Archive for the ‘Attitude’ Category

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Beware the Yeast of the Pharisees

November 16, 2016

mind-map-mark-yeast

Still considering Jesus’ seemingly off-hand comment “Watch out–beware the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of the Herodians.”

Reporters didn’t follow Jesus around recording every word he said in hope of a “gotcha” moment where they could make him look bad. That type of “journalism” (and I use the word loosely) only happened recently in history.

No, the gospel writers took these little vignettes and recorded them because they moved their stories forward. So consider that whenever they record a comment, it is important.

So, we were looking at the spiritual meaning of the sentence, since Jesus obviously points us to the spiritual significance later.

Considering we–as in each one of us–are the “dough” in the story. And consider that yeast is a reactive agent that enters the dough, permeates throughout it, and then creates a chemical and physical change in the dough.

As we are the dough, and we are to beware letting the “yeast” of the Pharisees into us, then what does that mean?

Let’s look at how the Pharisees are represented in the gospels. They are rule followers. Empty on the inside. Remember the metaphor of the cup–clean on the outside and corroded on the inside?

Or seekers of loopholes–that is how all of us rule-followers are. How can we make the rules favor us rather than someone else?

Or lovers of comparison. “Lord, I thank you that I am not like that sinner over there.”

When we allow these thoughts and attitudes to permeate us, then our entire being is changed.

We are no longer kind, empathetic, loving, serving people of God–the sort of people who inherit the Kingdom. We become negative, cynical, separate, hard-hearted.

Perhaps we think back to Paul’s description of people of the flesh and people of the spirit in Galatians. Which do we want to be? Beware the yeast of the Pharisees lest it change your character!

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Energy and Information

September 6, 2016

We are told that in the physical world everything is composed of energy and information. At least, that’s the quantum physics short form. That leaves out the spiritual realm, of course, but that ties in, too.

If we are energy, why is it that we so often out of energy?

This year I had some outpatient surgery in January and March. Then pulled a muscle in June or July that took a while to work through. Essentially, I was on reduced exercise for seven months.

Now I have much greater understanding of people struggling to recover from major surgery. Or even athletes in the prime of their conditioned lives taking months to recover from some injuries. Healing takes a lot of energy.

Often we just sit, though, and feel out of energy. We don’t feel like reading. We don’t feel like exercising. We can’t focus on work.

What do we do?

We know that energy comes from what we eat. It’s a pun in German (I first read in Ludwig Feuerbach), “Man ist, was er isst.” Man is what he eats. We know that high simple carbohydrates (aka sugars, etc.) give a quick energy boost followed by a letdown. Meals of high fat and starch will make you sleepy. Of course, both make you heavier.

So, we begin with diet.

Sometimes it’s our thoughts. We dwell on negative thoughts or worries or fears. Did you know that we have the power to change our thoughts? Paul often talked about setting your mind on things above. Jesus often withdrew from people to communicate with God his Father. Many ancient philosophers concluded that “we become what we think about.”

Then there is exercise. We all have different capacities for exercise. But, if we’re in an energy loss rut, then it’s time to change the exercise. Walk faster. Take up cycling. Run farther. Take a different route or a new location.

Then use your to-do list. Every week look at what you need to do. Make a list. Pick the day’s most important task. Work on it. Accomplishment is a virtuous cycle. You get one task done and you feel more like tackling the next–after an appropriate reward, perhaps.

Traditionally in the United States, Labor Day marks the end of “summer vacation” and the beginning of back to work. In Europe for the most part it’s just the first of September that marks the same thing. It’s Tuesday. Labor Day is behind us. It’s time to work up some energy and tackle those tasks.

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Why Are We So Offended?

August 18, 2016

Why are we so offended? Constantly, it seems. Do we go out of our way to seek offensive people or  statements?

Many people seem to think that everyone should be just like them. If they aren’t, these people are offended. And they voice it in their little groups. And complain.

Everyone to whom Paul  wrote (actually Peter, John, James, Luke, too) lived in a society where some of the most offensive practices were carried out openly. They wrote to help people live a good life amongst all of that.

I wonder at times whether we are so thin-skinned that any remark sets us off. Are we possessed of so little faith that it can be shaken by a remark? Or an act by someone?

That is why we practice spiritual disciplines. Constantly refreshing our minds with the proper thoughts and centered on God, helps us grow in faith and confidence.

Confidence–there’s a word that Paul frequently uses that is seldom heard. Can we move forward confident of the triumph of Go?

Offended? Maybe by living a life that is so enticing to others, we can show a better way. We turn being offended into an excuse to help someone grow.

That would be cool.

 

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To See Ourselves

July 27, 2016

I interviewed a man recently for a project I’m working on recently. He said, “You are always smiling and upbeat. I can’t even imagine you angry.”

It’s one of those moments when we get jarred out of our self-absorption and think about how others watch us, evaluate us, consider us.

What sort of image do you wish to project? Angry white man? Anxious mother? Bitter, negative?

Many times when I stop and consider how I looked to others in the past, I’m embarrassed. And, I have much to be embarrassed about.

I think about poor Peter, the apostle. He had one of those experiences where you are consciously outside your body looking at yourself. It was in the courtyard during Jesus’ trials. The third time he denied Jesus the cock crowed and he saw himself and was ashamed.

Seeing ourselves in the situation can get us out of situations.

Say we are standing in a queue. Maybe it’s for customer service. I see it often in airports. Could be somewhere else–the coffee shop, the grocery. Some obnoxious person is arguing with the employee. Getting nowhere, of course. We see ourselves in that situation and think, we don’t want to look like that. We put on a smile and treat the person kindly. Thank you Jesus for letting us get a glimpse of how we could look and changing before we have something else to be embarrassed about.

It’s not that I don’t have my moments. Last night at a busy intersection–lots of pedestrians–I was waiting for the crosswalk to clear before making a right turn (British readers must picture this in reverse, of course). Woman in a large SUV must have been in quite a hurry. She turned left in front of me with the crosswalk still full of people. Maybe I hit my horn button to alert her 😉 . I can get annoyed.

Anyway, after talking about Mr. Negative yesterday, I’m relieved to know that somehow my life has been molded so that I’m not that way.

And it’s not too late for you no matter what your age. God gave you consciousness and the power to choose. Peter reshaped his life and became a courageous and respected leader. You can become a better you.

 

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Are You Optimistic or Is Everything Going to Hell?

July 26, 2016

How are you this morning, I innocently ask a guy in the locker room at the gym.

“My back hurts. The doctor screwed up my feet; now I have trouble walking. They can’t put in a lap lane in the swimming pool during that senior water work out class. The new shower heads are worse than the last ones.”

Gee, thanks for uplifting my day…

I had just read an article written by the guy who developed Nozbe, the productivity application that I use. The article was about optimism.

Michael Sliwinski has to be the most optimistic person I know. Seven or eight years ago I wrote about Getting Things Done, David Allen’s productivity method. Sliwinski had written an application and was now CEO of a small company selling the app. He wrote to me. Said he had a better productivity app.

I bought it a few months later. Been using it ever since.

He writes, “Optimism and the courage it fosters are the secret weapons of any entrepreneur. The ability to see the bright side in difficult situations and even the most miserable failures can provide important lessons for the future, and this differentiates successful people from others. Not huge successes, like piles of gold and fame, but also small victories that help develop what you’ve started without giving up.”

Continuing, he writes, “With a positive attitude it’s easier to get out of bed in the morning, it takes less effort to accept a few extra hours of work or unforeseen problems and it’s easier to plan future objectives and undertakings.”

I agree with his observation that a positive attitude comes from inside. It is our attitude. We choose how we’re going to approach life.

Sliwinski concludes with a list of some small things that can help you become an optimist:

  • gratitude ritual – every morning I express thanks for three things or events which made me feel happy – it works;
  • sport, rest and a good diet – in a healthy body there’s a healthy mind – what’s else is there to say 🙂
  • waking early without hitting snooze and delaying the alarm – this simple habit connected with the first thing you do every morning will give each subsequent day the proper, energetic direction;
  • vision of the future – every once in a while spend some time painting a glorious vision of the future – dreams are the first step of every plan or venture;
  • passion – find your passion – it will give you wings, strength and patience;
  • surround yourself with positive people – keep pessimists, moaners and fault-finders at a distance or try to infect them with your optimism 🙂

Couldn’t have said it better–so I just copied and passed along. Have a beautiful and optimistic day.

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Just Me First, Alone

June 14, 2016

I’ll never learn to be just me first, by myself. — Carly Simon

There was a young man. He had never seen a picture of himself. Obviously this story takes place long before selfies when we broadcast our pictures to the world ad nauseam. But really, he had never seen himself. Then, looking into a still pond, he saw a young man so beautiful that he had to meet him. He could not, of course. He fell in love with his own reflection. His love for himself killed him. His name was Narcissus.

I guess this selfie craze reveals much about us at this time. Of course, it’s partly because it’s new technology. But, do you know anyone who seems overboard with pictures of themselves, by themselves?

Have you ever been around someone who talks on and on about themselves and the people and events that affect them? You try to interject–even just words of understanding or acknowledgement–and then realize that they aren’t listening to you. They are wrapped up in themselves.

Have you ever been in a group when two or more talk about themselves and their lives–at the same time? And they don’t seem to notice that no one is listening?

None of us lives to ourselves alone. — Paul, Romans 14:7

The ancient Greeks were excellent observers of personality types. The myth of Narcissus lent the name to a current personality disorder–Narcissism. Popularly, the term broadens to those who perhaps don’t qualify for diagnosis but are still annoying.

Paul, no stranger to those Greek myths himself, knew that there is a danger lurking in the depths of our hearts when we focus too much on ourselves.

He was teaching us at that point in Romans after he had built up the argument to the introduction of grace and then answered the question, “So, what?” His teaching was that now that we are living in grace, we don’t live for ourselves. We live for God. We also live for others–look at his words of having empathy for others in the same chapter.

Paul never stopped with the self-centered thought–It’s all about me and my salvation. That was only the beginning. Life is what happens next. And that is about how you love and serve others.

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When You Stop Trying So Hard

May 27, 2016

“Stop trying, relax, and just slip into the pose.”

There are Yoga poses that just don’t work well when you try to force your way into them. Then you just relax, especially your abs, and just ease into the pose.

Try this. No, really, try it. Stand up. Keeping your back as straight as possible, bend over and touch your toes (or shins, or knees, or thighs…).

Now back at the standing position, relax your mid-section. Consciously. Maybe think about bringing your belly button back to your spine. Now try it. Don’t force it. Just bend.

(Honestly, all this came to me last night when I was talking the class into one of those forward bend poses that seem to stretch everything.)

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Matthew 5, 6, 7. This includes the Sermon on the Mount. Remember how Jesus concludes? “Be perfect just as your Father is perfect.”

Now, think about the group of people Jesus continually sparred with–the Pharisees. How did they try to be “perfect just as your Father is perfect”? They tried…hard. They built rules on top of rules to explain how to live in every situation in every minute of every day. It was a full-time job just working hard to be perfect.

Then Jesus comes along. He reinterprets all the laws making them impossible to achieve. Then he says, be perfect. Hold on there, partner. Perfect? Impossible!

Yes, that’s the point. You don’t get to a relationship with God by your hard work at being perfect. Stop trying so hard. Relax. Then turn your attention to God and let God do the work.

Like Yogi Berra supposedly said, “You can hear a lot just by listening.” Just by slowing down and ceasing the impossible task of trying to be perfect, we open a space for God to actually come in. And, since our focus is off ourselves, now we can hear God. And respond.

And we’ll be perfect enough.

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All God’s Children

May 17, 2016

“Your wife told me that you’ve been to Germany recently,” the older guy said to me at the gym. He came closer obviously wanting to make a point.

“Did you see a lot of those Muslims there?” he asked in a confidential whisper. “You know they are everywhere over there. The people hate Merkel for letting them in. They don’t assimilate like other people. They just keep to their own communities.”

When you grow up in a white-only area of a southern California city and then move to a rural area where total “non-white” population is less than 8%, I guess you form weird ideas about people. Add in that his only source of news is Fox…

I’m white, I suppose. Grew up and still live in the area. People always assume I share the same beliefs. But I went wrong somewhere. Traveled extensively. Did business around the world for the past 35 years. And maybe I took the New Testament teachings more seriously than most. (By the way, not all people in west central Ohio share that guy’s belief. Many do, though.)

Thoughts of poor Peter right after Jesus’ resurrection flashed through my mind. A gentile named Cornelius had a crisis–a crisis of health and a spiritual crisis he didn’t even realize at first. Peter was called.

Now Jews didn’t assimilate into the broader Greco-Roman culture. Peter was forbidden by his law from going into Cornelius’ house. From eating his food. From having any more to do with him than business.

But Cornelius had a problem and Peter had the solution. God had been whispering (maybe even shouting) to Peter to prepare him for this occasion. Peter sucked it up, went in, healed, shared the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, converted the entire household.

Peter finally experienced the power of the gospel. It is for all God’s children. God loves every human being and wants to draw them all to him. The New Testament, as much as many wish, is not full of doctrine and theology. It is full of the need of all of us for grace and God’s wish to extend it to us.

Back to my acquaintance at the gym. I burst his bubble. At least a little one.

“No,” I said, “I didn’t see many Muslims. But I have many Muslims as friends. They are all great people. There will be several posts a day in my Facebook feed in Arabic.”

Not willing to leave well enough alone, “Be careful what you trust as far as news on TV. They manipulate pictures to show things as more dramatic or worse than they are for effect. Remember, they aren’t bringing news. They are selling ads.”

And I leave that for you. Be careful what you allow to fill your mind. Are you in a vicious circle of negativity? Are you filling it with God’s word so that when an opportunity arises you can respond appropriately?

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Grace Under Pressure

May 16, 2016

Grace under pressure was truth in Ernest Hemmingway’s writing.

Sometimes we don’t face the challenges that a novelist will place a character in a story. But in our own way, we have to face the pressure frequently.

I was director of referees for youth soccer tournaments two straight weekends. I lived with the pressure of returning from a week in Germany facing assigning referees to appropriate games and recruiting more referees.

Friday late afternoon sipping a blended latte in my favorite coffee shop reflecting on getting the job done for this weekend’s tournament, I was relaxed and ready to go.

Checked emails. “Gary, we had 2″ of rain Thursday. Most of our fields are unplayable. We are marking out new fields, but we won’t have as many. Rescheduling all the games now.”

That meant that when the tournament director’s team finished figuring out all this, I had to go back and reassign all the referees. We had as many games in two fewer fields.

I sent an email to all the referees–prepare for schedule changes. Somewhere around 8:30 pm I was notified the schedule was complete. Somewhere around 11 pm I finished the last of the assignments.

Same thing Saturday. They decided in the afternoon that despite 30mph winds all day, the ground had not dried enough. Saturday night–schedule finished about 9, I finished about 11.

The the tournament committee (well Caleb and Chris) figured out how to do the schedule. That is a tough job. Then I started on the referee assignments.

It’s amazing. 50 or more referees. Not a one (well, there was one guy, but he’s an exception in every sense) came to me arguing or complaining. I obviously made mistakes. Guys were booked on two different fields at the same time. One guy was booked for two games at the same time–on the same field.

Everyone handled it.

You learn–faced with a challenge, there is no good to be gained from exploding. You face a big task with a crushing deadline, sign, then just go to work. One game at a time. Guys remarked how calm I was. (So were the other leaders, but they didn’t know them.) I’ve been in the situation.

When you are faced with a changed situation, the only true response it to change your attitude and respond with grace.

I saw 50-60 people do that this weekend. It’s a marvelous thing. And 1,400 kids got to play all their games and have a blast.

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Where’s Your Heart Today

May 2, 2016

We had lunch yesterday with a couple who have devoted more than 20 years of their lives to mission work in West Africa. Charley teaches Old Testament to pastors in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. I really like the idea of helping local people grow and pastor and teach their neighbors.

The life of such a missionary is a rhythm. Go and serve. Return to the home country to refresh, renew acquaintances, and raise money for their support. They live from donations. It’s not an easy life, but with the right personality, it’s a good life.

This is one way of living out the last commandment of Jesus to his followers, “Go out to all the world teaching and making disciples…”

Do you support any missionaries?

A friend who has tried being a missionary has found that people over the past few years have become more and more unwilling to support missionaries. Churches are more inclined to look inward and spend money on their own wants and needs.

My wife and I send support to a number of ministries. We actually have organized our finances such that we can tithe to the local church and give offerings to ministries and causes that touch us. For you, maybe you count all the various groups as parts of your tithe.

It’s all where your heart is. Maybe you do it out of a sense of duty instilled at an early age. Maybe you’re a generous person as part of your natural personality. Maybe you’ve learned to become more and more generous.

Check out your own finances. If you are using close to 100% just to fund your own needs, maybe that means your heart is focused upon yourself. Taken to a place of dominating your personality, that’s called narcissism.

If so, consider the 80-10-10 guide to finances. When money comes in, set aside 10% for your church and charitable giving; set aside 10% for your future in savings; live on 80%. As you become better at this, you will find that you can live on less than 80% and give more. That is the point when your heart is changed.

Check out your church’s finances. Study the financial report. If your church has budgeted less than 25% of its budget to intentional giving outside its doors, then it is NOT a missional church–no matter what it tells itself.

Go check in with your spiritual cardiologist and seek the status of your heart.

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