Category: Today’s Word Is

Today’s Word Is … DANCE

Tue-Nov-26-2019
You can talk about the pro’s and con’s of the other side of the fence, but eventually you’ve got to just hop over.

“Life is not about how you survive the storm, it’s about how you dance in the rain.” – Anonymous

It is certain that we will have troubles in this life. But these troubles do not have to rob us of our joy, because:

FIRST – There is a great joy coming that outweighs everything. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” – The Apostle Paul (2nd Corinthians 4:17)

SECOND – As blessings come and we grow in faith, the troubles are forgotten. “For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes.” – The Prophet Isaiah (65:16b)

THIRD – We have help from God who can overcome them for us. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – Jesus (John 16:33)

I hope you can learn sooner than I did to let loose and “dance in the rain.” You can make up lots of reasons not to, which I have done. But it is highly unlikely that you will get the courage to dance in spite of troubles by coming up with “logical reasons” that you should do it. You might just have to decide in a crazy moment … why not just dance! Of course, dancing can be embarrassing. But embarrassment can be quite the thief. How much has it stolen from you?

There may not be anything in your circumstances that says you have the right to dance, the desire to dance, or the energy to dance. But don’t let that stop you!

For me, it was a little like jumping a fence. You can talk about the pro’s and con’s of the other side of the fence, but eventually you’ve got to just hop over. And the people around you will just have to get used to what you are like on the dancing side of the fence.

Go ahead and dance in the rain,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is … CLEVERLY

Mon-Nov-25-2019
How cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good.

After 7 years of college and graduate school, and reading what professors told me to, the first post-graduate reading I did was the series of 7 books by C. S. Lewis called The Chronicles of Narnia. If you have never read them, you should do so. Three or four of the books have been made into movies. Even though they are touted as children’s books, there are such deep truths in them that any adult would grow forward in life and faith by reading them. (They’re also light and fun.)

In the sixth book called “The Magician’s Nephew,” I came to a sentence that rocked my world …

The children in the story were asking Aslan the Lion (the Christ-figure in this series of books), why their Uncle Andrew was such a grouch. How did he get to be that way? And Aslan gave a strange but profound answer …

“Oh, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good.”

I was stunned enough by that sentence that I suspended reading the book for a few days while I thought about that. Do I have creative excuses for not doing the things that would really be of benefit to me?

When is the last time you should have gone to some event with a friend but instead said, “No thanks, I’m too tired (or too busy).”? What are the things you have skipped out on that would really have done you great good?

Now, I’m not suggesting you wear yourself out and fail to take needed rest or to keep proper boundaries. Nor do I propose that you say “yes” to every invitation that comes along. But looking back over the last year or two or five of your life … what if the good invitations or ideas you declined added up to 148, and the ones you accepted came to just 15? Then this may not be about getting your rest … it might be about “cleverly defending yourself against all that might do you good.”

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark