He looked like he was going to snatch the purse of the woman in front of him. His pants hung half way down his hind end, a hoodie, not quite over his head, hid his eyes, and the studded chain said it all, thug. I want sure whether to step in now and stop the thief or wait for the crime and run him down (I was younger then). It happened fast, and if not for my keen wits, I would have missed the whole escaped.
“Excuse me mam, you dropped this,” and the grateful woman accepted with gratitude the wallet that had fallen out of her purse.
I sat down a little sheepish, glad that I had not run into a situation I had no place to be. Do you understand? I saw what I wanted to see. My years of conditioning prepared me for this very moment. Everything that I should have expected from this young man was false. He wore clothing that made him feel a certain way, just like I wear motorcycle gear or a packers hat. I was his judge and I condemned him without knowing him.
It happened again. Driving through New York, we picked up a tail. It was just like in the movies. Heading to the Statue of Liberty we were being followed. I didn’t say anything to the kids, but Rebecca and I kept a close eye on the car behind us. Sure enough, with each turn, they followed. Even driving into the packed parking lot they didn’t seem to care, we would be their next victim. I told Rebecca to stay in the van with the boys; I would face them alone.
Closing the door behind me, “Can I help you gentlemen?” The polite words tasted sour.
“The wheel fell off the tricycle. We just thought the children would be sad. So we stopped and picked it up.” Handing me the wheel they left without another word, and the guilt and shame was overwhelming.
Could these situations turned out differently? Sure, but too often we live lives with a blind eye and half deaf. If you are looking for something wrong you will find it. The opposit is true as well. If you are looking for something good you will find it. I’m not talking about the power of positive thinking, but I am sensing a need for the power of the Spirit filled life, where we look to see where God is working and rejoice with him. Are there negative things, situations where, if we let it, Satan will get a foothold? Yes. Walk out the door and you will run smack into his schemes. The scripture says he is a roaring lion looking to devour us.
Choose another way, a better way, a more wonderful way, a narrow way that looks at life differently. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.” 2 Cor. 5:14-17.
We are so quick to judge, so quick to condemn, and then we take the high moral ground and consider ourselves as achieving what our flesh is to weak to posses. Only Through Christ can it be ours. Then we are to have a ministry of reconciliation between man and God, and between people. The first seems easier than the second.
Christians don’t really want true reconciliation. What we want is to give lip service, say our piece and then move on. But true reconciliation is confessing, forgiving and the fellowshipping. It’s the last one we run from. It’s too painful, too uncomfortable, too hard to be with people who have hurt me. Yes, I forgive you, but I can’t live with you. Hog wash. If God did that hell would be filled with forgiven people. True reconciliation doesn’t run, it perseveres. True reconciliation doesn’t hide behind a moral high horse. True reconciliation is Spirit driven, Spirit empowered, and Christ centric. Is it easy? No, but then where would faith be?
We will find what we are looking for. Tomorrow I will look to see where God is working, it might just be in me. I’m just saying....
Ever since I was a little kid, my mom would remind me, “Paul, say please and thank you.” I can understand the please, it’s a requisite to getting something. But the “thank you” part seems unnecessary. Why should I say thank you for someone doing their job, for a mother’s love, or for a polite gesture from a complete stranger, for that matter. I didn’t ask them to open the door. I mean, if they did it for the response, then where is the ultruism in the act? It’s not that I think I am entitled to the goodness of others, it’s just that the goodness should be displayed regardless of a thank you. 
My neibors, to the south, at least I think it is south, Bluffton is layed out at an angle, anyway. My neighbors have a mangary of dogs and cats. The gentleman will walk his five small dogs along his property line and behind him will be an assortment of cats and kittens. They follow him, there has to be at least 20, and they’re cute, and for the most part stay away from our house. Not that we don’t like cats, but I’m not sure what Porthos would do, or at least I didn’t know what Porthos would do.
How do you make the difficult decisions in your life, especially if they affect other people? How do you make decisions when everyone has different perspectives, different goals, and different ideas? What if you know what the right decision is, but to make it, or require others to make it, breaks trust? In the book of Philemon the right choice was to receive Onesimus with open arms, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. The implication was that every slave who believed should be a brother and not property. It would undermine the whole Roman system. Paul, however, didn’t care about provincial customs, cultural taboos, or religious ritual. He cared only for the will of God. If that meant relinquishing his “right” to authority in order to give people the opportunity to do the right thing, giving them the right to fail, he would do it. The reason he could allow people to fail is because he truly believed the sovereignty of God.
It’s only lonely at the top if you push everyone else off. Our culture looks at power and authority in terms of who is first or in charge. Leadership books and articles will talk about the need for collaboration, working together, sharing responsibility (both blame and praise). It never really works that way. There is always someone who will take the fall or bear the ire of shareholders or customers. 
My jaw dropped. I looked up to where he always sat, stoic, strong, and ready to listen. Frank’s constant presence was a reminder of our need to take a deep breath and remain silent. Frank never spoke, but he said a lot. I remember once speaking to one of the administrators and we were trying to make a decision. Turning to Frank was the logical course of action, he was always frank and spoke frankly on every topic, if you were ready to listen. So what happened to Frank? Someone new and someone old, and an institution of SJM was gone.
Have you ever just craved nothing; no interruptions, no noise, no hassles, no relational problems, no responsibilities. There are times I can sit on the front porch, stare out across the field and enjoy, well, nothing. There are all kinds of nothings, and if life is long enough I hope to enjoy more of them.
The orange leaves rustle in the wind; unfixed they flutter to the ground. Yellow, red, orange, green and the artist splashes color against His canvas until the masterpiece is finished. But, then again, it is never finished as Spring bursts forth life from the dreary cold of winter. Summer’s lush greens fight through a mixture of wet and dry until the earth, beaten and bruised, once again, stumbles into Fall. Silently the leaves fall to the ground like the tears of a battered spouse.
So, we groan and wait eagerly, waiting for our adoption and redemption, not in sorrow but in victory, not in despair but in hope. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:37-39). I’m just saying...
I saw the most amazing sight this morning, looking out the back sliding glass doors, across the harvested corn and out of the woods came a doe and a buck. The buck was young and his antlers small, (Two points?). They were magnificent creatures. But they were not what was amazing. It was what followed. Two 🐇, two 🐈, two 🐕, 🐎, 🐄, and the line crossed the road, up the hill and out of sight. There was something familiar with the sight. Then it dawned on me. With all the rain, there must be a man named Noah, somewhere to be found. He couldn’t be far off, and the boat(ark) would have to be enormous, and it was. Enormous couldn’t describe it, awe inspiring is better. I ran to the front of the house. Went outside and looked, and looked, for the Ark.