A Merry Heart

"Dad," my son, Vince, asked me. "Why don't fleas like it when dogs go to their circus?"

"I don't think that's the way you told this joke earlier," I said.  Vince had discovered a book called Stupid Jokes for Kids and had delved into it the way a diamond miner tackles a hole in the ground in South Africa.

"Because he'll take all the fleas with him when he leaves!"  Vince cackled with the hilarity of this joke.

"I thought," I said.  "That the joke was 'What happens when a dog goes to the flea circus?' and the answer was 'He steals the show.'"

"That's what I said," Vince told me.  "What do you call a band who kill germs?"

"I don't know," I said a little resignedly.

"The Bleach Boys!"  More cackling.  Even Victoria was giggling.  Apparently she thought Vince was the funniest nine year old out there.

I don't think any of my children have futures as comedians.  For one thing, they can't remember jokes at all and standing up, reading from a joke book is not generally entertaining.  For another, they have no sense of timing.  That's OK -- there are plenty of careers which don't involve standing on a stage trying to make people laugh.

The sound of children laughing uproariously can get old sometimes, but I still hope that they will keep merry hearts and a love of humor.  The Book of Proverbs says that "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."  It really makes a difference when we are surrounded by others who keep a sense of joy about them, even in the darkest moments.

There is a time and place for everything and certainly there are times when joking just isn't in order.  Even in those situations, hope and joy can often make a difference to lift the spirit when the worst of news has just been delivered.

I know that my children's sense of humor will change over time.  They will not always think that "What did the Bee get when he stole the calendar?  Twelve months," is funny, but I hope they will be able to see the humor in every day situations and laugh -- even at themselves.

Sometimes the only thing that will heal a wounded heart is joy.

Fatigue

"How are you today?"  The older woman asked me.

"I'm pretty tired," I said.  "Otherwise I guess I'm fine.  And how are you?"

"Well," she paused.  "Frankly, I'm pretty tired too."

I think tiredness is part of the adult condition.  I'm sure there are a few wealthy souls who sleep nine hours every night, never waking up until their alarm clocks go off to invite them down to a leisurely cup of coffee and southwest omelette.  They certainly don't come to see me at my office.

My patients are often convinced they have thyroid conditions.  If you google "Medical Reasons I'm tired," I think that must be the first thing that pops up.

In medical school, I was convinced I had leukemia and even made my mother (who is a family doctor) run a CBC on me to make sure I didn't have it.  I was just so tired.  Fortunately, I knew that once I was done with my residency training things would get better.

Think again...

My experience is that when you are an adult and you have children you are always a little fatigued.  I live on six hours of sleep a night and often that is broken up by a mixture of phone calls and the occasional sick child.  I didn't know how good I had it back when I was twenty-one and could sleep as long as I wanted to on weekends.

There are many Scriptures that speak of strength in the face of adversity, but one always stands out to me, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."  (Gal 6:9).

This summer, because we were moving, we did not plant a garden and we have no harvest.  While others are picking their tomatoes and watching their pumpkins turn orange, we are thinking about next year and the things we hope to plant.

Everyone of us will get tired -- maybe from working on our gardens, or taking care of our children when they have stomach bugs at night, or even delivering babies.  The question is whether the things which we are investing ourselves in are good and worthwhile.

Only then will our harvest be worth reaping.

Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen entered the news again a couple of weeks ago.  For those unfamiliar, he is a pastor of a church in the Houston area.  He is best know for writing a book that espouses the idea that you can live "Your Best Life Now."  Apparently after Hurricane Harvey moved into the Houston area, there was a period of time where he didn't offer his church as a haven for flooded out refugees.  As one can imagine, this became a twenty-four hour discussion on Facebook and other social media platforms.

I hesitate to say anything about that situation.  Certainly it would have been difficult from a logistic standpoint to not only open the church, but also to get staff and support in to care for the people in need.  Certainly in the end, the church was opened to the displaced people of Houston.

I think people struggle with Joel Osteen for a number of reasons.  It isn't that he is worth 40 million dollars or, that he feels just a little fake as he shares his messages with adoring fans.  The problem is that his message doesn't connect with most of us.

The bigger problem is that his isn't a Christian message.

I have read the Bible through many times and Pastor Osteen is right that the Bible says clearly that God loves us.  What he is totally wrong about is that a loving God will give His children whatever they want and ask for.

I'm not a perfect dad.  I have my struggles, but I love my children very deeply and because I love my children, I do not (and never would) give them everything they ask for.  Even if I had the money and space for all the stuff they want, it would be harmful for them to have everything that popped into their heads to want.  It would not be healthy for them to eat dessert first and forego green beans in exchange for potato chips.

God's Word makes it clear that He is a far better father than any earthly father could be and as such, He give us good things, but He also gives us hardship and trials because those are the things that build our characters and draw us closer to Him.  If I pray for a million dollars He probably won't give it to me, not because He doesn't love me, but precisely because He does.

Looking back at the apostles and great people of faith over the years, they often were quite poor and yet they constantly gave of themselves.  I can't imagine Paul or Peter praying for wealth except that they might help others with it.

I know that God has blessed us with many more things, both physical and spiritual, than we deserve.  In the end, He wants us to desire something more than this life and the things this world has to offer.  Even if we had millions of dollars, we would be empty if we didn't have Him.

Truly if we hope and pray and chase fame and wealth, we may find a little bit of them in our lives here, but we'll miss the far more important things that God wants us to learn.

It is easy to pray for God to bless us and our families, but I think such prayers are a little shallow.  I would learn to pray for God to make me the sort of man who can bless those around me and to draw me close to Him.  That is the only place where I will find true satisfaction.

Irma!

Hurricane Irma is coming barreling towards the Florida Coast like an octogenarian who has just discovered that her neighbor is cheating at bingo.  Her wrath has already wiped out dwellings on Antigua and Puerto Rico and now Florida is apparently in her sights.

The news reports are full of stories of the devastation that Irma is capable of and it is not surprising to see images of traffic jams on I-95 going north from Miami.  Structures built by humans just don't feel safe in the face of sustained 150 mile an hour winds and many inches of rain.

I suppose it is in times like this that we realize where our faith lies.  If our confidence is in buildings, in governments, or even in our own wisdom and resources then a Level 4 Hurricane headed our way will shake our very foundations. 

A story comes to my mind of a group of men who were out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm blew up.  This was in the days before outboard motors and GPS units and in their tiny craft they were out matched.  The winds and waves were just too strong.  Their skill was not enough to bring the boat ashore and they were in danger of drowning.

It was in this moment that they woke a sleeper.  "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 

I'm not sure what they expected Jesus to do, maybe sympathize and join their terror.  Maybe they just wanted another set of hands to help bail the boat out.  What He actually did was to get up and rebuke the storm and all was peaceful.

There are many things that we humans put our trust in, but they all have limits, except for Jesus.  When everything is falling apart and Irma has come to call, we need a secure place to stand and someone trustworthy to place our faith in.

Many of the storms we face are never given a name, but Jesus has power over them all.  It is only with Jesus that we can have peace and make it through to the other side.

Why?

"It's terrible!"  Anna wailed.

"It'll be OK," I said.  "There are another 179 school days this year."

"You don't understand, Dad," Anna said, between her tears.  "The first day of school is always the best.  You don't do very much work and it's always so much fun."

It was the first day of school and Anna had awakened with a stomach virus, unable to keep anything down.  Clearly school was out of the question.

"It'll be OK," I said futilely. 

"You just don't understand!"  Anna said, bursting into tears again. "Why, oh why did I have to be sick today of all days?"

Why?  It's the sort of question that usually doesn't have an answer.

My experience is that we seldom ask the why questions about the good things that befall us.  I suppose we believe in our hearts that we deserve good things and that God really should shower us with blessings.

On the other hand, it is when terrible things happen that we break out this question.  A mass shooting, a child with cancer, or a family member in an accident seem to bring this question to the minds of many.

The problem is the underpinnings of this question.  It is really asking "If there is a good God who could prevent bad things from happening, why didn't He?"

As I search through the Bible for answers, I do not find them.  God does not reveal His thoughts to humans nor His plans to those who could not understand them.

What He does reveal in His Word are promises of suffering and persecution for the People who God has chosen, but He tells us more.  As I continue to read, I find promises of a God who will not abandon His people.

The road is hard.  We will not know the "Why?" behind many of the events that happen to us.  We can only know for certain that at the end God is waiting to welcome His people home.

And that's enough.

Totality or Bust!

 

"Totality or bust!"  The caption on the back of the GMC Jimmy read.  "See you in the Smokies!"  Apparently someone was taking the solar eclipse fairly seriously.

Judging by the traffic moving on Sunday afternoon, a lot of other folks were in the mood to see the sun blocked by the moon for about two and a half minutes.  Of course, it's pretty easy to block the sun.  I did it just the other day with my hand, I think you could use a piece of paper, and every evening, around sun down, the earth itself blocks the sun from our eyes -- what I like to call a "terrestrial eclipse."

Now, for those who have lived through a "terrestrial eclipse," they will tell you that it is a sight to see.  It gets much, much darker than during your standard solar eclipse, the stars come out, and sometimes you can even see a full moon visible.  In addition, no special glasses are needed to look at the sky during it.

I suppose all of this begs the question "What is the significance of objects coming between the sun and the earth?"

In the ancient times, when people worshiped the sun it was a big deal.  The sun was getting sick and that spelled death and destruction within the realm.

These days, we understand all sorts of things.  We know that the earth goes around the sun and that the moon goes around the earth.  We know that solar eclipses are a spectacle to be marveled at through NASA approved, cardboard framed solar glasses.  We know that the end of the world may be coming, but not because of the eclipse.  We know that the traffic after a solar eclipse makes it feel like the end of the world.

I think of all of this and it comes to my mind that this is very much like our relationship with God.  He is our sun and the One on whom we depend.  At the same time, there are times when it feels as though there is darkness between us and Him.  There are periods when our prayers seem to go no farther than the ceiling.

It is easy in these moments to believe that God is truly distant from us, that He no longer cares and has abandoned us to the whims of an uncaring Universe.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Instead, it is only on our side that He can't be seen.  On His side, He continues to shine as brightly as ever and He still hears and answers our prayers, regardless of how "high" we think they are going.

In the midst of the darkest eclipse we can know without a doubt that God is still there and He has not changed one iota.

The darkness, however deep, is only temporary.

Herod the Great

"And now," said our guide.  "We are going to go aaaaaaaaaalllll  the way to Caesarea!"

As we drove north of Tel Aviv, he proceeded to tell us a little about the countryside we were passing through and then as we approached Caesarea, he told us more about that city.  "This was the new port that Herod the Great built to replace the old port of Jaffa.  It was a modern city when he built it, a Roman city.  It was the place where the Roman governors would rule from later on."

He went on to tell us more about the place we were about to visit, but one man's name became a theme:  Herod the Great. 

I had thought when we visited Israel that we would see a variety of sites, some from the time of Jesus, some maybe from the time of King Hezekiah, and some older, dating to the times of King David and Solomon.  More than anyone else, though, Herod's impact is still seen.  Whether it is Caesarea, the Temple Mount, or the Masada, the things he built remain -- at least to a certain extent.

Herod built cities and palaces.  He spent vast amounts of wealth and time building these and to what purpose?  I suppose to leave a legacy.

At the same time, when you travel to the places where massive stone structures were erected, all that can be seen now is rubble.  In some places, the modern Israelis have set up pillars that had fallen over with the passage of time and reconstructed walls from the rubble -- enough that one can still judge the greatness of these works in their day, but little else.

It reminds me a little of the poem of Ozymandias, by Shelley.  "Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!"  Ozymandias is telling the mighty to despair because of the vastness of his works, but the reality is that they need to despair because none of his works survived.

Herod's legacy is found more in the stories of his cruelty and his bitterness.  Not the sort of thing that a few walls in the desert can cover up.

It seems as though many of the "great" men in history tried to build things that people would remember them by.  Large homes, huge tombs, and various buildings have been left behind, even as their names are largely forgotten.

It strikes me that another king who lived at very much the same time as Herod the Great has left a much bigger legacy.  Jesus Christ built nothing that we can see today, wrote nothing personally, did not even own His own home -- and yet, He impacted more lives than anyone else in history.  It was the way He came and lived and the way He died that speaks to us.

None of us will probably leave behind us huge monuments as a legacy or even vast sums of money for our heirs to waste in frivolous ways, but that wouldn't mean much anyway.  Far better to live each day as Jesus did, loving people who won't appreciate it and giving our all for them.

How people remember us is dependent not on what we build, but on who we are and who we follow.

From India?

"So," the lady said to me.  "I heard you're from India?"

"Well, close," I answered her.  "My family actually moved to the area from Indiana."

"Oh," the lady said.  "I thought you talked awful good for someone so far away."  She paused.  "And I heard you're a Mormon?"

"I'm a Mennonite," I replied.  "I guess both of those do start with the letter 'M,' though."

I suppose I am the talk of Brookneal and there have been more than a few conversations about the new doctor.  But this one highlights one of the problems with gossip.  For, something that begins with a factual story can turn into a fanciful tale that is only partially related to the truth.

More than that, gossip is a sin that is dangerous, not only to the person being talked about, but also to the person sharing the "news."  It is just awfully easy to go from sharing honest information to the place where we are saying hurtful things about a person.

Our words and thoughts should always begin with love.

It is easy to think that this is a small town problem, but the truth is that I think all of us struggle with this at one time or, another.   At the same time, God doesn't appreciate it when we share juicy stories about others, even if they are completely true.

Much less if we are repeating stories about the new Mormon Indian who is currently seeing patients in Brookneal.

All Roads Lead to Rome

"Dad," my son, Vince said to me.  "Sometimes people say things that aren't true."

"I suppose that you are right," I said.  "What were you thinking of?"

"People say 'All Roads Lead to Rome,'" Vince answered me seriously.  "But the only way to get to Rome from here is by boat or airplane.  So, I don't think any of our roads lead to Rome."

"Maybe they are just saying that if you drive far enough in any direction your cell phone will go to 'Roam' mode," I suggested.

"You're just joking," Vince said and moved off to think about something else (probably what the saying 'There's more than one way to skin a cat," actually means).

Of course, the saying references the glory days of the Roman Empire.  In that era, distant lands were linked by Roman roads that ran straight through swamps and high mountains, taking the trade and armies to the furthest reaches of the empire.  But if you went far enough along any of them, they would eventually lead you to the center of the empire, Rome.

People who use this saying are really saying that there are many different paths that end up at the same place.

This simply isn't true.

There certainly are a lot of paths that end in the Mountains of Disaster and only one that leads to the Vale of Victory and the heavenly city that lies beyond.

I have heard it said that it is far better to choose your destination first and then pick your road than to pick your road and hope it ends someplace worth visiting.  All too often, people would rather choose a road where the entrance ramp looks nice and their friends are all going on it.  This is really dangerous.

Not all roads do lead to Rome.

Just ask Vince.

An App for Airline Anxiety

As we boarded the plan on an eight hour flight to Europe, I looked at the other people who were settling into their (almost) comfortable seats.  They were breaking out travel pillows and nonchalantly putting noise cancelling head phones on.  Few seemed to be dealing with much anxiety, although truth to tell, humans are pretty good at hiding these sorts of nervous feelings from those around them.

Elaine had downloaded an app before we left called "Am I Going Down?"  It purported to tell you the chance that your plane would crash on the way to its destination.  Taking a Boeing 767 from Dulles to Vienna gave a chance of 1 in 3,912,617 of crashing, as per this amazing app.  In other words, you could take that flight every days for 10,719 years without going down.

I suppose that this sort of an app is supposed to reassure the folks using it, although I wonder if anyone who is truly afraid of flying would actually be calmed by this odd, little program.  For anyone like me, flying still seems a pretty unnatural activity, regardless of what a computer program might say.

Sometimes when something always happens according to plan it becomes routine and we cease to appreciate the amazing nature of it.  At the same time, people of a hundred years ago could scarcely have imagined an eight hour trip between Austria and Washington D. C.,  much less have imagined that such a journey would become routine.

We need to have our eyes opened -- not to see unseen angels, but to recognize seen miracles.  I pray that we might see not just the miracles of modern technology, but also to see the wonders that the Almighty placed in nature that happen just the way that they are supposed to every time.

They don't happen that way because they have to, they happen because God is just that great.

Letting People Know

It was four hours into our ten hour flight from Vienna to Washington D. C.  Vince was looking at a book about butterflies.  I was watching Elliot squirming and thinking that it was about time to walk him down the aisle to give him (another) bathroom break when I saw the flight attendants coming down the aisle to pick up food trays.

Anna was sitting across the aisle from the boys and me.  When the flight attendant came to her, Anna handed her tray to the lady and then handed her a piece of paper.  The woman unfolded it and then gave Anna a beaming smile.

I knew without seeing it what that paper was. 

Anna has taken to writing little notes to cleaning staff at hotels, waitresses, and other sundry folk telling them that they are doing a good job and thanking them for it.  It clearly makes a difference.  People seem to light up more than they would from a twenty-five dollar tip.

I suppose it is something that I think about a lot.  It is a blessing to find someone who says thank you.  It is a joy to see a child who sees a thankless job that is overlooked and is grateful for it -- and then proceeds to let others know.

I know that over the past several months, my family and I have been abundantly blessed.  People have given to us until our cup has run over.  They have helped in so many ways that I cannot begin to share them all.

I may not be able to draw a picture of you (that is recognizable as a human) or do anything else in recognition, but I am still grateful.  God has blessed me in so many ways through others, there is just one thing I can say as I think about it.

Thank you!

Teaching an Earthworm to Swim

I came upon Vince and Elliot (my sons) studying a little glass with some water in it.  "What are you doing, boys?"  I asked them.

"We found this worm," Elliot told me.  "And now we are teaching him to swim!"

"Really," I said and looking closer saw the poor earthworm floating in the water.  "How is he doing?"

"Not very well,"  Elliot said.  "But maybe he will figure it out soon."

I never followed up to see if Mr. Earthworm ever learned to swim, but I doubt it.  It probably would be better to spend time in designing earthworm sized flotation devices than teaching them to swim.  It isn't in their nature and physical capability to do so.  They were created to burrow in the earth and that is what they do really well.

Perhaps it seems like a different subject entirely, but this is the same reason that we humans struggle to be good.  Ever since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, our nature and hearts incline towards darkness and sin.

It is for this reason that Jesus came and died.  He came not only to atone for our sins, but also to create in us a new nature, capable of serving God the way He desires.

Without that changed heart, we are incapable of learning to be righteous before God.

You may be able to teach the world to sing, but you can't teach an earthworm to swim.

It needs a change in nature, not just a change in knowledge.

Knowing Everything?

"Dad, I'm really not into birds any more," Vince told me a few days ago.

"Really," I said.  "Why not?"

"It's just that I know everything about them -- at least for the birds in North America," he replied, very seriously.  "Now, I need to learn about wildflowers."

It is a little funny when an eight year old tells you that he knows everything there is to know about birds (or any subject for that matter).  I suppose what he means is that he has exhausted the information found in the field guide to North American birds that I gave to him a few months ago.  He certainly has studied it a lot over that time.

One of the things that growing up fixes is that feeling that we know everything. 

I think that I knew the most when I was in sixth grade.  I knew all of the state capitals, had a decent concept of history, and could do long division, fractions and even diagram sentences.  I knew there were a few gaps in my knowledge base, but I was sure that within a couple of years, even those would be resolved.

Flash forward thirty years and I have finished college, medical school, and three years of residency.  I take a lot of continuing medical education.  The one thing I am sure of at this point is that I don't have complete knowledge about any particular subject. 

That's more than OK, because it would be an awfully small world in which I could know "everything," even about a relatively small field like Birds of North America.

The reality is that this world is bigger and more intricate than human thought is capable of imagining and beneath each layer of answers is another set of questions.

Just like the God who made it.