Monthly Archives: February 2018

“GETTING IN AND GETTING OUT”

On February 13, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“1 A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. From the depths of despair, O LORD, I call for your help.  2 Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer.  3 LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?  4 But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.  5 I am counting on the LORD; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.  6 I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.  7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.  8 He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.” (NLT  Psalm 130)

 

My wife told me about an interesting local story while we were in Florida.  It seems that a little boy climbed into a claw machine to get a stuffed animal.  He figured out how to get in, but getting out was another matter.

Don’t worry!  This story ended well!  The fire department came and rescued the little guy, with no damage to the boy, and only minimal damage to the machine.

And yes, they did give the little guy a stuffed animal.

My wife didn’t think that this was a good idea, and maybe she’s right.  Rewarding bad behavior is not generally a good principle.  However, I figured that it was quite likely that the boy was not too happy being trapped in a claw machine.  Perhaps he had suffered enough.

Perhaps my compassion flowed from my autobiography.  As an addict who is recovering very late in life, I have often figured out ways to get what I wanted.  Of course, there is always a price to be paid.  My price was the loss of a job I had come to love, people I had loved (and still love), shame, regret, self-loathing, and many other unsavory things.

Perhaps the greatest price was simply being trapped.  I couldn’t figure out how to get out.  I needed outside help, but was too proud (or ashamed or frightened??) to ask for it.

Finally, in hopeful desperation, I cried out to God and to other people.  It is much better to be on the outside of the claw machine!

So, what have I learned from being on the inside of a claw machine called addiction?

  • It’s easier—much easier—to get in than it is to get out.
  • You need outside help.
  • No matter what immediate “prize” you may win or think you’re winning, the price is crazy way too high.
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OF PARASAILING, GOD’S VIEW OF THINGS, AND THE DUBIOUS GIFT OF FREE WILL”

On February 11, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Sometimes I like to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.  I forget that God is God, and I am not.  I doubt that I am entirely alone in this regard.

Take a recent morning while my wife and I were on vacation.  I was thinking about the fact that there was so much bad news in our world, and said to my wife, “I know that God knows what God is doing, but I doubt it when it comes to giving us free will.  All we seem to do with free will is to harm ourselves and others.”

My wife said nothing.  She has learned not to get my way when I’m busy being a heretic.

A couple of hours later, I was rising into the air in my first parasailing experience.  I wasn’t scared; I was filled with delight.  It is one thing to see the ocean and clouds and the sun from the ground.  It is another to see them (and the beach) from above the waves.  I felt as if I was seeing the island where we were visiting the way God sees it.

And then, I felt God speaking to my mind.  “So, child, if I had not given humans free will, no one would ever have developed parasailing, and you could not have chosen to go parasailing on this lovely day.”

I did not sense God’s displeasure when I felt that God said this to me.  If anything, there was amusement.  But I was properly brought up short.

I am reminded of something my dad used to say: “There’s nothing wrong with the world; it’s just the people in it.”  So, here is my take on this: “There’s nothing wrong with free will; it’s just people’s use of their free will that’s the problem.”

So, my job is not to critique God’s gifts, but to make good use of them—including the use of free will.

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