Valuable

"...and you," our guide said, pointing at me.  "Will ride Frenchie."

I couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not.  Certainly, it wasn't a great thing from Frenchie's standpoint -- I was considerably heavier than the others (all children) who were riding horses with me.

For the first little while, Frenchie and I got on splendidly.  She walked and I sat and everything was just great.  I talked to her a little bit, but she didn't respond much, maybe because she only spoke French, or maybe because she only spoke horse.

The only issues were that it was really hot and flies were hovering around incessantly.

I pulled out my cell phone and took a couple of photos of my children, who were also riding horses.  Then, I stowed my phone in my shirt pocket.

Suddenly, Frenchie jumped and then crow hopped to the side.  She kicked her legs again, unsettling me a little bit.  "Whoa," I told her.  This definitely was my first rodeo.

"Just swat the flies off her rump,"  the guide told me.  Once I did, Frenchie settled down and became a placed horse again.

It was about ten minutes later that I reached for my phone to take another couple of photos, only to discover that it was gone.  I told our guide that I thought it had fallen out when Frenchie had done her little bucking bit.

"Well, you can walk out with the next trail ride, if you want to," she told me.

I did.

So, after we got back, I found myself walking beside a group of horses, following the same trail we had followed an hour earlier.  A little way up the trail I discovered my phone in the grass and all was well.

I realize that I would have walked a lot farther than that to get my phone.  It is valuable to me.  In my line of work, I need to be reachable.  I remember my parents looking for pay phones and using calling cards, but that just wouldn't work these days for a number of reasons (including lack of pay phones).  Even though I don't like it some times, my cell phone is quite valuable to me.

Jesus told a story about a woman who lost a silver coin and searched her house from top to bottom until she found it.  When she did, she was so happy she threw a party.

In the same way, there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.  Because in the end, we are valuable to God.  More valuable than a lost sheep is to a shepherd or a lost silver coin is to a poor Judean woman.

More valuable even than a cell phone is to a 15 year old girl.

That's how important you and I are to God.

First!

"Vince, I got ready before you did!"  Elliot crowed, as he pulled his pajama shirt over his head.

My sons both want to be first in a lot of situations and getting ready for bed was no exception.

Vince looked at Elliot.  "But Elliot," he said.  "The Bible says that the first shall be last and the last first.  So, I'm really first getting ready for bed."

Vince had found the Biblical loop hole whereby no one really knows what place they finished in.  Those who finished in last place actually won the race.  It is a little confusing when you try to work it out.

Of course, the point of Jesus' statement was not that people should try to finish last or, go as slow as possible in order to eventually have their position elevated.  The point is that Christians aren't to be focused on fame, or place in line, rather they need to focus on serving each other.

Jesus wanted His disciples to give up their place for each other because they loved each other and not for any other reason.

His disciples did not understand this while He was alive, but they eventually learned this concept and it was one of the things that made the early church different.  For, the people within the church served each other without thought of reward and position.  Those who had leadership had the expectation that they would serve the most.

I am afraid that this ideal gets laid aside too often today.  Even in the church, people push themselves forward into positions of importance, rather than stooping down to serve their brothers and sisters.

Jesus said "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Humility and love in service of a loving, humble Savior should be our goal today and every day. 

The Royal Road to Learning

"You must have a really nice camera!"  The lady told me as she looked at the photo I had taken.

I don't suppose she was meaning to denigrate my skills as a photographer and truth be told, I do have a nice camera.  But I also have spent quite a bit of time learning about what makes a good photo and how to get the best images possible from the camera I am using.

I can't imagine telling a carpenter who had just finished a house, "Wow, you must have an amazing hammer!" or, "What kind of power drill do you use?"  Nor could I fathom complementing my wife on a meal she had just cooked by saying "Wow that kitchen aid mixer really came through for you tonight!"

In the end, all of these things are just tools.  Usually if my tools aren't working for me, the problem isn't the tool I am using, it is with me and my ability to get the most out of them.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

Doing something well takes time.  It takes time both to learn to do the skill and time to put it into practice after you have learned it.  Things that don't take much time to learn -- say the art of playing a kazoo -- also aren't particularly enjoyable to practice in the long run.

I am afraid in the modern age, we want technology to do stuff for us -- we can skip the learning process because our tools will be smart tools.  The idea of sitting down with a book and learning photography or, spending the time necessary to learn hand quilting or, anything else that takes a lot of time is beyond us, but it is very much worth it.

"There is no royal road to learning," Euclid is reputed to have told King Ptolemy.  He was right then and he is right today. 

It is far better to sit down and learn how to use the tools you have, then to save up to buy those someone else has in the hope that maybe those tools will impart some measure of skill with them.

If I find enjoyment in doing something, I will find a lot more in learning to do it better.

For me, the pleasure of photography is not in interacting with a "really nice camera," it is in spending time in God's creation and seeing the beauty He created.  Only then can I capture a little bit of that beauty with my lens.

Changing the World

I stood on our front porch last evening about dusk and heard the locusts singing and in the distance, the sound of thunder echoed across the hills.  I looked up at the high sky and saw the dark clouds moving in.  I felt very small and not all that important in a Universe that is big beyond my conception.

There is a picture book that I really enjoy reading to our children called "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge."  It tells the story of a (self-aware) lighthouse that protects ships and boats from rocks on the edge of the Hudson River, until a large bridge is built above it and a light is placed on top of the bridge.

At this point, the lighthouse feels very small and unimportant in comparison to the bridge and is certain that now that bridge is protecting the boats from the rocks, it no longer serves a purpose.  Fortunately, at the end of the book, the lighthouse realizes that it can continue protecting boats from the shoals, even though it also knows itself to be very small in the scheme of things.

I suppose most of us humans (except those running for president) have felt much in common with this lighthouse.  There are plenty of times that we feel small and wonder if we are serving a purpose at all.

I suppose I think of this more as I get older, because I know that I am not enough.  I cannot stamp out world hunger, or stop the spread of COVID, or prevent droughts in the horn of Africa or, even get rid of squash bugs in my garden.  I am just a little doctor in a small town and those sorts of problems are beyond my ability to solve.

And that's OK, because God hasn't called me to fix the big issues of this world.

I cannot change the world, but I can touch the lives of a few individuals every day.  I can take the time to listen to a woman who has recently lost her husband and hear her grief.  I can make the effort to notice the man who has lost two pounds since his last visit and encourage him to carry on.  I can spend a few heart beats and pray with a woman for whom medicine seemingly has no answers.

It isn't much and it isn't a "great" work, but it is important.

God hasn't called most of us to change the world, He has just called us to give ourselves to those in need around us one breath at a time.

If enough people do it, it just might change the world.

For sure, it will change someone's world.

Joy and Bike Riding

"Dad, do you know what today reminds me of?"  Vince wailed to me.

"No," I said.  "What day?"

"It reminds me of Judgement Day!" Vince said.

We were working on riding a bicycle without training wheels and it was a mighty struggle.  At least part of the problem was that Vince didn't want to learn how to ride his bicycle on just two wheels.  While Anna tends to be our dramatic child, Vince was pulling out all of the stops at that moment.

I'm not totally sure why we think it is a big deal to learn to ride a bicycle.  I have no idea how many (if any) of the great men and women in history learned to ride a bicycle, but it certainly seems like a good idea to teach our children to do it.

Flash forward a few weeks and Vince and I were outside with the same bicycle and the same struggles.  Something was different this time.  Vince was ready to learn.

"Dad," he told me in an excited voice.  "I have thought of a strategy that will help me ride well.  I will pedal and steer."

That certainly sounded like a good plan and it worked.  Within a few tries, he was riding a considerable distance on his own and he hasn't looked back since.

So often the difference between figuring something out and disaster is our attitude when approaching it.  The days where I go in excited and up beat are so much better than those days where I Eeyore my way through them -- regardless of the actual events that I meet.

The Bible says that the "Joy of the Lord is your strength."  I certainly have found this true.  There is nothing like a little joy to get one through a long Monday or, a busy Thursday for that matter.

So, stock up on joy.  It will make the hardest task easier and help you survive the longest days with a smile on your face.

Or maybe learn to ride a unicycle...

The future is just more pleasant with joy in our hearts.