What if? What Are You Scared Of?

 

Students love to play the game of “What if? Especial when they don’t want to do the current assignment. It has its place. Looking at all the possibilities and having plans B, C, & D is not a bad thing. But if it just becomes a form of worry, it can lead to fear, which can be paralyzing.

What if it breaks?

What if it fails?                      What if I fall?             What if the rope breaks? 

What if my parachute doesn’t open?

Admittedly, there are things I’m not comfortable with. I will probably never go sky diving purpose. I just cannot see the point of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. Bu skydiving is more on the extreme side. Are there normal things you avoid because of what ifs? I know people that avoid going out in public because of everything they hear in the media. You might get shot in a movie theater or at a fast food restaurant. Someone might have a disease that you can catch. I don’t go for walks because there may be dogs running around.

We all have fears, and that’s ok. Some I don’t quite understand, but in the end it’s a personal thing. When we first started working with the homeless, I’ll admit, I had my reservations. Now we hug, fist-bump, and share the stories of their lives. My wife has even had the opportunity of leading several to Christ. It comes down to this: Do you trust God? You are just as safe in the “Hood” with him watching over you than in a fancy house with a high tech security system. I’m not advocating running around in reckless abandon. Wear your seatbelt. Climb with a safety rope. Put your kids in a car seat. What I am suggesting is, to find what God wants you to do, and do it fearlessly. It’s not always easy at first, but it’s the safest place to be.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “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 6:25-34 NIV

 

Fences

 

Fences, to me, are a delightfully enigmatic concept. They can exist as rigid impassible barriers or as mystical electrical fields. The can be made of wire, stone, wood, or other hard materials. They can be electrified or have razor sharp edges of barbs to help get their point across. They can be used to keep things out or to keep things in. They can be pretty, dainty or cute. They can be huge, ugly, and intimidating. They can be tall, short or in between. They can be a totally invisible wire hidden underground, yet still extremely effective. Just ask my son’s dog. (Well, you might have to ask my son. I don’t think the dog talks.)

Even their placement is often an exercise in logistics. Should they be placed directly next to, close to, or ten feet away for whatever has merited a fence in the first place? All things that take deliberate thought.

One commonality of fences is that in some form or another, they are meant to protect someone or something. For the most part they do their job quite nicely. They keep people from falling off cliffs, habitat areas safe from being trampled, and our precious children and pets from running into traffic.

So if fences are meant to keep things away, why are they such a draw? Children (and some adults I might add) seem to be drawn to climb or even sit on fences. I’ve even seen some individuals that totally ignore the barrier, often to their own peril. It’s the reason for multiple signs, paint colors, and even guards in some places. I suppose it may stem from our innate desire to explore and investigate, but I suspect it has more to do with the rebellious nature of our fallen condition. We humans do seem to hate being told what to do, even if it’s for our own good. Still, for my part, I’m good with fences. They keep me out of trouble and it definitely makes a good place to lean your fishing pole on.

The Daily Grind 2: Time for Chimes!

Watching the gears move on a grandfather clock can get very boring, hearing the tick-tock, tick-tock, of the mechanism over and over again. The gears seems to spin in endless circles, going nowhere. When I was a child, I loved investigating the workings of the larger clocks. But it didn’t take long for my attention to drift. At least until it got to the top of the hour. Westminster Chimes has always made me pause. You listen for the tune, and then count the bells for the hour. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. The big show was at 12 o’clock. Each clock has its own surprises. The clock at Small World in Disneyland is one of my favorites. No kid can resist the magic of the hourly clock parade.

It’s these special moments that make the “daily grind” worth all the effort. During Spring break we got to take three of our granddaughters to Disneyland. My wife made princess dresses for them to be made up as Aurora and Ariel in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. The littlest one was just pure cuteness no matter what she wore. Seeing their smiles, hearing their laughter, and even seeing tears of joy makes all the hard work before seem trivial. Who doesn’t want to hear, “Best Day Ever!” from their grandchildren. There were even some tear from the adults when memories came flooding back during parades and the evening night shows. It was a weekend to cherish.

I am reminded of the advice a business man once gave our group while I was on summer tour with a college Gospel Quartet. “Work hard; play hard.”  I didn’t understand it then, but it has come in helpful as an adult. I know some people whose idea of vacation is doing absolutely nothing. Now that may work for them, but I would rather get out, explore, adventure, and see new things. Sometimes I need a vacation because of vacation, but that’s the fun part. Work hard; play hard. It can make the daily grind that much more fulfilling!  

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV

The Daily Grind - Making a Difference

This Year will be 40 years of teaching, mostly in the Christian School environment. There have been many times where I have questioned how much I was really accomplishing. Indegene.com mentions that, “Research on the forgetting curve shows that within 1 hour, learners forget an average of 50% of the information presented; within 24 hours, they forget an average of 70% of new information; and within a week, they forget up to 90% of what they "learned.”¹ Month after month, year after year, we do the same labs, projects, worksheets, etc. On the surface, it could get very discouraging. 10 %? That’s not very much bang for your buck. Yet occasionally, we get to see the effect of the ripples that we send out every day. A student comes to visit and says “you’re the reason I went into medicine”. And they really are doing a good job. They blame you for other good things they have learned. And you keep going. Because you made a difference.

Since 2019 my wife and I have been helping 2 nights a week and Wednesdays at a place the helps feed and clothe low-income and homeless individuals. At times it gets grueling - sweeping & mopping floors, unplugging toilets, and picking up trash outside. If you only look at the unending list of things to do, it can become a chore. It can get frustrating or even depressing. 

But then you focus on the people. The once grumpy old man who now smiles when you arrive as he helps the children learn verses so they can get a Dollar Store gift card. He’s even shared a short message in the service. The group that used to talk during the worship songs who are now singing along and refer to it as “church”. The young homeless man you helped with clothes and a Bible who you haven’t seen in 2 months, who now shows up and tells you he found a place to live and a job. The lady who smelled so bad no one wanted to sit next to her, who is now singing praise songs because she gave her life to Christ. Receiving fist bumps & hugs, and high-fives from thugs. It doesn’t get any more real. And for that reason, you get up, wind the mechanism, and let the gears grind for yet another day. Just like a set of gears, one turn here may only equal ½ turn there, but that ½ turn can turn into two turns, then 4, and on, and on.  Because making a difference in just one life, is making a difference.

 

1. 6 ways to overcome the forgetting curve. Chartwell Content. Accessed September 13, 2021
https://medium.com/@CWContent/6-waysto-overcome-the-forgetting-curve-354151c355c