A Story to Live

Photo by Kyle Johnson on Unsplash

Once upon a time, in a little town not very far away, there was a young boy who was wide-eyed with the sights and sounds and aromas of a summer festival. He drank an orange soda to stay cool and ate cotton candy just because, and took a turn on every carnival ride.

Except for one. The most tempting one of them all. The one he knew would make him dizzy. But he kept looking at all the kids sitting on this huge swing set and going around and around with big smiles on their faces. What could go wrong? He had to try it, in spite of his parents’ “you’ll be sorry” warnings.

And at first, it was like a nice slow but huge ride on the backyard swing, the kind that makes you laugh out loud for joy. But before long, things got out of control quickly. Everyone else was screaming with delight. The young boy, getting dizzier and sicker to his stomach by the second as the orange soda and cotton candy danced, began to scream, “Dad, dad! Get me off! Get me off!” And after what seemed like an eternity but was really only a matter of minutes, everything stopped. Except for the young boy’s world, which kept spinning and spinning and spinning. His dad helped him over under a big shady tree, put his arm around him, and stayed right beside him. No “I told you so!” Just stayed there. 

But soon, there came a time when the young boy needed to get going, to put one foot in front of the other again. Far away from the carnival rides and the things that dazzled, and toward his home. At first, he still felt weak and nauseous and unsteady. And so his dad lifted him upon his shoulders and carried him toward their car and home. Later in the day, everything had finally stopped spinning for the young boy, and he was back enjoying life at a cookout, but all the time checking to see that his dad was still around. And finding peace and comfort that he was. Never more than a shout away…

…Not everyone has good memories of their dad. Not everyone has a dad anymore. Not everyone has been a dad. But the ones about my dad, like this one, that stand out most vividly seem to be the ones that God uses to tap me on the shoulder to remind me about Himself, when I forget or when I need it the most: “See, this is who I AM and have been to you in your life’s journey, from hearing your cry to saving you from the dizzying things you thought would satisfy, to staying with you every step of the way, to carrying you when you couldn’t carry yourself, to always being as close as your next breath to guide you as you have been living your life. And I AM still here...”

I waited patiently for God to help me;

then He listened and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out from the bog and the mire,

and set my feet on a hard, firm path, 

and steadied me as I walked along.

He has given me a new song to sing, 

of praises to our God.—Psalm 40:1-3, Living

But as my dad modeled, and as my Dad has modeled, the story was never meant to end there. Especially now:

“My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.”—John 15:12

Selah.

A Snapshot Worth Remembering (Revisited)

"So seize any opportunity the Lord gives you to do good things and be a blessing to everyone..." — Galatians 6:10, The Voice

Reflections on serving the community with a meal, and observing with the camera lens that some of the most important ministries that any of us can do take place before anyone walks through the door (or walks into our day)…

Lord, help us to never underestimate the renewing, refreshing, re-energizing, hope-filled, comforting power of a simple spoken word of encouragement.

There is no one who is exempt from needing one.

Even the strongest, boldest, most determined, seemingly most together person gets completely worn out.

This is no small matter.

This is huge.

Because You have urged, commanded, exhorted, reminded, and poked us — fathers, mothers, friends, co-workers, spiritual parents and mentors — from just about every angle, and more than 70 times in Your Word, to encourage one another.

In the household of faith, yes.

But even to those who may not know You (yet).

"To proclaim good news to the poor...

To bind up the brokenhearted."

To make war against the darkness of negativity, hateful words and deeds, and the fear-induced spirit of the 24/7 news cycle,

By speaking wonderful words of life into someone's atmosphere of weariness.

Because You have always been the One who comforts the downcast not just in theory but in person, as prophesied and then modeled in Your lived-out life:

The Lord God has given Me, His Servant, the tongue of disciples, as One who is taught,

That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple, as One who is taught. (Isaiah 50:4)  

It's the worship song that never ends:

"As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you."

"The beautiful thing about encouragement is that anyone can do it."— Chuck Swindoll

Republished from last fall in honor of Leo McQuillan (shown in the middle of the photo at the top, greeting people at one of my church's community dinners), who graduated to Heaven yesterday afternoon. Leo lived this Vitamin. The definition of "faithful servant," Leo truly made everyone feel welcome with a genuine, enthusiastic and often humorous greeting, and never hesitated to proclaim the Good News "even to those who may not know You (yet)." The joy of the Lord was Leo's strength, and he is now experiencing it in all of its fullness. The torch has been passed...

The Simple Path

My bookcase has numerous books on how to be a disciple of Jesus, how to be a better disciple, how to grow as a disciple, how to make a disciple—evidence that I have been searching for the magical “missing” key that will somehow unlock everything I need to know about following Jesus…

“Then they asked Him, ‘What are we to do, so that we may habitually be doing the works of God?’

Jesus answered, ‘This is the work of God:

that you believe, adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in the One whom He has sent.”

—John 6:28-29, Amplified

…The Gospels tell an age-old story of mankind either trying to over-complicate things or figure everything out with their intellect—looking for the "missing" key that will somehow unlock everything—and Jesus’ response, over and over again, is simply “believe who I Am, watch what I do, then go and do likewise.”

Go live the simple Gospel.

Simple, maybe, but also challenging—because Jesus’ words rub up against sensibilities, common sense and stubborn self-will. And yet over and over again, it has been the people who have walked out this simple yet not simplistic lifestyle before me who have influenced me more than any book or study. These simple Gospel disciples have made my heart burn within as it did with the two disciples on the Emmaus road, almost as if all within me was sensing, “here is the missing key—a Gospel that is authentic and powerful and real and practical yet entirely supernatural.”

I was reminded of such an example this week while coming across notes from a Bible study on discipleship that was exceptionally challenging to me, not in its purpose but in its approach. I felt like I was oil in water, and I wanted to walk away. But the leader never said “what’s the matter with you, don’t you get it?!” but rather came alongside in my struggle with encouragement and patience and helpfulness. “How can you and I together apply this to how you are built, the way God made you to learn?”

I really don’t remember a lot about what I got out of that discipleship study, but I came away with a lasting impression of the leader: if that’s what a disciple of Jesus looks like, I want in.

And in these complicated, confusing, information-overload times, I especially find myself being drawn again and again to that kind of following-Jesus-simply beyond Sunday morning.

One that looks like not feeling like you have to change the world by yourself but instead remembering Jesus’ exhortation to simply be salt and light, seasoning it wherever you go.

One that, like Jesus, looks like simply and always making time—and finding it is never a waste—for what and who is really important, even if just a moment, a few passing words or a simple deed.

One that, like Jesus touching the leper when no one else dared to, means simply laying your hand on someone in need of prayer, in spite of the Coronavirus….

“Why do we judge Jesus’ criterion for authentic discipleship irrelevant? Jesus said the world is going to recognize you as His by only one sign: The way you are with one another on the street every day. You are going to leave people feeling a little better or a little worse. You’re going to affirm them or deprive them, but there’ll be no neutral exchange. If we as a Christian community took seriously that the sign of our love for Jesus is our love for one another, I am convinced it would change the world. If not, we’re denying to the world the one witness Jesus asked for: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ (John 15:12).”

—Brennan Manning, “The Furious Longing of God

The Power of Nothing to Say

“Lots of people were pressed against Jesus at that moment, but He immediately felt her touch; He felt healing power flow out of Him. He stopped. Everyone stopped. He looked around. “Who just touched My robe?” His disciples broke the uneasy silence: “Jesus, the crowd is so thick that everyone is touching You. Why do You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” But Jesus waited. His gaze swept across the crowd to see who had done it. At last, the woman—knowing He was talking about her—pushed forward and dropped to her knees. She was shaking with fear and amazement. “I touched You.” Then she told Him the reason why. Jesus listened to her story. “Daughter, you are well because you dared to believe. Go in peace, and stay well.”—Mark 4:30-34, The Voice

Earlier this spring, I found myself becoming annoyed with someone who I didn’t really know but whose actions and words were like fingernails on a chalkboard. Everyone has these people in their lives, and maybe God has put them there for a good reason: “So, are you going to avoid them? Are you going to let the irritation get to you? Or are you going to try to see them the way I see them? What did Jesus do?”

A few days later while out walking, to my surprise, it was almost as though God lobbed a softball and said, “Here you go.”

Out of the corner of my eye, sitting all alone, there he was—the unknown source of my irritation. I could have walked right by, but for “some reason,” just like Jesus did on that day with the woman with the issue of blood, I stopped and said something lame like “sure is a beautiful day.” He agreed that it was and then, as if a dam inside had been about to burst if only someone cared, out gushed his simple life story that needed no commentary or advice or further probing…

“… Jesus listened to her.”

...Since that sidewalk encounter, everything has changed. For me, anyway. I understood better, I felt compassion rising up and smothering irritation, and I actually looked forward to seeing this fellow whenever the next time would be. I remember his faint smile as I went on my way and “thanks, and you have a good evening too, sir.”

I do not know where this will lead. I pray that it may become an open door someday for conversation about the One who truly heals and cares and loves. But if not, it was a reminder that the most effective evangelism methods are often not the loudest or with just the right words or randomly handing out a tract.

They begin, as Jesus modeled with the woman in this story, with listening before speaking. What the world needs now….

“I’ve never known anyone to find their way into the Kingdom without first being listened to. People don’t want to be indoctrinated. They want to be heard. Evangelism isn’t about getting up on a soapbox and preaching at someone. It’s about sitting down next to that person and turning down the volume.”

—Brad Roth, from “God’s Country: Faith, Hope and the Future of the Rural Church”

Who Knows?

Photo: Tri Nguyen Trong, pexels.com

“I've seen many searching for answers far and wide

But I know we're all searching

For answers only You provide

'Cause You know just what we need

Before we say a word…”

—from “Good, Good Father”

In these days, even those who are experts in their field seem to have unanswered questions and sometimes conflicting points of view.

Ultimately, no one knows anything for sure.

Except One.

One who has a spotless track record, who has never failed, who has never lied, who has never been indifferent to pain and suffering of every kind, and who has never been asleep at the switch.

His thoughts are not our thoughts (which can be very frustrating)

His timing is seldom our timing.

And He owes us no explanation (which can be really frustrating).

But we can know that whatever those thoughts may be, they will never be a “best guess.”

And though we may not see it now, God is even today working together all things for our good and for His glory.

Some who don’t understand God call that just a “crutch” to prop you up.

We don’t always understand God either, but by faith we call that a sure foundation amidst sinking sand:

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)...

“I've heard a thousand stories of what they think You're like

But I've heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night

And You tell me that You're pleased

And that I'm never alone…”

So today, Lord, we resolve to continue to pray to You for deliverance and breakthrough…because You want us to. (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18)

And we resolve to never give up, because You said not to. (Luke 18:1)

And we resolve to be wise and informed, all the while trusting that Your voice and wisdom will be the one that guards our hearts. (Psalm 62:2-5)

And most of all, we resolve to remember that we can always rest in the truth that the only One who has a spotless track record will always and forever continue to be…

“Perfect in all of Your ways to us...”

“...We cannot wrap our minds around God’s wisdom and knowledge! Its depths can never be measured! We cannot understand His judgments or explain the mysterious ways that He works! For, who can fathom the mind of the Lord? Or who can claim to be His advisor? Or, who can give to God in advance so that God must pay him back? For all that exists originates in Him, comes through Him, and is moving toward Him; So give Him the glory forever. Amen.”

—Roman 11:33-36, The Voice

Good Words Handed Down

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved on stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”—Pericles

Three lessons for a lifetime, from a life well lived…

1. Be Joyful

These difficult days, I walk past their smiling photo on my bureau and will once in awhile ask mom and dad, “all right, what’s going on Up There?” And all they do is smile back. For dad, it was part of his "good tools handed down." But today, I am focusing on the one on the right...

For mom, it wasn’t a plastic smile—it was genuine, and kind, and an overflow of what she felt about Jesus and life. Even in the pain. I remember it took mom a long time to get over losing a daughter shortly after childbirth, and she also often carried the weight of other people’s burdens as her own. But that smile. One of her friends at Summerhill said she smiled even when on her way to a doctor’s appointment on a cold day. Mom’s genuine smile was simply contagious. She might tell us today that her smile reflects 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: “Be cheerful, no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ to live.”

2. Be Selfless

Mom was continually giving herself away to benefit someone else, or meet them at their point of need. There are countless examples, but one that sticks in my mind was when we were at the burial service for my nephew Jason some 15 years ago. Mom noticed a group of Jason’s friends who had gathered off in the distance—and she set aside her own sorrow, traipsed through the dirt in her high heels, and went over to the group with a smile and invited them to join us. Her legacy of a self-less life is summed up in Philippians 2:3-5: “….with an attitude of humility, regard others as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others. Have the same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus…”

3. Be Wise

Mom was the wisest person I’ve ever known. She was often a woman of few words, but then she’d say something so profound that it cut to the heart of the matter. Wisdom listens before it speaks. Wisdom does not judge. Wisdom doesn’t enable. It’s just right, it’s what you need to hear, and always comes at the right time. I cannot tell you how many times mom’s quiet, profound wisdom helped me to see, or got me back on course. She was filled with wise words for life—something we all could use more of these days. As it says in James 3:17 (Living Bible), “Wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted, straightforward, and sincere.”

These are just some of the things mom would have wanted to be woven into the lives of those she loved and knew, because our world surely needs more of them. And so, not to just have them woven into our own lives, but then to “pass it forward.”

And by all means, with a smile.

From the Celebration of the Life of Patricia A. Smith (October 27, 1929 to January 10, 2019), with love and encouragement to all who are missing their moms on this day.

Seeing What Matters

Photo: Johannes Plenio, pexels.com

“I know I shall see in His beauty the King in whose law I delight; Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night.”—from an old hymn, “Redeemed”

For every time I want to see all my ducks in order before stepping out,

To want to see what’s around the bend ahead before taking the first step,

To see ahead and find appealing the sidelines of retiring,

Let me see instead this one:

Someone who wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs

(Including the one in the caption).

And not until after she was 40.

Someone who wrote four books of poetry.

Someone who played piano, AND organ, AND harp, AND guitar!

Someone who was the first woman to speak words of inspiration before the U.S. Senate.

Someone who gave away everything that was not necessary to her daily survival.

Someone who wanted to be remembered not as a creative but as one who served behind the scenes in an urban rescue mission

When other friends had long since retired.

Someone who, incredibly, never “saw” any of it.

Someone who was blinded shortly after birth but who lived a life of praise to God anyway.

Someone who once said about all of that:

“If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”

—Fanny Crosby

Some would say Frances Jane van Alstyne Crosby was the very person Jesus was talking about when He said: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29, NIV) But for every person who battles “beautiful and interesting” distractions in life and the need to have every duck lined up just so, an even greater inspiration from Fanny Crosby’s life might be this:

“You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him, and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” (1 Peter 1:8)

It's good to know that it's never too late to press "Reset" ...and go!