Musings Along the Spiritual Journey

March 23 Holding the Bucket Smile a little Overheard in a coffee shop: I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees, and I’ve fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take forty different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. I have bouts with dementia and poor circulation. I can hardly feel my hands and feet sometimes. But thank God, I still have my driver's license. Wisdom to ponder "Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear, and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. You are as strong as your faith; as old as your doubt; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. So long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur, and power from the infinite, so long you are young. Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.” * Musing Holding the bucket is a descriptive phrase in the world of counseling. It's rather graphic, but profound in meaning. Those with deep pain and brokenness can only begin to heal when they get their entire story up and out in all the graphic, smelly, and painful details. There is no better friend, mentor, or counselor than a trusted bucket holder. God will hold the bucket, too. He knows it all. He is loving, empathetic, forgiving, and the ultimate healer. Most of the time, people need Him in the skin of a wise loving listener. The Bible speaks of this openness most profoundly in 1 John 1:7. "If we walk in the light [let God shine His light on it], as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another [healthy relationships], and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" [bringing the joy of being forgiven and/or set free from the past]. Proverbs 28:13 says, "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy." The Prophet Isaiah said about Jesus, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness” (9:2). Light dawning is a good description of the relief that comes when everything is up, out, and processed. Healing and resolution take a while, along with an intentional process of embracing God’ grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love. One of the most authentic people in the Bible was King David. His Psalms could be his personal journal. Ponder Psalm 51. When David was confronted with his adultery and murder, he came clean and began the healing process. King Saul was a study in contrast (1 Sam. 5 - 19). He made bad choices, tried to justify himself, and finally an evil spirit haunted him. He lost his leadership, his son, Jonathan, and he even tried to kill David. Isaiah 57:15 says: "For this is what the high and exalted One says, He who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" There is nothing quite so amazing or rewarding as having someone tell their story, nothing held back, and watching them grow in freedom. It's like watching a caged eagle fly free. There's no time like the present to get growing. We all need bucket holders, but praise God, we have a Wonderful Counselor in Jesus, too. Prayer Dear Father, Keep us growing to be more and more authentic and free day by day. May we increasingly know what the expression "free as a bird" means, AMEN! *“How to Stay Young,” General Douglas MacArthur November 23 On and Off Switch Smile a little ~A man was chosen for jury service but wanted to avoid it. He tried every excuse he could think of, but none of them worked. On the day of the trial, he decided to give it one more shot. “Your Honor,” he said “I must be excused from this trial because I am prejudiced against the defendant. I took one look at the man in the blue suit with those beady eyes and that dishonest face, and I thought ‘He is a crook; he’s guilty.’ So, your Honor, could I be excused from this jury?” The judge replied, “Get back in the jury box. You are just the kind of juror we are looking for, a good judge of character. That man is the defendant’s lawyer.” Wisdom to ponder “There’s a burgeoning new field of research and writing that shows conclusively that there is no connection between money and happiness. None! Nearly all research supports the basic conclusion that money and material needs are only weakly associated with leading a good life.” * ~ “Eternity is a very long time, and the impact we have on someone's eternity seems to overpower even the most noble benefits we can bring them in the seventy-some years they live on this earth. Our first half is about how to make a living, and our second half has the promise of being about how to make a life.” ** Musing There is a biblical on and off switch. In Paul’s letter to the Jesus followers in Ephesus, he urges them (and us) to use the switch, to “put off” or turn off some things and turn on, “put on” others… . Prayer Dear Lord, We are surrounded by values that have nothing to do with being Your followers… . *Bob Buford in Lloyd Reeb, From Success to Significance (Zondervan, 2004), 10-11. **Lloyd Reeb, From Success to Significance: When the Pursuit of Success Isn't Enough, (Zondervan, 2004), 23, 31.