Mind the Gap!

Mind the Gap.  As a pre-teen I was short, skinny, active, but not really athletic. However, I did have a large imagination and adventurous spirit. I had been watching the Olympics that Summer and was fascinated by the pole vaulters who seemed to easily run with a long pole, stick it in the ground, thrust their feet upward and float over the horizontal bar with ease and flop back down to the giant foam mat on their backs. As the rest of my family was gardening in our large garden at our mini-farm on the Little River in Tennessee, I was thinking through how I could use a tomato stake to pole vault myself over the barbed wire fence so I didn’t have to go all the way to the gate, or risk getting stuck by the barbs trying to climb between or under the fence. As my mind worked, I could picture myself flying easily over the fence. Rather than flopping on my back, I would just land on my feet, since the tomato stake was only slightly taller than I was. So, while my parents and sister were distracted by pulling weeds on the other side of the garden, I decided, rather than continuing the boring task of weeding, I would launch myself to the other side of the fence. I grabbed the closest tomato stake, held it with both hands over my shoulder, pointed it toward the middle of the fence and ran.  Did I mention, I was in my work boots and Sears ToughSkin jeans. I planted the pole just like I saw the pole vaulters do, jumped, and lifted my feet, but for some reason, I didn’t get very high. The bottom cuff of my jeans hooked on a barb on the top of the fence and I fell on my head. I was partially suspended upside down with one leg securely fastened to the fence. As I yelled out, my sister was the first to find me. She was laughing so hard, seeing the tomato stake, and guessing what had just happened. She was not strong enough to free me from my inverted position. So, I had her help me take my boots off, and look the other way, as I slid out of my jeans in my skivvies to freedom. I wasn’t able to clear the fence, it was so embarrassing. Needless to say, when high school came around I did not try out for pole vaulting, as a matter of fact I kept to the water as a swimmer, rather than anything track related. 

 

Jesus told a story of a large gap between heaven and hell and there is no way to get to the other side once our earthly life is over.  He says, a wicked rich man who lived in opulence had died, as did a godly beggar who lived near him named Lazarus. Jesus says of the wicked man, “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”(Luke 16:23–26) When we die there will be no pole vaulting ourselves into heaven from hell, we have to decide here and now what we will do with Jesus’ offer of salvation for us. When we are dead, it will be too late to decide that we want to belong with God and His people and live in His peace for eternity. We will have already chosen to keep belonging to the Evil One and we will be in torment.  So, choose this day whom you will belong to.

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

 

In Over Your Head?*

 In over your head? In college, I once went skiing with some friends in Colorado. It was a great trip! We had skied the Carolinas, but given the chance to ski in Colorado we jumped at the opportunity. My roommate’s girlfriend had been invited to visit her cousin who was living in Denver. We slept all over the floors, couches and beds and arose early each morning. We crammed six people into a two door Corolla, tossed our rented skis on the ski rack and drove the hour to an hour and a half to the local resorts. We skied a different resort everyday: Vail, Breckenridge, Copper, and Winter Park. Our favorite was Copper. One of our crew had skied Colorado much more than we had and knew the best parts of these mountains. He introduced us to “tree bashing!,” a term for skiing off the groomed slope between the trees where there was usually some unskied powder. This was great fun until one friend, who had skied the least, straddled a tree. Fortunately he was not going too fast and was not hurt.  But he then had a fall into the deep powder… to our surprise this 6 foot tall friend disappeared. The powder was well over his head and so fluffy he could not get out. We were able to get to him and put his skies flat on top of the snow so he could climb out onto them. Those were some pretty scary moments, not knowing if we could get him out. Then it happened to me! I fell into the deep powder, but all my friends were down the mountain from me and didn't know I was in over my head.  There was a moment of panic, not being able to see anything below the snow surface, not knowing if I had enough energy to get out of the deep snow onto my skies and ski out of the woods.  There was a moment of exhausted hallelujah when I was finally able to get my head above the snow, rest my body on my skis before  standing up and skiing out. 

When God’s people had gotten off the right path, and fallen into great darkness with their sin, the Prophet Isaiah foretold of a time when God would redeem them. He says, “ The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”(Isaiah 9:2 ESV) He goes on to tell them of a Savior who would rescue them and give them peace. He says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ”(Isaiah 9:6 ESV) You may recognize these words from Handel’s Messiah.  When we get off the right path and in over our heads into darkness, Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor, who is mighty enough to rescue us, wants to give us His light, His peace and restore us to a healthy relationship with Himself and others around us.  We have to remember Who we belong to. He is God and He sees us when we are in so deep we can’t see anything. In our despair, He hears us, is glad to be with us, loves us and wants rescue us. That is a reason to sing hallelujah. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Who's the Enemy?*

Playbees Plastic Army Men Figures

 Playing “army” as a kid with a couple of friends in the woods behind my house, we were all warring against the “enemy” well when somehow there was a disagreement between us and the overtired child warriors turned on each other. One friend became more angry and decided to walk home. This was a relatively safe neighborhood walk through the woods aside from a few dogs over protective of their turf. But if my friend chose the winding road, it had a couple of blind curves with no sidewalk. Teenage drivers had crashed a few times driving too fast; including two brothers who hit head on, one on a motorcycle and one in a car. The crash was horrendous, causing the motorcycle rider to almost lose his leg and the other brother was left with regret and sadness that he had crippled his brother. We didn’t know if my friend had walked through the woods or on the road, so we tried to search for him through the woods, but to no avail. We finally circled back home and told my mother and she panicked, she had “lost the neighbor's kid!” We all jumped in the car and drove the road very slowly, looking for my friend. We didn’t see him anywhere. We went to his house and he was not there, so the search continued. We went back to our house, wondering if maybe he had returned there. This was many years before cell phones, but when we walked back in our house, the phone rang. It was another neighbor saying my friend was with her, playing with her dog, and having a cookie. Now that wasn’t fair. We were in a panic looking for him and he was enjoying petting a canine and eating a cookie! Oh well, all was forgotten and we all played again the next week, with an understanding that if anyone wants to go home, my mother would happily drive them. 

There were rough times in the early church. The fledgeling congregations were being attacked by the Evil One who didn’t want them to succeed. God had chosen the church to be the primary instrument He would use to connect those who belonged to him, to lead people to salvation and help people mature in Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes the church members became upset with each other and forgot who the real enemy was. Paul reminds the church at Ephesus, “ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10–12)  So the next time you are out of sorts with a friend or family member or even someone in your community who has wronged you, remember they are not the “enemy.” When our mind goes into “enemy mode,” our relational circuits shut down and we forget who we are really in battle with. We mistakenly use our energies to take down those who are not our true enemy, the Devil and this leads to all kinds of turmoil, trauma, and regret. (see the book Escaping Enemy Mode by Jim Wilder)

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

YOLO, Really?*

The last time I snow skied was at Snowbird ski resort. My in-laws would be moving from Sandy, UT and my kids were all preschool aged, so raising these little ones would trump many of the activities that we used to do. Great skiing would no longer be a 45 minute drive from Anita’s parents. Anita and I had skied in Utah several times while her parents lived there for 8 years. The Utah mountains are beautiful and they claim to have the “Greatest Snow on Earth,” because it is a dry powdery snow from the high desert. Growing up in the South, skiing in the Carolina mountains, the slopes were most often icy and very hard packed. I didn’t know if this would for sure be my last ski experience in Utah for a while, but since I knew it could be, I wanted to milk it for all it was worth. Anita and her parents took the kids shopping and sent me to the slopes for a day of skiing. I bought the Tram pass so I could enjoy skiing the entire mountain for the full 9 am - 4 pm ski day.  At the top of the Tram lift were some slopes that challenged my skill level, but with some slow and careful skiing, I could get down to a slope that allowed me to ski on an easy blue slope for 2.5 miles of carving back to the bottom of the mountain.  One run, including waiting in line for the Tram, to the 13 minute ride up, to skiing down took over an hour.  I was able to ride up and ski a couple of times before eating lunch and had finished another run after lunch. This was more than seven and a half miles of skiing for someone who only skied once a year, so I was a little tired. I had really enjoyed my day of solitude in a winter wonderland. The Tram closed at 3:45 pm in order to get everyone off the mountain before sunset, which happens at about 4:30 pm. It was 3:30, my muscles were fatigued, but knowing this could be my last time to ski Salt Lake for a while, I wanted one more run.  I hopped on the Tram, shouting in my head “Carpe diem!” At the top, I started my slow and careful descent on the black diamond down to the easier blue slope, but my legs were rubbery and didn’t want to do what my brain was telling them.  About half way down that challenging top part of the mountain, the Ski Patrol was frantically working to get a guy about my age who had broken his femur down the mountain before dark.  I saw his leg in an awkward and unnatural position and knew it takes a significant force to break that bone, so my legs became even more wibbly.  I rested there for a moment, but as I rested I realized that it was getting dark quickly.  I was caught between going fast enough to make it down before dark and going slow enough not to break my femur skiing on my exhausted legs!  I did make it down successfully and drove to Anita’s parents in the dark, realizing God’s grace in spite of my lack of wisdom in evaluating the situation. 

 

Apparently, those in the early church in Ephesus had forgotten how to behave and were acting like they used to before they belonged to Jesus. They were “seizing the day,” but doing it foolishly. Some people today say, “YOLO,” meaning “you only live once,” so live it up now. Paul was reminding God’s people that it matters how we choose to spend our time as Jesus’s people.  He says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”(Ephesians 5:15–17 ESV) The words for “look carefully how you walk,” in the King James version is “Walk circumspectly,” meaning look around you with redeemed eyes, being aware of your circumstances and how you are living your life.  So, let’s walk (or ski) circumspectly, seizing the day in a good way, not testing God’s grace but doing good. 

 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all! 

 

Buckeyes! Delicious or Toxic?*

Credit: Allrecipes

As a preschool boy, I loved peanut butter. And I discovered,  just like the famous commercial says, that peanut butter and chocolate taste great together. My mother used to make buckeye candy out of peanut butter and chocolate every Christmas, but she had to hide it, because my sister and I would eat all of them before Mom could share them with our holiday guests. She would form the peanut butter into balls by adding confectioners sugar, butter, and vanilla, and place them in the fridge. Then melt the chocolate with shortening. She would dip the pb balls into the chocolate and leave an uncovered spot so they looked like buckeyes. Once, when one of our outdoorsy older first cousins (one of our 35 first cousins!) came to babysit, he brought us some actual buckeyes he found in the woods on his land. Buckeyes are mythically said to bring good luck, so much so that historically, players on a certain football team by the same name were given buckeyes to help them win. This good luck, however, was not the case in this instance. As soon as my cousin said the word, “Buckeye” our preschool minds thought, “YUM!” So we proceeded to eat these much harder, not as tasty buckeyes.   I suppose we were hoping they would get better. Nonetheless, we ate said buckeyes not knowing that they are poisonous. I don’t know how we got through the hard shell, but we were determined little varmints. We were out of sight from our cousin or he would have stopped us. At the time, the antidote was to induce vomiting. My sister dutifully puked it all up. I, however, hated to throw up, so I didn’t. In the meantime I became sicker and sicker from the buckeye toxins. Eventually, I puked, and couldn’t stop puking. I was one very sick little boy. My cousin felt terrible and to this day, he thought I was about to die. As far as we know, there was no significant cognitive da, da, da, damage from the incident, but only God knows.

In the early church apparently they were tempted to believe in old myths, rather than trusting  the Holy Spirit to be with us. Good luck charms or rituals are not something we should put our faith in, because it can be toxic to our faith. Paul tells his protégé, Timothy,  “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7–8 NIV) The word translated, “train” in English,  is the Greek word, “gymnaze.” Paul is saying, it is better to have your daily spiritual “workout” routine to strengthen your relationship with Christ and His people, rather than putting your hope in godless rituals or good luck charms.  So, when someone gives you a buckeye, rabbit’s foot or other charm, don’t recommend that you rely on it for good luck. Trust instead that God sees us, hears us, is glad to be with us, loves us and wants to do good things for us.  I do also recommend eating buckeyes, but only the candy ones.

Hang in there people. God is glad to be with us. I’m praying for us all.

A Great Calm *

A New restaurant called Not Watson's where Watson's used to be. 

 

When I was a child, my mother liked to shop at one particular department store in Knoxville’s historic Market Square Mall. The Square was quite popular until the large indoor mall came and people flocked to the huge indoor space with several big chain department stores. The store Mom loved back in the day was called “Watson’s on the Mall.” The “on the Mall” distinguished it from the other Watson’s stores in its southeastern U.S. chain founded in Knoxville at the turn of the 1900’s.  Watson’s on the Mall had its own commercial on local radio with a catchy jingle. We would park and walk past all the fresh vegetables and artists on the Square. There were lots of smiling people in hippie tie-dye, peace signs, and smiley face t-shirts. We would go into Watson’s and go to where the women’s clothes were. Mom would peruse the newest fashions on discount. Though bell-bottom pants, mini-skirts, and leather vests with leather frill tied with beads were popular, my mother was a little more conservative in her dress. My ADHD wouldn’t let me slowly walk around with her and wait while she stopped, looked, felt the fabric, held the dress up in the mirror. I would escape and climb in and out of the clothing racks while she was distracted. (Though I was undiagnosed, ADHD was called hyperkinetic disease back then. Kids like me were called “Fidgety Phil” in the journals) I once hid inside one of the round racks spinning around the colorful clothes, feeling the fabrics on my arms, smelling the freshly shipped apparel until I got dizzy. It created a kind of multi-stim psychedelic experience for me. When I emerged from the rack, my mother was nowhere to be found.  Initially, I didn’t panic, but looked around for her. When I couldn’t find her anywhere, I began to look a little more frantically. After several harrowing minutes my mother came out of the dressing room to find me with tears rolling down my cheeks running to get a squeezy hug. I promised myself never to do it again, however, “Fidgety Phil” had other designs and each time we went to Watson’s, I climbed behind the clothes. Calming down was a challenge. 

When the disciples were in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, they were anxious and afraid and could not calm down. Jesus however, was so calm, he was asleep in the bottom of the boat. Mark tells us,  “And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39 ESV) Sometimes storms in our lives turn our worlds upside down. Even when we try to rest, we can’t calm ourselves. Jesus can give us a peace that goes beyond understanding. His simple words to our anxious hearts are “Peace! Be still,” can bring about “a great calm,” even if we are a Fidgety Phil or Phyllis.

Hang in there people! God is Glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!

Oh Grow Up! *

Photo credit: bloomie972 Instructables

 When I was a very young boy, we moved to a new house. It had a rope swing and a tree house, as well as a traditional metal swing set with a ladder and slide. The rope swing was tied 20 feet up on a tree branch, the rope was 3 inch hemp and on the end was a large knot to sit on.  I wanted to try it. My little hands were too small to hold it well, it was very rough on my tender preschool skin, and it was so thick it was hard to make it swing, and I fell off. So, I stuck to the safer traditional swing set. The tree house was about 8 feet high and the homemade ladder was nailed to the tree.  At the top of the ladder there was a hinged hatch door you had to push up to get inside, then close it again so there was no hole in the floor. Several times I would get brave enough to climb the ladder, but wasn’t strong enough to push the solid wood hatch door open. So, I often just played on the swing set ladder and slide. When I got a little older and stronger, I decided I was ready to attempt the tree house again. I was so determined to get into the tree house that day. I climbed the ladder and pushed hard against the door. It opened but not enough to stay open and it slammed back down knocking me head first off the ladder. When I woke up, my sister was checking on me. I had a terrible headache and was so dizzy. Eventually, I conquered both the tree house and the rope swing and had hours of fun on both. Soon, the traditional little swing set had little thrill for me. I had grown up in my adventures.  

God designed us for growth. When Paul is teaching the early church about love, he makes it clear we are supposed to grow up in the ways we love people.  Learning to love other people is challenging.  Our natural bent is to love and take care of only ourselves like a child. Growing up in how we love people requires that we do some hard things. Paul reminds us: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NIV11) He then goes on to say that we need to grow up in our relationships with people around us. He says, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”(1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV11) It is hard to be patient, kind, and humble when others are aren't being kind to us. It's sometimes hard to celebrate when others do well when they are flaunting it. It is also hard to forgive people, protect them rather than try to be better than them. It is challenging to hang there, when relationships get really tough. It's time for us to grow up and enjoy grown up relationships that can be difficult sometimes. 

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for us all!