In the past month 3 men who I have a 2 degrees-of-separation connection with have died. All seemingly in perfect health, all relatively young (49, 52, 43), and all very suddenly. My co-worker's brother-in law, died of a sudden stroke, leaving a wife and a couple of teen-aged children. A charter member of the motorcycle group I am a member of died of a massive heart attack, leaving a couple of young daughters and a wife. A friend of one of the teachers with whom I work died in a car accident, leaving a home, pets, parents, and many friends.
I went to the doctor this week for my yearly poke and prod. Everything is just great. I actually lost a couple of pounds this year, kept my cholesterol down, and avoided spending time in the doc's office for anything this year. No I am not afraid of becoming number 4, in fact I am not at all concerned about it. I wrote this for another reason. All these men died suddenly, without the chance to say anything to their loved ones from a hospital bed... boom! it was just over, for all of them. They had no chance for do-overs that day, no chance to right a wrong with their wife or reopen a slammed door with their kid; their last words were just that.
Live life that way, like what ever you are saying ARE your last words to that person. Don't assume that you're going to get a chance to make it right.... you probably won't.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Thursday, August 11, 2011
It's not me
God expects us to do things that we don’t like to do, things that we don’t feel comfortable doing, things that we know we can’t do with the skills we have, things that we find creative ways to avoid. He does this so that we, when we are in the midst of doing these things, recognize that it is really Him accomplishing the task He delegated to us. The task is not ours to do, it is His to complete, and God merely allows us to come along for the ride. I think it's time.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Forgiveness
I’ve been walking by a terrible reminder for a little over a week. It’s an ugly reminder, one I’d rather not see. It reminds me of how fragile we really are. The reminder is the broken and twisted remains of a Harley Davidson Road Glide. Every time I look at it, which is normally about 4 to 6 times a day, I’m filled with feelings that weigh on me the same way a missed opportunity makes me feel once I realize that one has passed by me.
When I was in the car business, the first lesson of sales that was drummed into my head was to always (always, always, always, always) ask every person you meet if they’d like to buy the car. It had to be done every single time. There were times when I “shortcut” the process, and I let the client go without asking the question. Inevitably, that person would go to another lot and buy from someone who did ask them for the business, or worse yet, they came back on my day off and bought from another salesman one the lot. In the latter situation, if I shortcut the process, I got cut out of the deal, or received only a minimal part off the commission. That didn’t happen very often before I learned the importance of exploring every opportunity.
“So Sal, how does this lesson from the car business tie into a wrecked HD that gives you the “willies” every time you see it,” you might ask? It goes back to a couple of verses in the bible where God teaches us to make forgiveness and showing our love to each other paramount over almost everything else in life. In Matthew 5:23&24, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” God in this passage tells us He does not want us to bring our worship before Him if we have unfinished business with someone else. He puts the NEED to reconcile our Earthly relationships ahead of even our offerings of to Him. Think about that for a moment.
(No, seriously, stop right now, think about that, carefully.)
God does not want you working for Him while you knowingly ignore those in your life that you have wronged (or who have wronged you without you forgiving them). Do you realize how much importance Jesus placed on this teaching? In Matthew’s Gospel, it was the 4th thing Jesus spoke of during the Sermon on the Mount, grouping it together with the topic of murder. Jesus said to leave the place of worship and seek forgiveness; worship in the absence of forgiveness is not pleasing to God.
The reason that pile of twisted metal causes me to pause each time I pass it is that it reminds me of all the times I let forgiveness and restoration slip through my hands. I was too busy, too offended, or too full of myself to take the time to be the one to go to my brother to reconcile our broken relationship. I can lose the chance to reconcile in a moment, and what then? There’s no ‘fixing’ things once I’m dead. There’s no repairing a friendship once the unthinkable happens; and IT does happen, everyday. A week hardly goes by that I don’t read about a biker’s life being cut short. It’s not something we like to talk about, but we think about it in our quiet moments. Nowhere in the Bible does it say God is going to give us a free pass until we get our ‘stuff’ taken care of, on the contrary, time and again we are reminded how fleeting our life is. Today is what we have.
Forgiveness is hard; it is not something that we humans do with ease. It takes a lot of practice to get to a point where we can be comfortable with it, but the good news is that we can get better at it, with time, effort and practice, we can become more comfortable when giving or asking for forgiveness. The key is to start. Don’t worry about all the details, focus on saying the words, “I forgive you,” or for the times it was your fault, “I am so sorry, please forgive me.” It’s going to feel about as comfortable as walking on glass the first few time you do it, but cheer up, it gets a little easier as you practice it.
Before I close, allow me to relate a story about forgiveness avoided. A man leaves home for work as he always does, early in the morning, before the kids are up. The night before, his son came to him with bad news about an unplanned pregnancy in his life. The father went off as most of us probably would. His last words to his son were hard and callous, and then he slammed the door to his bedroom, shutting his son out. For the rest of the night he heard his son’s weeping, he heard the conversations the son had with his mother, and with the girl. Again and again, he ignored the pleas for forgiveness and help from the hallway. He went to sleep thinking how hard this was going to make it for he and his wife. At the office he gets a call from his wife, she tells him his son is dead, some kind of accident... A lifetime to spend with the bitter taste of forgiveness missed.
Today is what you have,
Peace… and Joy
Sal
When I was in the car business, the first lesson of sales that was drummed into my head was to always (always, always, always, always) ask every person you meet if they’d like to buy the car. It had to be done every single time. There were times when I “shortcut” the process, and I let the client go without asking the question. Inevitably, that person would go to another lot and buy from someone who did ask them for the business, or worse yet, they came back on my day off and bought from another salesman one the lot. In the latter situation, if I shortcut the process, I got cut out of the deal, or received only a minimal part off the commission. That didn’t happen very often before I learned the importance of exploring every opportunity.
“So Sal, how does this lesson from the car business tie into a wrecked HD that gives you the “willies” every time you see it,” you might ask? It goes back to a couple of verses in the bible where God teaches us to make forgiveness and showing our love to each other paramount over almost everything else in life. In Matthew 5:23&24, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. FIRST go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” God in this passage tells us He does not want us to bring our worship before Him if we have unfinished business with someone else. He puts the NEED to reconcile our Earthly relationships ahead of even our offerings of to Him. Think about that for a moment.
(No, seriously, stop right now, think about that, carefully.)
God does not want you working for Him while you knowingly ignore those in your life that you have wronged (or who have wronged you without you forgiving them). Do you realize how much importance Jesus placed on this teaching? In Matthew’s Gospel, it was the 4th thing Jesus spoke of during the Sermon on the Mount, grouping it together with the topic of murder. Jesus said to leave the place of worship and seek forgiveness; worship in the absence of forgiveness is not pleasing to God.
The reason that pile of twisted metal causes me to pause each time I pass it is that it reminds me of all the times I let forgiveness and restoration slip through my hands. I was too busy, too offended, or too full of myself to take the time to be the one to go to my brother to reconcile our broken relationship. I can lose the chance to reconcile in a moment, and what then? There’s no ‘fixing’ things once I’m dead. There’s no repairing a friendship once the unthinkable happens; and IT does happen, everyday. A week hardly goes by that I don’t read about a biker’s life being cut short. It’s not something we like to talk about, but we think about it in our quiet moments. Nowhere in the Bible does it say God is going to give us a free pass until we get our ‘stuff’ taken care of, on the contrary, time and again we are reminded how fleeting our life is. Today is what we have.
Forgiveness is hard; it is not something that we humans do with ease. It takes a lot of practice to get to a point where we can be comfortable with it, but the good news is that we can get better at it, with time, effort and practice, we can become more comfortable when giving or asking for forgiveness. The key is to start. Don’t worry about all the details, focus on saying the words, “I forgive you,” or for the times it was your fault, “I am so sorry, please forgive me.” It’s going to feel about as comfortable as walking on glass the first few time you do it, but cheer up, it gets a little easier as you practice it.
Before I close, allow me to relate a story about forgiveness avoided. A man leaves home for work as he always does, early in the morning, before the kids are up. The night before, his son came to him with bad news about an unplanned pregnancy in his life. The father went off as most of us probably would. His last words to his son were hard and callous, and then he slammed the door to his bedroom, shutting his son out. For the rest of the night he heard his son’s weeping, he heard the conversations the son had with his mother, and with the girl. Again and again, he ignored the pleas for forgiveness and help from the hallway. He went to sleep thinking how hard this was going to make it for he and his wife. At the office he gets a call from his wife, she tells him his son is dead, some kind of accident... A lifetime to spend with the bitter taste of forgiveness missed.
Today is what you have,
Peace… and Joy
Sal
Saturday, April 2, 2011
What?!
Sometimes I find myself wondering WHAT!?
What did I do?
What did I say?
(What didn't I do or say?)
What just happened?
What was that all about?
What has me so ripped?
What do I do next?
What is the reason this is happening?
What am I going to do about this?
What unseen thing is going on that I haven't caught onto yet?
What?
In the past 3 weeks, every plan that I have made has gone "kaput." I mean everything from visiting my father to riding my bike to work yesterday. Big plans and little plans have been dashed. I planned for my end of year review at school only to forget about it right up to when my boss showed up with me looking like a deer in headlights. I planned to visit an motorcycle accident victim 2 times only to be "broomed" out by the nurses caring for him. I think I need to give up on planning, it doesn't seem to be working for me. The thing is, most of the plans, all of the plans that I've made were made for other people, not for me. I could almost understand things going sour if I was making plans in a self centered way, but I'm not... really.
So now that I have planned to not make plans, will the same thing continue to happen, or will the phenomenon disappear like a tooth ache does as soon as you're on the way to the dentist. Ugh!
Phil 4:12 I have learned to be content in all situations, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (gotta remember this dude.)
Peace... and Joy
What did I do?
What did I say?
(What didn't I do or say?)
What just happened?
What was that all about?
What has me so ripped?
What do I do next?
What is the reason this is happening?
What am I going to do about this?
What unseen thing is going on that I haven't caught onto yet?
What?
In the past 3 weeks, every plan that I have made has gone "kaput." I mean everything from visiting my father to riding my bike to work yesterday. Big plans and little plans have been dashed. I planned for my end of year review at school only to forget about it right up to when my boss showed up with me looking like a deer in headlights. I planned to visit an motorcycle accident victim 2 times only to be "broomed" out by the nurses caring for him. I think I need to give up on planning, it doesn't seem to be working for me. The thing is, most of the plans, all of the plans that I've made were made for other people, not for me. I could almost understand things going sour if I was making plans in a self centered way, but I'm not... really.
So now that I have planned to not make plans, will the same thing continue to happen, or will the phenomenon disappear like a tooth ache does as soon as you're on the way to the dentist. Ugh!
Phil 4:12 I have learned to be content in all situations, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (gotta remember this dude.)
Peace... and Joy
Sunday, March 6, 2011
She is...
She is…
My Bride
My next breath
My every heart beat
The reason for my strength
The one who gives me pause
I see…
My love
My life friend
My first smile each morn
The best part of this day
The joy God made for me
My Bride
My next breath
My every heart beat
The reason for my strength
The one who gives me pause
I see…
My love
My life friend
My first smile each morn
The best part of this day
The joy God made for me
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Ouch! I knew that was going to hurt!
Just got done getting punched in the chest, hard, repeatedly, and I’m glad it happened. I know what you’re thinking, “why are you glad about something like that?” you’re wondering. Let me clarify. I am not happy about the pain, but I am glad that I went through the experience that brought the pain. This morning, evangelist and author, Bill Fay gave the sermon at my church, and then he spoke again this afternoon on the same topic; why believers are sinning against God by not evangelizing. Mr. Fay is a teacher who would have probably gotten along well with Paul especially on the topic of sharing the Gospel. He believes that we as Christians must do a better job of obediently sharing the Gospel with the world, starting with those in front of you. He also teaches how to unapologetically go about doing it in such a way that we are able to overcome the normal fears that keep us from doing it. He also practices what he preaches; he has shared the Gospel countless times and has stories of all kinds that show God’s guiding hand present when believers follow the direction of the Holy Spirit.
I mentioned pain earlier, but I feel that I must first give some vision to what I’m talking about. In the last three posts I wrote about sharing the Gospel. I wrote about it from several points of view, but all of them had one single focus; my dissatisfaction with the job I have been doing of evangelizing. That sheet on my mirror that I mentioned has the number 3 on it. 3…… I shared Jesus with 3 people last year that actually prayed to receive salvation. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t lead those three people to Christ, the Holy Spirit did, I merely talked with them and allowed the Spirit to work through those discussions. I talked with others about Jesus, but never took the chance to really get serious about the discussion; I was too casual. All three were prisoners I met during a Bill Glass weekend this past year. All three were led to the point of decision through the use of a tract written in large part by Bill Fay, so I know what he said tonight was not frosting on a cake. The pain came from hear him so easily and casually disarm every excuse for not sharing Christ that was brought up during his discussion. There were a dozen or more excuses voiced by audience members tonight. Every one of them was heart-felt excuses given by people I know are people of faith. Every one of them I have used myself, for good reason. Every one of them he shot down, giving biblical reasons why we had been disobedient in our lack of sharing the Gospel.
So it looks like I knew this was coming. The question is, what will I do with it?
I mentioned pain earlier, but I feel that I must first give some vision to what I’m talking about. In the last three posts I wrote about sharing the Gospel. I wrote about it from several points of view, but all of them had one single focus; my dissatisfaction with the job I have been doing of evangelizing. That sheet on my mirror that I mentioned has the number 3 on it. 3…… I shared Jesus with 3 people last year that actually prayed to receive salvation. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t lead those three people to Christ, the Holy Spirit did, I merely talked with them and allowed the Spirit to work through those discussions. I talked with others about Jesus, but never took the chance to really get serious about the discussion; I was too casual. All three were prisoners I met during a Bill Glass weekend this past year. All three were led to the point of decision through the use of a tract written in large part by Bill Fay, so I know what he said tonight was not frosting on a cake. The pain came from hear him so easily and casually disarm every excuse for not sharing Christ that was brought up during his discussion. There were a dozen or more excuses voiced by audience members tonight. Every one of them was heart-felt excuses given by people I know are people of faith. Every one of them I have used myself, for good reason. Every one of them he shot down, giving biblical reasons why we had been disobedient in our lack of sharing the Gospel.
So it looks like I knew this was coming. The question is, what will I do with it?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Hidden Treasures
I was scanning the Internet the other day when I came across an article about a motorcycle that had been found by a group of guys over in Germany rummaging around in an old warehouse. The bike, as it was later discovered, was an old concept bike, dubbed the M7, which BMW had developed back in the mid 1930’s. When 1937 rolled around, German auto manufacturers found themselves producing Stukas, half-tracks, and Panzers instead of sedans and coupes. Many, like BMW, hurriedly put into storage everything that was of value to the futures of their companies; the things they would use to build bright futures if ever they found a way out of the war. The M7 was one of those valued items; it was a work of mechanical art, more sculpture than machine. It was a vision of the future that BMW engineers brought to life, but before their creation could make an impact on the world it was unceremoniously crated up and sent to a warehouse. Remarkably, it was sent to one of the few warehouses that were left untouched by Allied bombing and remained there for decades. When the M7 was rediscovered, the once beautiful lines and flowing forms of the dream bike had nearly succumbed to the onslaught of humidity and time. The men knew that they had found something unique, but it was so degraded that they had little hope it would ever be a fraction of the beauty it had once been. Thankfully they did not give up on the treasure that had been forgotten. Today, after a careful and extensive restoration process, we are able to marvel at the beauty that its creators had envisioned. Even by today’s standards, this is a beautiful piece of art. It’s the kind of bike many of us would proudly put on the road.
Can you imagine how the designers of this bike must have felt knowing that their creation would never get a chance to have its intended effect on the world? How hard must it have been to for them to enclose that unique creation in a box, knowing it would never again see the light of day? You’d think this story was a once in a lifetime tale, right? The sad truth is that it happens every day. Every day one of God’s very own takes the gifts with which he has been blessed by an all-powerful God and buries them in a deep dark hole. Every day one of God’s followers takes a talent with which she has been uniquely gifted by an all-knowing God and hides it away from everyone around her. Some hide their gifts because they’re scared of what others will say about them. Some hide them because they’re afraid of how others will treat them. Some hide their gift because they’re fearful that they will fail to live up to others’ expectations of how that gift should be used. Whatever the reason, that same all knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God watches His beloved creation doubt the love that He has for him or her. He watches as the wonderful gifts He gave to them are relegated to the shadows to collect dust and rust. He watches as His children allow fear and doubt to keep them separated from His blessings.
If you think, as I do, that the bike in the picture is a thing of amazing beauty, how much more beautiful are the followers of God when they are obediently blessing others with the gifts that God gave them to share with the world.
Can you imagine how the designers of this bike must have felt knowing that their creation would never get a chance to have its intended effect on the world? How hard must it have been to for them to enclose that unique creation in a box, knowing it would never again see the light of day? You’d think this story was a once in a lifetime tale, right? The sad truth is that it happens every day. Every day one of God’s very own takes the gifts with which he has been blessed by an all-powerful God and buries them in a deep dark hole. Every day one of God’s followers takes a talent with which she has been uniquely gifted by an all-knowing God and hides it away from everyone around her. Some hide their gifts because they’re scared of what others will say about them. Some hide them because they’re afraid of how others will treat them. Some hide their gift because they’re fearful that they will fail to live up to others’ expectations of how that gift should be used. Whatever the reason, that same all knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God watches His beloved creation doubt the love that He has for him or her. He watches as the wonderful gifts He gave to them are relegated to the shadows to collect dust and rust. He watches as His children allow fear and doubt to keep them separated from His blessings.
If you think, as I do, that the bike in the picture is a thing of amazing beauty, how much more beautiful are the followers of God when they are obediently blessing others with the gifts that God gave them to share with the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)