thoughts on the news of the day: perfection

hmmm…..

            I can identify with a 16 stroke par 4 hole.  What that means in golf is that it took 16 hits at the ball to get it into that tiny cup, when it should have taken just 4.

            Kevin Na knows about that, too.  His further humiliation comes from the fact that his blunders were at a recent PGA Golf Tour event and all of the world saw them. In a terrible stroke of bad luck and frustration, Na rustled through briars and brambles hoping to make a connection with the ball that would put it on the green but it took 16 agonizing times of hitting the ball to make that happen.

            We all know what its like to go through those embarrassing and humiliating experiences when we keep trying, but can’t seem to get it right.  Passing a driver’s test comes to mind; trying to get a noisy baby or dog to settle down does too.  But we muddle on ahead, hoping that the embarrassment will end soon.  The funny thing is that the people around us don’t snarl in dismay.  They seem to identify and find our own struggles much like theirs.   “But for the grace of God, go I” we think.  It happens to the best of us.  We love and admire the humanness and imperfection in others because it is so much like our own. I am grateful today that you are not perfect, and that I don’t have to be.

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thoughts on the news of the day: service

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            I received an email this morning from a fellow pastor who wrote to say that a single mom who is also a disabled veteran had her home partially destroyed by a fire.  This happened while they were in church on Sunday morning. Sadly, the home was not insured. What a tragedy to come home to after spending time in community with fellow believers.

            My heart goes out to this woman and her children.  As with so many needs in our community, there are various ways to help.  The email went on to tell about efforts to help her and her two children who have been devastated by the fire.  Money is being collected, groups are being gathered to begin repairs on the house and I am guessing clothes and furniture are being gathered because of the extensive smoke damage to the house.

            One of the qualities that sets us apart as humans is our desire and our ability to be of service to others.  We want to help others, in fact, we need to help others.  We do this in many ways.  Sometimes we send money.  Sometimes we offer our time and our talents.  Sometimes all we can do is pray.  But when we hear of a need, we usually do something … usually because we care, but mostly because we have that desire built into our psyche.  It’s who we are, its what we do.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: sheep

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            I collect sheep. Well, not real sheep, but stuffed animals, figurines and pictures of sheep.  My largest sheep is a big ceramic cookie jar that the janitor at a church I served found for me at a garage sale.  I don’t keep cookies in it – too much of a temptation.  The smallest sheep that I have is hand blown glass, created by a parishioner in my current church.  In between are an array of lambs and sheep made of all sorts of materials and substances.  They are created to be salt and pepper shakers, candy bowls and picture frames. I like them all, especially the ones that were given to me as gifts.  Kids who visit my office are fascinated by the sheep and love to play with them. And I love that they love them.

            Sheep are pretty dumb creatures.  They don’t look beyond where their noses are, so they need to be led to food and water.  They are pretty helpless to defend themselves, so are very vulnerable to attack.  Their coats hamper them, they don’t shed, so they need to be shorn.

            I love sheep because I identify with them and that’s why the 23^rd Psalm is so dear to me.  I need a Good Shepherd, one who will lead me to still waters and green fields.  I am comforted by the Good Shepherd’s staff that protects me.  Even when I walk through dark times, the Good Shepherd is there to guide me.  I want goodness and mercy to be a part of my life forever.

            That’s why I collect sheep.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: desire

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            The prayer below is from the pen of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and contemplative:

            “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. Amen.”

            Sometimes all you can do is all you can do.  We stumble and fumble and make a mess of things.  We try our hardest without much result.  We might have started out sure as we can be that what we are doing is God’s will for us.  We might even find signs along the way. 

            But nevertheless, we find ourselves stuck again – uncertain as ever.  We want to do God’s will, we just don’t know what it is.  And that’s when we have to accept that we might not always know God’s will for us.  It’s possible that we are on the wrong path after all.

            So we hope that the desire to please God does, in fact, make God happy.  Even if we are totally misguided and misaligned, God accepts our desire to make God happy as an act of faith. 

            Once again we see ourselves on the road, we see a future, we see hope.

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: stand up

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            What is the most dangerous thing you will do today?  Is it crossing the street?  Or driving in your car?  Would you be surprised to know that the most dangerous thing that you will do today is sit down?  Lifestyles of more that 17,000 men and women were analyzed over 13 years and researchers found that people who sit for most of the day are 54% more likely to die of heart attacks.  It doesn’t seem to matter how much you exercise or how well you eat; the defining factor seems to be sitting down. That means that if you sit at a computer desk for most of the day, you are putting yourself at risk for an early death. 

            There are several strategies that can help.  Taking a break and stretching once or twice an hour will relieve the back and help the heart.  Then, a suggestion I like: stand while talking on the phone.  It is a good habit that will prolong life and probably shorten a few longer than needed calls.  A tactic that is a little more drastic might be to raise your computer so that you stand while working.  I am not so sure about that, but it’s something to think about.

            So take some time today to stand up for yourself.  Stand up and be counted in the war against heart disease.  Take a break and you might find yourself, “Standing On the Promises of God.”

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thoughts on the news of the day: answered prayer

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            A good friend told me a story about his mom, who is elderly and quite ill.  She had been relatively non-responsive for several days.  Then late last week, one of his friends called to ask how his mom was doing.  “Not very well,” was his reply.  The phone caller replied, “Then we will pray for her at lunchtime.”

            My friend continued to sit with his non-communicative mom but then at about 12:15 p.m., she woke up, sat up and asked to be fed.  She ate well and had a nice conversation with her son before going back to bed for a nap.

            Coincidence?  Was it just happenstance that shortly after a group prayed, an elderly woman got better?  I believe that prayer works and that many times our prayers are answered almost immediately.

            But what about our prayers that are mean-spirited.  I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, “I pray for Obama – Psalms 109:8”.  Now if you check out that particular scripture, you will see that it is not a very nice commentary on our president’s tenure.  Does God answer those prayers, too?  There’s a country song that was popular not too long ago that covers that same subject.  It jokingly says, “I’ll pray that your tire blows out at 110; I pray that all your dreams never come true.”  It’s meant to be funny, but is it?

            Is now the time to bring out that old saying, “Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it?” Maybe sometimes the best prayer to pray is just simply “Thy will be done.”

            hmmm…..

thoughts on the news of the day: dry bones

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            The scripture for today at church was a story from one of the Old Testament prophets.  You probably know it … God shows Ezekiel, a not very mentally stable prophet, a valley of dry bones.  God then asks Ezekiel if he can make the bones live.  And Ezekiel replies that only God can breathe life into the dry bones.  And so, God does.

            God wanted Ezekiel, and the rest of us to think about what it would be like if our lives were only dry bones – no muscle, no ligaments, no life.  And our lives can be like that sometimes.  We can be dried up, with no energy, no enthusiasm, no pep.  Then God breathes life in and everything seems to get going once again.

            God’s breath is kind of like the wind and it has been blowing pretty strong the last couple of days here in the Ozarks.  I like to think of the wind as God blowing changes into our lives.  And just like we can’t see the wind blowing, only the results of the wind; we can’t see the changes at first either.  In fact, sometimes we can’t see the changes at all, we can only see what comes after the change.

            What changes do you need to occur in your life?  What dryness needs the breath of life blown into it in order to bring it back to the land of the living?  Today, thank God for the changes in your life – they may be the beginning of a whole new vision that God has planned for you!

            hmmm…..