perservence

This came in an email -- apparently an ad for hair products -- illustrating the importance of perseverence. It speaks in a universal language of facing adversity with a heart to go forward.

It speaks of finding your talent for making the world a better place and pursuing it -- sometimes against all odds.

Going forward

Hiking down from "lunch in the clouds"

A willingness to go forward, and not to quit, is important in so many facets of our life experience.

After lunch, we four (see previous blog post, below) came down from not-quite-the-summit of Mount Gardiner, to find the road that would lead us through fields and fern forests to Elaine’s cabin overlooking the Pacific.

Somebody mentioned that a bus frequents this road. The option of riding back to the village and catching the ferry a day early appealed splendidly to my toes and legs. At the point of decision, Joan asked if I wanted to go on to the cabin (opposite direction from the ferry).

It was really dear of these Canadians to be sharing their special hiking treasures, and I didn’t want to disappoint them. It’s important to know that I’d been praying a lot all day to be a blessing rather than a burden.

When asked about the remaining terrain, was there much up and down, Elaine assured me, “Oh no, just a little up.” Yet it was startling to hear myself agreeing to continue to the cabin.

My prayer at this point became urgent.

“Father,” I said, “If you are sending me to this cabin, you’ll have to get me there. I cannot walk another step.”

In retrospect, this was not a bad prayer. Jesus had explained to his disciples that he could do nothing by himself, but depended totally on his Father in heaven.

It is spiritually healthy to be at the point of realizing that we can do nothing without aid from “above.” Somehow that low mental point often flings thought open to really letting God help. To letting God be God.

My sense of God is that He/She is infinite Mind, always active, always revealing creation, unfolding solutions to our human problems all the time. Mostly it’s a matter of our listening carefully and attentively enough to hear or see them.

Within just a couple of minutes of having agreed to go forward, the pain in my legs vanished. It was just gone. Gratefully I caught up with Joan, and we closed the gap somewhat with the gals who were leading.

In the cabin at last!

The uphill grades were indeed gentle. Cheeses and homemade bread for dinner tasted terrific. After the sun set, candles, substituting for electricity, lent a peaceful warmth to conversation .

And I learned once again the importance of being willing to go forward --whatever that means in one’s particular circumstances.

A tale of two vendors

Innocent looking panel box -

but something needed fixing.

Condo living is great. Somebody else is responsible for shoveling the snow, cutting the grass, raking the leaves.

However, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. What's behind the scenes is called the condo board, elected volunteers who connect with the management company and the vendors and make sure things continue running smoothly.

In one of our buildings, the alarm panel that automatically alerts the fire department in case of emergency, malfunctioned. The state requires that panel to function properly. So the fire sprinkler inspection people came out and checked their equipment and said everything was working fine. Therefore, it must be the telephone people's responsibility.

The phone company technicians came out and tested their equipment. Everything worked properly, they said.

It was back to the fire sprinkler inspection vendor. They came out again and confirmed their equipment was fine. Back to the phone company, and so on. Would you believe, for months?

Solutions are not supposed to be this complicated.

So, what exactly wasn’t working, and who could find it and fix it?

Since I was the contact for these vendors, I finally realized (better late than never!) I’d better pray about this puzzle. My prayer went something like this: Dear Father, You are Mind itself, infinite intelligence, and it is your loving nature to meet every human need. It’s a human need to comply with state regulations, and I don’t know what to do next. But you do. So I am ready to hear what it is you want me to do.

It came to me to call the sprinkler inspectors again, and talk to Brad, the service manager. Brad wanted very much to solve this lingering problem. So he sent a technician who came armed with 30 years' experience. He studied the alarm panel parts carefully and then asked an out-of the-box question for a sprinkler inspector. “Where is your phone equipment?”

In that room he opened a box to find a little rectangular green module that connects the alarm panel to the phone lines. He ran some tests on that little rascal, discovered a bad wire, replaced it and, quick as a bunny, the alarm panel was back on-line. We were connected and in compliance – for the first time in months.

Did prayer make a difference? I believe it did. Because phone calls without prayer had, for months, solved nothing. Phone calls after honest prayer resulted in a quick and permanent solution. As I see it, the successful technician was inspired to push the boundaries of where to find what needed fixing.

Hurray! Or as a dear friend often cheers, sincerely, "Yea God!"

Managing big projects a step at a time

Step by step

kids learn the game

One morning about a month ago I walked into the local Park District field house and my friend Mark had his maintenance crew sweeping and vacuuming the floors between and under the bleacher seats. In the winter, they focus on indoor cleaning. This has to be done in the early morning hours, and it was instructive to observe.

The next week he was atop an indoor “cherry picker” dusting the blades of one of the oversize fans that hang from the ceiling. A huge pile of accumulated dust gathered on the floor beneath him. By the end of the week all six fans were clean and gently circulating the air.

After that Mark tackled the supports that hold the six basketball hoops. He dusted and washed them from the top supports near the ceiling, all the way down to the hoops themselves. By the week’s end, the supports gleamed as though they’d been given a coat of fresh black paint.

Next were the dividers – curtain-like pieces that unroll from the ceilings to separate three simultaeous volley ball games. And finally the crew gave the hardwood floor a thorough cleaning that removed most of the scuff marks that accumulate in an active field house. In six weeks time the place looked sparkling.

To make a little time and geography jump here, 2,000 years ago the people of Athens faithfully worshipped many gods, and to be sure none were left out, they even had an altar to the unknown God. Then Paul came along explaining this one ever-present, all-powerful good God. He said they lived in this God, moved in this God, had their very being in this God.

How would you deal with such a huge new concept? Perhaps one idea at a time. Much as Mark approached the winter field house cleaning – a huge project. Yet seeing the overview he broke it down into bite-size pieces, a few hours each morning. And the cleaning was accomplished in an orderly and harmonious way.

That’s a valid approach to life itself. Deal with the demands and requirements one step at a time.

If we aren’t ready to say that God doesn’t know evil at all, can we say at least that He is the source of all good? And begin to identify that good in our lives, and think about what it means that it might all come from one intelligent source?

And to think about being grateful for all that’s good and beautiful? These are first steps, and useful ones in a spiritual approach to life.

No limit to the good you can accomplish

One of the kids has a report to write on an American who has made a significant contribution to mankind. He knew his choice. So we went to the library today and checked out three books at his reading level -- on George Washington Carver.

As the boys played Legos nearby, I picked up one of the books and was reading it to myself.

Born probably during the American Civil War, infant George and his mother were snatched away by slave kidnappers, to be sold in another state. George was found and returned to his home, but his mother was never located. Despite overwhelming odds, and with the encouragement and faith of adult friends, this youngster was determined to learn, and his love was birds and plants.

Reading about his amazing life and brave decisions, I oohed and ahhed aloud. To the boys’ raised eyebrows, I explained George’s cleverness in securing his first job as a cook at the age of 13. They were hooked and settled in on the couch on either side of me. I continued reading aloud for the next couple of hours as they listened intently.

We heard the story of a child, a young man, and then an adult, who never gave up, who made the best of what he had, and often made the best even better. A man who loved nature. A man whose goal was to improve life first for his own people, and then for everyone else as well. His expertise became farming. And his practical contributions were hundreds and far-reaching.

We also heard the story of a man who was on intimate terms with his God. He had conversations with God, asked Him questions, listened carefully to the answers.

This God connection finally explained, for me, how he could accomplish so much good. Because I also believe that the source of all that is good is God. Yet this humble man teaches me that my questions to my Maker are mostly too small in scope. I need to ask more questions, broader questions, and to listen better for the answers.

To accomplish unlimited good, we must commune with an unlimited God. And not be afraid after asking the basic questions, to go forward with the answers we hear.

When you swerve to the right or left,
you hear a Voice behind you whispering,
"This is the way, walk here."
(Moffatt)