Didn't Know She Was On The Phone

I was on a walking trail this morning and out in the distance I saw a woman on the trail coming toward me. I was walking in one direction and she was walking in the other direction coming my way.

When we were about 10 feet apart she looked right at me, I looked at her and she said, “I don’t think so!” She said this with some attitude and she sounded stern, even a bit perturbed.

I was surprised and taken back. “What is she talking about?” I thought. “What happened?!? I didn’t do anything. What’s going on? Why is she upset? What does she mean by ‘I don’t think so?!?’”

I started to say to her, “What happened, is something wrong?”

However, in the time it took for these thoughts to flash through my mind we were now within a foot of each other as we passed on the trail and I noticed she had a Bluetooth type device in her ear. Of course, I then realized she was talking on the phone. She wasn’t actually talking to me, after all. But I had been fooled because she was not holding a phone up to her ear and her hair covered her ear in such a way that I did not, initially, notice the phone device.

As she walked past me I breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, I thought I was about to find myself involved in some trouble I was not looking for, did not intend, and did not even understand.

I chuckled and thought, “I think it’s time to establish a new rule. My new rule, which I am sure everyone will now abide by, goes like this: whenever a person is talking on the phone in a public area—and the phone is not visible because it operates according to some type of hands-free capability—the person will be required to wear a large sign which reads…

            DON’T BE NERVOUS.

            I’M NOT TALKING TO MYSELF

            AND I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU,

            I’M ON THE PHONE.

I will be speaking with the President and the U.S. Congress in the next few days about my rule. I’m relatively certain they will agree with me. It makes perfect sense, right? I will let you know what they say. They are usually pretty open to my suggestions.

I Know I'm Not Supposed To Worry

I really hate to admit this, but I will be honest and write about it here: Sometimes when I wake up in the morning one of the first things to enter my mind is worry. I’ve read this is not uncommon for people. One of the most likely times for worry is just before going to sleep at night or first thing in the morning.

I don’t want to worry and as a follower of Jesus I know I’m not supposed to worry.

(The realization that I’m not supposed to worry will occasionally have me worrying about my tendency to worry. It gets complicated, doesn’t it?)

I know God is for me, not against me. I know God provides for our needs. So I shouldn’t worry. But it can be hard to stop doing something that almost seems to happen unintentionally and involuntarily.

I’m not writing this so you can join me in my worry and say, “Yep, that happens to me occasionally, too!” I’m writing this to tell you there is a simple passage of scripture which helps me. What the passage says is not complicated and it is almost somewhat obvious. But it has helped me, anyhow, and if something helps, my thought is, “Hey, that’s good! I don’t care if it’s obvious or simple. I’m just glad it is helping me.”

The passage is found in the book of Matthew chapter 6. Jesus is speaking and He says this:

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:28-34

When I read this passage I remember God has always provided for my needs. Jesus’ words help me trust Him and know He will always continue to provide for my needs.

So I tell myself… “Stop worrying and see all of life as a gift from God. Trust that God knows more about life than you do and He is providing fullness of life for you.”

Prayer: “Lord, help me to continue to trust you. Help any person who reads these words—even if they are not all that keen on ‘spiritual stuff’—to know you are for them, not against them. Help us to trust you. Amen.”

An October Christmas Commercial

Earlier today I heard some music coming from the television in the other room. I thought, “Wait just a minute. No way! I can’t be hearing that correctly.”

So, I walked into the room and, sure enough, I saw my first Christmas commercial on TV for this year. I said, “Come on. You must be kidding me!”

I pulled out my phone and looked at the date. “Let’s see,” I thought, “it’s… October 23^rd, it’s still a week before Halloween. That may be the earliest I’ve seen an ad for Christmas on TV.”

The ad was for K-Mart and I just caught the end of it but I think it had to with their layaway program. So I will quickly grant that the whole concept of layaway involves putting some things aside well before Christmas in order to pay them off by the time Christmas arrives. However, it was still a surprise to hear the Christmas music playing in the background and taking in the references to the Christmas season.

I laughed and thought, “Well, that’s how it is nowadays. They start advertising Christmas and making references to Christmas earlier and earlier every year.” Then I went back in the other room and continued putting up the Christmas tree.

Don't Give Up, Keep Trying

Sometimes our efforts seem to meet with resistance and failure so frequently that it can feel pointless to keep trying. To say this is disappointing is a vast understatement. In fact, when we run into this reality the primary challenge is to keep trying because the inclination to give up becomes so powerful.

These kinds of thoughts enter our minds, “Why should I keep banging my head against the wall? Just settle for something less.”

Since I have had the experience which I describe above on more than a few occasions, I found myself agreeing with and finding an unusual form of challenge and inspiration in this quote from Winston Churchill:  “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

The Value of Knowing Christ Jesus

This is an interesting thing for an intelligent, educated person to write:

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” Philippians 3:8-9

This was written by a man named Paul. He wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Is it true? Yes, it is. This passage is providing us with helpful knowledge. Nothing we do in life is more important than knowing Christ Jesus.

Why Do Leaders Sometimes Manipulate Those They Lead?

Why do people in leadership positions sometimes wind up manipulating the people they lead? Here are a couple of thoughts…

Sometimes manipulation occurs because the leaders genuinely think they know what’s best. And since they honestly believe they know what’s best they assume the manipulation is okay. After all, manipulation works and what is achieved through their manipulations will—in their minds—ultimately be what is best. So they rationalize that the manipulation is justified.

Sometimes manipulation occurs because leaders cannot generate enthusiasm, passion, interest and action consistent with their objectives through a truthful explanation of the facts of the situation so they resort to manipulative tactics. Manipulation will often work by taking advantage of strong feelings and emotions when the facts alone will not promote the actions they are hoping for.

Sometimes manipulation occurs because leaders have an ulterior motive. An ulterior motive held by a leader is, by definition, not something the leader wants to reveal. So, they attempt to achieve their desired ends by keeping the objectives hidden and manipulating emotions instead.

It is easy for leaders to fall into the tendency to manipulate the people they lead. Even good leaders are capable of doing this because there are forms of manipulation which are very effective and, frankly, can be easier to execute. So it is tempting to use them.

Good leaders, however, are honest and they relate with those they lead in truthful, mature, respectful ways. They do not view those they lead as dumb sheep to be manipulated, rather, they view them as people of intelligence and capability; people deserving of dignity and respect.

So good leaders make every attempt to refrain from knowingly manipulating those they lead. In fact, the approach of good leaders is to serve those they lead, in love. They provide guidance and direction through example. They cast a vision for a future that is good and right and would be better for everyone, doing so in an honest and forthright manner.

Jesus’ approach to leadership is represented—at least, in part—by something He said about himself which is recorded in the book of Matthew:

“…[T]he Son of Man [Jesus] did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

Living The Unique Lives To Which God Has Called Us

It is an indisputable fact that there are aspects of every single human being which make us completely unique. In other words, even though this can come off sounding trite it is, nevertheless, true that you are one-of-a-kind.

For instance, no has had the exact same experiences you have had.

No one has the same background as you.

No one else has your personality.

No one has interacted with the same mixture of people in the same way as you.

No one else has the same combination of skills and aptitudes.

No one else has the same way of viewing life as you.

So, we don’t have to do what everyone else does. We don’t have to be what everyone else tries to be.

Since God went ahead and made us in this tremendously unique way it would seem to follow He has a unique calling and purpose for our lives. Our objective is to understand what God has for us to do and be obedient to Him. If we are engaged in the unique life God has called us to then we will be doing the right thing.

“For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10

The Iced Tea Tastes Better

Last January I had an episode with kidney stones. You may have heard that kidney stones are very painful. I can confirm these reports are true.

During the kidney stone adventure an emergency room doctor told me various foods I should avoid because they increase the chances of developing kidney stones again. The easiest way for me to explain the correct diet for avoiding kidney stones is to tell you the foods that are allowed.

If you want to avoid kidney stones here is a list of the healthy foods to eat: 1) Celery.

That’s it. That’s the whole list. You can eat celery. So live it up with all the celery you want. Whoo hoo! Go nuts with the celery! Occasionally, if you really want to get crazy and spice it up a bit you can throw in a little bit of lettuce.

(I’m kidding. Sort of. But not much.)

At one point in this conversation the ER doctor said to me, “Do you like iced tea?”

I said, “I love iced tea. I drink it every day.”

He said, “No more iced tea. Only drink water. Lots of water.”

I said, “I hate drinking water.”

He said, “Of course you do. That’s why it’s important to drink it.”

With sadness in my heart I had to stop drinking my beloved iced tea.

But several months after this conversation with the ER doc I was telling this story to one of my friends, a person who has been a nurse for many years, and she said, “If you had an iced tea once in a while it would be alright. Don’t drink it every day. Have some occasionally. Moderation is the key.”

So, that’s what I have been doing. About once a week, or sometimes even less frequently, I will have an iced tea.

And you know what I’ve noticed? Now, when I do have an iced tea I have a greater awareness and sensitivity to the flavor of it. Seriously. There really is a difference. When I was drinking two or three large iced teas every day (I know, that’s a lot. Don’t point your fingers at me and shake your head disapprovingly.) I think I, unintentionally, desensitized my palate to the taste.

I had an iced tea tonight—I haven’t had one in about a week—and the flavor was delicious. It is as though my sense of taste has been heightened because I’m not drinking it as often.

What’s the point? The point is there is actually a silver lining in the cloud. I was sad that I couldn’t drink iced tea all the time because of the possibility of kidney stones. But now when I do drink iced tea—the occasions are rarer—but the taste is better.

Okay, time to go. I have a mouth-watering celery ensemble waiting for me.

His Recommendation That Others Stop Being Judgmental Involved A Judgment On His Part

I saw a post a few months ago in which it was pointed out that a certain group of people is far too quick to judge others. The person who wrote the post was fed up with their behavior and suggested this group of people [the entire group] needs to be more humble and stop with their unfair judgments. After all, judging others is not good. Right?

As I read the post I wondered if the person who wrote it realized that what he wrote about this group of judging people and their grievous shortcoming of being too judgmental involved... get ready… here it comes… that’s right, it involved a judgment on his part.

It’s actually sort of amusing, isn’t it?

“…[F]irst take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Jesus – Matthew 7:5

Jesus Means To Enlarge Life Not Diminish It

A number of people who reject Jesus do so because they believe being a follower of Christ will result in a life which is boring, bland, small, intellectually diminished, guilt-ridden and confined.

This sets up an interesting irony because Jesus, speaking of His followers, said this: “…I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Bible expositors will, of course, debate the nuances of this verse but for sure it means Jesus is offering His followers a life which is full, challenging, interesting, meaningful, exciting, good and virtuous.

The mission of Jesus is not to decrease life but to enlarge it.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

For Whom Are We Doing Our Acts of Kindness?

When we perform acts of kindness toward others for whom are we doing the act of kindness? What are we expecting to happen as a result of our act of kindness?

I ask these questions because we may find our acts of kindness are not received with a level of enthusiasm and appreciation we were expecting. This can be disappointing, especially if we were looking for the enthusiastic joy and gratitude of the recipient as a subtle form of reward for our kind action.

Many of us who have a bit of life experience under our belts have discovered there may be times when genuine acts of kindness are met with actual indifference or perhaps even scorn. Believe it or not this can happen. It is a strange and surprising response the first few times it is encountered. It can be very disappointing.

And it may cause us to think, “Well, that’s it! Forget it! I’m not helping anyone or being kind to anyone again! I do these nice things and no one even appreciates it. Phooey on everyone! You are all on your own from now on you ungrateful punks!!!”

[This is usually said while shaking a fist in the air.]

It is helpful for us to understand our acts of kindness to be a loving response to God’s goodness toward us. Let the kindness be an act of worship and service that honors God, doing it for His sake. Allow the obedience to God to be its own reward.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Jesus – Matthew 6:1-4