Monthly Archives: July 2017
“ONE DAY AT A TIME: DANCING IN THE RAIN”
“Anyone can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something, which happened yesterday, or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time. Am I living one day at a time?” (Twenty-Four Hours a Day.)
“Dust of Snow”
BY ROBERT FROST
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
One day is at a time is more than a slogan. It is also more than a sitcom from the 1970’s and 1980’s. One day at a time is all any of its gets to live or has to live. The richest person in the world and the poorest person in the world each gets only one day at a time. Time is one of the most egalitarian aspects of human existence.
Of course, not everyone gets the same circumstances or relationships to live his or her day. So, perhaps the days are not so egalitarian after all.
On the other hand, I’ve noticed that people who have money, power, influence, pleasure, apparently good relationships, and good health aren’t always so happy in their days. Some are plumb miserable. And I knew a lady who sang hymns of praise to God the day she died at the end of her third round with ovarian cancer. It would appear that we are back to time being about as good as we perceive it to be (or, perhaps, make it to be).
But, whether time makes us miserable or happy . . . No! That’s not the most helpful way of looking at the matter. Time can’t make us either happy or miserable. We are the ones in charge of whether time makes us happy or miserable. We can’t create time itself, but we can often color it with either joy or sadness.
Not always. Sometimes terrible things happen, and we simply cannot be joyful. Sometimes we have to just stand there, like a cow in a cold rain.
But often, we can use our days to be happy, and to make others happy.
When the kids were little, we were about to go to the local outdoor swimming pool. However, it began to rain. There was distant thunder, and the pool was wisely shut down when there was lightning.
The kids—my youngest daughter in particular—were very disappointed. However, I did a very wise thing: I said, “Look, you’ve got your swim things on. Why not go out and dance around in the rain?”
And they did! I don’t remember if I myself went out and danced in the rain. Probably not. But I should have.
“HEROIC TRASH COLLECTOR”
My trash collector and I had an interesting exchange the other morning. I was out walking, and he said, “Hello, Doctor!”
I replied, “You make me laugh when you call me ‘Doctor’!”
He countered, “Well, I think that getting your Ph.D. is an amazing accomplishment.”
“I’m more relieved than amazed, I guess,” I replied.
And then, he took off his glove, and said, “I’d like to shake your hand, if that would be alright.”
“I would be honored,” I replied.
“I work hard, but you have brains,” he said.
My trash collector has been doing his job for twenty-four years. He told me in a conversation a few years ago that he had encountered people who has cursed at him for slowing them down in their cars, drunks who had threatened to fight, and bees and wild animals who stung and bit him. He is now having knee problems, and has to take cortisone shots every few weeks in order to help him to do his job without quite as much pain.
A few years ago, I forgot to put my trash out one week, and then we went on vacation. After we came back, I was taking a walk on trash day. He stopped me and asked, with obvious anxiety, “Are you all alright? I didn’t pick up your trash for a couple of weeks, and was worried about you!”
Years ago, I said to a medical student with whom I was acquainted, “I’m not too fond of doctors, but I suppose that we owe a lot to you, including the fact that we are all living longer.” His response surprised me.
“Well, actually,” he said, “you likely owe that to the garbage collectors.” He went on to explain that the sanitation folks had done a great deal to cut down on infections and even plagues.
Humm!
So, back to my recent conversation with my trash collector.
“I think,” I said to him, “that people like you, who do necessary jobs faithfully, are the real heroes.” And then I added, “I’d like to shake your hand, if that would be alright.”
“I would be honored,” he said.
“WATER OUTAGE AND GRATITUDE”
A couple of weeks ago, we experienced a water main break near our house. The water was off for several hours. I decided to go up to where the men were working. No, I wasn’t going up to ask how long the water be off. I went up to thank them for coming out on a Saturday morning to work on the broken pipe and to thank them for keeping the aging pipes working most of the time. They seemed very touched by my gratitude.
I suspect that the utility workers had been the victims of a trap that I frequently fall into. Too often, I take things for granted when they work, and complain loudly when they don’t. I don’t like that about myself, but there it is. I think I’m doing better than I used to concerning this, but I am still very much a work in progress.
I grew up without running water. Sometimes we ran for the water, but more often we moseyed. So, I really appreciate having running water most of the time.
Both of our presidential candidates talked about infrastructure, and it is an important topic. Our fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers laid the pipes that we use today. We should be grateful to them and for them. And we should be grateful for the men and women who now try to keep the pipes more or less serviceable. And, maybe—just maybe—we should be willing to shell out some money for some major infrastructure projects ourselves.
Perhaps, however, there is another kind of infrastructure that needs some maintenance: the utility known as “gratitude.” Perhaps gratitude is a primary means of God conveying God’s blessings to us. It isn’t so much that God only blesses those who are grateful. The truth is that God is good to everyone and everything God has made. “The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation” (Psalm 145:9, New Living Translation).
Rather, it is the case that only those who are grateful realize that God has blessed them. An ungrateful attitude very quickly becomes a practical form of atheism. In discussing the sinfulness of humankind, Paul wrote, “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused” (Romans 1:21, New Living Translation).
When I fail to be grateful, I sabotage the pipe through which God’s goodness pours. Of course, once I’ve done that, I am free to complain as much as I would like. However, God is not the problem.
How is your gratitude infrastructure?
“LOVE IS NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME”
“One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other.
And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.” (Mark 12:28-34.)
Much of life seems to be a zero-sum game: winners and losers, the more of this the less of that. That probably works for many things—at least in the short-run. We’ve set things up that way.
However, in many of the most important aspects of life, zero-sum is not the name of the game. When two people who have been friends for a long time are having a good conversation, who wins and who loses? The same question elicits the same answer when a husband and wife are enjoying a walk along the beach at sunset. Who wins when your little son or daughter or grandchild draws you a picture or says that he or she loves you? You get the point.
And yet, I fall into zero-sum thinking all the time. For example, I was thinking this morning about loving God versus loving people. Did you notice the word “versus” in the preceding sentence? The word “versus” is a zero-sum word.
Jesus pointed out that loving God and loving people is at the center of the Old Testament. And I have almost completely misunderstood what he was saying. I am ashamed to admit it, but I will anyway. The unspoken, unbelieving question that I have been asking in my heart of hearts is this: “How can I love God with everything I’ve gotten, and still love other people?”
In particular, I love my wife so much that I am sometimes afraid that I love her more than I love God. If love is a zero-sum game, then this would be a distinct possibility, and my wife would be an idol.
However, if love is not a zero-sum game, then loving God with everything I am and have and loving my wife as myself becomes exceedingly unproblematic.
As often happens with me, my wrong assumptions lead to false problems.
One other thing: If love is not a zero-sum game, then God can (and does!) love everyone equally. And suddenly, John 3:16 makes sense: “For God so loved the world . . . .”
“FACE TO FACE WITH THE SINNER”
“Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.’” (Matthew 26:45, New International Version.)
Sometimes, my reading and study of God’s Word is very regular and orderly. At other times, my reading (and study?) is like me—chaotic. Although I don’t advise chaos, sometimes chaos has surprisingly salutary results.
Take this morning, for example. I decided to be decidedly chaotic. I opened the Bible at random, and read the words written in Matthew 26:45, the words which batted lead-off in this post.
I had always identified with the sleeping disciples. The suddenness of the verse jolted me out of my usual way of reading and interpreting it. Suddenly, I realized that maybe—just maybe—I should identify myself with the sinners who were coming to arrest Jesus.
Oh my!
It wasn’t the Jewish authorities or the Gentile soldiers who were coming to arrest and execute Jesus. It was I!
If Jesus died for the sins of all sinners, as Jesus and the entire New Testament say that he did, and if we are all sinners (and I don’t really need any book to tell me that I am a sinner), then I was one of the ones directly responsible for his death.
Christians are often accused of reading the Bible and believing what we believe because we find it “comforting.” The Bible and the Christian faith may or may not be true, but one thing that they are not is comforting.
Years ago, a short movie called “The Crossing” came out. In it, a young man who is not a Christian has a dream. In his dream, he encounters a friend of his who has just died of leukemia. His friend tries to help the living boy realize that he is a sinner and that Christ died for sinners.
At one point, the dreamer suddenly finds himself tumbling down an embankment, and finding himself in the midst of a crucifixion. A Roman soldier is about to drive a spike through a man’s wrist. (The man turns out to be Jesus of Nazareth.) The boy grabs the arm of the Roman soldier to keep him from doing any more harm. When the soldier turns around, the dreamer is looking into his own face.
Today—and perhaps at all times—we are preoccupied with us-and-them categories. For me, as a believer in Jesus Christ, there is no such thing as “them,” only us. And if I wish to come face to face with the sinner, I need only look in the mirror.
“God at Work in Me”
My personal determination is never enough to transform me. Thankfully, my life is not primarily about my personal determination.
Here is my journal entry for this morning.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
I am determined today to live for God, because God died for me. (He also rose from the dead, but I’m afraid that news has not yet been leaked to the press.) Having a determined heart and mind and body is important early in the morning. However, will I have a determined mind later in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, during the night while I’m asleep?
To live out determination faithfully has always been my struggle. Perhaps it is everyone’s struggle since the fall of humankind, but that’s cold comfort. Fickle determination is simply being fickle.
So, what can I do? I can pray!
God, my determination doesn’t amount to much. Please grant me your determination.
After the preceding confession and prayer, I was reminded of a verse that a student and I had looked at two nights ago, when I subbed for another instructor: Philippians 2:13. I turned to my Bible software. The verse was still up on the current tab of that software.
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13, New American Standard Bible, 1995.)
If I am to do God’s will, I must first know that God is working in me to will and to do God’s will. I keep willfully (!!) forgetting that. I need to remember.
In the Greek text of Philippians 2:13, the verb that speaks of God “working” is in the present tense. The present tense in biblical Greek usually suggests some sort of continual, ongoing action.
God is continually working in me. God is continually working in me to desire to do God’s will, and to actually do it. What a wonderful truth! If I act as if I believe that (and it is an act for me most of the time), I would become much more relaxed. I would, at the same time, become much more energized.
My life is not primarily about me doing things for God. Rather, my life is primarily about God doing things in and through me.
“NO REPROACH FOR ANYTHING GOD HAS HEALED”
“God has no reproach for anything that He has healed.” (http://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/thought-for-the-day, accessed 06-30-2017. The quote is from the book Twenty-Four Hours a Day.)
“Some people think of scars as the sign of a wound. I think of them as a sign of healing.” (The source is unknown, though it may be my own. More likely, I have reworded someone else’s thought a bit.)
I woke up this morning feeling pretty self-reproachful concerning my past. Then, I turned to the Hazelden twelve-step reading quoted above.
It set me to thinking about various verses in the Bible that talk about what God can and does do with our sins. Here are a few of those verses:
Psalm 103:12: “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (New Living Translation).
1 John 1:9: “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (New Living Translation).
But one of my favorite verses is:
Micah 7:19: “Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” (New Living Translation).
Years ago, I hear David Seaman say in a sermon something to the effect that God throws our sins into the depths of the ocean, and then God puts a sign on the shore. The sign says, NO FISHIN’ ALLOWED!
Whether your sins are ancient history or pretty much current news, the NO FISHIN’ sign still applies. If Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, then our scars, even those from self-inflicted wounds, are signs of healing, rather than simply of the wounds.
“The Ten Commandments: Escape from What Enslaves Me”
A couple of years ago, I encountered a fresh approach to the Ten Commandments, and some interesting thoughts and observations concerning the Ten Commandments. Have a look at http://www.loyolapress.com/assets/Bookcovers/80499_god-delivers.swf (accessed 2-1-2015).
Commenting on Exodus 20:1-2, the retreat master writes the following:
“The passage begins God’s proclamation of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. The Commandments offered the People of God freedom from all the things that might enslave their souls. The culture and world that we live in is not so very different from that of the Israelites. It too is besieged by violence, war, clashing ideologies, and a consumer culture that holds little of value save for the bottom line. God desires us to be free from all that would enslave our hearts and souls. God wants our full attention. The Commandments offer us a way to focus our energies on God.”
And then, the retreat master asks some wonderfully troubling questions over which to ponder.
“From what things does my spirit want to escape?”
“How can God’s commandments help me to escape from things that seek to enslave me?”
The retreat ends with the following prayer:
“God of freedom, help me find my way through all that distracts me from the freedom you desire for me.”
I had always thought of the Ten Commandments as being a reasonable set of expectations which God placed on the Israelites, after he had sprung them from slavery. And so they are! The Ten are also the road map for getting to the Promised Land, and enjoying the Promised Land once they got there. The Ten Commandments are probably also the path for not going back to Egypt.
“NAKED TO THE NOW”
“Today, by God’s grace, I will choose to live in the NOW. I will enjoy the NOW as much as is possible, but endure whatever pain or discomfort there is in the NOW when necessary.” (My personal 12-step affirmation for July 1, 2017.)
“It [i.e., prayer] offers itself naked to the now . . . .” (Richard Rohr, meditation for June 30, 2017.)
I had crafted and sent my personal, 12-step affirmation to my sponsor before I read Rohr’s meditation for June 30. I was quite struck by his emphasis on “the now,” especially in light of my affirmation.
Being naked is not an easy thing to be. I have certainly never been comfortable being “naked to the now.” I remember being nostalgic when I was nine years old.
And of course, the future is a huge distraction. I used to wonder if I would be a success in the future? I have no clue about that. (On second thought, maybe I do have a clue: My wife said last night that she loved me more than ever. How can I possibly be anything but a success, when my lady says she loves me more than ever?)
We sometimes speak of someone “facing an uncertain future.” My question is, who doesn’t face an uncertain future?
But as painful as my own past choices and their consequences are, and as uncertain as the future is, I still try to avoid the now.
Why?
Perhaps I need to figure that out.
So, in the now, I am writing this post, sipping coffee that is swiftly getting cold, and watching the trees bending in occasional breezes. The sky looks like rain. My wife and I are going for a day trip, and I need to fix us some oatmeal. What’s wrong with any of that?
Dear readers, I hope you can either endure your now or enjoy it. I wish you an enjoyable and endurable NOW!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
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- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
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- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I 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 […]
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