life | Russellings of the Spirit

Posts Tagged ‘life

Feb

Plug In!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: battery, energy, fuel, gas, God, Jesus Christ, life, Matthew 11:28-30, power

Today I am pleased to announce that after three years of diligent, post-retirement searching, I’ve finally FOUND MY PURPOSE!

It has been a long, tedious process. I’ve looked high and low. Within and without. I have consulted mystics, tea leaves, and gurus galore.

Finally, at long last, my new Reason for Being has become crystal clear. My search has revealed that my new role in life is RECHARGER.

To clarify, my purpose is recharging if you judge purpose by the amount of time a person spends doing a thing. Because I sure do spend an enormous amount of time recharging the things in my life that need recharging.

Of course, there is my iPhone. Gotta charge it every day.

The FitBit on my wrist can go a little longer than that, but it still needs a regular recharge.

The Bluetooth device I use when I listen to podcasts at the gym doesn’t run on steam power! It also has to be recharged.

When summer rolls around (as I have faith it will. Eventually), I have the lawn mower battery, the string trimmer battery and now the new battery pack for my drill and power saw I have to keep tabs on.

And now, since this past October, I have added a couple more devices to my recharge list. Because of some chronic and long-term lower back issues, I am now the proud owner of a surgically implanted spinal cord stimulator! Thanks, Medtronic!

There is a battery pack inside my left buttock cheek attached to two wires that run up either side of my spine. Their purpose is to short-circuit pain impulses and allow me to do things like go on mission trips, play softball, and pick things up off the floor, all without writhing in pain.

But like all modern miracles, this wonderful device also requires regular recharging.

So far, I am proud to report a minimum of recharging fails in the last year or so. [A fail – by the way – is when your device goes completely dead. Zero power.]

Yes, here in Russell World, recharging is a full-time job. As I gain expertise in the subject, however, I’m beginning to wonder if it might be time to widen my circle of influence a bit.

Maybe – I think, drumming reflective fingers on my chin as I turn the concept over in my mind –maybe it is time to start trying to figure out how to recharge PEOPLE!

Because in case you haven’t noticed, people’s batteries run down, too. Physical stamina is finite. The energy to care ultimately peters out. The mental juices needed to solve sticky interpersonal problems has a definite limit. The power supply that drives creativity needs regular topping up.

The tricky part is that none of those come with the cute little graphic that tells us – at a glance – how much gas we have left in the tank. We go and push and go and push until suddenly it’s all gone. We fall to the floor. We crumple in a heap. We turn to dust…

… until we pop up the next day and do it all over again.

I would dearly love to lend my recharging experience to the depleted ones in our midst. But the truth is, I have never been very good at the task of recharging ME. For too much of my life, I have burned the candle at both ends… eagerly (some would say anxiously) trying to prove my worth to some unseen, critical panel of judges.

I have regularly passed his words on to others. But too seldom have I stopped and seriously listened to Jesus when he sought to assure me, saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NRSVU).

Whoever would have suspected that the best battery charger ever invented walked the earth over 2,000 years ago?

Abundant blessings;

Feb

A Changed Life

By revruss1220 3 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: change, God, Guatemala, Jesus Christ, John 3:3, life, new, Nicodemus, perspective, transform

Several years ago, Joan and I took a little vacation trip to Orcas Island.

In case you are not familiar with it, Orcas Island is located squarely in the middle of the Straits of Juan de Fuca in the Puget Sound area of the state of Washington. It is a beautiful place where you’ll find trees, mountains, waterways, charming shops, quirky, creative restaurants, and friendly, engaging people.

It’s so quaint it’s practically Canadian.

We stayed in a spacious room at a local bed and breakfast. Our room featured a wrap-around balcony where we could sit out, drink coffee, and contemplate the miracle of God’s creative genius.

During our time there, we shared this bucolic place with two other couples. As you do at B&Bs, we crossed paths with those couples at the breakfast table. After exchanging introductions, we began swapping notes about our favorite parts of the whole Orcas Island experience.

One couple – I don’t remember their names, but let’s call them Fred and Ethel, just for fun – absolutely RAVED about their experiences with tandem ocean kayaking around the island. No, Fred and Ethel did not RENT a kayak from a local outfitter. They OWNED their own.

At one point Fred explained their enchantment with ocean kayaking by saying, “You know… we came up here about five years ago and rented a tandem ocean kayak. And it CHANGED OUR LIVES.”

Joan and I smiled, nodded politely, and shared our experiences about one of the local hikes. But when we got back to our room, I’m sad to admit that we got a little catty. We stopped, looked at one another and said,“Really? Tandem ocean kayaking changed your LIFE? Really??”

Since that time – thanks to Fred and Ethel – I have tried to be especially cognizant of the things I describe as “life-changing.” For me, the bar must be set a bit higher than finding a cool new hobby. For example…

Falling in love? Life changing.
Becoming a parent? Yes. Also, life changing.
Accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of my life? Absolutely life changing!
Tucking in to a transcendently delicious peach cobbler? Splendid, yes. But not life changing.

In order to say a thing was life changing, something profound and elemental about WHO I AM must shapeshift from THIS to THAT. According to my concise rulebook, a person needs to be able to paint a vivid “Before” and “After” picture of their entire identity and self-understanding before they may use this weighty, loaded phrase.

And it is with this background in mind that I dare to proclaim to you that my first trip to Guatemala was truly life changing.

It was a trip I took with 11 other seminary students in 2003. It was called an Immersion Trip because the purpose of the trip was to immerse ourselves in the baptismal waters of the stories of the people of Guatemala. From their bloody history of the 36-year-long civil war, to their long litany of exploitation by the American government, to the rich, proud indigenous Mayan culture, to the crushing poverty of 90% of the population, to their endlessly buoyant spirits…

… that trip met all the criteria to justify the label “life changing.”

I went down as one person and returned as someone else entirely. And oddly enough, something very similar happens every time I return there.

Joan and I just got back from spending a week on a humanitarian mission to Guatemala. It was a week that gave us new eyes. New hearts. New minds. And certainly, new backs and hands because of the work we did there.

Along the way, I discovered another quirky quality about life change; that is, its impermanence.

How often does it happen that we are catapulted out of our familiar orbit, only to fall prey – once again – to the gravitational pull of old habits, old mindsets, old routines, and old beliefs?

All of which brings me to the subject of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. Lent is a time set aside in the church calendar to stop… take stock… turn around… and to recalibrate.

Lent is not just about giving up chocolate or alcohol. It is about being ritually reminded to look at the entirety of our lives and to dare to ask, “Why do I think that?” “Why do I DO that?” “Why am I attracted to that?” “Why does that occupy such an important place in my life,” and “Does it really deserve that place of prominence?”

Yes. Change is hard. They say that babies in wet diapers are the only ones who actually like change.

But it’s kind of like what Jesus told the priest, Nicodemus during their famous midnight meeting: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” (John 3:3, NRSVU).

Happy Lent, and abundant blessings;

Dec

SAVED

By revruss1220 3 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: all, birth, Christmas, death, heaven, hope, humanity, Jesus, life, peril, salvation, saved

Passengers on the Titanic knew it.

Jews living in the ghettos of Warsaw in 1939 knew it, too.

No one knows it better today than the citizens of Ukraine.

It certainly was a routine part of the consciousness of people in Israel 2,022 years ago.

But I wonder… do we know it?

More specifically, how often do those of us who live in the developed, non-Ukrainian world of A.D. 2022 pause to think about the subject of salvation?

Salvation is a real question for people who are starving. It is absolutely not a hypothetical matter for the unhoused. Women trapped in abusive relationships, men writhing in the grip of addiction, children hiding from a deranged gunman under their desks, all cry out, “SAVE ME!” with a fierce urgency.

But what about the rest of us? How do we understand this? How acutely do we each feel the need for salvation?

Medical science has saved most of us from plague, polio, pertussis, pox, and other diseases. Seat belts have saved millions of people from violent death in car accidents. Central heating and air-conditioning have saved people from the consequences of extreme weather.

[If only there were a technological breakthrough that could save us from our own bad decisions!]

But some niggling intuition tells me that NONE of these are what God meant when God told Joseph to name his Spirit-conceived son, “Jesus,” which means, “he will save.” (“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21, NRSVU).

Yes. That promised salvation most certainly included all Jesus’ contemporaries. But can we grasp that it also includes ME? And YOU? And people who have never heard the name of Jesus? And people who have heard the name, yet who turned away and said, “Nope. No thanks.”

So many questions…

How is this possible? How does it even work? How, exactly, has Jesus saved me from my sins?

Is this salvation thing like some kind of cosmic “Get Out of Jail Free” card, handed out equally to everyone at birth? And if so, does that mean sin has no consequence?

Is it universally available, or do we need first to consciously accede to a set of principles and practices before we receive this salvation?

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I must. Even though I have a Master of Divinity degree, have been examined by superiors and found worthy, have been properly ordained by a representative of a mainline Protestant denomination, I can’t confidently answer ANY of those questions.

All I can tell you for sure is that Jesus’ saving act BEGAN at his birth, CONTINUED throughout his life and ministry, and came to FRUITION at his death and resurrection.

I can also tell you that this Supernatural Salvation Symphony built a heretofore unheard-of BRIDGE between heaven and earth… between life and death… between the Creator and the Creature… between Spirit and Substance.

Finally, the only other thing I can really say with any degree of certainty is that MY life, and the lives of millions of other poor wretches like me, has been forever transformed by the miracle that began in a dirty manger in occupied Israel… and that I will yearn to share this Good News with everyone until I draw my last breath.

To all those hard-working seminary professors who spent hours and hours honing and refining their soteriology lectures, I send my sincere apologies. You did your best.

I only know that Jesus’ gift of salvation is the best gift I have ever received. And like the little drummer boy, the only gift I have to offer him in return is my song and a heart full of praise.

Abundant blessings;

Jul

Plagued by Purpose

By revruss1220 Leave a Comment

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: act, be, compassion, do, God's will, Jesus Christ, life, love, meaning, mission, purpose, reflect, think

There was a time… I remember it well… when the answer was so simple, it wasn’t even necessary to ask the question.

Those were the days when you only had to look one branch down on the family tree to know what your life was all about.

Back then, asking why you were here on this planet was akin to picking up a hammer and asking why ITexisted.

We each knew we were here to carry on… to receive and then pass the baton… to stoke the fires of family tradition, keeping them burning for those who come after.

It was a sacred trust we dared not interrupt.

Those of us raised in that time knew it was only either saints or psychos who heard voices calling them to undertake BOLD, HISTORY-SHAPING ventures. For the rest of us, ours was to keep our heads down, our noses clean, and our shoulders firmly pressed against the wheel.

Until it wasn’t.

One day, everything turned upside down. One day, planes full of new high school graduates started taking off and flying west over the ocean. The next day, those same planes flew back filled with body bags. No one ever fully explained to us why it was necessary, or when it would end, or what we hoped to gain. They just kept sending more of us over there to die.

So, we stopped trusting them. We stopped assuming they were right. Until they could come up with better answers, we officially declined the job of Cultural Continuity Custodians.

Because they were YOUR answers and not OURS, those answers were automatically WRONG. We didn’t believe it was true until we discovered it ourselves. In pursuit of that truth, we employed every tool of discovery imaginable.

And so today, many years later, here I sit. Wondering.

Are we here to be blind stewards of tradition, obediently carrying forward that which has been handed us?

Are we instead called to be students of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, understanding that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever,” and be done with it?

Or was it a good thing that we once opened this Pandora’s Pouch of Pulsating Possibilities and realized our power to CHOOSE and SHAPE the world we inhabit?

So, what is my purpose?

What is YOUR purpose?

What, in broader terms, is the purpose of life PERIOD?

For the definitive answer, we turn to the Source of all definitive answers. Jesus himself.

In the fourth chapter of John, after Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well (you know… the town outcast to whom Jesus offered comfort and a new vision for her future), he gave this very succinct definition of his purpose: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” (John 4:34, NRSVU).

There it is. Simple and straightforward… deftly summarizing shelves and shelves of books on the topic: FINDING LIFE’S PURPOSE.

Do God’s will. In this moment. And this moment. And this moment. Ad infinitum… until you look back and behold a life filled with a long string of moments of divine obedience.

Do God’s will.
Complete God’s work.

Simple as that.

Abundant blessings;

Jun

Short and Sweet

By revruss1220 3 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: finite, life, love, morality, old age, short, sweet

It was a great visit with the granddaughters.

Three of them – two 14-year-olds and one 12-year-old – went back home yesterday after five raucous, fun-filled, tiring days with us here in Fort Collins.

Even though we both waved good-bye and then went IMMEDIATELY to bed and took long naps, Joan and I agreed on one thing: their visit was far too short.

In fact, each one of the activities that took place while they were here seemed like they were WAY too short. The whitewater rafting trip, the horseback ride, the kayaking, the hiking, and each one of the dinners we had together seemed to end much too quickly, leaving each of us wanting MORE.

As I thought about it, I realized this is a recurring theme in my life. The “good stuff” seems to end much too quickly, while the “bad stuff” seems to linger FOREVER.

Have you noticed that, too?

I know, I know… in the realm of “profound insights,” this one ranks very near the bottom of the list. It almost qualifies for, “Well, DUH!”status.

But thinking about this universal human experience led me to a different place. I started wondering if this is how it will feel at the end of my life… when I am staring the Grim Reaper in the face and looking back on the totality of my years.

Will I stop and say, “Wait! That wasn’t long enough! I need a LITTLE BIT MORE! Please???”

Or will I be standing there, tapping my foot impatiently and then saying to the guy with the sickle, “You’re LATE! What kept you? You should have been here YEARS ago!”

In my life, I have known many people you could call “old.” Some of them have been full of good spirits and energy, with eyes that crinkle with laughter, even as they feel the accumulated effects of age and gravity on their bodies. They are clearly fascinated to see what happens next on life’s great adventure.

I have known others who are tired, sick, pain-filled, and miserable. I often hear them say things like, “I don’t know what I am still doing here. I am ready to go… any time.”

At the ripe, old age of 70, I still feel like I am in the front car of a zany, uncharted carnival ride, making unexpected twists and turns as it zips along, barely under control. My health (knock wood… “For the most part…”) is not an issue. My financial house is in order (again… “for the most part…”), and so the onset of seniority is not a terribly frightening prospect for me.

But I can certainly understand how old age can be a VERY different experience, filled with fear, grief, pain, remorse, and distress.

Every one of us, though, faces the same reality. It is the reality spelled out by the psalmist when she/he says, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” (Psalm 103:15-16, NRSVU).

We – you and I – are amazingly finite realities. We live under the illusion that our lives and lifespans comprise the entirety of human existence, when the truth is, they are a tiny blip on God’s radar screen.

Which makes it even more miraculous to consider God’s estimation of us. Even though we are grains of dust on top of the piano, God – Creator of All That Is – considers every one of us his Masterpiece. And God loves each of us blades of grass with a love that knows no bounds, forgiving our transgressions to a thousand generations.

Personally, I think that is pretty cool. And it helps me come to grips with the fact that when I am ready to unfasten my seatbelt and step off this wacky roller-coaster, it is going to feel ENTIRELY too short a trip.

Abundant blessings;

Mar

Risky Business

By revruss1220 6 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: blessings, dysfunctional, God, hitchhiker, Jesus Christ, John 3:16, life, love, risk, trip, unconditional

What do you consider the riskiest thing you have ever done?

Image courtesy of The Guardian: New Zealand

Back in the early 90s, I started my own business. It was a little advertising and public relations agency based in Kansas City.

But here’s the thing: I really don’t consider that risky. It came about through the confluence of opportunity, aptitude, contacts, and conditions and seemed like a very natural next step in my professional life.

Looking back, I would have to rank the hitchhiking trip I took in college from Tacoma, Washington to Columbus, Ohio and back again as the SECOND riskiest thing I’ve ever done.

The riskiest? That’s easy; deciding to LOVE.

If you have ever loved – especially loved another person – I don’t have to tell you that the act of loving is incredibly risky. In comparison to those who love, Evel Knievel jumping his motorcycle through a hoop over 20 flaming school buses is a total risk-taking milquetoast.

Love means pulling out that most tender, vulnerable, excruciatingly private part of YOU and offering it to someone else. Love is like voluntarily laying your life down on the tracks in front of the onrushing locomotive of ANOTHER HUMAN BEING and waiting to see what happens next.

Sometimes you walk away horribly wounded and disfigured.

At other times, you soar higher and farther and faster than you could ever imagine.

Yes indeed; our love for one another is incredibly risky. But sometimes it works out exactly as we had hoped.

GOD’S love for us, on the other hand, is always risky. Always reckless. Always fraught with danger. And in just about every single case, that divine love is a totally one-sided affair.

At the risk of getting WAAAAY too anthropomorphic, try to put yourself in God’s shoes for a moment. Imagine pouring out 100% of your heart and soul on someone who seems utterly incapable of reciprocating. Over and over and over again you find new ways to demonstrate that NOTHING is more important to you than that human being.

To show them your love…

You splash beautiful sunsets across the sky EVERY DAY.
You sprinkle fascinating people into their lives.
You continually whisper, “I love you SOOOO MUCH!” into their ears.
You build them the most miraculous and intricate container in which to live.
You LITERALLY move mountains to show them the power and depth of your love.

And in return? Bubkes. Zip. Nada. Zilch. You wonder if you might have gotten the same response if you had done nothing at all.

And then… you decide to offer your beloved the most extravagant, outrageous, magnificent expression of love possible. You decide to sacrificially offer them… YOU.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NRSV).

And wonder of wonders… some see this gift for what it was and bow down and give thanks. Some receive it with joyful hearts and allow this gift’s power to transform them from the inside out.

Some of these people that you’d been chasing since the beginning of time finally turned around and really SAW you for the first time. And they praised you. And they made brand new beginnings with their lives.

And yet, most kept their heads down, unimpressed, and kept right on shuffling through their lives, one step at a time.

And to those who saw you and responded, you sent… boundless, unconditional LOVE.

And to those who ignored you and your gift, you sent… boundless, unconditional LOVE.

Because that’s just who you are.

Abundant blessings;

Sep

Testing… Testing…

By revruss1220 Leave a Comment

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: fall, fleeting, God, Jesus Christ, life, mortality, precious, Psalm 103, season

Fall is many things.

Fall is cooler weather. Fall is turning leaves.

Fall is back-to-school, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, football, turning leaves, wardrobe revision, Halloween, the end of mowing, and the roll-out of next year’s new auto models.

But most of all, fall is a TEST.

Fall puts every one of us to an unerring litmus test… revealing us to be either 1.) a backward looker, 2.) a forward looker, or 3.) a liver in the moment(er).

Which one are you?

Do you feel the approach of fall and wail and gnash your teeth, bereft over the fact that you can tangibly feel summer slip-sliding away?

Or are you the one who reaches into the drawer to grab that extra T-shirt while intoning, “Welp… looks like winter is just around the corner! Buckle up!”
Or do you revel in every pumpkin-spiced moment of this ephemeral gem of a season?

Personally, I love fall. I love the riot of color, the ramp-up of activity, the cool evenings, and the comfy days. I love the beginning of football season and the wind-down (for fans of the Kansas City Royals such as me) of baseball. And now that I’m retired, I love the fact that fall means kids are back in school, allowing Joan and I to travel to popular places without battling such huge crowds.

For all its perfection, though, fall always seems to come to an end WAAAAAY too quickly. I’ve lost track of the number of times I have heard myself moan and say, “Gee whiz! It seems like we just went straight from summer into winter this year, with nothing in between.”

What do you think; is it possible that fall is so sweet because it is so short?

A little bit like this present, advanced stage of life, methinks.

All of us feel the tug-of-war that pulls us between the temptation to agonize over our past faux pas’ and our titillating hopes and dreams for the future. We older folks probably lean more to the former than the latter I imagine.

In rare moments of self-awareness, we reluctantly admit that neither our past nor our future is accessible to our influence. Yet despite the force of this searing insight, it is still not enough to keep us from overlooking and discounting the treasure laying right HERE at our feet.

And just like the fleeting season of fall, we suddenly turn around and realize it has all gone **POOF!** and disappeared in a big puff of smoke.

There is nothing you or I can do to slow the inexorable march of the hours of the day, the seasons of the year, or the rapid advance of our own mortality.

What we can do, though, is breathe deeply, savor richly, and give thanks to God for the beauty of this immeasurable moment called LIFE. As the psalmist so eloquently reminds us, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” (Psalm 103:15-18, NRSV).

Happy Pumpkin Spicing, y’all!

Abundant blessings;

Sep

My Own NGH List

By revruss1220 11 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: challenge, God, Israel, Jesus Christ, life, Moses, patience, purpose, wait

Last night the newly-crowned, 15-year-old champion of the show, American Ninja Warrior gazed earnestly into the camera and assured me, “Hey! If you can dream it and work hard, you can do ANYTHING!”

“REALLY?” I replied, reaching to my left for another handful of popcorn, noticing the twinge in my shoulder as I did so. “You honestly think so?”

But hey… you have to love the kid’s heart. He started out with nothing but a dream.

And then, with a lot of dedication and special training equipment (like his own custom-built Salmon Ladder, Jumping Spider, and Warped Wall), he took his nimble, 15-year-old body and trained it into championship shape.

But as I sat and snacked and listened to earnest young Kaden speak, my NGH list expanded by one.

“NGH” is shorthand for “Never Gonna Happen.” [Or if you want to be a little more grammatically formal, call it the NGTH List; “Never Going To Happen.”]

This is the list I keep of the things that are CLEARLY never going to happen in my lifetime. Despite Kaden’s heartfelt pep talk, I knew that becoming the next American Ninja Warrior is light years beyond my personal radar screen.

It’s NGH… Never Gonna Happen.

Just like my dream of playing in the NBA. NGH. Or climbing Mount Everest. Also NGH. To this list I should probably also add my childhood fantasies of becoming a firefighter, or a policeman, or game show host.

NONE of those are Ever Gonna Happen.

On one hand, I find that moving things onto my NGH List is a very liberating exercise. I mean, if I keep on believing that the day will come when I finally learn to fly a plane, or become a ventriloquist, or sculpt Joan’s lovely image in marble, I invite nothing but frustration and disappointment the longer those goals remain unachieved.

Moving that kind of stuff onto my NGH List frees me up to discover more reasonable, age-and-ability-appropriate sources of fulfillment.

On the other hand, I have to ask myself; “Is a rapidly expanding NGH List a sign that I’ve thrown in the towel? Given up? “Settled?” Ceased dreaming?”

I think I was 19 years old when I first uttered the phrase, “Someday, I’m going to write a book.” Today, at nearly 70 years, that dream remains unfulfilled.

Please understand: I’ve started several books. One even grew to a little more than 11,000 words.

Each time, however, I have abandoned the effort as I became overwhelmed, discouraged, lost, or disappointed with the sub-standard quality of my effort. But then I pick up someone else’s printed, published work, and become simultaneously inspired and intimidated.

And yet, despite the internal turmoil this causes me, I am still not willing to move “Write a book” onto my NGH List.

Ultimately, I (and probably all of us) must look soberly at our goals and ask the question, “Is this quest ‘of God’? Or is it just me and my idle fantasizing?” Another way of asking the same question might be: “Is this THING part of my divinely-appointed PURPOSE in life? Or not?”

If the answer to that question is YES, nothing should stop you from carrying it out. If it is NOT, you should waste no time adding it to your own personal NGH List.

I take a measure of comfort from the Bible’s story of the Israelites. Their divinely appointed purpose (recorded in Genesis 12:3) was to be a set-apart people through whom God would bless all of Creation.

But to get there, they had to endure 400 years of enslavement in Egypt, 40 years of wandering aimlessly in the Sinai wilderness, and then untold months of vicious, mortal combat before they finally “arrived.” I am sure most of them wanted to put “Be God’s Chosen People” on their NGH List at around year six of their time in Egypt.

And yet, despite all the delays, all the setbacks, all the disappointments, and all the dead-ends, God’s purpose for the Israelites was ultimately fulfilled. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us, “… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31, NRSV).

Today, no matter what new things are being added to YOUR NGH List, take heart. Wait on God. Renew your confidence that God has a purpose and a path for you.

Abundant blessings;

Aug

A Question of Purpose

By revruss1220 2 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: God, life, meaning, purpose

Say hello to Rosie and Patrick.

I am quite jealous of them.

And no, not just because their days consist entirely of eating, sleeping, walking, and pooping… although that does seem like a pretty sweet gig.

No, I am jealous of them because they have no questions at all about their purpose(s) in life.

They both know that beyond the four activities listed above, they are here on earth for one shining, central reason…

… their purpose is to be the loyal, unconditionally loving companions of the people who put kibble into their bowls twice a day.

They pursue that purpose diligently, single-mindedly, and steadfastly every day. That purpose helps them sort through the conflicting demands on their time and zero in – laser-like – on the things that best serve their Purpose.

Lucky dogs.

Since retiring two years ago, I have struggled with the notion of purpose. For most of 2020, of course, my purpose was very straight-forward: STAY ALIVE and UNINFECTED!

Naturally that is still #1 on my list. But I will confess to a degree of befuddlement about what else should be there.

‘Way back when in my working life, I had occasion to counsel men – usually men in their mid-to-late 50s – on this very topic. In most instances, these were men who were facing sudden unemployment and were now adrift and bereft, uncertain of either the meaning or the purpose of their existence.

In every case, I counseled them not to confuse their WORK with their PURPOSE in life. The two are NOT, I told them, the same thing. [I only reference men here because I never encountered a single woman who needed this reminder. Every woman I’ve ever met somehow knows the difference between WORK and PURPOSE.]

And now, here I sit… needing to hear that same counsel myself.

For lots of newly retired people, the question of their life purpose is pretty simple and straight-forward: relax, kick back, and take it easy. Work on the yard when it needs it. Play as much golf as humanly possible. Walk to the mailbox once a day. Take up a new hobby. Alphabetize the vitamin supplement bottles.

Except that those are ACTIVITIES. And activities are not PURPOSES.

A goal of mine in retirement is to write a book. “Well and good,” you might say. “Go ahead, get off your butt, stop talking about it and DO IT!”

But again: GOALS are also not the same thing as PURPOSES.

I recently listened to a podcast on the topic of PURPOSE. The interviewee made a helpful distinction between the concepts of MEANING and PURPOSE… concepts I have often conflated in my mind. He pointed out that MEANING has to do with looking backward at the events in your life.

PURPOSE, however, is about looking FORWARD.

Don’t fret about me too much; I wouldn’t call myself utterly lost and clueless on the subject. I am certain, for example, that SERVING GOD and LOVING PEOPLE still sit right there at the center of my life’s purpose. The fact that they will no longer be done in a professional capacity doesn’t change that at all.

I am just a little stumped at the moment about just HOW that needs to happen.

Oh well… when in doubt, sit down, take a few deep breaths, quiet your mind, and pray the Wesley Covenant Prayer:

Dear God;

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you,
Praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven. Amen.

Abundant blessings;

Feb

Should we be nice?

By revruss1220 7 Comments

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: abundant, believe, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John 10:10, kind, life, love, nice, sweet

Today, while taking the dogs for a walk in the park, I saw a hand-painted sign leaning against a fence. It was big… probably four feet high and six feet wide. Every letter on the sign was painted a different color, and it said:

“BE KIND.”

As the dogs and I finished our walk, I looked at the minivan across the parking lot and saw a message there in white letters across the back window. It said:

“I HOPE SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENS TO YOU TODAY.”

“Wow!” I thought to myself. “How cool is THAT! I go out and find myself surrounded by positive, uplifting messages. With everything going on in the world today, those people have decided they are going to be positivity evangelists!”

“Well done, y’all!” (In case you are not aware, “y’all” is the plural of “you” in many parts of the country.)

There was nothing complicated about either message. They weren’t inviting me to join a club. They weren’t trying to sell me on a complex doctrine. They didn’t want me to give them a percentage of my income every month. They didn’t have a sneaky pyramid scheme that required me to enlist friends and family members.

They were just putting the good juju out there in the atmosphere, hoping it connected with someone.

And then I had to stop and wonder, “Why can’t the Christian faith be simple and straightforward like that? Why do we have to muddy it up with all those convoluted theological dogmas and ‘rules of engagement’? Don’t we want to entice people and not repel them?”

“I mean, couldn’t Christians just say we are part of the ‘BE KIND CLUB’ and let it go at that?”

For a lot of folks, it seems like a pretty big leap to say they believe in a deity who became a human being, died, and then came back from the dead three days later. But it is not hard at all to encourage them to say, “I believe in being kind to other people.”

So, what’s the problem? Why are we (Christians) so hung up on whether someone speaks the exact “phrase that pays” instead of just worrying about what they DO?

In the interest of full disclosure, I will confess that I am trolling you here a bit. I actually DO believe that confessing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of one’s life DOES make a qualitative difference in that life. I also believe that a person’s actions and words are much more important than their professed systems of belief… even though those actions and words flow directly FROM those systems of belief. And I ABSOLUTELY believe that there is much more to the Christian faith than just being kind to other people.

In fact, would it surprise you to hear me say that I don’t believe that the Christian faith has much at all to do with being nice to people?

Loving them? Yes. Absolutely. Unconditionally, even. But as Jesus demonstrated over and over again, LOVING another person doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with BEING NICE to them.

Jesus gave a very succinct summary of his mission on earth in John’s gospel when he said, “… I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, NRSV).

In other words, he came to revive relationships, break cycles of addiction, lift up the downtrodden, snap chains of injustice, bring hope, infuse possibility. In short, he came break down every barrier that separates people from the abundant life God always intended for them (us).

If being kind, gentle, and sweet to a person helped connect them with that “abundant life,” so be it! Jesus would be like, “Bring on the kind, gentle, and sweet.” If, on the other hand, bringing about abundant life meant employing the proverbial “swift kick in the pants” approach, he would not hesitate to administer that.

So yes, let’s redouble our efforts. Let’s offer a smile to a total stranger on the sidewalk. Let’s make eye contact and give a kind word to the cashier at the convenience store. Let’s pay for the person behind us in the McDonald’s drive-through. Let’s call someone on the phone, “just because…”

But let’s also join Team Jesus and help bring the abundant life he was after.

Abundant blessings;

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