Getting out of the bubble . . .

I grew up in a bubble where I assumed my parents' success in learning and life meant that I would enjoy the same success and its "perks". I was wrong.

At 74 I have lived long enough now to understand that it's not what you come into life with but what you do with it that determines success. I hope I have the privilege of doing something useful with what remains.

The great secret of success is learning to look at life through the eyes of someone who knows the truth about what is going on and what is worth achieving. There is one person who fits that description - Jesus Christ. All others fall short. Jesus is unique in that he always is willing to share his wisdom. I find many other people want to keep the secrets of their success to themselves. The reverse is true of Jesus.

As I see it, Jesus succeeded on earth because he was ready to accept his Father's will at every turn. Perhaps "eager" is a better word than "ready". Also when Jesus put his Father's will into practice, he did so humbly in a way that was likely to get the result his Father wanted.

If I had started my life with the same attitude as Jesus it would have taken a far different course. I would have spent many more years trying to create and not only consume good things. Also, I would have made better judgments about which things are good and which are not.

Every good thing comes down from the Father says James the brother of Jesus, and he is right. I have been privileged to do (what I consider) a few good things since I started to follow Jesus and they are good because they are connected to treating the interests of other people as equal or superior to my own. I have benefitted greatly from this approach when I have chosen to follow it and trusted God for whatever benefit he might have in mind for me. Of course I don't always behave this way but I wish I did.

If you believe in the God who created all things, then it just makes sense to trust him more than yourself for good outcomes. I believe in that God and have not been disappointed.

One great thing about following Jesus is he gives me a sense of purpose that makes me more alert to opportunities to do something useful, and a willingness to undertake things that seem beyond my capability. I remember things in my career that I would never have tried on my own.

In short, I recommend to you the study of Jesus. He can give you a clear view of why you are alive, and what to do with your life, and what to expect in the next.

“A true hero enshrines his individual identity by surrendering it . . .”

Thus wrote historian David A. Smith, in the Dallas Morning News, May 27, 2013.

Cook Third Class Doris Miller, a mess attendant on the battleship U.S.S. West Virginia at Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941 became the first black man awarded the Navy Cross for heroism in combat. 

With his ship under attack, burning and holed by two torpedoes, Miller moved wounded sailors to safety and manned a machine gun against enemy planes. A year later he died when a Japanese submarine sank another ship in which he served. 

Citizens in Waco, Texas, have designed a memorial to Miller on the banks of the Brazos River.

Author Smith concluded, 

“Memorializing someone isn’t merely an act of remembering them. To memorialize is to allow the memory of a person to adjust the way we live our lives.” 

“. . . the future is here. It just doesn’t go real fast.

Dallas Morning News, Staff Photo by Robert Wilonsky, used with Permission

The SolarImpulse, a sun powered plane landed at DFW Airport, Texas yesterday morning at 1 a.m. after an 18-hour flight from Phoenix, Arizona, traveling about 26 miles per hour. The flight set a distance record for solar powered flight says Robert Wilonsky writing for the Dallas Morning News.

On the progress of solar powered transportation Wilonsky commented, “the future is here. It just doesn’t go real fast.”

His words recall to me the promise of Christ: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Present tense. Matthew 10, verse 7.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Present tense. Matthew 5, verse 3.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5, verse 10. Again, Jesus uses the present tense.

Jesus offers His followers present encouragement – not just pie in the sky in the sweet by and by - and this in the midst of trouble.

Of course, the kingdom of heaven is coming fully in the future. Jesus also made this plain: “. . . Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25, verse 34.

As history moves to that wonderful conclusion, I pray that the people devastated by natural disasters receive strength and comfort both from Jesus’ present and future promises of the kingdom. I am thinking of the people who have been through tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, Granbury, Texas and Moore, Oklahoma.

Also, I pray that  Christians persecuted unmercifully at many places in the world receive strength and comfort from the same present and future promises of the kingdom.

As the Dallas Morning News writer said, “. . . the future is here. It just doesn’t go real fast.”

The principle he stated applies not only to air travel, but also to the unfolding of history.  When the future promised by Christ arrives, and Him with it, I know the awful wait will prove to have been worthwhile.

Life in perspective . . .

Belief in Jesus Christ brings the capacity to live in this world appreciating its moments of joy, 

 
looking forward to the next world and life unfolding as God always intended it to be.



For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV

Tradition

The word “tradition” brings to my thoughts people performing archaic rituals in dusty settings. Being a creature of modern times, I tend not to give old traditions their due; I tend to find many new traditions fascinating and older ones comparatively dull because of their familiarity.

Is tradition obsolete? Modern life is full of tradition. People hatch new traditions daily. Consider one example, the line of electronics fans that assembles at the “Apple Store” long before doors open to introduce a new product. I can affirm that this is a tradition because I see it happen over and over.

The habit of assigning importance to tradition therefore is not out of date. If tradition has importance, should we modern beings not consider the value of the old ones along with the new?

The tradition that has come to have first importance to me is, the tradition of believing in a God who created me and saved me from paying for my sin with an eternity of separation from Him. Belief in this tradition has saved me from feeling desperate many times, and will do so again.

When I see the way that desperate people live and die and inflict harm on other people in the process, as in the Newtown school shooting, I feel very sad that many in America would curtain from public view the tradition of belief in a Savior God who keeps feelings of desperation from swallowing me. If the tradition of Jesus Christ heartened  a few desperate people, wouldn’t it be worth the irritation it caused some others?

More deeply than I believe in the superiority of the MacBook computer on which I record these thoughts, I believe in the supreme compassion of the God who stooped to make His Son Jesus Christ a man and bring an end to the sin that can give birth to desperation.

I pray that the people who strive to hide news of Christ behind a curtain, while pushing forward news of new digital products, will reconsider. Shouldn’t digital miracles and spiritual ones both be freely available to Americans? As much as I love my MacBook, I don’t know of any lives it has saved. I know many lives that have been saved and renewed by Jesus Christ. I say, let people freely choose among traditions. I think that’s the American way.

What is it to be disabled?

What is it to be disabled?

Is there a difference between a disabled person, and a person who has a disability?

A person who has a disability is a person who has gained the ability to support other people with increased interest and compassion, along with the ability to accept support graciously from others. 

On the other hand, a disabled person is one who can neither support other people nor willingly accept support from others.

I had an aunt who in her old age was constrained by rheumatoid arthritis from doing much of anything when she had a flare-up. Yet she unfailingly took an interest in members of our family and stayed involved with us. 

We occasionally received little notes, gifts and clippings in the mail from Aunt Dorothy, and when we visited her she would always be making a gift for someone. She always treated you as the most important and brilliant person she knew.

In addition, Aunt Dorothy accepted support from others with grace. Her younger brother took care of her housekeeping and provided companionship. He was loving and faithful and she was happy and grateful. She had a collection of lifelong friends, young and old, near and far, who also took an interest in her.

Aunt Dorothy got out and enjoyed the sunshine with us when she could, and when she could not get out she brought sunshine to us in other ways. 

Aunt Dorothy was "out of commission" physically much of the time, but she was not disabled. 

Aunt Dorothy showed me that a person may choose between becoming disabled, or becoming a person with a disability. May I remember this as age and circumstances limit me. As impairments arrive, may I be a person who has them, and not a person who is them.

Man Overboard?

Biblically literate Christians can have a seething gripe against other Christians, and yet quickly side-step Christ's instruction "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Mt. 18:15)

The gut impulse to attack or flee seems to summarily overrule obeying Christ’s command or heeding the principle it teaches.

“We’re talking about a business matter; not a sin” we argue. Then follows a decision to punish, retaliate or quit, without giving the offender an opportunity of input.

There is wisdom in hearing the private response of the one who has given offense. Failing to grant the opportunity of response is to throw away a learning opportunity for both sides.

The sooner Christians take heed and steer the boat the way Jesus instructs, or according to the principles he illustrates in His commands, the sooner our ship will arrive at the destination he intends - with no crew members thrown overboard.