A New CD

 

 

I settled myself into the seat of my truck and backed out of my parking space.  Only fifteen minutes to home.  I had a lot of things to do – I needed to check on the garden, weed a bit and even do some writing.

As I merged onto State Route 29, I noticed that my truck had a CD player.  Now, I must confess, I own CDs, but I seldom listen to them as I have moved onto using streaming services. 

I contemplated idly how hard it would be to take the CD player out and install a player capable of playing the original discs – long play, vinyl records – in its place.  I imagined it would be difficult and not terribly useful.

I would have to tell anyone riding with me, “Sorry, you can’t sit shot gun – that’s where my record collection is!”

I pushed the eject button on the CD player and out popped a disc – it was the first CD of the Pimsleur Language Thai course.  I had owned the truck for a full four years and had never realized that the first sixty-two minutes of my journey to fluent, conversational Thai language had rested in my CD player the whole time.

In the few days since I discovered this amazing compact disc, I have proceeded no further in my attempts to communicate with people from Thailand.  I suppose this is mainly because one CD doesn’t feel like much of a start – it is like trying to cross the Mississippi River with a single stepping stone.  Smart as I am, I think I’d need at least three or four CDs before I attempted a conversation with a Thai speaker.

It does strike me how we can live with something – someone for years and never really know them.  I spend a lot of time in my truck, but I had never known about this CD’s presence in my truck.

The Apostle Paul told the Philippians, “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” (Philippians 2:4)

Whether it is a conversation or a relationship, things will go so much better when we begin to focus on the other person, rather than simply on ourselves and our responses to the person we are with.  Love is about listening and observing how the one we love is doing. 

It may take years to discover things like the presence of a Thai language CD in the truck you drive every day, but it shouldn’t be for lack of trying.

The More Famous John Waldron

 

“You know, the Waldrons were horse thieves who fled Ireland because they would have been sent to prison if they didn’t run to America?” I asked my family.

“Where did you hear that?”  My beautiful bride asked, somewhat skeptically.

“Well, my great uncle was doing research on ancestors and such and that’s what my grandfather told him.  I think he was just being silly though,” I said.

“I don’t think I’d like to have ancestors who were horse thieves,” Victoria said. 

“True,” I said.  “Most people look for royalty and fame in their family trees and brush over the black sheep.”

“I wonder what sorts of horses they stole?”  Elliot asked.

“Let’s ask Google,” I said.  Google listened to my query and then told me that while horse thievery was common in Ireland, there was no evidence that the Waldrons stole more horses than anyone else.  In fact, Dr. John Waldron of County Tuam bred a famous racehorse name Faugheen.

I was impressed.  I didn’t actually know if I was related to this other John Waldron, but clearly we had much in common – other than the racehorse thing.

I know a lot of people explore their genealogies, what I have noticed is that mostly they are looking for famous people that they are related to.  Somehow it is better to be distantly related to a baron in Upper Silesia than an excavator in lower California.

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”   Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (I Peter 5:5,6)

Most of us want to be known by others.  If other people won’t blow the trumpet for us, we are forced to toot our own horn.

The Bible makes it clear that if we are humble, God will elevate us in His own time.  On the other hand, He resists and brings down the proud men and women of this world.

It is hard to be humble, hard to acknowledge our weaknesses and struggles, but it is far better to do that than to pretend that we are something we aren’t.  At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter if we are related to horse thieves or a famous horse breeder, what really matters is that we know Jesus and the power of His appearing.

Awesome Descriptions

 

“Look, it’s a catalog!”  I said, holding up the mail for my family to see.

When I was a boy, we got lots of catalogs in the mail.  There was the Oriental Trading Company – which had catalogs of cheap items photographed in such a way that they looked worth buying.  Then there was the Sharper Image which always had sci-fi appearing devices for purchase that were supposed to make your life better.  On top of those, there were companies like Montgomery Ward and Sears whose catalogs were mostly filled with clothing.

These days, the only catalogs I get are from nurseries and seed companies.  When they start to arrive, it is an indication that spring isn’t too far away.

Of course, all of the seeds sound like they produce amazing vegetables.  The description for each variety sounds as though it will produce the sweetest musk melon, the biggest pumpkin, or the largest harvest of green beans.  I often wonder if the folks writing the descriptions have actually raised the varieties themselves or if they are simply men and women who are experienced in writing advertising copy who decided to ply their trade in the direction of selling gardening supplies.

“Listen children,” I said to them as I opened the catalog.  “This is a ‘burpless’ cucumber.  This is what we have been waiting for all these years!  You have no idea how disgusting it is to go down to the garden to weed and have to listen to those cucumber vines burping away!  Oh, and this muskmelon says that it has succulent and melodious sweetness – I don’t know what that means, but I guess we should get it to find out!”

Most of us try to put our best foot forward when we interact with other people.  It isn’t that we lie about who we are, but whether we are interviewing with for a job, or talking with people after church, we want to look and sound our best.

The problem is that we end up hiding the areas of our lives where we are struggling.  It could be finances, or struggles with one of our children, or even just feeling emotionally worn down, but since we love Jesus, we somehow think that means we should have it all together.

“Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

As I think about the meaning of this verse, it strikes me that in order for other people to help us bear our burdens, we have to be transparent enough that they are aware of our struggles.  It isn’t about trying to look like we are overachieving but rather sharing honestly – at least with some people – about areas where we need prayer.

It may feel good to act as though, like those who are home on the range, we seldom hear a discouraging word, but the reality is often far from that.  Telling others that we only deal with “melodious sweetness” in our homes may feel easier than being honest about the real struggles, but each of us needs help carrying burdens and the beginning of that is honesty with a community of believers – not ad copy about how awesome we and the people around us are.