahead to the risen Christ, who reinstates Peter, ordering the “fallen” disciple in John 21 to “Follow me!”
Chambers concludes:
Between these times, Peter had denied Jesus with oaths and curses, he had come to the end of himself and all his self-sufficiency, there was not one strand of himself he would ever rely upon again, and in his destitution he was in a fit condition to receive an impartation from the risen Lord.
In other words, Peter was finally empty and ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Once he was filled with the Spirit, Peter went on to be the foundation of Christ’s church, just as the Lord had said he would be.
When I finished reading Chambers, it struck me that to know true peace and purpose in Christ, this emptying is something that we have to do over and over again. How else do we keep from being diverted by the distractions of this world–the entertainment media, our jobs, our family obligations? Some of these are things we cannot put aside, but all of them are things that should come after our commitment to the One and Only.
I think we all want to acquire the kind of calm that being rooted in the Spirit of God has to offer. With that kind of peace, no force can move us. Traffic can be bad, the weather can be horrible, the job can present one challenge too many. But for those who have emptied themselves to be filled by the Holy Ghost, there is a sense of peace, faith and hope that does not leave us.
I picture Yoda, so in tune with the Force, that even Luke’s whining does not divert him from raising the spaceship out of the water. Not even Darth Vader can divert Yoda from his centered being.
But I began by discussing coincidences. Later in the week, I happened to watch a 1962 movie, The Spiral Road. In this story about doctors in the jungles of 1936 Indonesia, a young Rock Hudson begins by denying the very existence of God. He is an ambitious doctor who is convinced that he is strong enough in himself to defeat all the challenges that trying to offer medical treatment in the middle of a jungle among people from a different culture present.
In the movie’s climax, Hudson takes on a task two other doctors before him have failed to complete, despite their faith–overcoming the tricks and resistance of a local witch doctor in an isolated camp near a village where people need medical attention. Because Hudson has no faith, he is convinced he will defeat the witch doctor through his superior mind and logic.
In the end, Hudson’s mind fails him. He becomes as empty as the two doctors who have failed before him. And in that moment of emptiness, Hudson cries out to the very God he said did not exist!
So, I think it is high time I pay more attention to the concept of my own emptying and the subsequent filling by the Holy Ghost. After all, when I have a difficult time clearing my mind from all its random thoughts in order to meditate for five minutes in yoga class, how am I making room for the Almighty to come in? No wonder I experience anxiety instead of peace!
But this is a journey that is just beginning, again. I have decided to share it as I go. I want to concentrate on practical steps I should be taking to grow closer to God. In the words of Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.” I want to do every day, in the peace of God.
So, I start with the promise of what we have because of our faith. In his letter to the Philipians, Paul explains it this way:
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (4:11-13)
A mind that has learned to be content no matter what is a mind that understands how to empty itself and accept the peace of the Holy Spirit. I appreciate in advance any and all thoughts on how you manage this process in your own walk with God, the One with Whom there is no coincidence.
I love lists, and I love projects. Maybe that is partly why I work on writing and crafts and extensive reading and getting three stars on all my Angry Birds levels, as well as doing my full-time job and the other tasks that go with day-to-day living.
Based on some of my most recent reading and life experiences, I have come up with five steps I am trying to make daily habits to help me improve my general mind set and my ability to meet the most important goal of all–living a life that reflects the love of Christ.
So, for better or worse, here’s the latest project I have, my daily checklist.
BETTER LIFE PRINCIPLES:
1. Think on the Word– What you think about is where your mind goes. If you are thinking about a person who is making you mad or about what you should be wearing, then your mind is not taking you to a good place. Being a person with high anxiety, I am in the very bad habit of letting my mind dwell on worries like getting bills paid or deadlines met for work or even things I can’t control like bad weather. If, instead, I put in my mind verses from the Bible that remind me about God’s love for me, about His desire for me to know peace, about His example of caring for others to show our love for Him, then where in my mind will there be room for worry?
To this end, I have begun trying to learn more Bible verses than my standard Lord’s prayer and Psalms 23. I found a great APP, called BibleMinded, that lets me choose verses I want to memorize, and even has a study and test mode to help me with the process.
2. Re-visualize my point system life– I am a perfectionist, which really is just a nicer way to say I am overly judgmental. I tend to want a 10, will settle for an 8 when time demands it, and reflect that I actually accomplished a 6 in hindsight. Recently, it dawned on me that most of the world tends to happily operate at an 8 on most days. It also dawned on me that most people don’t waste time putting a point value on their days. They spend their time more productively just living them.
That’s not me. I don’t think I can break a lifetime worth of analyzing my life both consciously and subconsciously this way. I can, however, re-think my point system. Basically, I think my judgmental 6 is probably the rest of the world’s 8. When I start to really beat myself up, I now ask myself, am I at least at a 6? If I am, I count it a good day, and move on.
3. Look for what is RIGHT instead of what is wrong– Along the same vein on being judgmental, I am working to see the good in things instead of the bad. Think about it. If I am always seeing what is wrong in the situations around me, including my own performance, then what chance do I have to foster a positive attitude? If I look for the good in people and situations, won’t it be easier to love them unconditionally?
Looking for what is right doesn’t mean ignoring what is wrong. You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. But, how many “wrong” things we think about each day really have anything to do with sinful behavior? Also, by looking for what is right, I am beating myself up much less than I normally do.
4. “It’s not your business”– I am a problem solver. It gives me a deep satisfaction to come up with the solution to a difficult situation, so much so that I will often go looking for problems to find solutions to. But this habit can lead me to stick my nose into places it does not belong. By reminding myself what is and what is not my business, I keep myself from getting frustrated with myself and others. After all, when you try to make your business something that is not, why are you then surprised or angry when the other party doesn’t do what you think they should or seem interested in what you have to offer?
5. Get to vs. Have to– I’ve written about this important change of phrase that can lead to a whole change in attitude before. But, as with so many of life’s truths, it seems I have to keep reminding myself of the change in mindset I need to affect a more peaceful life. When you think about a task as something you get to do instead of thinking of it as something you have to do, do you realize how drastic a change that one word can make? Getting to do something is exciting, important, fun.
So, now I get to move forward in this life by fulfilling the promise in my Five-Step Program. For those of you who don’t like lists and projects, maybe your current program is a goal like starting to attend a new class at your church or knocking on your neighbor’s door to invite them to attend church with you next Sunday. Maybe you are determined to spend fifteen more minutes a day in your Bible study or in prayer.
Whatever you do, know that every day God gives us is one more day we can love more, learn more, and lean wholly on the One whose own life was a shining example of how to live our faith.
The true message of Christ, the power of love, has perhaps its closest parallel in the perfect picture of a mother’s love for her child, the kind of love we honor on Mother’s Day. Like every mother who has stayed up nights by sick beds, given up her own freedom for the sake of the ultimate good of her children (taking away the car keys means mom has to drive, after all), or spent countless hours on her knees praying for the safety and happiness of her family, Christ did not merely state His message of love. He lived it. He continues to live it, especially through those who choose not to see the baptism by water into Christianity as an ending but a beginning.
Living a Christ-like life means always striving to be more, but not more in the sense of this world. In this world, filled with television, movie, and internet messages, more means better cars, faster electronics, fancy clothes, bigger houses, high-paying careers. In Christ’s world, more means better sharing, increased love of others, joy in what one has, faith that one is where he/she is meant to be and the discipline to walk in the narrow path of God’s truth.
When you have to spend so much time in the world, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of being of this world, all too easy to grab the more expensive brand of something because the commercials have convinced us it’s better instead of saving those extra nickels and dimes to share with those who have even less than we do. When you are of this world and not just in it, it’s too simple to fall into the wide and easy ways of this world. When we choose based on what everybody else is doing instead of what Christ would do, we make our lives simpler in that moment, but we also buy into the devil’s marketing plan, as it were, and his way leads only unto death.
We’ve all fallen victim to it, especially often during the holiday times, when so many ads want to convince us that what they are selling will make us better, happier, more peaceful. But, think about the times you have fallen victim to this marketing. Do you really feel happier? Maybe for a moment, but what then? When you rely on the devil’s marketing plan, don’t you always have to go searching for peace and happy again?
Christ’s marketing plan was simple: love. If we follow this plan, we don’t take actions that will hurt others. We strive to perfect ourselves in aspects of life that really count, like helping others, doing good, being kind, taking joy in nature and each other, including our differences. How different would the world be if these were the messages that flashed across our televisions and movie theatres and computer screens?
We can’t change the whole world, but we can change our own actions and the ways that we interact with those with whom we come into contact. What steps are you taking to grow in your walk with Christ? I will be working this week to set up my goals to mature in Christ. I believe I will start in Galations with the list of the fruit of the Spirit. What about you?
Every story, or song, or poem, or LIFE has at its core the purpose of answering the only question that really matters.
Several questions may be floating around in your mind at this moment. Certainly, life itself is fraught with questions. Most certainly, the world in these most recent of days, when everything seems a bit tilted on its axis, when at the moment you think you have heard the worst of something, another evil thing even more horrible rises to the surface, the questions scream at us:
Why does a loving God let this happen?
Why does evil win?
What is the point?
Why am I here?
The answers to metaphysical questions, to questions about the ramifications of free will in a fallen world, even to questions about the choices of an omnipotent God when we ourselves see only in part (1 Corinthians 13), are the kinds of answers that, once we actually have them, the questions themselves will no longer matter, for at that point we will no longer be part of this world, but literally in the next one.
But none of these profound and dear questions are at the heart of what it means to be human. And answering the question of being human is what lies at the core of every life and every creative thing produced to explore humanity.
And the question that is the core of all of that love, hate, mercy, fear, kindness and anger is this:
How do you cope?
We can think and question all that we want, philosophize and theorize, but how we actually make it from one breath to the next, from one catastrophe or challenge to another, how we are bent to our knees, being beaten down by the horrors of a world where the evil one exists and yet rise again, Phoenix-like from the ashes of our own existence, these answers are the core of all things good. The reflections of survival through coping are what give us heroes–in real life and in fiction.
The Bible is replete with sagas of men and women who face the absolute worst that a fallen world has to offer and come back again. Long before there existed a peoples who called their maker, LORD, Job became an unknowing puppet in a game played by the devil. Job questions God, demands an audience with God, but never turns his back on God, even when it seems that God has turned His back on Job. In the end, Job sees returned to him in plenty all that he had lost.
David, who has a heart like God’s, offers an even more complicated series of lessons in the art of coping. He has to survive being hunted down by his former mentor like a fox being trailed by a pack of bloodhounds. He rises to kingship only to be felled by his overwhelming lust for another man’s wife. The first child of that relationship falls ill and dies, the second becomes the king of great wisdom who actually builds the temple David longed to erect for God. In the stories told about him, and through the record of his psalms, we get a vivid picture of a man of great power who always loved God more, a king willing to dance in the street like a child in celebration of the LORD.
From prophets to disciples, the Bible gives us glimpses of what it means to be human in the light of He who casts away all shadows. Through rejoicing and prayer, through forgiveness and love, those who cope by taking on the yoke of Christ will find that the narrow way, though not easy, is the most rewarding.
Remember when the disciples asked Jesus why the people in some great tragedy of the day had had to die? The disciples thought it was because the people must have done something really awful. Jesus tells them that the people who perished were no different from anybody else. They died so that God’s purpose might be fulfilled. Paul reminds us that we see here only partially, as in a mirror. The question of why just isn’t as important for us to know about as the what, which is following God’s command to love Him first and foremost and love others as we love ourselves.
How do we make things better, today, for the people we meet, the people we know? What resources do we have that we aren’t putting into use? Why not shine the light Jesus so generously gave for us to shine?
In the opening scene of the greatest story ever told, your story, your soft eyes open. The glare of a single light above your mother’s bed or of a thousand lights in a sterile hospital room, send you into a wail of fright mixed with the joy of being alive. The air, air, so different from the amniotic fluid that has been your safe, warm blanket for nine months, riffles across your exposed skin, feeling sharp and making you long for the feel of the heartbeat to which you have grown to know as home.
What do you plan to do about it, this brisk entry into a reality you do not know a thing about, laying before you waiting to be learned?
That’s what great storytelling, and living, is all about–the stepping across new thresholds, stumbling, and rising again on our way back to the place every soul knows as home.
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