750 words day 2
Lists
Why am I so intrigued by lists? I see an article with a title like, "20 ways to leave your lover" and I want to know more about what the guy or girl is talking about. Not that I want to leave MY lover, by the way! If it said "How to leave your wife!" I'd be appalled and wouldn't give it a second glance. Why are those numbers in titles so attractive? What is it about a curt list that grabs my attention?
I think that I know. I want a shortcut. I am lazy. I need to succeed and I want to get there the comfortable way. I don't want to have to struggle to write a novel, earn more money or become a good father or husband. I want those ten easy steps.
To get anything worthwhile in this life takes work. Building a reputation is a lifetime pursuit. However, I don't want to spend a lifetime. Thus the lists grab my fancy.
It is much more exciting to think that I can become an award-winning author by following these "Five simple steps" than to have to go to college or through the college of hard knocks. Right? Is it that way with you?
Some people are list makers and list checker-offers. My wife is like that. She feels fulfilled when she can grab a pencil or pen and dash to her list and with bravado swipe through another task. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she can't do just that. However, for the most part her lists help her to do important stuff.
I like lists too, lists that other people make for me. However, I have discovered something important. A list doesn make me more successful, useful, a better author or father. I might get some hints about these things but the success comes with hard work and time. Oh brother!
That is the part we hate isn't it? We don't want to have to go through all of the struggle that others have gone through. If I can shortcut the process, let me at it.
There is a Bible message here somewhere! Oh yeah! Just the other day, on one of my walks, I saw a small pile of yellow flakes on the ground. I stopped to have a look and noticed that they weren't flakes at all. They looked like little plugs of dirt. I picked on up on the dampened end of my finger and that is exactly what they were.
As I observed that tiny pile I noticed ants coming from a tiny hole nearby. I did what Solomon recommended and observed them. One by little one they came from and went into this tiny hole. The ones coming out were carrying the yellow dirt plugs. The ones going in were going to get more. There were a couple who looked like supervisors. They would go over and pick up an errant dirt plug and shuffle it to another location. The ants leaving the hole didn't just go to the nearest spot to deposit their cargo. They would walk a ways away from the hole and set it down as if it were an important little Ming vase. Or is it Vaze? It was fascinating.
I imagined the inside of that hole. More than likely there was no interior lighting. The ants were coming and going at a rather rapid pace. At times they would bump into each other but there didn't ever seem to be a fight or rude discussion. In and out they came and went. And over a short period they moved a lot of earth. There was no “5 easy steps”.
So, how do I become famous, successful or wise? Go to the ant thou sluggard not to the lists. Carry the dirt one chunk at a time. Time after time. With time allow God to direct and work in me and watch what happens. You'll be amazed.
Where to go from here? This is day two of my project of seven hundred and fifty words and I am withering on the vine after just three hundred and forty seven. How can that be with such a fertile mind. My tendency this morning is to go back and edit at every error. And there have been a lot of errors.
I started a piece yesterday. Maybe I’ll include those three hundred plus words here. Would that be cheating?
Ok, ok so I’ll write some new stuff. Hummm. About what? I know! I’ll ask the Lord to give me something!
Father, I want to write something this morning that will help me and help others. Or maybe I just want to write something that will entertain me and others. Would you help me to first of all define what I want to write and then to write in a sensible and funny or helpful way? Direct my thoughts I pray. Amen.
I didn't have the heart to put “In Jesus name” because I am not sure that my prayer deserves such a powerful ending.
We talked about prayer in my sunday school class this last week. I have noticed over the years how superficial most of our praying is. We pray quick and short prayers. We tack on in Jesus name and off we go as happy as larks at our spirituality.
Most of our praying, if we pray at all, is short and simply. They are like Peters prayer for salvation as he slipped beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee, “Lord! Save me!”
We might even consider them like Nehemiah's prayer as he spoke to king Artaxerxes. Whoever we think that we are emulating our prayers are short. At least mine are.
Are yours? We want big and long answers but we pray short and simplistic prayers. We want God to do stuff but we don't want to have to take hours to ask him to do stuff. Why is that?
Here is my simplistic thought. I can't see God. I know He exists. I know that he loves me I know that he is always there for me. I know that he cares for me. I know all of this yet I have never seen him. I often find it hard to talk to someone that I can see let alone someone I can't see.
If I could just see him. If I could just have him whisper in my ear, “Mike, you are doing a good job. I want to hear more from you.” Maybe that would inspire me to pray more. Do you think? Probably not. I am such a lug.
Prayer time doesn't have to be an hour or two. It doesn't have to be twenty minutes long. In the past I tried this method. I timed my prayer time. Timing your prayer is comparable to tapping your fingernails on a table while someone is talking to you. In essence you are saying. “Lets get this conversation over with! I have more important things to do!”
What does God want from you and me? I believe that He wants recognition. That sounded weird. I didn't mean that God needs my recognition. He doesn't. God doesn't need anything, including me.
However, in my Bible reading at the moment I am in Ezekiel. In this book there is a repeated phrase. It is this, “That (fill in the blank with any number of country names) may know that I am the LORD.” I need to Google that phrase. It has got to be thirty or more times that it is repeated in Ezekiel. It is written elsewhere too.
So, my simplistic mind says, “LORD, why does no one know You?” Is it because you are invisible? Is it because you don't talk to us anymore? Does it have anything at all to do with why it is so hard to pray? Just wondering.
Lists
Why am I so intrigued by lists? I see an article with a title like, "20 ways to leave your lover" and I want to know more about what the guy or girl is talking about. Not that I want to leave MY lover, by the way! If it said "How to leave your wife!" I'd be appalled and wouldn't give it a second glance. Why are those numbers in titles so attractive? What is it about a curt list that grabs my attention?
I think that I know. I want a shortcut. I am lazy. I need to succeed and I want to get there the comfortable way. I don't want to have to struggle to write a novel, earn more money or become a good father or husband. I want those ten easy steps.
To get anything worthwhile in this life takes work. Building a reputation is a lifetime pursuit. However, I don't want to spend a lifetime. Thus the lists grab my fancy.
It is much more exciting to think that I can become an award-winning author by following these "Five simple steps" than to have to go to college or through the college of hard knocks. Right? Is it that way with you?
Some people are list makers and list checker-offers. My wife is like that. She feels fulfilled when she can grab a pencil or pen and dash to her list and with bravado swipe through another task. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she can't do just that. However, for the most part her lists help her to do important stuff.
I like lists too, lists that other people make for me. However, I have discovered something important. A list doesn make me more successful, useful, a better author or father. I might get some hints about these things but the success comes with hard work and time. Oh brother!
That is the part we hate isn't it? We don't want to have to go through all of the struggle that others have gone through. If I can shortcut the process, let me at it.
There is a Bible message here somewhere! Oh yeah! Just the other day, on one of my walks, I saw a small pile of yellow flakes on the ground. I stopped to have a look and noticed that they weren't flakes at all. They looked like little plugs of dirt. I picked on up on the dampened end of my finger and that is exactly what they were.
As I observed that tiny pile I noticed ants coming from a tiny hole nearby. I did what Solomon recommended and observed them. One by little one they came from and went into this tiny hole. The ones coming out were carrying the yellow dirt plugs. The ones going in were going to get more. There were a couple who looked like supervisors. They would go over and pick up an errant dirt plug and shuffle it to another location. The ants leaving the hole didn't just go to the nearest spot to deposit their cargo. They would walk a ways away from the hole and set it down as if it were an important little Ming vase. Or is it Vaze? It was fascinating.
I imagined the inside of that hole. More than likely there was no interior lighting. The ants were coming and going at a rather rapid pace. At times they would bump into each other but there didn't ever seem to be a fight or rude discussion. In and out they came and went. And over a short period they moved a lot of earth. There was no “5 easy steps”.
So, how do I become famous, successful or wise? Go to the ant thou sluggard not to the lists. Carry the dirt one chunk at a time. Time after time. With time allow God to direct and work in me and watch what happens. You'll be amazed.
Where to go from here? This is day two of my project of seven hundred and fifty words and I am withering on the vine after just three hundred and forty seven. How can that be with such a fertile mind. My tendency this morning is to go back and edit at every error. And there have been a lot of errors.
I started a piece yesterday. Maybe I’ll include those three hundred plus words here. Would that be cheating?
Ok, ok so I’ll write some new stuff. Hummm. About what? I know! I’ll ask the Lord to give me something!
Father, I want to write something this morning that will help me and help others. Or maybe I just want to write something that will entertain me and others. Would you help me to first of all define what I want to write and then to write in a sensible and funny or helpful way? Direct my thoughts I pray. Amen.
I didn't have the heart to put “In Jesus name” because I am not sure that my prayer deserves such a powerful ending.
We talked about prayer in my sunday school class this last week. I have noticed over the years how superficial most of our praying is. We pray quick and short prayers. We tack on in Jesus name and off we go as happy as larks at our spirituality.
Most of our praying, if we pray at all, is short and simply. They are like Peters prayer for salvation as he slipped beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee, “Lord! Save me!”
We might even consider them like Nehemiah's prayer as he spoke to king Artaxerxes. Whoever we think that we are emulating our prayers are short. At least mine are.
Are yours? We want big and long answers but we pray short and simplistic prayers. We want God to do stuff but we don't want to have to take hours to ask him to do stuff. Why is that?
Here is my simplistic thought. I can't see God. I know He exists. I know that he loves me I know that he is always there for me. I know that he cares for me. I know all of this yet I have never seen him. I often find it hard to talk to someone that I can see let alone someone I can't see.
If I could just see him. If I could just have him whisper in my ear, “Mike, you are doing a good job. I want to hear more from you.” Maybe that would inspire me to pray more. Do you think? Probably not. I am such a lug.
Prayer time doesn't have to be an hour or two. It doesn't have to be twenty minutes long. In the past I tried this method. I timed my prayer time. Timing your prayer is comparable to tapping your fingernails on a table while someone is talking to you. In essence you are saying. “Lets get this conversation over with! I have more important things to do!”
What does God want from you and me? I believe that He wants recognition. That sounded weird. I didn't mean that God needs my recognition. He doesn't. God doesn't need anything, including me.
However, in my Bible reading at the moment I am in Ezekiel. In this book there is a repeated phrase. It is this, “That (fill in the blank with any number of country names) may know that I am the LORD.” I need to Google that phrase. It has got to be thirty or more times that it is repeated in Ezekiel. It is written elsewhere too.
So, my simplistic mind says, “LORD, why does no one know You?” Is it because you are invisible? Is it because you don't talk to us anymore? Does it have anything at all to do with why it is so hard to pray? Just wondering.
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