Think About It

For many of us who grew up in the 20th Century, Willie Nelson was a constant fixture. Back before “The Outlaws” or “The Highwaymen”, Willie was a traditional Country music singer. Through the years he went through a series of creations and recreations as a personality, but one thing that transcended the eras was his ability to write songs. Nelson’s music catalog is incredible, but the other day I was struck by a phrase in one of his songs that really intrigued me. The song is “Forgiving You Was Easy” and the phrase described, “The bitter fruit of anger growing from the seeds of jealousy” that produced heartache. No matter if you like Willie or not, those words can really strike a chord! How many of us have struggled with anger because we have allowed jealousy to go unchecked? Whether directed at a lover, co-worker, friend or enemy; we must be cautious if we allow ourselves to become filled with hate or anger just because we didn’t deal effectively with jealousy. Jealousy can be...

When I was a youngster I enjoyed playing ball – especially baseball. As a little guy, I would play anywhere and everywhere I could – from the pick-up games in the neighborhood to throwing a tennis ball or golf ball up against the wall of the house. When I got a little older, I joined teams and played in organized leagues. Then, when I got out of High School (and realized I wasn’t college material), I moved on to softball. From my late teens through my thirties, I played in a lot of leagues and would love to play all weekend in tournaments. Finally, when I ran out of time (and coordination), I started following the professionals through the media. I guess you could say that throughout the years, my love of the game remained, but the way I enjoyed it changed. The reason I bring up this harmless addiction to baseball is that I am beginning to see this in other aspects of life. As a younger minister, I was very involved in work and community affairs, but as I have grown older, I hav...

I don’t think of myself as being too obsessive, but I do have some of those tendencies. I choose to avoid some activities because I might be tempted to over-indulge in them. While this can troubling, you would think that being spiritually compulsive might always be good, but even that can present issues. Sure, it is good to develop positive habits, but the other side of obsessiveness is when we worry about the mistakes (or the possible mistakes) we make. We don’t have to worry about being libertine in our actions, we have to monitor being oversensitive to our issues. Some of us must figure out how to balance the paranoia of worrying about every little thing with our calling to be above reproach in our righteousness. So, what can we do to maintain our righteousness without stressing ourselves out? First, we need to develop a good conscience. We need to have a solid biblical foundation that guides our actions. Yet, we need to make sure we are doing good without expecting more tha...

I have recently started driving a different car. There are several things I like about it, but soon after I started driving it, I heard a strange sound as I was backing out of the driveway. I stopped and rolled down my window and realized it has one of those back-up beepers on it. Whenever put it in reverse it sends out a warning. At first I thought about disabling it – I didn’t want to sound like a garbage truck when I was backing out of parking space – but the more I got to thinking about it the more I liked it. When I set my preconceptions aside, I figured there was value in letting the people around me know when I am backing up. Even if I forget to look behind me, they have a chance to get out of my way and avoid being hurt. Backing into a pedestrian or bicyclist would make for a terrible day. Giving them a little extra warning could keep them and me from experiencing a tragedy! As I reflected on this, I got to wondering if applying an “early warning system” might be a go...

I was at a meeting last week where I caught up with several people I hadn’t seen in a lot of years – in fact it had been over a decade since I’d seen some of them. The great part of the visit was that we picked right back up where we left off years earlier, the troubling part was that these people had gotten older! They were still their same selves – they just looked different (okay, they had grayed). At one point I joked, “You guys have gotten older – even though I haven’t changed a bit.”. One of them challenged my statement and said that he had come across a photo of both of us recently and, yes, I had changed, too. The reason I bring this up is not to lament the aging process – it tends to beat the alternative – rather it is to remind us to make sure we look at ourselves honestly. While this is important when it comes to accurately assessing our physical appearance, it is more important to do a spiritual assessment. We shouldn’t criticize the faults and failings of others wi...

Last week I shared with you an observation from Jacula Prudentum – a book of wisdom from centuries ago. Well, here is another one: “One enemy is too much.” As I reflected on this observation, several things came to mind – including wondering if anyone can really be enemy-less. Very few people I know (if anyone I know) can go through life without making an enemy. Even if we don’t intentionally set out to do it, merely by our reputation or what we believe, someone is going to take issue with us. However, a quick reminder about proverbs – they are guides by which to live, not necessarily absolutes. With this in mind, maybe the real application is that we should do our best to not set out to antagonize people. The point may be less about being liked by everyone, rather we should strive to avoid being unlikable. In essence, let’s not live in such a way that it makes it easy for people to dislike us. (Do you know people who seem to be intent on making enemies? Let’s not be those t...

Yesterday, as much of our country was celebrating our nation’s birthday, some of us spent at least a few minutes in quiet reflection. I am thankful to be able to celebrate with fun and festivities, but something happened on July 4, 1969 that shrouds our family’s July 4ths. On an outing at a church camp, my five-year-old brother was killed in a freak accident involving a hay wagon. Even though it has been over 50 years since the incident, the date will forever be stuck in our psyches. I often wonder had the event happened on some unremarkable date, such as October 22, if it would be so memorable. Maybe so, but for years the 4th of July has brought a dissonance to our family. Through the years, our family has found a way to cope with this tragedy, but the day is a reminder to me that even when times are filled with fun and games, someone is suffering. No matter how many are celebrating, there are those who have suffered loss. I am not saying we should temper our joy just because...