Dribble, pass, or shoot!

He tries for the basket

A diminutive second-grader in a green park district T-shirt, holds the basketball tightly for what seems an eternity, anxiously scanning the court for any green-shirted teammate available to take the ball.

“Dribble, pass, or shoot!” his coach calls.

Although park district basketball rules for second graders are very tolerant of the fact that children are just learning to handle the ball, the coaches also remind the youngsters of what they should be doing.

Dribble means to move while bouncing the ball. Pass means to get the ball to a teammate who might be in a better position to try for a basket. Shoot means to expose yourself to instant success or failure by aiming for that basket that seems so high.

In their own way, these action verbs describe life. Life requires us to be participants. Sometimes we dribble, looking for an opening, looking for what we are supposed to do next.

Other times we see clearly it is time to pass the ball to someone else, to give them an opportunity to go forward with something of value from us.

And still other times we realize we must leap up with hope, and maybe some skill and experience, and shoot for the basket.

If you are on a team, that team will support your efforts. Yet there are times when we feel like we’re on our own, and clinging to the ball hasn't been productive; when we know we need to dribble, pass, or shoot.

That’s when feeling cared for and loved by a tender Father-Mother God means a lot to me. The great Coach is with us no matter what. He/She provides the players we need in this Life-game. In turn, our job is to value and support our teammates.

Although these teammates may change with the seasons, knowing we can lean on an unchanging infinite Love, a strength and wisdom beyond ourselves, inspires us to go forward in unfamiliar paths, to be willing to step outside our comfort zones, to persevere and find solutions where none are obvious, to go forward in the expectancy of doing our best.

Go Team!

Turning lives around

Valuing others' lives --

A mama swan protects her babies.

One of today’s encouraging phrases runs something like, “He did a complete turnaround.” Or “She did a one-eighty -- referring to the number of degrees required to change from facing in one direction to facing the exact opposite direction. North to south, east to west.

I love when “one-eighty” praises someone’s ability to make a dramatic course correction.

Jesus was always doing that – turning people’s lives around, facing them in new and promising directions. It was as though he put a gentle finger under a downcast chin and lifted the gaze from the ground – helping them to see their world on an eye-to-eye basis, literally lifting their self-esteem to glimpse their worthiness as children of a loving Father.

The woman dragged to him for judgment makes a great example. From the scant information provided, it sounds like an entrapment – she had been set-up and caught having sex with a man not her husband. The Pharisees, Jesus’ self-appointed very public critics, had tossed her in front of him as so much trash, daring him to not have her stoned to death as Moses’ law required.

Jesus let them rant awhile and then posed a solution. Anyone of you, he proposed, who has never committed a sin, never done anything wrong, go ahead and throw the first rock. His simple statement demanded honesty and self-knowledge. Quietly, they all left.

And the woman! What a sense of freedom and relief when Jesus helped her see that no one was accusing her anymore. He sent her home with the admonition to stay out of trouble - specifically to sin no more. Was he was showing her God-given sinless nature? the satisfaction and self-worth that come from recognizing the genuine beauty and purity of her true femininity?

When he healed people – blind, crippled, diseased – usually long-time sufferers, he restored purpose and value. Jesus' life message was one of hope, healing, transformation.

He told his followers to do what he did. I wonder, if we all made a special effort to value those who come into our lives today, how much hope and purpose we might bring without even knowing it? Might we just help turn somebody's life around?

What size is your puppy?

A friend sent an email called “Puppy size.”

"Puppy size" tells about a little girl who helps her parents understand hearts speaking. Her mom takes her to an animal shelter to find just the right puppy. The little girl knows she will recognize it by its puppy size. Week after week she cannot find the right puppy. Her patient, but exasperated, parents are clueless about why the little girl isn't selecting a puppy. Finally she finds the right puppy and is able to explain to her mom that the puppy sighed when it was in her arms.

All along she was looking for puppy sighs (not size). She knew the puppy loved her when his heart sighed in happiness.

Thus heart speaks to heart. How comfortable we feel in the presence of those who love and care about us. And how comfortable they feel when they can trust and lean on our love. It's a mutually giving and appreciating.

This love isn't selfish or possessive, doesn't have a hidden agenda. We're talking about an affection that's pure, honest, gentle, strong – all at once. The comfort the little girl and the puppy recognized was a genuine mutual caring that just snuggles in and trusts.

As I see it, this symbolizes the all-embracing love God has for each of us as His/Her children. Straight-forward, pure, honest, dependable, unconditional. That's a big one. Unconditional love. Knowing our own short-comings, we might object and say, "I'm just not worthy of that kind of love."

Yet there is something we can do to thank our Maker for the depth and strength of such love. We can love each other better – in the highest sense. We can look for opportunities to be kind, thoughtful, patient, caring – even in the middle of our busy days. Even when we are struggling with personal issues. In fact many people have found that spontaneously helping others breaks the mesmerism of feeling trapped in their own inner wrestlings.

We are worthy to be called the sons and daughters of God. And we have endless opportunity to show our thanks for such love.

---------------------------------------------

When the heart speaks,

however simple the words,

its language is always acceptable

to those who have hearts.

Mary Baker Eddy

Now I am giving you a new command --
love one another.
Just as I have loved you,

so you must love one another.

Christ Jesus

Phillips Modern English

---------------------------------------------

In praise of "the other grandma"

Molly is my counterpart – she’s the other grandmother of our shared grandsons.

Generous, kind, caring, and thorough, she raised her boys as a single mom out of necessity when her husband died young. They are responsible dads and husbands today, so it looks to me like she succeeded.

Recently retired from a long nursing career, she spends her free time helping others – an aunt, a neighbor, a friend. Her career skills make her welcome everywhere.

This year I had the privilege of witnessing her humanity at its best. Three times.

(First) Kathy had a medical emergency, and Molly called the ambulance, stayed at the hospital night and day, and then camped on the couch two weeks at Kathy's home until recovery was solidly underway. Patient, kind, never a cross word.

(Second) Weeks later we attended a celebration together, when my nephew’s girlfriend, Lynn, collapsed on the driveway. Molly was right there applying her nursing skills as somebody called 911. My nephew’s 13-year-old son Hank is very fond of Lynn, and was beside himself with anxiety, sobbing from the very depths of his being. The ambulance came and left with Lynn inside.

(Third) Seeing Hank’s despair, Molly came over and gently explained why, as a nurse, she felt Lynn would be just fine. Hank felt comforted. Grabbing the hope Molly had given him, he rallied; the tears and uncontrollable shaking stopped. Lynn rallied too.

More recently we were watching our grandsons play Park District summer baseball. We do squeeze some conversation into these sports outings, and Molly told me, “I just ask, ‘Where do you need me today, Lord?’ And I go.”

This touched me deeply. It explained the prayer back of all her good deeds. The unseen order of her ministry comes from her love for her fellow man, and her desire to serve God.

We are of different faiths. And I’m awed as she quietly lives her faith through her good works.

Mary Baker Eddy, the American woman who founded my faith, includes this poem in her autobiography. I'd say it fits Molly:

--------------------------------------

Ask God to give thee skill
In comfort 's art:
That thou may'st consecrated be
And set apart
Unto a life of sympathy.
For heavy is the weight of ill
In every heart;
And comforters are needed much
Of Christlike touch.
A. E. HAMILTON

--------------------------------------

Related links:
Florence Nightengale

Under the wings of the Most High

My friend has a beautiful olive colored macaw. They’ve had this feathered family member for over twenty years. He talks, he’s clever, amusing, and fun for all of them.

Linda says the bird teaches her wonderful lessons. For example Linda has often found comfort in the 91st Psalm, which includes this thought, “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust:”

She and the bird have a sweet and trusting relationship. One day she came up behind him, and placed her fingers under his wings (which would be our armpits). She said there were different feathers there, soft downy feathers found no where else on his whole body.

Linda suddenly gained new insight into the “wing” metaphor. That to be under the wings of a parent bird would not only be safe and sheltered, it would be cozy and comforting as well.

Thanks Robin Kopec for this great macaw photo!