Is it Wisdom or Laziness?

Sparky

Sparky has been a special addition to our world for over ten (10) years. We found him in a shelter, guilty of criminal running-at-large. His previous owners either did not want him back or they did not know where to look for him.

He seemed healthy enough and appeared (to those who know such things) to be between two (2) and four (4) years old. He is in remarkable health for a dog his age (according to his veterinarian).

I had him out for his constitutional this morning. As he has done since taking charge of our world he sniffed, walked and watered. One noteworthy thing he did not do was chase the black cat sitting at the back corner of the property.

Sparky was always up for a good run whether dog, cat, groundhog or deer trespassed. As nearly as I know he never actually caught anything. He did get too close to a skunk before but evidently was convinced to give up any notion of pursuing further.

This morning he looked interested, as if considering a chase but quickly returned to sniffing, walking and watering. Had he finally reconsidered his time-tested efforts and decided they were not worth the time and energy, or has he become lazy?

It really doesn't matter in Sparky's case, but it would matter if the decision was mine. There are some things I am not as passionate about as I was a few years ago. If it is because wisdom has prevailed it is a victory. If it is because I still need to be passionate, but have become lazy then I am failing.

Hmmm...

Where I am supposed to be

Conversation takes us interesting places. Casual conversation will sometimes reveal our passions and principles when the discussion is about something else altogether.

In helping a believer move recently I was party to a conversation where the moving believer apologized for imposing on those helping. The move had come up rather unexpectedly so there was little time to adjust schedules. Some had just dropped their plans for the day and showed up.

One helper responded to the apology. In a matter-of-fact way he said, "I get up every morning wondering what or who God will place in my path that day. As long as I take care with that I am certain I am where I should be, doing what I should be doing."


Knowing the man, I am certain he did not realize the profound-ness of his response. I am also confident that he really tries to live his live the way he said.

Think of the impact if all believers lived with His purpose. What do you suppose the impact would be?

Take a moment and share your thoughts and comments.

How does it look to you?

My barber was just about finished with my final dusting when she decided to pull out the blow-dryer to dislodge the remaining clippings from my neck. As she combed my hair back into place for the final look I began to laugh.

She had parted my hair on the side opposite my usual part. It looked like it belonged there so she just reacted without thinking about what ought to be. It was funny to me. It certainly reinforced my suspicion that hair-loss has rendered some of my options obsolete, or at least irrelevant.

How many other things about life do I continue as I always have, just because I always have? It may be time for a fresh look at the way things ought to be now. My way of doing things should not be defined  into eternity just because it has been that way all this time.

It is easier to look at others with dispassionate objectively than to look at myself. I suppose that is one reason we need close friends. Kind objective evaluation is required if I am to be successful.

I have those kinds of friends. Do you? Does everyone?

Have you had a similar moment of enlightenment?

Get Their Ear, Catch their Eye, Own Their Heart

Marketing hasn't changed much since the first great sales job. Technological advances present new ways to do the old things, but the old things remain the same:

• Get them to listen;
• Get them to look;
• Get them to want.

That pretty well sums it up. What we want, we want. What we want, we get (if it can be done). You may have noticed I did not suggest being smart was a part of the equation. It often isn't.

This strategy is the same used by Satan in his assault on Adam and Eve recorded in the early chapters of Genesis.

1. Satan got her ear and created doubt about what Eve had been told was true.
2. He then caught her eye with that delicious looking benign fruit. She had been told it was benign hadn't she? It certainly looked harmless to her. As a matter of fact, she did want it.
3. By the time Eve wanted it, Satan owned her heart.

It hasn't changed much has it? Based upon your experience and observations, which seems to present the most formidable of the three steps in this Satanic strategy?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Did I Hear God Whisper?

Have you ever had one of those dreams that was so real you were a little surprised to find it was not? I had one last night, or was it this morning? Well, it does not matter. I had it.

I was walking on a campus where I had worked years ago. My cell phone rang. As I answered I recognized the voice on the other end, but couldn't place it. Even when he told me his name we had to talk awhile before I placed him.

In the conversation he eventually discovered where I was. His next inquiry was simple, direct, and common. He asked me why I was there. As I remember, I was perplexed myself. Why was I there?

It really is a very compelling question: "Why?" "Why are you there?" Paul said that God places all of us where we are in time and space so that we can "reach out for Him" as He is always nearby.

If He has chosen me for this place and this time, I should be paying attention. He has a plan for today. Now, where is He in all of this and what is it that I am to do?

Have you noticed that we lose our focus easily?

He wore his passion on his shirt sleeve.

According to those who knew him (at least as reported), Al Davis thought only of football for decades. He died Saturday morning, October 8, 2011. An NFL icon said that Mr. Davis wore his passion on his shirt sleeve. Another coaching icon said that Mr. Davis didn't take time off from his "Raiders." What a legacy.

Most of us take time-off from our work, but our core passions can not be left behind. They are always before us in our thoughts. They distract us from our hobbies; they awaken us in the night. We run stop signs and have accidents because they demand center-front seats in life.

Jesus said that all God wants from me is my heart. Everything about my life should focus on Him, His will, His other people. Are these the thoughts pushing and elbowing their way through my crowded mind, struggling for center-front? Do my distractions betray my real passions? Do yours?

What do you think?

Yard Sales, People and Prayer

Yard sales are terrible, wonderful things. I pass useful, but no longer used items along for someone else to have. Clearing clutter from underfoot  without topping off a landfill gives me a sense of green-ness. Green, as in eco-friendly and as in cash.

I awakened early that day with a conviction that some things had to go. They were specific, certain things and they had to go. Besides that, my princess needed a little more cash to comfortably guide her brother and wife around Tennessee and Western North Carolina in the coming week.

I began after Cindy left for work. She didn't know I was having a yard sale. She didn't have to know. None of her stuff was on my have-to-go list. These were my cluttering accumulations.

I am ashamed to mention how much cash I brought in for her. It's not that I am not grateful for God's blessing in this (and He certainly did bless). It is that you might rightfully ask why I had so much stuff available. Why had I not cleared the clutter before the list became so long? My friends had wondered that for some time.

During the day, folks from our little town drove by. Many stopped to look, ask and buy. Others stopped because that is what we do here; we stop, act interested and visit. We visit a lot here. It is nice to visit. Catching up with friends and acquaintances takes time. We must not rush or it will not get done.

As we visited, we would sidetrack while the rest of the world forged ahead on the main track. We talked of hopes and fears. We told of victories and failures. We laughed. We cried. We prayed. It was not like church praying; it was more like crying and asking for help. Once it just poured out. It wasn't there and then it was.

I should have yard sales more often. They are not only eco-friendly; they can be spirit-friendly. If they are spirit-friendly they are not about the stuff. They are about the people. If they are about the people they are not rushed. People take time.

Since people are worth God's time, they are worth every minute of mine. Yard sales are a pleasant way to take care of people.

An Albert Knudsen / Forest Gump Connection

I received a word from God a few days ago. Although delivered in the form of an Internet message from my uncle, the timing was God-driven.

Albert Knudson, a preacher from the Methodist tradition is credited with this quote: "There are two classes of preachers--the good preachers who have something to say, and the poor preachers who have to say something." 

Everyone would probably agree except those who never endured an episode of pastoral verbal proliferation. I am an offender. Hopefully most of my oratorical excesses are in the past. In my defense, it is not only preachers who occasionally speak while having nothing to say.

Almost everyone is guilty. Preachers, politicians, coffee-klatch wise men, and casual conversationalists alike have occasionally displaced silence with drivel. Most of us are convinced that our audience needs  more verbiage, much like a desert hiker might need another drink of water.


"Quick to listen, slow to speak" is sound advice (or possibly anti-sound advice) better practiced than discussed. In deference to Mr. Knudson and following the example of Forest Gump, that's all I've got to say about that.

Photo by whiteafrican hosted by flickr