What About the Other Guy?

 “Treat men exactly as you would like them to treat you.”

Luke 6:31 (Phillips)

Every Saturday, I (try to) go to a local park to walk their 1.25 mile trail through the woods.  It is great exercise, because the path follows the natural incline/decline of the forest floor, giving the walker/runner/cyclist a "hills and valleys" workout.  There are a multitude of "rules" posted at the beginning  and ending of the trail:  dogs must be on a leash; bicycles on the left; walkers on the right; only official vehicles on the trail (golf carts used by the rangers), park only in lined spaces, etc.  Too often, however, you run into someone who believes that those rules are for other people.

There are three picnic shelters along the path - two at the beginning of the trail, and one near the end.  There is also a very tiny parking lot in front of the nature center that begins/ends the trail.  On busy days, you may have to park a ways away in the lots by the ball fields.  Fortunately, there were a few parking spaces left when I arrived.  Strangely, even before I got out of my car, my ears were assaulted by music blaring with the amplification of an open-air rock concert.

I started down the trail, only to find my way blocked in the area around Shelter #1.  There was a big party being set up, and cars/trucks had been driven down to the area and parked on the trail to offload food that could have easily been carried in. The music was also coming from a large speaker set up by the shelter, and I'm sure the volume was as maxed-out as possible.  Well over a quarter mile further down the trail, I could still hear the tunes loud and clear.  The poor people in Shelter #2 must have had a hard time hearing each other talk.

I finished my 2.5 miles and headed for the parking lot, where I discovered the third result of the "all about me" party crowd.  Every available parking space in the small lot was taken, so the incoming families simply started making spaces of their own, effectively blocking the exit of anyone parked down at the far end of the lot.  I had parked by the nature center and was able to make a quick exit, edging by a pickup truck/trailer rig that was trying to gain entrance. Others of the exercise crowd were not so lucky, painstakingly maneuvering to try and inch their way out.

There are probably few people in the United States who do not know these famous words spoken by Jesus -  words that we teach our children as the Golden Rule of human behavior: give other people the same courtesy and respect that you hope they will give to you.  There is no guarantee, of course, that your attitude will be reciprocated, because it is much easier to take the route of putting myself first at the inconvenience of everyone else.  However, stopping to think about the consequences of our choices on those around us is a great step in the right direction for living by the Golden Rule. 

 

What You See is....

They have been redeemed from human kind...

and in their mouth is no guile...

Revelation 14:4-5

 

Does the picture above make your mouth water?  I am a vegetarian and would never dream of eating this burger, but I must say that it looks delicious.  However, if I were to go to the fast food restaurant that advertises this luscious sandwich, what I would be handed in my paper wrapper or little cardboard box would bear no resemblance whatsoever to this photograph.  The meat would be flat and slightly gray, the onions would be an oily white (never purple), the tomato very thinly sliced and buried in the bun, and what little lettuce I could find?  Shredded iceburg - limp and palest green.  Does this yummy burger even exist?  Maybe at someone's backyard grilling party, but never from the Mickey D's down the street.

My father always taught me that I should live my life as though I had a sign attached to my person that said:

 

What you see is what you get!

 

Although my dad preached this gospel to anyone who would listen, this proclamation did not originate with him.  The disciple John, writing his thoughts while imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, was inspired with the same idea.   He, being a fisherman all his life, used the word "guile" - fishbait or a baited hook - to illustrate a life of transparency.  A hook is used to fool the fish.  The people of God that John describes in Revelation, have no fish hook:  no deceit, no deception, no lie.  They are transparent people.

 

Living life as an open book is not an easy proposition in this murky, less-than-truthful world.  We do not want to appear innocent, inexperienced, simple, or (heaven forbid!) pure.  But I would love to return to a societal norm where your word is the pledge of your integrity and your character.  The world we live in may be way beyond such niceties, but I am going to pledge myself to endeavor to stand in the brightest light of truth - unafraid of scrutiny.  Join me? 

2014 New Year's Resolutions

No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, 

but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing:  

forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  

I strain to reach the end of the race...   

Philippians 3:13-14

January 4, 2014:  a little late, some would say, for making New Year’s Resolutions, but my attitude is – better late than never!  It is still the beginning of a new year – a time when we often think about what we could / should do differently in our lives.

This year, I am only going to make two (2) resolutions.  Yes – you read that right.  Just two.  Mind you, that does not mean that there are only two things in my life that need changing!  There are actually more than two CATEGORIES of things that need changing.  There is my HEALTH (diet, stress, anxiety levels, etc.), FITNESS (diet (again!), exercise, etc.), ATTITUDES, OUTLOOK, DREAMS, and so forth.  I could go on and on.  But I have found that the more resolutions I write down at the beginning of a new year, the more resolutions I abandon within a month or two of the starting date.

Therefore, my two resolutions are relatively basic, and come from the words of Christ Himself:

1    Resolution #1:  Love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength.   Mark 12:30

I do love God – and I know He knows that.  But somehow these words of Jesus seem to mean much more than our cultural understanding of “love” would indicate.  Jesus said, “Hey – don’t just ‘love’ God (like you ‘love’ your cat, or a good bowl of pasta), but put everything you have into it!”

                Heart                     the seat of my emotions

                Soul                       the seat of my faith

                Mind                     the seat of my intellect

                Strength              the seat of my physical self

Loving God through all of these avenues is so much more than a tacit acknowledgement that I care about Him.  It involves continuity, commitment, compassion and challenge.  It is taking my relationship with God to the next level in 2014.   The old What Would Jesus Do? campaign might have gone “out of style,” but it is never irrelevant for my day-to-day life.

2    Resolution #2:  Love my neighbor as myself.  Mark 12:31

Have you ever noticed that Jesus did not direct us to love our neighbor with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength?  No – instead He asked us to love our neighbors (every human being surrounding us) as much as we love ourselves.  I don’t know about you, but I am very attached to this being called “myself.”   And I (try to) exercise my heart, soul, mind and strength to take care of “me” – someone that I would like to have around for a long time!  So if I am going to love you like I love myself, I will need to be very interested in your welfare as well.

What Would Jesus Do? becomes a relevant question for this resolution as well – although it will take a lot of discipline to have that question come to mind before irritation or unkindness pours out of my mouth.  When I am the recipient of a thoughtless word, an unkind action, a mean cut, or a selfish act (on the road, in the grocery store, or in just about any circumstance imaginable), my first concern is usually for myself with little thought process for the other person.  What if my first thought was concern for the other person?  That would be something new in my life!

I have asked God to assist me in my 2014 New Year’s resolutions, for I’m fairly certain that otherwise they will just fade into the sunset.  I am really looking forward to this New Year, and I am excited to partner with God to love Him more completely, and to show true kindness and compassion for those who cross my pathway. 

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!

By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day.

Lamentations 3:22-24