Gary Mintchell

Author Archive

Anticipation

March 3, 2023

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I’m really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day
Anticipation
Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting
Carly Simon

My two weather apps have predicted a large snow/ice event for today for the past week or more. One app started about 7-inches and eventually predicted 12-inches. Then settled back to 7 then 4. The other not so much, but still plenty. We postponed a family gathering for today pushing it back to Sunday. Yesterday in the morning a National Weather Service “Watch” was posted suggesting 5-inches to 8-inches of heavy, wet snow. Suddenly in the evening, I noticed the Watch disappeared without so much as a whimper.

So, we spent a week of anticipation of a snow event that evidently is not going to happen.

I can’t seem to help myself. Especially for whether that might happen, the anticipation gives me a slight amount of nervousness. I can’t sit for long. There is a need to get up and wander around a bit to relieve the subtle tension.

Christians are now in the season of Lent leading up to the weekend of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We know from the Gospels that at least some of the close disciples of Jesus were nervous with anticipation during that last walk to Jerusalem. Then, events happened so quickly. Then there was the death. And a day of anticipation. They actually were anticipating a knock at the door by the authorities coming to arrest them. They were not anticipating seeing Jesus again.

We worry about so many things that never happen.

Then, something good happens. That can range from the daily mundane of a nice day without snow to the gigantic surprise of talking with Jesus again.

Anticipation in the form of preparation can be a good thing. Anticipation in the form of worry drains our energy and emotional life.

Quoting Bobby McFerrin “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” seems a bit frivolous. A grain of truth hides in those words. Prepare with an optimistic mindset; don’t worry yourself into a cringing mess.

Posted in Awareness | Leave a Comment »

The Answer With The Fewest Possible Complications

March 2, 2023

Occam’s Razor guides us to seek explanations with the fewest possible set of elements. Often we paraphrase it as the simplest explanation is usually the best.

I went from one rabbit hole to another. First a discussion on LinkedIn where I thought the explanations missed the point. Which led me to a search for the meaning of Occam’s Razor. If you follow all the arguments by philosophers on the Wikipedia page I linked, you will find yourself in another massive rabbit hole. Funny that these philosophers take a maxim about simplicity or fewest elements and write paragraph after paragraph.

We do that when explaining Christianity, too. Or, too often.

When Jesus was pressed for an explanation, he cited his scriptures to love the Lord and he added from a different location to love your neighbor. At the end of his ministry he left one command for his followers–to love one another.

When the rich young man came to Jesus asking about eternal life, he said he’d followed all the commandments since he had been a child. Jesus saw still an impediment to his loving others and told him to give away all his wealth to the poor. He saw that this got in the way of the young man’s opening of his heart. Rule following and attachment to wealth weren’t enough.

I follow this line of reasoning simply to go to the argument with the fewest elements–Jesus clearly taught us to guide our lives by love. Why do we complicate things like the philosophers and theologians? Maybe because love is too hard.

Posted in Living, Love, Thinking | Leave a Comment »

It Is Impossible To Feel Gratitude and Depression At The Same Moment

March 1, 2023

“It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed in the same moment.”

I have lately found myself with deep feelings of gratitude lately. Not all decisions I made in my life were good. In fact, I’d hate to tally a score. But there are enough that I look at what might have been—and I am so grateful.

Gratitude is not a subject often enough here, I suppose. Wise people advise keeping a gratitude journal. I tried that once. Mostly it was repetitive. Nothing wrong with that. I strive for balance in life.

I’ve also seldom been depressed. Even in a non-clinical sense. Problems? Sure. Wishing I could extricate myself from a situation? Oh, yes. But the emotion? Seldom, if ever.

Gratitude rests like a warm blanket surrounding you. You get used to it and forget to notice it. Until sometimes you become aware of a past situation and feel the warmth within and around.

And we pause and acknowledge deep gratitude. And in that warmth, how can we be depressed in the moment?

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If It Doesn’t Kill You, It Will Make You Stronger

February 28, 2023

That title is, I believe, a paraphrase of something Nietzsche said. Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but there is truth. We need a certain amount of stressors in our life to make us stronger.

Women of south Asia, Africa, South America who carry loads balanced atop their heads have stronger bones and better posture than other women (and men) who don’t have a physical stressor.

I am about to leave for the gym as soon as I hit “publish” on this post. I will be doing a series of dumbbell and ab exercises after a little cardio. Those weights (a fly, curl, row, squat, plus ab work) will stress the muscles and bones of my body. Sarcopenia is the medical term for muscle loss. The description says it comes with aging. That is not necessary, though. I am over 70 with perhaps more muscle mass than ever. It’s the not having stressors for the muscle and bones that causes problems.

A little bit of stress helps us grow. Sometimes causes us to flex our learning and spiritual muscles. Something happens to us or to someone we know. We learn all about it. If things in life are going smoothly, we may become complacent in our spiritual life. A little stress comes along, and suddenly our spiritual life awakens and becomes quite important.

Not too much stress, though. That could send you to my daughter, the therapist, or to a cardiologist.

Thinking this through brought back memories of times of stress. And how I dealt with them. And how I grew stronger each time. Better able to handle the next one. But those were all random. Nothing to plan or prepare for. One day the owners come in and tell me they are closing the business. I’m out of a job. Well, nothing to do but suck it up and get stronger. And so it goes.

Perhaps that is a message we can get from many stories of people in the Bible who spent time in the wilderness being tempted and growing stronger.

Posted in Growth, Physical | Leave a Comment »

Confusion

February 27, 2023

I wonder if geese become confused.

It’s northern Illinois in late February. We have warmer days and colder days. The ice on the ponds has melted in spots and remains in spots. Do you wonder what exactly geese see when they are circling above and coming in for a landing at a pond they know well? Have you ever seen them land on the ice and go skidding for several feet?

During my walk, I saw most of the flocks of geese swimming in the open water. There was a couple, though, walking on the water–well, the ice at the other end of the pond. Everyone else was contented. They raised a ruckus with their honking.

Were they confused? Looking for help?

I wondered about our confusion. Perhaps reading something from the Bible or some random spiritual writer. Inevitably we will read something confusing. What is our response?

Do we ignore it and hope it will go away?

Do we think of something we agree with that is similar and just push past that part?

Do we pause? Puzzle over the phrase? Grab our iPhone, go to Safari, search for what other people on the Web have to say?

Perhaps we stop and contemplate for a while. Opening ourselves to God for the spirit to bring us at least a partial enlightenment.

I used to rush through things. I’d try to do many things at once. Then I learned to slow down. Hit the Pause button. Instead of looking for immediate relief from confusion, stopping to think and contemplate.

We can wonder where the water is and honk our fool heads off. Or, we can pause and re-center ourselves and find the open water.

Posted in Study, Thinking | Leave a Comment »

The Noon-Day Demon

February 24, 2023

Have you charted your energy levels at various times of the day?

I have good energy early in the morning. I typically meditate, read, think, and write this early–before 6:30. Then some kind of physical workout. Then more reading and writing until about 11 or 11:30. Then I need some sort of break and lunch. Then I have little energy for a time. Somewhere around 4:00 pm I pick up again and can last until bed time.

Ancient Greeks wrote about akedeia which became Latin acedia — the “noon-day demon.”

This is a state of listlessness, torpor, feeling perhaps a little lost. Perhaps this is the time you post or re-post those cynical, negative thoughts on social media? Perhaps this is the time your thoughts are most prone to dwell upon sinful image and urges?

When the ancient Christian writers were teaching monks acedia outranked some of the demons (as they called them) such as gluttony or sloth. It was a time when monks might wonder why they were even there. Isn’t there somewhere better to be?

I find a short (hopefully) nap to be quite useful. Perhaps a walk for a bit out in nature. That might be a good time for some weight lifting.

The first thing is to recognize the condition. And to realize that the condition was recognized millennia ago. Realize it. Deal with it. Schedule your work day around it–do phone calls not deep work if you’re in an office. Don’t let it overpower you into making bad decisions.

Posted in discernment, Disciplines, Sin | Leave a Comment »

What Can You Believe?

February 23, 2023

I did a search on the Web (easier than grabbing my Bibles and searching through) for teaching on false teachers. There was more than I was looking for. I did find where Jesus and the Apostles Peter and John warned us about people (teachers) who tell us false and made up things.

Perhaps these teachers did it to sow seeds of discontent (sound familiar?) amongst the people. Or they did it to make themselves more important at the expense of a rival. Whatever, in the first century when they were teaching, it was evidently difficult to tell who was spreading lies and “untruths” or partially truths (the worst kind–they take part of what someone says and then twist it around).

I also discovered that often a Website would have other comments. I could tell that “false teacher” meant anyone who disagreed with the writer of that Website. Hmm, what to believe?

Then I read Seth Godin this morning. He warns of the new technologies that now exist such that any video and/or audio on the internet can be altered. You may see your president talking, but the image may be superimposed on something else and the words may be made up by ChatGPT. (This blog by virtue of being on the Web has readers from around the world. But this applies to you no matter where you live.)

We already know (or should know) that much of what got pushed to us by the algorithms designed to keep us on site by Twitter and Facebook and others that that “information” may often be lies or exaggerations. Now it will become even more difficult.

It is more important than ever to choose your sources of information wisely. Go to the source. Instead of Facebook, start a group chat with your friends.

Learning and practicing discernment becomes even more important.

Solomon, the king, asked God for wisdom. He got it, but it didn’t help him in the end. I’d suggest in place of wisdom, ask God for discernment–preventing as much as possible being fooled by those who seek to sow discontent and dissension and fear.

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Decisions Define Us

February 22, 2023

It began early.

The first decision—should I get up or stay in bed?

To decide whether or not to have coffee.

To decide to sit in that particular chair where I read something spiritual and helpful and then meditate or pray.

Shall I have porridge to start the day healthy by eating something that lowers cholesterol or perhaps an egg (an almost perfect food) or perhaps that jelly-filled doughnut because I feel weak and want a treat?

Shall I go out for a workout and exercise?

Our day is filled with decisions. Each decision defines us. What sort of person do we wish to be? Our decisions, whether made with intention or by emotion, determine the story.

I love the line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where the old Crusader says in a dry, flat voice as Indiana Jones chooses which of the chalices was the one that held Christ’s blood according to myth—Choose wisely.

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You Can’t Do It On Your Own

February 21, 2023

Jesus began his ministry with this message–change the direction of your life (repent). Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is here (actually here, there, everywhere).

We just have one response–part of it is awareness that we are not on the right path, the one pleasing to God. The other part is to choose to follow the right path.

Later, Jesus added a bit to this. Or he clarified. He said our response it to love God completely and to love our neighbor. When asked about who the neighbor was, he told a story where the neighbor was the most despised person his audience would think of.

Think of the person you would most despise–someone of a different race, someone of a different gender identity, someone from another country speaking a different language. That person you must love.

Later, again, Jesus told a story about a camel going through an eye of the needle. I’m not going to delve into different explanations of what that physical image was. What he was trying to explain is that it is almost impossible to be part of the kingdom of heaven through your own effort.

Loving doesn’t come easy.

But, God’s grace helps us. By living each moment with-God, we will be helped into that state of being in the kingdom where we can love those that we think are beyond love. We change our attitude (which means direction) and start walking along God’s path alongside God.

Part of that repentance thing is to realize we can make a choice but we can’t earn entry through our own efforts. But when we let God be God then we get that extra boost into the kingdom.

Then we truly find that capacity to love even our enemies and those we despise.

Posted in Attitude, choosing, Love | Leave a Comment »

Seek Justice and The Kingdom of God

February 20, 2023

I like to return to ancient sources for inspiration. Of course, I can also turn to more recent sources such as Dallas Willard, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, NT Wright, and so forth. It is refreshing to see the lineage from the earliest followers of Jesus.

In his Chapters on Prayer, Evagrius Ponticus, advises, “In your prayer seek only after justice and the kingdom of God, that is to say, after virtue and true spiritual knowledge. Then all else will be given to you besides.”

Then he adds, “It is a part of justice that you should pray not only for your own purification but also for that of every man. In doing this you will imitate the practice of the angels.”

Recognizing that his audience was monks of the 4th Century, we can see where his concerns were placed.

Think first of others.

Think then of drawing closer to God.

Then other things will come to you, as well.

Today we have many people thinking of others only in the sense of telling us, indeed ordering us, what to do and how to do it. The new Pharisees, I call them.

Then we have many teachers who quietly work with people to help and guide through life. Caring only about justice and service to others.

I suddenly thought of Jimmy Carter who is now in hospice care at 98. Called the best former President we’ve had, he sought not riches and glory after he left office. He worked for justice and service.

We (I) would do well to emulate that. It’s not about “likes” on social media that so many desire (probably hoping for the riches that came to the Kardashians). It’s about helping one person at a time outside the lights of publicity.

Posted in Justice, Prayer, Service | Leave a Comment »

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