No Shortcuts

There are two variations on the most popular question asked on road trips. At some point in the journey you can expect to hear, "Are we there yet?" and/or "How much longer?" I recognize part of this is an excitement about arriving at our destination, but there is also an element of bored impatience behind these questions. Instead of enjoying the act of traveling we become consumed with the end of the trip.

I don't suppose this attitude is any different for the rest of our life's journey either. We are zoned in on arriving at big milestones and forget to enjoy what happens along the way. Sometimes we are rushing towards these positive moments (graduation, wedding, birth, promotions) and neglect the joy of the process of getting there. Even when we deal with painful situations we eagerly anticipate the solution and want things to be resolved quickly. While our desire to be relieved of pain is understandable, this ignores what we can learn by persevering through the process of healing.

While all of life may not seem joyful, there is much to be learned in the process of living. When we rush to get to celebrations or strain ahead to move past pain we are neglecting some of the sweetest and most memorable parts of life. No matter what our intent is we can't shortcut the process of growth. We are all required to travel the full path of life and sometimes it takes longer than we think it should. Take pleasure in the entire journey because this moment has something unique to offer.

Somewhere New

My wife and I ended up at a local professional wrestling event this past Friday night. We were there to support a friend from our life group and his return to pro wrestling. There was a long line into the building and a unique vibe once we entered and saw the ring in the middle of the room. We finally made our way to our seats through a full crowd and were ready for the night's entertainment. I leaned over to my wife as we waited for the opening bell and said to her, "I never thought I would be at pro wrestling on a Friday night." We had a great time even though we were somewhere we didn't think we'd ever be.

I've ended up in many different places in my life I wouldn't have predicted. I look back at my early life decisions and wonder how I survived my own choices to end up in a healthy marriage. I never imagined leaving my athletic training career for anything else and yet ended up in ministry. I had no plans to leave my hometown and yet now live in Milledgeville. My life history is full of those unanticipated surprises as I have been blessed to end up in places and situations I never planned. The fact they have been better than I expected speaks more to God's blessing and direction in my life than my own preparation.

Rear View

I remember riding in old station wagons with a rear facing back seat. There were no seat belts and we would often run to the be the ones who got to sit back there. We enjoyed the adventure of riding in the back because it gave us a different viewpoint than a normal car ride. It’s very different going on a trip when you can’t see where you are going, but only where you’ve been.

This may have made for a more fun car ride, but it’s not the best way to travel through life. Focusing all of our attention backwards might bring up memories of the “good old days”, but it doesn’t help us navigate the future. The best way to travel is to face forwards and take glimpses in the rear view mirror. This way we can use our experiences (good & bad) to shape our future decisions. Our past has led us here, but we can’t move forward at a good pace when we’re only looking backwards.

Pumped Up

Tonight is the beginning of the World Series with my beloved New York Mets coming back to the grand stage for the first time in 15 years. We cranked into this round with a pretty thorough beat down of the Chicago Cubs. Our young pitching staff did a great job of shutting down a great lineup and were able to channel their excitement into quality production. Pitching coach Dan Warthen talked about the management skills of the pitchers and said, “Adrenaline is like fire. It’s a valuable servant, but a dangerous master."

Excitement and adrenaline can be very helpful tools. The thrill of a new challenge or the tension of a stressful moment can increase our focus and even cause us to perform above our normal capabilities. If we are unable execute with precision however, this adrenaline can become a hindrance. This can be applied to our physical workouts, fulfilling personal vision, engaging stressful work situations, or deftly maneuvering through relationship difficulties. The difference in precise success and sloppy mediocrity is in whether we control our adrenaline or it controls us.

In the Dark

Most of us can comfortably find our way around our homes when the lights are out. We know where the furniture is located, where the open doorways are, and how to get from one room to another. If you rearrange the furniture it changes our comfortability level until we can get adjusted to where things are again. There's something to be said about becoming familiar with the layout of things in the dark.

The principles of light and darkness carry strong spiritual implications. Light represents what is good and pure while darkness represents sin and impurity. Admitting an understanding of the power of light doesn't negate what is done in the dark if we continue to stay hidden. In fact, it's easier to hide what we are doing when we wait for the cover of darkness. While we might be unsure of our footing at first, we quickly adjust and become more comfortable even though we should seek out light.

Shining a bright light into dark areas illuminates unhealthy, sinful behavior. We are the ones who have to decide to not become too comfortable in the dark. If we aren't careful we'll begin to know our way around far too well and find ourselves at home where we shouldn't. Light will overpower darkness, but we have to choose to let the light in.

Shaky Ground

I've always enjoyed watching cartoons and am a huge fan of the Bugs Bunny franchise. I've passed that on to my girls as we still periodically enjoy watching those old adventures. When I was a kid I was particularly amazed at the climbing skills of Sylvester the Cat. When his nemesis (and desired dinner) Tweety Bird was in his cage near the ceiling, Sylvester would use whatever was handy to reach him. He would stack furniture, books, mannequins, lamps, and any other household object to get high enough to reach his prey. Predictably, something would happen which would cause Sylvester to come crashing down. While perfect for comedic effect I often wondered why he didn't just find a ladder so he could stand on something stable.

I don't know many people who would be foolish enough to stand on something so poorly physically constructed. I do feel certain I am in a large company of people who have tried to stand firmly on our own shaky emotional and mental ground. We've all taken a strong stance on a poorly formed idea, placed too much emphasis on our own incomplete observations, or treated people differently based on weak assumptions. The problem with these ill-designed foundations is that they quickly fall apart under pressure and injure anyone close by. This type of instability isn't healthy for creating positive relationships and will cause extensive damage.

The solution isn't to create more solid arguments to tear people apart, but to search for the truth with a desire of building unity. Building a firm foundation of genuine care for others means we disregard incomplete, foolish thoughts and take the time to forge real relationships that last.

Doing Hard Work

One of the most profound statements shared at yesterday's Suicide Awareness Symposium was by a survivor--the wife of a man killed by suicide. She was talking about the difficult task of working through your emotions after this tragic event. She said, "You can do your work now or you can do your work later, but there's no avoiding the work." Her point was that while you might try to avoid dealing with the grief and deep loss of suicide, it will have to be addressed eventually.

Her assessment is absolutely true and not just about suicide. We have all had difficult (and sometimes traumatic) events affect us in life. Many times we avoid handling them in a way which could help lead us to healing because we are afraid of what might happen in the process. I think sometimes we are just too overwhelmed with the thought of confronting our own emotions. As I've discovered in my own life however, at some point we will be forced to face these head on. While taking a moment to catch our breath before doing this work might be helpful in the short term, we can't avoid these steps forever. We each have to decide when we are willing to tackle these events and then commit to the work to get us through it.