Little Blue Box

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62 ESV). Popularity is not always the companion of righteousness. About halfway through a PBS program on the Library of Congress, Dr. Daniel Boorstin, the Librarian of Congress, brought out a little blue box from a small closet that once held the library’s rarities. The label on the box read: CONTENTS OF THE PRESIDENT’S POCKETS ON THE NIGHT OF APRIL 14, 1865. Since that was the fateful night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, every viewer’s attention was seized. Boorstin then proceeded to remove the items in the small container and display them on camera. There were five things in the box: • A handkerchief, embroidered “A. Lincoln” • A country boy’s pen knife • A spectacles case repaired with string • A purse containing a $5 bill—Confederate money • Some old and worn newspaper clippings “The clippings,” said Boorstin, “were concerned with the great deeds of Abraham Lincoln. And one of them actually reports a speech by John Bright, which says that Abraham Lincoln is “one of the greatest men of all times.” Today that’s common knowledge. The world now knows that British statesman John Bright was right in his assessment of Lincoln, but in 1865 millions shared quite a contrary opinion. The President’s critics were fierce and many. His was a lonely agony that reflected the suffering and turmoil of his country ripped to shreds by hatred and a cruel, costly war. There is something touchingly pathetic in the mental picture of this great leader seeking solace and self-assurance from a few old newspaper clippings as he reads them under the flickering flame of a candle alone in the Oval Office. Someone has said: “loneliness stalks where the buck stops.” Sadly this seems to be a principle lost on many leaders today. Commit yourself to doing those things that are right simply because they are right! Don’t put your hand to the plow and look back!

The Beauty of Water

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13-17 ESV). Scott Michael Ringo quotes: "With the Sunrise the frost turns a sparkling orange as the waking sun breaks the morning into yet another day. Frosty crystals dance with light in their brief and brilliant life as the sun's warming glow change them into a soft mist that gently rises from the earth. In one brief moment, creation breathes the first breath of the new day, granting yet another day to many, while some left yesterday. The song of morning again creation sings, and does not forget, His ancient melody that has been playing since time began. A whisper of wonder and of awe repeated each morning since that light glistened the first morning of creation". Water comes in many forms and all of them have a beauty of their own. The ocean waves crashing on the shore soothes the ears and the sound runs through the mind like a gentle wind. Mist rising from the earth in the morning brings serenity to the eyes and its fragrance calms the spirit. Snow sparks the imagination as it clings to the trees and smoothes the landscape into gentle rolling hills. Gentle raindrops falling bring peace and relaxation to the busy world it falls on. Water, regardless of its form, comes to continue life by giving of itself so life around it can live. Water brings life and refreshment to all it touches. As water in its different forms fill brief moments of time, so do our lives. James helps us to remember that in our reading this morning. He says our lives are like “the morning fog.” It is here a little while, and then it's gone. As real and tangible the world seems to us, it is but a vapor. For each of us it is here today but one day will be gone. God promises to create a new heaven and a new earth for us that will remain forever. That life and earth to come is the life we long for, though this one has taken its place. While we are here on this earth, we are to fulfill the same role as the different forms of water. We are to bring life to all that our lives touch. Allow God to transform your life into a gift that is as uniquely beautiful as the forms of water, bringing life to all that it touches. As we allow God use our life as water pouring out on this earth, do not hold on to the temporary that is just a vapor. Instead, hold on to the promise of the life that we will have in a new and perfect world to come. You are beautiful in all the forms that God makes your life.

Sun Ray, Heather, and Fruit Stand

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:1-2 ESV). When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular sequence. But they didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing Frisbee with little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school. That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely apply nametags to their children, kiss them good-bye and send them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it. “Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s. At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?” He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their nametags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.” According to the 2012 BabyCenter, Jacob and Emily were the most popular baby names in the United States for the third year in a row. The “Baby Names List” compiled by BabyCenter L.L.C., the leading online resource for new and expectant parents had very few major upheavals in the rankings below the number-one spots. The use of classic feminine names like Emily, Abigail and Isabella increased significantly for girls, a move away from the TV-inspired names that have been popular since the mid-1990s, such as Alexis and Brianna. The boys' names list, which typically varies very little year to year, also saw unusual movement but in the opposite direction. Newcomers such as Aidan, Ryan and Zachary are edging out long time classic boys’ names such as Michael and Christopher. So what? It only serves to remind us that a good “name,” or as the reading today indicates, a good reputation, is essential. There is only one way to maintain such a name. It is not what it is, but what it represents. Fruit Stand or not, if you stand for integrity and goodness, then you will have true riches. All the money in the world cannot buy those qualities.

Pretending to be Superman

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV). The newest installment in the Superman movies has been released setting box office records! It reminds me of a story I read the other day about a little boy who loved to play Superman. Each morning three-year-old Ray would ask his mother to pin a bath towel to the back shoulders of his size two t-shirt. Immediately in his young imaginative mind the towel became a brilliant magic blue and red cape. And he became Superman. Outfitted each day in his "cape," Ray's days were packed with adventure and daring escapades. In his mind, he not only played Superman, he WAS Superman. This fact was clearly pointed out when his mother enrolled him in kindergarten class. During the course of the interview, the teacher asked Ray his name. "Superman," he answered politely and without pause. The teacher smiled, cast an appreciative glance at his mother, and asked again, "Your real name, please." Again, Ray answered, "Superman." Realizing the situation demanded more authority, or maybe to hide her amusement, the teacher closed her eyes for a moment, then in a voice quite stern, said, "I will have to have your real name for the records." Sensing he'd have to play straight with the teacher, Ray slid his eyes around the room, hunched closer to her, and patting a corner of the frayed towel at his shoulder, answered in a voice hushed with conspiracy, "Clark Kent." We laugh at this child's imagination and childish self-deception. But you know what, far too many of us as adults put on a public face (our "Super-whatever" mask) and pretend to be outwardly what we're not on the inside so that we will be liked and accepted and as a means of avoiding facing our own reality. And when we live with this deception for so long, we end up believing our mask is the real us. People may "like" my public mask but as long as I hide my true self, I will never feel loved and will end up living among people alone apart. The realty is that I can only be loved to the degree that I am known. Furthermore, unless I admit to myself and to God who and what I really am, I will never be able to feel truly forgiven nor fully loved. We try, like Adam did when he sinned, to hide from God, which is totally unrealistic, since we can never hide from God no matter how we try. As David wrote, "Where can I go from Your Spirit [Oh God]? Or where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:1-7, NIV). It is much wiser and much healthier to come to God and admit who we truly are, ask for and find his forgiveness, and be freed to grow and become all that God envisioned for us to be and do. You may pretend to be “Superman” for fun, but for forgiveness and peace, don’t just pretend!

Making yourself Uncomfortable

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV). Welcome, come in and sit down. Make yourself uncomfortable. Have you ever greeted a guest at your door that way? I haven’t either, but maybe we should consider doing so. Personal growth comes when we push through discomfort. Some say life begins at the end of our comfort zone. Yet think of the time and energy we spend keeping ourselves comfortable. I know I often expend my energy to stay in my comfort zone. At home and work I resist change. Eating the same foods, going to the same restaurants, using the same services and businesses, and associating with the same people, all these keep us feeling comfortable. But with hindsight I recognize that the major leaps of growth in my life always followed periods of discomfort. Familiar surroundings and situations allow us to live in a sort of autopilot mode. Do you take the same route to work every day? Have you ever realized half way there that you don’t recall getting where you are? You just navigated a familiar route with little conscious effort. Which situation do you associate with adventure, the routine or the new and unknown? Which do you call boring, endless repetition of that which we always do or trying something we’ve never done before? Now I’m not suggesting that our lives should be one constant adventure. The routine, the known, helps us to complete our daily tasks with minimal energy output. Calmness and quiet are conducive to meditation and introspection, important to our understanding. But living full time in a comfort zone equates to a life with little growth and growth is why we’re here. So don’t always strive to be comfortable. Strive instead for some regular discomfort in your life. Think of it as a stretching. Most of us are operating below our highest self. So we’re comfortable at our current level because it’s familiar. But joy comes when we’re being our highest self. The transition in between, a necessary stepping-stone, is uncomfortable. We’re out of the familiar, but not yet at the joyous level of highest self. Welcome that feeling of discomfort as an opportunity to advance your life. The old adage “no pain, no gain” may contain more truth than we might have imagined. Trust the Lord to work it all together for good in your life and live in the joy!

When Believing Is Seeing

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Perhaps no more graphic illustration of this truth can be found in the Scriptures than the events recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37. The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, had opened a campaign against Judah by attacking the fortresses in her southland. Apparently the Assyrians felt that King Hezekiah would surrender Jerusalem without a fight if Rabshakeh could dishearten the Jewish warriors. The Assyrian cupbearer made light of Judah's possibilities of victory. The servants of King Hezekiah came to seek advice from Isaiah, the man of God. Isaiah assured Hezekiah that God took the blasphemies of Rabshakeh as uttered against Him personally and would destroy the armies of Sennacherib because of their blasphemy. Isaiah predicted that the king of Assyria would never enter God's holy city nor shoot an arrow at it. God would somehow miraculously deliver His city because of the blasphemy of the Assyrians against Him. Hezekiah and the Jews must live lives of faith, for they would not be told how this deliverance would come about; they must trust God. That very night the predicted catastrophe for the Assyrian armies occurred. Early in the morning they arose to find 185,000 Assyrian corpses. They never had opportunity to move against God's holy city because God always performs what He promises. On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. It was not the distance that was the great challenge to her but the bone-chilling waters of the Pacific. To make matters worse, a dense fog enshrouded the entire area, making it impossible to see the land. After she had swum for 15 hours and was within half a mile of her goal, Florence Chadwick gave up. Later she told a newspaper reporter, "If I could have seen land, I might have made it." Not long thereafter she again attempted this same feat. Once again the fog shrouded the coastline and she could not see the shore, but this time she successfully completed her swim because she kept reminding herself that the land was out there, somewhere. With that confidence she bravely swam on and achieved her goal. In fact, she broke the men's record by more than two hours. Sometimes we do not achieve our goals in life because we cannot clearly see God's hand moving in our behalf. Although we desire with all our heart to reach our goal, the fog of doubt sets in and makes it impossible for us to see clearly. Still, if believing in God we continue to press toward the mark, early in the morning we will see our goal achieved and the battlefield littered with the corpses of the enemy. We must trust God in the dark; we must remember that faith is the evidence of things not seen.

Mary Poppins Babies

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4 ESV). It is hard to believe that Faith and Logan are growing so quickly. They will soon be ten! Kyle and Brandy are doing such a wonderful job with them. In fact, what I began calling them years ago is proving to be correct. When they were little I called them “Mary Poppins’ babies” (you know, “practically perfect in every way”)! Seriously, they are doing an incredible job as parents. It is a joy to see how their family is now developing. One of the things I have noticed as they have grown and changed is in the use of their facial expressions. Faith has a smile that literally lights up the room. She has learned to use it well. When she really wants to wrap Grandpa around her finger, all she needs to do is flash that smile at me! Logan has a wonderful smile as well; however, he has also learned to use his eyes to express himself more. He can raise his eyebrows nearly to his hairline! They can engage me immediately with just a look. The more I thought about that, the more I realized that we are supposed to be involved with our children. Of course that doesn’t mean indulging them in activities that are bad for them. When they need to go to sleep, as irresistible as their antics might be, they need to go to sleep. However, here is some really good news that might surprise you: Kids with involved parents do better in school than kids who have less connected parents. This is especially true with children and their dads. They not only do better in academics, they are strong social learners as well, feeling more satisfaction with school and friends. This is not to say that the father's touch is a guarantee. In this era of increased paternal involvement, some voluntary and some not, researchers have been spending more time trying to figure out if more fathering is a blessing or a curse. So far the bottom line is: Having a dad in your life, or someone who acts like one and feels like one, is an enduring resource for children. This works in some interesting ways, starting with babies at six weeks of age, all of whom are born with the ability to relate differently to fathers than to mothers. Babies respond differently to their fathers' approach and touch, and the dads take the bait. If the paternal presence is this good a deal for your kids, how can busy and over-committed men stay close to kids' lives in meaningful ways? Sure, talking is nice but doing is so much better. There are lots of ways, however, the most important thing is to get time alone with your kids. It is simply irreplaceable and they won't want it forever. And the benefits go both ways. The positive effects don't just change your kids. They also change you. Spouses of men who are closely connected to kids find them more open, loving, affectionate, and emotionally powerful partners. Never underestimate what your fathering means to your children. Just remember what you liked about being fathered, or how you wish you had been, and then let your kids help you make it happen. Happy Father’s Day!