Living and Reflecting

I guess I have been a little too busy lately "living" life to spend much time "reflecting" on life. But my goal is to slow down a little and reflect a little more. The Memorial Day week-end couldn't come at a better time. So, let's all slow down a little this week-end and enjoy time with family or friends. After all, many have fought and died so that you and I can grill in peace and freedom.

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If the world is going to end, do you need a new coffee pot?

I guess I have been so busy lately that I really didn't pay much attention to the whole "end of the world" thing.  Usually that stuff fascinates me beyond belief.  But this little bit of misguided nonsense slipped past me. 

So what does that have to do with a new coffee pot?  Well, we got a new one a few weeks ago.  It leaked right away.  And we figured it was "operator error".  Then it leaked again.  And then again.  One time is maybe my fault.  Two times is a strange coincidence.  Three times and you got yourself a "leaker".  That settled it.  We needed to take that one back and get another new coffee pot.  So we did.  And it is a cool one!

Now what does this have to do with the predicted rapture?  I'll tell you as I describe the events of "rapture day".  I got up.  My wife went out to breakfast as is our custom.  We talked about life and our family.  We stopped by Target and bought a new coffee maker.  We visited briefly with my in-laws.  While we were there I fixed a broken toilet handle.  For most of the day we drove around north Houston looking for furniture for the house we want to buy if we can ever get this one sold.  We spent a lot of time in car and we listened to old gospel quartets using Pandora and my Android phone.  Cool, huh?  We had dinner with some of our family around the time of the predicted rapture.  Apparently it didn't happen so we paid the check and went on our merry way.  We ended up going to an antique auction for a few hours to end the day.

Whew!  That was quite a day.  It was full of family, fun, serving, laughing, singing, and praying.

And then it hit me.

That's the way that I want to spend my last day here on Earth.  I want to be so ready to meet my Maker that I won't have to change a thing about my day.  There will be no last minute apologies to someone that I have hurt.  No flurry of hastily said, "I love you's".  I hope that when God calls me home I am on my way back to the house from visiting my grand-kids or fixing something for a friend or neighbor and I am driving in my car sipping coffee and listening to The Cathedrals with the windows rolled down.

What did you do yesterday?

Photo via a link to the official "Mr. Coffee" website

Tut-tut, it looks like rain

Christopher Robin says that phrase as he walks around the tree with his umbrella raised.  He and Pooh are trying to fool some bees.  Pooh is after the honey and Christopher Robin is trying to distract the bees.  But he is predicting a rain storm that never comes.

I love Winnie the Pooh and grew up reading the books and listening to Maurice Evans read the books on records played on Mom and Dad's console stereo.

God makes a rain prediction to Noah in Genesis 6.  God says,

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

But here is the part that I am constantly amazed by.  Noah began building the ark long before it started to rain.  And it may have been many, many years before the flood.  In fact, it may have been many years.

Here is what we know.  Noah was around 500 years old when God told him to build it.  And he was around 600 years old when he entered the ark.  So, assuming Noah began shortly after he was commanded to build it, it may have taken up to 100 years.  The Bible doesn't provide that level of detail.  But I have to imagine it would take a 500 year old man and his three sons a very long time to build a boat the size of the ark.

But he did build it.  He built it in the middle of a desert.  He built it without ever experiencing rain like he would one day when he entered the ark.  What an amazing thought.  The world had never seen rain and floods like they were going to see.

He built that ark on faith.  And that faith provided safety for not just him.  But also his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives.  Noah's obedience made it possible for others to live.

Does anyone see Noah's response and actions as a model for us as husbands and fathers?

What if he had waited until he started seeing the dark clouds gathering on the horizon?

I am just talking out loud here, but I think it would have been too late.

By the way, it's supposed to rain here tomorrow.


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Over the line

Not many things bug me.

Well, that's not true. There are a lot of things that bug me. And one of those things that bothers me is the way that people park their cars. It bugs me when they park too close to the line. And it really bugs me when they park over the line. Because if you don't stop this, the next thing you know you will have chaos! Chaos, I say!

And do you know why?

It's because when they park over the line, it makes me go over the line. And I don't like to be over the line. In fact I mumble under my breath or mutter to my wife about all of the goofy people that can't even park their cars.

Then one day the other day it dawned on me. What if the guy's car that I am looking at was forced to park over the line in my space because the guy next to him was over the line. And then it dawned on me again. What if the other guy had to park over the line because another guy was over the line.

I realized I was being just a wee bit judgmental. Ok. I was being a lot judgmental.

But this observation pointed something out to me in a profound way. It became clear that what I do and the decisions that I make have an impact outside of my own little self.

What do you suppose are the implications of that realization? What impact does that make on decisions and actions?

As a dad, I want to keep safe within the lines of God's love and mercy. The last thing I want to do is to force someone else over the line by my careless or selfish actions.  The Bible says in Romans 14:13,

"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way."

I am just talking out loud. And I realize we are all accountable for our own decisions. But I would never want to be a stumbling block to anyone. I think I will make extra sure that I am keeping it between the lines.

I'm not just living for the here and now . . .

. . .  I'm living for the there and then.

These are the catchy lyrics of a southern gospel song by The Stevens Family.  I am a big fan of southern gospel.  But I don't really know a whole lot about the Stevens family.  I was just struck by the lyrics and the title of the song.

How many times do we get caught up in the day to day living of our lives that we neglect the eternal implications of our lives and lifestyles.  Many of us have grown up in Sunday School or have gone to Vacation Bible School when we were children.  I bet many of you know the verse, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." -- Matt. 6:19-20

Isn't that verse sort of saying the same thing as the song?  It is to me. 

I am not saying I don't have some living to do here and now.  I do.  I have a family that depends on me.  I have an employer that expects me to show up Monday morning bright and early.  I have bills to pay.  But, like it or not, I am an eternal being.  And I will spend eternity somewhere.  So, I'm not just living for the here and now, I'm living for the there and then.

It's a good thing that I'm talking out loud and not singing out loud.  If you know what I mean.

What Every Man Needs

So, what does every man need?

Is it a wife?  Is it a dog?  Is it a great job?  Is it a big house?  Is it a fast car?

All of those are great.  But, those aren't what is on my mind today.

Every man needs to have some guys to sit around and "smoke and joke" with every once in a while.

Today I had lunch with 3 guys.  It was a great lunch.  Each one of those guys has a very different career from me.  Each one is at a very different place in their family situation than me.  None of them are co-workers.  And none of them go to my church.

So what what made it a great lunch?  It was great because it meets a need that every man has.  And that need is the need to band together once in a while to laugh and tell stories.  I call that "smokin' and jokin'"  Now, the deep dark secret here is that this is one of the ways that men relate to one another.  And we relate on different levels than women.

We laugh with each other and they cry.  We punch each other in the arm and they hug.  Very different.  But it meets a need that I have.  And that is a need to have a band of brothers that are willing to invest in me as I invest in them.  I don't see some of these guys very often.  But it is well worth it when we do get together.

You oughta try it.

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The first duty of love . . .

"The first duty of love is to listen."

Paul Tillich

For those who don't recognize the name, Paul Tillich, he was a German theologian who came to the United States during the rise of the Nazis and prior to WWII.  I don't know that to be all that relevant.  It is just a little background.

My thoughts and questions are about the quote itself.  For instance:

How does this meld with our need to verbally communicate to those around us?
How does this meld with our mate's needs to hear us verbally affirm our love for them?
What if I am a "fixer" by nature?

I saw this quote the other day and it got me to thinking about the implications of active and intense listening to our love relationships.  How would those that we love respond if I took the time to sit and listen to what they are saying to me.  I think I will have to sit for more than the length of the average commercial break during the football game.

I don't really know.  I am just talking out loud.  

But what if it became more than a duty?  What if it became my pleasure?

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