Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…                                                                                                                                                                           Hebrews 12:1

I was talking recently with a client who is an elementary school teacher. For those of you who may not know an elementary school teacher, you may not realize the dedication and care that they pour into their students. This client has her own issues of anxiety, family problems, etc., and those issues certainly burden her. However, she said that recently the chronic effects of COVID and the extra drain that this causes in her and her students, has been especially draining.

We began to talk about her job as a teacher which is really not so much a job as a “calling”.  She has been gifted and called to pour herself into the lives of her students, making her “job” not a mere job but a calling, a mission. She feels overwhelmed by the needs of her students, and her own sense of being unable to meet all the needs of those students. Just not enough time in the day…

I reminded her of the author of the Bible book Hebrews, and his analogy of running the race set before him. We all have a race to run, and a lane to stay in. We cannot be distracted by those runners in the lanes to our right and left. We cannot take on the responsibility of solving all the problems that we see. We need to stay in our lane, run our race to the best of our ability, and try not to be distracted by the lanes on our sides which contain problems we cannot solve. I suggested to her that she is changing the world for her students, and in that way, she is changing the world for the better, even in a small way.

There are so many problems around us that we can become distracted and discouraged. The challenge is to run the race set before us- to change the part of the world that we can change, and let God select the others who can run in the lanes beside us, accomplishing his means in their own lane.

Keep your eye on the prize.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us callings to change the world for those in our path. Help us to keep focus and trust in our race, and to keep our eye on that prize, Amen

“I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you.                             John 15:11-14 (The Message)

Courage (def.): Feeling fear yet choosing to act…

(Dungate & Armstrong- “Six Types of Courage”)

I have always been drawn to the virtue of courage, probably because I wish I had more of it. Courage, of course, is not the absence of fear, but rather it is feeling fear, yet choosing to act.

Bravery, in my opinion, is an act of courage, often a singular event, which is beyond how most people might respond in the same situation. Courage is an on-going decision to act rightly despite current fears. There are many professions which require exercises of courage every day. My two kids- a trauma surgeon and a police officer- face life and death situations all the time. They face fear regularly, and they act to serve their constituents every day- community members who rely on them to do their duty to heal and protect despite any fears they may feel.

Typical of the professionals that they are, they may not see that they exhibit courage every single day. Indeed, they say that they are “just doing our job”. Yes, they are. Indeed, other people in their similar roles are wont to say the same thing also.  “Just doing our job” they say.

Yet those of us looking in from the outside see the courage it takes to do those jobs. Courage, exercised regularly, becomes somewhat of a lifestyle folded into daily routine so seamlessly that it is hardly noticed by the individual doing it. It becomes “what we do”.

I am grateful for how my kids courageously serve others, and I am so very proud of them!   

Prayer: Lord, protect those who serve us so courageously and selflessly, Amen.

…”he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation”

Hebrews 9:11-12

The writer here is describing the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice that Jesus made for us. He later contrasts this with the system of animal sacrifice which was practiced by the Jews.  Jesus made the perfect sacrifice because he did not need to repeat the cleansing over and over again.

We know that in this life, our actions must be repeated day after day in order to maintain the intended results. We need to brush our teeth, shower, clean the house, and maintain the car, etc. regularly so that our health, and our stuff, is maintained and functional. We need to do this because of the temporal nature of our bodies and our stuff. Left to our own natural processes, we will break down, get dirty, fall into disrepair, and eventually die. This is one of the laws of nature- according to our physicist friends –“bodies tend to go to a higher level of disorder” on their own. In other words, we decay. We can delay that process for some period of time with regular care and repair, but we need to repeat that maintenance function all the time, and even then, we cannot stave off death forever. 

Animal sacrifices needed to be done over and over because they were “of this creation” and insufficient. Nothing that is from “this creation” is sufficient to stave off death because created things cannot do eternal things on their own.

Jesus however, not being created, (only in the earthly body he took on) could do the eternal thing. He could, and did, take on our sins, and he gave up his life “once and for all” so that we could be forgiven, and that we too could have eternal life. His sacrifice only needed to be done once.

Our lesson about this is to understand that we are “bought with a price” (I Cor. 6:20), that we are not “our own”, and that our only available moral response is to submit to the one who paid the price for us.

Prayer: Father, we are always amazed upon the reflection of your plan to have Jesus be the once-for-all price of redemption. Thank you for loving and saving this unworthy soul, Amen” 

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

In this time of a cascade of tragedies- earthquakes, fires, COVID, the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan (and much more) – the timely message of Paul is comforting. Paul wrote this from prison, suffering quite a bit, but wanting to encourage those to whom he wrote. This is a great model, and we need that lesson today more than ever.

The world is suffering. Certainly, some are suffering much worse than others, but we all share pain during this time. As we always witness during times of trouble and uncertainty, crisis brings out the best and worst in character. Our true character is revealed during times of great stress. At the same time, we are shaped and refined by the pressures we face. The strength of steel can only be formed under conditions of intense heat and pressure. So too our character, which is tested and formed under the heat of circumstances.

We see all around us wonderful stories of people giving time, money and resources to others, even at great personal cost. We see our health professionals and first responders literally giving themselves away, risking personal safety, for the benefit of those they serve.

And yes, we also see people who act irresponsibly and even indifferently to the suffering of others. Others inflame social media with ideas that are not helpful or kind.

For our own mental health, and for the benefit of those around us, let’s follow Paul’s example. Let us choose to focus on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable.

Prayer: Lord, you know our tendency to become negative when we are afraid. Your Word says that perfect love casts out fear. Give us a more perfect love for you and for one another, Amen.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

One of the principles of prayer I have discussed in the past is about listening for God to speak. Prayer is not just petitioning God for what we need, nor even just praising Him, or expressing our gratitude. All those aspects are important parts of prayer, but one that we often miss is listening.

Listening is hard. We like to express what is on our mind. We feel the need to talk. Yet, part of any relationship is the ability to listen. So, how do we learn to listen to God? Learning to hear His voice is difficult, because we have to discern whose voice we are hearing- mine or His?

Like anything, time and patience bear fruit as we practice a discipline. As a counselor, I know both the importance of listening, and the importance of self-awareness. We need to really be attuned to what is going on internally to be able to discern God’s voice. We need to know our own selfish and self-serving nature, and accept that this is part of being human. In fact, the awareness and acceptance of our brokenness is the beginning of healing and health. Humility is the beginning of wisdom.

God can speak to us in many ways- if we are listening. He wants to connect with us, and He uses various ways to do this. Often, He speaks through other people, whose wisdom we need to consider. He can speak through circumstances, which challenge us to consider choosing the right path.

In this on-going (seemingly never-ending) COVID-19 crisis, I have heard God through the voices and actions of heroic and selfless people who run to the aid of those in trouble. They put themselves in harm’s way for the benefit of others- even people that they do not know.   

When we see such actions, we see the heart of God at work. Look and listen closely for the voice of God today. Seek, and you shall find…

Prayer: Thank you for your presence, which we can see and hear all around us when we really listen for it, Amen

Rodney Dangerfield

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!                                                                                                      Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous – everyone hasn’t met me yet

When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them

(Rodney Dangerfield one-liners)

I apologize dear readers, but I can’t do a blog about self-respect without quotes from the king of self-disrespect, Rodney Dangerfield. I hope I made you laugh a bit, but consider this just a fun lead-in to my topic today…

I was discussing with a client the other day the dynamics of self-esteem and self-respect. She recognized that her husband had come from a background of emotional neglect, and that he often lashed out at her with things that had been building up in him over time. Their relationship is one of perceived imbalance, with the husband feeling disrespected and powerless. My client was not trying to blame her husband, but rather to understand him better.

We discussed the idea that when we feel small, or powerless, or like a victim, we often lash out at others. The need to feel respected by others is, of course, important, but first we need to respect ourselves. We do that by becoming people of integrity. That is, we keep promises to ourselves, and we do not blame others for the reasons that we miss the mark. The more we keep those little promises to ourselves, however small they may be, the more we can trust ourselves, and the higher our self-esteem grows.

No amount of external praise or affirmation will be able to fill up a person who does not have an internal sense of self-respect. Keeping those little promises to ourselves will, over time, build or re-build damaged self-respect.

God has made us in an amazing way, and each person deserves respect as a human being. But we all need to build our own internal sense of self-respect to be able to fully appreciate that wonderful creation that God made us to be.

Prayer: Lord, you have made us in your image, worthy of love and respect. Thank you for that amazing plan, Amen

Several days later he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city.  Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them.  Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher.  They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven!”                                                                                                                                      Mark 2:1-5 (Living)       

 The story of Jesus healing the paralyzed man in Mark 2 is powerful for many reasons. The faithfulness and tenacity of his friends is remarkable. They stopped at nothing to get help for their friend who was hurting. Their commitment paid off, because Jesus healed that man, and he did it simply by telling him that his sins were forgiven. Yes, another example of physical, spiritual and emotional connectedness.

However, the theme I am picking up on today is the actions of the ailing man’s friends. I often tell clients that they need to identify their “team” as the people that they can turn to in time of trouble. They need to be able to name that team, and also communicate with that little team that they are part of his/her healing and recovery. I have never seen a situation where a potential “team member” was not honored to be named as a part of the helping team for the client.

The first step is the hardest one- to ask people to be part of your recovery team. Mental health and addiction recovery is a team effort, make no mistake about it. Once the team is in place, like the group we saw in Mark’s gospel, the power of their help is remarkable.    

Prayer: Thank you for the plan that we go about this journey in life in teams, Amen

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven…                                                                                        Ecclesiastes 3

I guess it’s all in how we look at it. The most famous example is the glass half full/half empty. Both statements are true, but your outlook on it defines your mood. Yes, it is also true that your mood can define how you look at it too. On a bad day, a glass ¾ full can look mostly empty at times.

I got to thinking about this when considering how we look at our busy schedules. For some people, schedules are tyrants that rob them of free time and cause endless worry about too much to do in too little time. Yet I could argue that schedules are a blessing, which can give predictability and order to our lives. If we feel that we do not have control over our schedule, it becomes a harsh taskmaster. If we feel control over our schedule, it becomes a reassurance that we can prioritize our time, and get done what is most important to us.

I once had a mentor who asked me if I had put into my schedule book time to be spent with my wife. “Everything else is scheduled”, he observed, “what about the most important things in your life?”

Sage advice there. It is really the priorities and the right choosing of them that is the key. The schedule isn’t the problem, it is our use of it that can be a problem.

Prayer: Lord, you have given us the precious gift of time. Help us to use it wisely, Amen

“Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words”                                                                                   Francis of Assisi

“When all is said and done, more is said than done.”                                                                                   Benjamin Franklin

There is a saying that I like that is widely attributed to St. Francis of Assisi-“Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words”. Whether or not he said it quite like that, I do not know. I do like the simple truth of it. He was a man of simple faith and wisdom, so I don’t doubt that he said it, or something pretty close. The point is, as Benjamin Franklin said, “When all is said and done, more is said than done.”

How do we live out our faith so that others may be attracted to it? Trying to preach at people, to convince them of a doctrinal truth, rings hollow when our accompanying actions are not loving. Loving actions are seen as our real convictions. If we believe something, we will act upon it. So, if we believe that our Christian faith is about loving those who have not found acceptance in the world, we better be the ones to accept people and love them right where they are.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live out the beliefs that we have so people can see you better, Amen.

Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect                                                            Matthew 5:48

I think there is a tendency in all of us to be “either or”- that is, to see life as black or white, right or wrong etc. I think like all things in life, we are on a sort of continuum. We are on a path. We aren’t there yet, that is, we are not yet where we want to be in our goals, but we are on the path.  Jesus said “Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect”. What could he mean by that? None of us are remotely close to perfect.

What I believe that he meant is that we are to be on the “perfect path”. We are to follow him. We are on the path of going from selfish to selfless. Are we there yet? Nope. Not until we are perfected in heaven. Yet we are called to be on that path.

I tell my clients that the path to redemption is being on the road from selfish to selfless. To the extent that we do more acts that are more selfless than selfish, we are healthier and happier. People in recovery are well aware that working the 12^th Step, the “service step” is the way to maintain sober living. We all need to be working the “serving others” step over the “serving self” lifestyle.

We are in the process of redemption. We are not completed projects, but we are a work in progress. Jesus wants us to be on the path of redemption, not yet perfect, but on the right road.  

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the plan to perfection, which is following Jesus, Amen