One Big Story

There is one big story being told through the totality of our life. We don’t always see the whole tale or understand how it will all play out. Sometimes the chapter we are currently living out can be discouraging or frustrating and cause us to lose focus. Remembering that this is only part of our larger story can sometimes give us hope to keep pushing forward—to turn the page.

Our story won’t be made up of one bad day, one lousy season, or a few bad decisions. Like any good novel, these are only parts of the bigger narrative of our whole life and there is always hope for redemption and restoration. We do ourselves a disservice if we only focus on one negative (or positive) piece. Keep moving forward and focusing on the big picture and it helps each small season make more sense and not seem as overwhelming.

Do Good

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. 

Proverbs 3:27

This is sound advice no matter what your particular religious beliefs might be. In a more simplistic perspective, we should do what's right to help people when we are able. There might be some debate about there always being people in need and how our resources won't stretch that far. I don't know that it always has to be about money either though. I think it's counsel encouraging us to look for ways to do good and how not to withhold it when we are able to make a difference in a life.

What is within your power to do? What do you have that will help others? Perhaps it is an encouraging word for a family member when they need their spirits lifted. It might be a home cooked meal for someone who is sick or asking a neighbor's family over for dinner. Sometimes it's as simple as a smile and a good tip for a stressed restaurant employee. Our engaged presence can be the good thing our family needs instead of being preoccupied with our work and hobbies.

We've all got good things we can offer to people in need around us--some of whom are in close proximity on a daily basis. Why don't we offer what we have to them? We would certainly want the same thing done for us. 

Settling for Good

Frequent readers of my blog know I am an avid New York Mets fan. I've followed them for years and continue to do so even when they aren't playing great baseball. Earlier this year they had an 11 game winning streak which brought them front page publicity for their accomplishment. I blogged about their streak while also recognizing it may not last forever. Since that run of victories ended my beloved Mets have the second worst record in baseball. There are many excuses to be made (injuries, misfortune, youth) but it doesn't change their overall record.

I thought about the team this morning and the attitude they might be dealing with right now. I'm sure they are working hard to get better and win games, but the truth is that hard work might not make the difference they hoped. At some point we might realize that this just isn't a very good team. No amount of extra work and hustle will transform them into the best in the league if the talent they have isn't good enough to begin with. I'm not discounting the opportunity to make the most of your abilities, but there is a ceiling for all of us=-which will prevent some levels of excellence from being reached.

That's a hard lesson to learn for anyone--sometimes your best isn't enough to deliver what you hoped for. It's why the team concept is so important. We've got to surround ourselves with people whose strengths compensate for our weaknesses.

It's Good

It can be difficult to reconcile the idea of calling something "good" when it seems things are actually  the complete opposite. That is the unexpected twist of Good Friday. We use this to describe a day that was devastatingly awful in history and not because the events of Friday were necessarily pleasant. It's because the death that took place that day was the only way we can experience what is truly good and right. The darkness that overwhelmed Jesus and the doubt that entrapped His followers on that fateful day set the stage for the goodness that was to come. Sometimes we only see the good part of things once we understand how they prepare us for what comes next.

Daily Perspective

The pace of my day has been different than I anticipated, but as I wrote recently that doesn't necessarily make it a bad day. Looking back in retrospection reveals a lot of positive things that didn't show up on my to-do list.

• A good cup(s) of coffee and morning meditation 
• Reading that challenges my thought processes
• Encouraging & praying for friends going through difficulties
• Feeling like I am making valuable contributions to forward movement
• Being part of a team
• Talking with a like-minded colleague about the potential of ministry
• An overly enthusiastic greeting from a happy dog at home
• An appropriately enthusiastic greeting from a happy family at home
• Pushing through exercise in increasingly cool weather
• A really good meal at the end of the day
• Taking time to read & write with another good cup of coffee

Our perspective determines the outcome and today's outcome has been good. Here's to finding those parts that help us see the positive things happening around us.

Back in the Day

Memories of our past can be a tricky thing. We tend to glamorize certain events and make them out to be bigger and better than they actually were. I'm not saying that there weren't fantastic times in high school, college, or early childhood. I have just seen how distance from them tends to make the "good old days" seem better than they actually were. Perhaps it's just that our memory protects us by neglecting the bad parts and only focusing on the good. 

Is that such a terrible thing? Is it acceptable to have the bad parts of something forgotten and only remember what was good "back then"? I think it's detrimental if our reminiscing causes us to be bitter over our present circumstances. Then we've taken something that is not entirely true and elevated it above the potential for present, positive living. 

Finding the Good

When our minds and hearts are open to receive it, we can find good in any situation. My quick trip to Florida for my uncle's funeral provided several of those moments even as we all mourned his passing.

• Conversations with my wife as we drove: some serious and thought-provoking while others fairly mundane, but all appreciated
• Dinner and breakfast at two of our favorite places to eat
• Watching the sun come up over the ocean
• A great sense of peace in being back in my hometown even just for 24 hours
• The perfect timing of God that let us have a great lunch with my mom & Mario
• Time to talk with my aunt on the phone and in person 
• Big hugs from so many family members that I haven't seen in several years
• Hearing about the impact my uncle had on so many lives both young and old
• Running into a parent of former youth ministry members who still talk about the impact God had on their lives when we served together
• A chance to share the legacy of a godly man and speak the truth of Christ to family members

Even in difficult emotional times God shows us the good that is around us if we are willing to look. 

Good Man

(speaking of all sound men) "...that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day."  Thomas Paine, Common Sense

This reflects the viewpoint that man is inherently good and and becomes evil only when he makes the conscious decision to be less than he is created to be. It supposes that we are stronger and possess higher levels of integrity than we often choose to display. It is an idyllic viewpoint that describes a passionate desire to see excellence in all people that is tempered only by those that refuse to live up to this ideal.This potential is what inspires us to boldly step out to be revolutionaries in the fight against oppression and champions of genuine justice for all people. It's a passionate desire that is fueled by the spark of righteousness that is part of all of us-a gift that only comes from God.

We are made to strive for higher ideals and a greater system of fair play. When we abandon that for the pursuit of personal gain and ego satisfaction, we also choose to discard the purity of our true nature. It's a matter of seeking the best of who we are designed to be and caring for fellow man instead of casting aside that goodness for selfish endeavors. History (and current society) is littered with the debris from choosing poorly. 

Which choice will you make? To do what is right even though it is difficult and ridicule is the potential reward or seek only individual gain that cares nothing for the plight of others, but inflates our own health portfolio? This is the quintessential question that separates positive innovators from negative oppressors.

Working Out

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

 

I've used this verse as a helpful crutch for myself and for fellow sojourners who are struggling through difficult times. It brings hope to God's people as we learn to trust in His power to create good things out of bad things. I was meditating on that verse this morning and focused on the deeper implications. It's not that God just wants to make our situation good--He is working through these circumstances to make  us good. He is constantly striving to reshape our character and to make it stronger in His perfect image. This isn't just a show of His power to transform the current status of our life into something better. It's His most powerful work of all--the molding of imperfect people into brand new reflections of His perfection. That's the perfect and complete goodness we are longing for in all circumstances. 

Hate & Cling

Do we cling to what is good & yet hate evil? I think we tend to dislike evil, but that is usually proportionate to how it impacts us individually. We believe that abuse is wrong, but if you have lived through it you have a greater  intensity of dislike for it. Seeing widows & orphans needs being neglected may disturb us, but when you have lived as one of them there is a greater loathing for ignoring this need. If you have battled through addiction your animosity for that abuse is greater than if you only have a spectator's viewpoint of its power.

Declaring all-out war on sin should not just be a reflection of our personal experience. What should be happening is that as we mature our hatred of what is evil increases because our mind & heart are being more like Christ's each day. Our animosity towards sin is authentic because we understand the depth of hurt & pain it causes God and us. It moves from being a philosophical concept to a principle of daily living that reflects our ever-increasing desire to be made holy. Our understanding of God's desire to protect us from it will spur us to run from evil & hate the effect it has on those that willingly or even unsuspectingly take part in it. This will lead us to pray and work feverishly to see people (including ourselves) rescued from the choke-hold that evil holds on us.