Faith Venture

Sometimes we read too much into a situation.

Maybe there was no ulterior or hidden motive.

Sometimes people just say things without thinking that should just be taken at face value and move on.

Sometimes it is what it is.

Here are my three little buddies I have drawn parables from the past two days.

They are all walking fine, well as fine as a duck can walk.

Have no idea what happened to the females. I’ve seen none at the park this spring.

In America we celebrate a holiday this weekend. Enjoy it for what it is.

There were three male Mallard ducks. Just hanging out by the pond. Strange. Unusual. Three male ducks never just hang out in that neighborhood. Maybe they are up to no good.

Then I notice one duck is limping. I’ve never seen a duck limp. Obviously something is wrong. He must have tangled with something. Maybe a fish hook in the water left behind by an errant caster. Maybe a cat had big ideas.

Most likely the duck’s two friends were looking out for him.

It reminded me of the story Jesus told about the man who was an outcast from the local society stopped to help a wounded man from the majority culture.

Yesterday (link above), I wrote the same scene from one perspective–my initial reaction to three guys hanging out. Today, the same scene, except I was more observant.

I know nothing about duck culture. I am projecting human behavior on animals.

However the two views of the same scene offers another teaching moment.

At least three times in the past couple of weeks I have read news items where a white person has called the police to investigate black people who a) were in that place legally b) doing nothing wrong or even suspicious.

It was all in the mind of the caller. Their brains composed a story based upon some prejudice or past encounter or just fear of others not like themselves. They (not surprisingly) believed their brains’ stories. Panicked. Called the police for protection–from nothing.

Be honest. If you saw three strangers, what story would your brain create? Would you be emotionally intelligent enough to pause and question the thought? Make a further observation? Even offer help if needed?

We know that we believe whatever we tell ourselves to believe. Motivational speakers use that trick all the time telling you to just tell yourself that you are great–and eventually you will believe it.

Politicians use the trick all the time, as well. Repeat the same story over and over and pretty soon people will believe the biggest lie is really the truth.

Be careful what you choose to believe. It may be all in your head. And wrong.

Like a scene from a late ’50s movie.

Three guys. Hanging out on a downtown street corner. Wearing the uniform of the day–blue jeans, white T shirt, pack of cigarettes rolled into one sleeve. Plenty of hair creme combed into slicked back hair. Cigarette dangling loosely from the corner of the mouth. Motorcycle in background. Bored. Nothing good will happen.

Every day for the past week when I go to the park to exercise I pass three male Mallard ducks. Unusual. They are always in pairs. Maybe three couples. Never three males alone. They form a little circle. They scrunch down. They watch almost bored not moving as someone approaches. I think of this scene from an old movie (James Dean?).

And I think of this saying from Proverbs:

Walk with the wise, for the companion of fools suffers harm.

Just show up…sometimes that’s half the job.

When we have trouble getting started

Just show up…sometimes that’s all it takes

To support someone

To mourn with someone

To rejoice with someone

Just show up…and let God

Do his thing

Give you the next step

Teach you something

Use you

Where do you need to be today?

It was a time of political and religious turmoil. People in general were hungry spiritually. They often felt empty. But also confused. There were many strangers walking through the land.

There were leaders intent on devising ever more laws, rules, and regulations telling the people how to live their lives down to the smallest details.

Then a guy appeared. He taught people how to live with freedom–from blindly following rules; from the things that kept them from God like their emotional hang-ups, addictions, blindness (physical and spiritual), rigidities.

He constantly called out the leaders for their hypocrisy.

He talked about God as his father, with whom he was very close.

People loved him. Leaders (for the most part) hated him.

They killed him.

The Bible tells this story.

Dostoyevsky retells it in the time of the Spanish Inquisition in the story of the Grand Inquisitor within The Brothers Karamazov.

What if he came today. Would we kill him again?

For Pentecost I was meditating on the coming of the Spirit upon Jesus’ followers when the meditation started to focus on Jesus coming–not like we expect him. Sort of like 2,000 years ago.

Imagine a community of people. A church, a neighborhood, a town, a society.

Imagine incorporating a teaching from James (the brother of Jesus found in 4:11 of his general letter)–

Do not speak evil against one another.

We fall into morning routines whether intentionally or not.

We can waken to an alarm, rush around, grab a breakfast bar to eat in the car, and hurry out to work.

We can train ourselves to rise without an alarm early enough so as to avoid rushing. Read something inspirational. Meditate. Eat something healthy. Be ready for the day.

People who have asked a wide variety of people about their morning routines find that successful people have definite, intentional routines. Curiously, for the most part executives rise early and exercise and prepare for the day. Creative types, for example writers, rise early and write then exercise a little later.

I have a routine for when I’m home and one for when I travel. The difference is that when I travel I need to fit into the rhythm of the conference or host or vacation or whatever.

I never use an alarm (exception, catching an early flight or have an early meeting following a late night). Make coffee. Read and meditate. Do some writing. Eat a light breakfast. Exercise.

And I have a routine for exercise. These warmer days, I head to a local park to walk or run. Then the Y. Three days I do strength training. Everyday 15-30 minutes of Yoga. Then the sauna.

Twice this week, the fitness center at the Y has been crowded with someone on almost every machine. Yesterday, I looked at the possibility of standing around waiting for a machine to free up. Decided not to wait. Went up to the running track area where I do Yoga on the mats. Already out of sorts, I blew that off and went straight to the sauna.

All day I was unsettled. Couldn’t sit and focus at all until preparing for an interview late in the afternoon.

Amazing how creativity and deep work actually craves order and routine. Body, heart, mind, soul–they all need to live in harmony. Throw out one, and all of you is out of balance.

A TV series featuring detectives solving old cases (from England) shows the detectives narrowing in on the motive and people involved in killing someone. The motive they are uncovering concerns revenge for past wrongs.

People vote for a publicly immoral political candidate hoping for a morsel of moral outcome from that candidate.

These explore an ancient conundrum. Does the end justify the means?

If we put this in Biblical terms, is it OK to break God’s Law now hoping for a result that might glorify God?

Asked another way–

When I begin to do immoral things, how long before I am intentionally immoral? What happens when I am an intentional sinner (to use a church word)?

Paul the Apostle asked, “Should I sin more in order to receive more grace?” He said, “No.”

God told kings who tried that tactic he wasn’t happy because–they didn’t rely on him.

Peter drew his sword to protect Jesus on the night of the arrest. He struck and wounded one of the arresting group. Jesus told him to put away the sword and went on to heal the wounded victim. That was not the right “means”. The cross was the right “means.”

I have been amazed since I was quite small that so many people who profess great faith in God have so little confidence that God wins in the end.