At the moment I work in shipping for an industrial supply company. It's been a blessing in many ways, but it's also taken its toll. The job is physically demanding. I average 15,000-30,000 steps a day, and spend a lot of time in trailers loading heavy boxes. I've been doing this for three and a half years, and I am starting to feel it. Recently, the company has taken the initiative to help us focus on working smarter in order to help reduce the wear and tear on our bodies. This initiative involves training on how to do the tasks of the job correctly to avoid strain leading to injury. During the training session I had last week, the coach was talking about the importance of lifting properly (back straight, head up, elbows in, knees bent, the posture that we've all been told to use). After describing and demonstrating this position he said something that I've been thinking about since then. Toddlers are incapable of lifting incorrectly.
I thought about that, and I realized it's true. I've watched my daughters pick things up off the ground, and every time they do it with perfect form. They lift in the way that the body was designed to lift, because it is the way the body naturally functions. When we are young we naturally do things correctly, it is as we age that we learn to cheat and take short cuts. We think something is easier, but it ends up doing a lot of damage.
As I've been thinking about it, I keep realizing how kids have it right. This goes beyond proper lifting form. Kids are infinitely creative and they are active with unending energy. It is as we age that we begin to just go with the flow and end up exhausted. Kids are honest. For my youngest daughter's first birthday I made these all natural, sugar free, whole wheat and banana cupcakes, they were even more disgusting than they sound. Typically with things like this, adults eat as much as they must in order to be polite and smile. My three year old took a bite and said, "This is bad" before throwing her cupcake. We learn to deceive and call it politeness by sparing feelings.
As we grow we learn to lie and deceive, cheat and steal, take short cuts and be lazy. We learn to do what is easy and ignore the costs. I can continue to lift improperly, and eventually I'll bend over to pick up a pen and slip a disk. That's what happens with the easy way.
As I've thought about this, the words of Yoda kept coming to my mind. In 1980 Luke Skywalker was training under the famed Grand Master on the swamp world of Dagobah. During an exercise where Luke was stacking rocks with the force, his X-wing star fighter sinks deeper into the swamp where it had crashed on his arrival. He looks at it and speaks in frustrated hopelessness, "Oh no, we'll never get it out now." Yoda responds in his unique speech, "So certain are you, always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?" Luke replies, "Master moving stones around is one thing, this is totally different." Then Yoda gives him this, "No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."
We have a perception of how things work and what is best, but sometimes that perception ends up doing damage and keeping us from something even better. We need to unlearn what we have learned, and begin to look at the world again through the eyes of a child. Luke sees the ship as too big, and his feeble and faithless attempt only accomplishes the final submersion of his fighter. Yoda who sees it as just another object, and knows what the Force can do, raises it out the swamp easier than Luke was raising stones (and if you haven't seen the movie and I spoiled it for you, I'm not sorry, the movie is 37 years old and held by many to be the best film of the saga).
In my last post I shared this verse from Romans 12.2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." The idea of transforming renewal points to unlearning. Jesus Himself spoke of this, challenging His audience to be transformed on a deeper level. During the Sermon on the Mount, He said three times, "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you..." (Matthew 5.27-28, 38-39, 43-44). He is working to transform the way people function on the level of their thoughts so that they can begin to live as God intended.
In Matthew 18.2-4 Jesus responds to a question about greatness in the Kingdom, "And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, 'Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" A child is the example held up by Christ.
Children do things right because they do things naturally. It is natural to be honest, deceit is learned. It is natural to be active, laziness is learned. It is natural to be loving, hate is learned. It is natural to trust, doubt is learned. It is natural to do what is right, doing what is easy is learned. We must unlearn what we have learned.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
What are you going to read?, by Will
As each year of college ended, my professors would ask me that question a lot. I wasn't a big reader in college, I honestly don't think there was a single class I did all of the reading for, although my final semester I decided that for once I was going to do just that, and then senioritis kicked in and that plan lasted about three hours. For me, reading was something I just didn't have time for, and one professor said, "If you don't read books now, you won't read them later."
The problem I had was that everyone was telling me to read, but no one was telling me how to read. I figured I had to sit down and read for an at least an hour at a time. I've seen the shelves of many pastors and professors, how else do they work through all of the material they have? But then I was assigned a book, I think it was the spiritual disciplines one I mentioned in an earlier post, that said to set aside twenty minutes a day to read, and that made reading easy.
I have to be honest, I haven't followed that rule. I get home after an exhausting day and the last thing I feel like doing is thinking. I discovered audiobooks almost two years ago, and I'm somewhere between 110-120 titles. Currently I'm working through Business Insider's "100 Books to Read Before you Die". (http://www.businessinsider.com/100-books-everyone-should-read-amazon-goodreads-2015-3). It's a nice cross section of genres and cultures. Some of them are pretty disturbing books, and others are very delightful (Right now I'm listening to Ender's Game, and I'm hoping the book ends with closure because I don't know that I want to get into the multi volume series). The issue I'm having, is so many of them are stories that don't help me improve as a man. I don't mind, because when I'm at work I don't want to be distracted by something that I really need to focus on to understand, but I'm wanting more out of my literary experience than entertaining stories.
As part of my journey this year, I've realized that I need to be intentional about what I'm reading. The stories are fine. They are entertaining, and informative, but I don't really see them as life impacting, though some are. The issue I've really caught myself with is when I listen to the same series over and over while I'm driving just to fill the time. I've been convicted about this, and so I've decided to make a change.
This month, audible had a two for one credit sale, and so I purchased The Way of the Seal by Mark Divine, and Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. This is the area I have really felt God wants to develop in me, and part of the way I can help is through intentionally spending time learning from others who have excelled in this area.
Jesus said, "And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matt. 22.37) We love God with our mind by learning. We learn by being intentional and observant. We learn by being humble and teachable.
The Apostle Paul said, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12.1-2) We are transformed by being diligent about what we read, and by being intentional about putting into practice the things that authors have to say.
I believe God has called me to be a leader, and that means learning from others who lead well. Through the written word, I have access to leaders I would never otherwise meet. Am I willing to take the time and learn from what they are willing to share? How badly do I want to become a better leader?
What do you want to learn? There's a book on it, probably multiple books. How badly do you want to learn? Loving God with your mind means actively learning and growing. Being transformed by the renewing of your mind involves being selective about what you allow your attention to be focused on.
Take the time to read.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
The problem I had was that everyone was telling me to read, but no one was telling me how to read. I figured I had to sit down and read for an at least an hour at a time. I've seen the shelves of many pastors and professors, how else do they work through all of the material they have? But then I was assigned a book, I think it was the spiritual disciplines one I mentioned in an earlier post, that said to set aside twenty minutes a day to read, and that made reading easy.
I have to be honest, I haven't followed that rule. I get home after an exhausting day and the last thing I feel like doing is thinking. I discovered audiobooks almost two years ago, and I'm somewhere between 110-120 titles. Currently I'm working through Business Insider's "100 Books to Read Before you Die". (http://www.businessinsider.com/100-books-everyone-should-read-amazon-goodreads-2015-3). It's a nice cross section of genres and cultures. Some of them are pretty disturbing books, and others are very delightful (Right now I'm listening to Ender's Game, and I'm hoping the book ends with closure because I don't know that I want to get into the multi volume series). The issue I'm having, is so many of them are stories that don't help me improve as a man. I don't mind, because when I'm at work I don't want to be distracted by something that I really need to focus on to understand, but I'm wanting more out of my literary experience than entertaining stories.
As part of my journey this year, I've realized that I need to be intentional about what I'm reading. The stories are fine. They are entertaining, and informative, but I don't really see them as life impacting, though some are. The issue I've really caught myself with is when I listen to the same series over and over while I'm driving just to fill the time. I've been convicted about this, and so I've decided to make a change.
This month, audible had a two for one credit sale, and so I purchased The Way of the Seal by Mark Divine, and Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. This is the area I have really felt God wants to develop in me, and part of the way I can help is through intentionally spending time learning from others who have excelled in this area.
Jesus said, "And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" (Matt. 22.37) We love God with our mind by learning. We learn by being intentional and observant. We learn by being humble and teachable.
The Apostle Paul said, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12.1-2) We are transformed by being diligent about what we read, and by being intentional about putting into practice the things that authors have to say.
I believe God has called me to be a leader, and that means learning from others who lead well. Through the written word, I have access to leaders I would never otherwise meet. Am I willing to take the time and learn from what they are willing to share? How badly do I want to become a better leader?
What do you want to learn? There's a book on it, probably multiple books. How badly do you want to learn? Loving God with your mind means actively learning and growing. Being transformed by the renewing of your mind involves being selective about what you allow your attention to be focused on.
Take the time to read.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
Friday, May 19, 2017
The Regret of Inaction, by Will
This year I am trying to focus on being intentional. I'm striving to be more confident and assertive, and seeking to act when I need to act. In the past I've been hesitant and passive, and I haven't stepped in to act when I've been needed. I feel like I need to share three stories of my past inaction, I've only shared these with one or two people, but today as I thought about the next steps I need to take, I felt that this is the direction God is leading.
My first significant moment of inaction occurred during my sophomore year of college. I was in my apartment, taking a power nap between class and studying, when I was woken up by one of my apartment mates arguing with his girlfriend. She was crying and he was being mean and derogatory. It wasn't physical in any way, but as I listened to her get more and more upset I kept feeling like I should step out and come to her aid. I didn't, I don't know why, but I didn't. I could have shut him up, prevented her from taking a verbal beating, but I did nothing. I was needed, I had the chance to intervene, but I sat by and did nothing.
The second story takes place a few years later, this one I beat myself up about more because of the fatal outcome that could have resulted because I didn't act. I was at the Columbus zoo, with a couple college friends, we were serving as chaperones for a church youth outing. It was a hot day and we ended up spending a good part of it in the attached water park. At one point we were in the wave pool and I saw a girl struggling in the waves. She would go under the water, come up and barely get a breath and then go under again. She looked like she may have been drowning, but since she kept getting a breath I wasn't sure. I didn't swim over to her and see if she was ok, I just kept an eye on her incase she didn't come back up. The waves finally pushed her out to a place near me where she could stand, and I heard her tell one of her friends that she had been drowning. Again, I was needed, I could have intervened, and I didn't do anything but watch.
The final story takes place just over four years ago. I was in Israel, sitting at dinner with some of the other people I was traveling with. At one point I looked over to my left and saw an older man sitting there with a blank stare on his face. His wife was with him and she was trying to make sure he was ok. There was no commotion initially, but I kept glancing over, and the situation was not improving. It wasn't until she began to raise her voice and be panicked/terrified that anyone else became aware that there was a problem. This is the one situation out of these three that I get the most grace on. I'm not a doctor, nurse, or EMT, so there was really nothing I could to help, but regardless, there was a problem, I was aware of it, and I did nothing but sit and watch.
Writing all of that out sucks. Reliving each of those events in my mind is painful. I let a college age girl take a verbal beating form her boyfriend, I almost let a teen girl die, and I watched an older wife panic over her sick husband. I'm saw a problem, but did nothing about it, and I hate that about myself. As far as I know everyone in those situations is ok. The girl in the first story got out of that relationship and is now married. The girl from the second story got out of the water, and the Israeli paramedics came and took the man to the hospital for treatment. But the fact remains that I had the opportunity to act, I could have done something, and I didn't. For whatever reason I froze, and I let others suffer as a result.
Men failing to act when they are needed most is nothing new. In fact, it's the reason that the world is as messed up as it. In Genesis 3 there are four words that spell the doom for all of creation. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." The serpent shows up and seduces the woman to disobey God's one command. But the worst part of the story is her husband, her protector, the one who is called to lead, stands there, watches the whole thing go down, and doesn't do a thing about it. He doesn't step in, he doesn't act, and what follows is the history of the world as we know it.
Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." This has been true since Genesis 3, and it continues to be true every time I fail to step in and do what needs to be done. My inaction has caused pain and fear in too many lives, and I never want that to happen again.
This year our men's group is going to be focusing on the stage of the Warrior, and as I've been preparing to lead discussion so many things have come to inspire me. There are many quotes I've written down, and several Bible verses that we'll look at during our weekend together, but the one that keeps coming to my mind right now is 1 Corinthians 16.13-14, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
Be on the alert; pay attention to your surroundings, and be aware of the needs of others.
Stand firm in the faith; don't compromise your beliefs, and don't damage your integrity.
Act like men; step in and play your part, lead and protect, don't let evil advance unopposed.
Be strong; endure the affliction, take the hits and keep moving forward.
Let all that you do be done in love; be willing to sacrifice yourself for others, and when the opportunity arises, do it.
That is the way I want to live the rest of my life. I do a decent job of being aware of my surroundings, obviously, and I always strive to do the right thing, but the rest of it is hard. It's easy to fantasize about being the hero, but it's a completely different thing to bleed like the hero. It's easier to let evil advance unopposed than to stand up and face it, but it causes regret that is difficult to live with. Last quote for this post, I promise, (although it's only my second one, that just shows how many are going through my head). In Braveheart, William Wallace calls the Scots to fight, but seeing the size of the English opposition they have decided to leave the field and go home so that they can live. Wallace responds, "Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"
I've failed to act so many times, and yes, I'd be willing to trade the days to go back for just one chance to do what I wish I would have done in each of those situations. I can't change the past, and I have to live with the regret of my inaction, but I don't have to add to it. I was made a man in the image of God. I was given a strength to use to oppose evil, of any kind, and make the world better. I don't want to commit the sin of Adam's passivity anymore.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
My first significant moment of inaction occurred during my sophomore year of college. I was in my apartment, taking a power nap between class and studying, when I was woken up by one of my apartment mates arguing with his girlfriend. She was crying and he was being mean and derogatory. It wasn't physical in any way, but as I listened to her get more and more upset I kept feeling like I should step out and come to her aid. I didn't, I don't know why, but I didn't. I could have shut him up, prevented her from taking a verbal beating, but I did nothing. I was needed, I had the chance to intervene, but I sat by and did nothing.
The second story takes place a few years later, this one I beat myself up about more because of the fatal outcome that could have resulted because I didn't act. I was at the Columbus zoo, with a couple college friends, we were serving as chaperones for a church youth outing. It was a hot day and we ended up spending a good part of it in the attached water park. At one point we were in the wave pool and I saw a girl struggling in the waves. She would go under the water, come up and barely get a breath and then go under again. She looked like she may have been drowning, but since she kept getting a breath I wasn't sure. I didn't swim over to her and see if she was ok, I just kept an eye on her incase she didn't come back up. The waves finally pushed her out to a place near me where she could stand, and I heard her tell one of her friends that she had been drowning. Again, I was needed, I could have intervened, and I didn't do anything but watch.
The final story takes place just over four years ago. I was in Israel, sitting at dinner with some of the other people I was traveling with. At one point I looked over to my left and saw an older man sitting there with a blank stare on his face. His wife was with him and she was trying to make sure he was ok. There was no commotion initially, but I kept glancing over, and the situation was not improving. It wasn't until she began to raise her voice and be panicked/terrified that anyone else became aware that there was a problem. This is the one situation out of these three that I get the most grace on. I'm not a doctor, nurse, or EMT, so there was really nothing I could to help, but regardless, there was a problem, I was aware of it, and I did nothing but sit and watch.
Writing all of that out sucks. Reliving each of those events in my mind is painful. I let a college age girl take a verbal beating form her boyfriend, I almost let a teen girl die, and I watched an older wife panic over her sick husband. I'm saw a problem, but did nothing about it, and I hate that about myself. As far as I know everyone in those situations is ok. The girl in the first story got out of that relationship and is now married. The girl from the second story got out of the water, and the Israeli paramedics came and took the man to the hospital for treatment. But the fact remains that I had the opportunity to act, I could have done something, and I didn't. For whatever reason I froze, and I let others suffer as a result.
Men failing to act when they are needed most is nothing new. In fact, it's the reason that the world is as messed up as it. In Genesis 3 there are four words that spell the doom for all of creation. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." The serpent shows up and seduces the woman to disobey God's one command. But the worst part of the story is her husband, her protector, the one who is called to lead, stands there, watches the whole thing go down, and doesn't do a thing about it. He doesn't step in, he doesn't act, and what follows is the history of the world as we know it.
Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." This has been true since Genesis 3, and it continues to be true every time I fail to step in and do what needs to be done. My inaction has caused pain and fear in too many lives, and I never want that to happen again.
This year our men's group is going to be focusing on the stage of the Warrior, and as I've been preparing to lead discussion so many things have come to inspire me. There are many quotes I've written down, and several Bible verses that we'll look at during our weekend together, but the one that keeps coming to my mind right now is 1 Corinthians 16.13-14, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."
Be on the alert; pay attention to your surroundings, and be aware of the needs of others.
Stand firm in the faith; don't compromise your beliefs, and don't damage your integrity.
Act like men; step in and play your part, lead and protect, don't let evil advance unopposed.
Be strong; endure the affliction, take the hits and keep moving forward.
Let all that you do be done in love; be willing to sacrifice yourself for others, and when the opportunity arises, do it.
That is the way I want to live the rest of my life. I do a decent job of being aware of my surroundings, obviously, and I always strive to do the right thing, but the rest of it is hard. It's easy to fantasize about being the hero, but it's a completely different thing to bleed like the hero. It's easier to let evil advance unopposed than to stand up and face it, but it causes regret that is difficult to live with. Last quote for this post, I promise, (although it's only my second one, that just shows how many are going through my head). In Braveheart, William Wallace calls the Scots to fight, but seeing the size of the English opposition they have decided to leave the field and go home so that they can live. Wallace responds, "Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"
I've failed to act so many times, and yes, I'd be willing to trade the days to go back for just one chance to do what I wish I would have done in each of those situations. I can't change the past, and I have to live with the regret of my inaction, but I don't have to add to it. I was made a man in the image of God. I was given a strength to use to oppose evil, of any kind, and make the world better. I don't want to commit the sin of Adam's passivity anymore.
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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