despairing, but not defeated
I recently had an in-depth conversation with the husband of a friend about the human condition. As a policeman he is regularly called on for 'civil' situations, which are most often anything but civil. He sees alcohol abusers, negligent parents, youth offenders, ringleaders for trouble. His perspective of humanity is a broken one. Even though this was his occupation of choice, one he entered because he wanted to help society, it has ultimately warped his perception of most people and left him with an inability to trust. He calls himself a 'realist,' because really, can you trust anyone? They'll most likely swindle you, rob from you, hurt you. It's wise to shut people out without a second thought. Why risk it?
I listened this week to a message at the recommendation of my friend Laura by Rob Bell from Mars Hill Church in Grandville, MI. (He's recently garnished a lot of attention for his first book Velvet Elvis which I bought yesterday. Expect a full report soon). This message (Week 349) began with Pastor Rob saying repeatedly "You already have everything you need to be content." He reminds us that you can be sitting in a funeral, crying and still be 100% content, because it's more than a mind set, it's a place you can live in. He goes on to say that those who are regularly looking to someone else to fulfill their joy, seeking contentment in things or another person will never truly find it. They become, as he says, full of despair. He cites them as people who say things like, "The second album will never be as good as the first one." Disappointment is to be expected. It's realistic.
My policeman friend can't really help it that he's gotten this way. He went in ready to help, and was faced with the harshest of realities, on a daily basis. The negativity has become blinding to him. The saving grace in all of this is the determination that has grown in him to be a good parent, and to instill patriotism, morality, and the heart of the Golden Rule into his children. To him, the day may be long, and full of discouragement or frustration, but at night, the tender heart of his young son restores hope down deep inside him.
There IS good in the world. Sure there are untrustworthy people bent on evil, but there are also those who will fight for justice, truth, upright living, and for making the character of God known in the earth. There is a remnant of those who haven't turned their hearts on God, or a deaf ear on others.
Last Thursday I was driving home from a Northern Michigan Advertising Club meeting in Traverse City and was going through the small town of Kingsley around 3:30 pm. I knew driving back would be slow since I was following a school bus that I would have to repeatedly stop behind until it turned onto a side road. I was ready to be back at work, but sighed and resolved myself to it. Just about that time, the bus in front of me had to stop at a train track crossing. 2 early teenage girls were sitting in the back seat of the bus and both quickly turned around to look at me. One grinned wildly and began to wave. Without thinking I smiled back and began to wave at her with equal enthusiasm. Thrilled that she'd chosen someone who would respond, she pulled her fist in to her chest in a 'YES!' motion and high-fived her friend. They'd gotten exactly what they were looking for.
In that moment, I thought about how simple life was, and how small victories were celebrated as a child. How all the world was good, and how the future was so full of hope. We could be anything we wanted, and it was really only a matter of time until we became it. There wasn't a question, we would fulfill our dreams.
So how do we strip away the layers of despair that have crept up on us, and find again the childlike heart? One way is to do something about it. When presented with an opportunity to reach out, we need to take it. Before the message at church today, we watched a short video clip about Operation Christmas Child. You can touch the life of a child this holiday season, encourage them to not only keep dreaming, but meet the Best Gift yet. Another part comes from a conscious effort to seek and find the good in every situation, and the other part is trusting God to reveal it. If we're open to what He's speaking, we'll hear Him even in the most unlikely moments. We'll see Him on the face of a little girl as we sit in traffic. We'll hear it in the bedtime prayer of a child. We'll even see him in Walmart when we run into that woman who has never been able to have children, carrying her new infant.
Yes, despair is all around us... but so is Hope.
We just have to be willing to look for Him.
I listened this week to a message at the recommendation of my friend Laura by Rob Bell from Mars Hill Church in Grandville, MI. (He's recently garnished a lot of attention for his first book Velvet Elvis which I bought yesterday. Expect a full report soon). This message (Week 349) began with Pastor Rob saying repeatedly "You already have everything you need to be content." He reminds us that you can be sitting in a funeral, crying and still be 100% content, because it's more than a mind set, it's a place you can live in. He goes on to say that those who are regularly looking to someone else to fulfill their joy, seeking contentment in things or another person will never truly find it. They become, as he says, full of despair. He cites them as people who say things like, "The second album will never be as good as the first one." Disappointment is to be expected. It's realistic.
My policeman friend can't really help it that he's gotten this way. He went in ready to help, and was faced with the harshest of realities, on a daily basis. The negativity has become blinding to him. The saving grace in all of this is the determination that has grown in him to be a good parent, and to instill patriotism, morality, and the heart of the Golden Rule into his children. To him, the day may be long, and full of discouragement or frustration, but at night, the tender heart of his young son restores hope down deep inside him.
There IS good in the world. Sure there are untrustworthy people bent on evil, but there are also those who will fight for justice, truth, upright living, and for making the character of God known in the earth. There is a remnant of those who haven't turned their hearts on God, or a deaf ear on others.
Last Thursday I was driving home from a Northern Michigan Advertising Club meeting in Traverse City and was going through the small town of Kingsley around 3:30 pm. I knew driving back would be slow since I was following a school bus that I would have to repeatedly stop behind until it turned onto a side road. I was ready to be back at work, but sighed and resolved myself to it. Just about that time, the bus in front of me had to stop at a train track crossing. 2 early teenage girls were sitting in the back seat of the bus and both quickly turned around to look at me. One grinned wildly and began to wave. Without thinking I smiled back and began to wave at her with equal enthusiasm. Thrilled that she'd chosen someone who would respond, she pulled her fist in to her chest in a 'YES!' motion and high-fived her friend. They'd gotten exactly what they were looking for.
In that moment, I thought about how simple life was, and how small victories were celebrated as a child. How all the world was good, and how the future was so full of hope. We could be anything we wanted, and it was really only a matter of time until we became it. There wasn't a question, we would fulfill our dreams.
So how do we strip away the layers of despair that have crept up on us, and find again the childlike heart? One way is to do something about it. When presented with an opportunity to reach out, we need to take it. Before the message at church today, we watched a short video clip about Operation Christmas Child. You can touch the life of a child this holiday season, encourage them to not only keep dreaming, but meet the Best Gift yet. Another part comes from a conscious effort to seek and find the good in every situation, and the other part is trusting God to reveal it. If we're open to what He's speaking, we'll hear Him even in the most unlikely moments. We'll see Him on the face of a little girl as we sit in traffic. We'll hear it in the bedtime prayer of a child. We'll even see him in Walmart when we run into that woman who has never been able to have children, carrying her new infant.
Yes, despair is all around us... but so is Hope.
We just have to be willing to look for Him.
posted by Amber | 4:17 PM
1 Comments:
Amber, I too like Rob Bell. He is so real. I was turned on to him by a video in his Nooma Series that Deb talked about in her blog call "dust" He is powerful and applicable. It sounds like his messages at church are equally that way. Some day i hope to get to Grandville to go to his church. Not that our pastors are not powerful and real, they are...Chad. Anyway, thanks for your words.
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