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Printer Friendly VersionAs evidence life can bring some nasty surprises, consider the
following account:
I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block
number three of the accident reporting form, I put "poor planning"
as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain
more and I trust that the following details are sufficient:
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was
working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my
work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather
than carry the bricks down by hand I decided to lower them in a barrel by
using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the side of the building
at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at the ground level, I went up to the roof,
swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the
ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of
the 500 pounds of bricks. You will note in block number 11 of the accident
reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked
off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go
of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side
of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming
down. This explains the fractured scull and broken collarbone. Slowed only
slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my
right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time
I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope
in spite of my pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks
hit the ground - and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight
of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you
again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid
descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming
up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and lacerations of my legs
and lower body. The encounter with the barrel, slowed me enough to lessen
my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and fortunately, only three
vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there
on the bricks in pain, unable to move, and watching the barrel six stories
above - I again lost my presence of mind.
I let go of the rope!
Pastors frequently get those middle-of-the-night phone calls
from the desperate or heartbroken parishioner who has let go of the rope because
life has just hit them too hard too many times. The joy and victory God promises
seems so far away in those moments even as we hold out the hope of God to
our wounded brother or sister.
Paul had endured numerous circumstances in his life that were
these “hitting bottom” kind of times. He had faced beatings, imprisonment,
sickness, persecution, dangerous travels, sharp disagreements from his “friends”.
Yet this letter to his friends in Philippi is peppered with words like “joy”
and “rejoice! He comes to the end and speaks of this contentment he has
found that holds solid no matter what. And he writes these words while imprisoned
in Rome. What’s his secret? How can you and I survive and thrive even
when things fall apart? Like Paul, we can develop an attitude of joy and contentment
even when facing great adversity by relying on the…
On the advice of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, the parents of Helen
Keller sent for a teacher from the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston,
Massachusetts. Anne Sullivan, a 19-year old orphan, was chosen for the task
of instructing 6-year old Helen. It was the beginning of a close and lifelong
friendship between them. By means of a manual alphabet, Anne “spelled”
into Helen’s hand such words as doll or puppy. Two years later Helen
was reading and writing Braille fluently. At 10 Helen learned different sounds
by placing her fingers on her teacher’s larynx and “hearing”
the vibrations. Later Helen went to Radcliffe College, where Anne spelled
the lectures into Helen’s hand. After graduating with honors, Helen decided
to devote her life to helping the blind and deaf. As a part of that endeavor,
she wrote many books and articles and traveled around the world making speeches.
Since Helen’s speeches were not intelligible to some, Anne often translated
for her.
Their nearly 50 years of companionship ended when Anne died
in 1936. Helen wrote these endearing words about her lifelong friend:
My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself
apart from her. I feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that
the footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to her –
there is not a talent or an inspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened
by her loving touch.
Paul says to us: “Rejoice, the Lord is near.” In many
ways, what Anne Sullivan was to Helen Keller, the Holy Spirit is to the believer.
Paul says we can have great joy and comfort because the Lord is near. This
was Paul’s anchor in a raging sea of persecution: “for me, to live
is Christ.” Our ability to retain joy and peace in difficult times is
made possible by the nearness and the personal involvement of God himself
in our circumstances. We are never alone.
While kayaking in southern England off the Isle of Wight, Mark
Ashton-Smith, a 33-year old lecturer at Cambridge University, capsized in
treacherous waters. Clinging to his craft and reaching for his cell phone,
Ashton-Smith’s first inclination was to call his father. It didn’t
matter to the desperate son that his dad, Alan Pimm-Smith, was at work training
British troops in Dubai 3,500 miles away. Without delay, the father relayed
his son’s mayday to the Coast Guard installation nearest his son’s
location. Ironically, it was less than a mile away. Within 12 minutes, a helicopter
retrieved the grateful Ashton-Smith.
Like this kayaker, when we are in peril, our first impulse should
be to call our Father—the one we trust to help us. God’s nearness
enables us to become automatically and instinctively dependent upon him for
everything. As a Father, he cares very deeply for us. He is the perfect Father,
the model for what all human father- and motherhood ought to be like. The
depth of our trust is demonstrated by the degree to which we bring even the
most basic things to him asking for his help, concern, guidance, and wisdom.
The award-winning film Schindler’s List tells the story
of how Oskar Schindler, a German entrepreneur, first exploits but later protects
Jews in Poland. When Jews are forced into a ghetto, Schindler employs them
at his kitchenware factory. When the tide turns on the Eastern front and German
forces retreat, Schindler begins manufacturing faulty artillery for the German
army. Disillusioned with the Nazi party, Schindler conspires with his Jewish
accountant, Itzhak Stern, to employ Jews from nearby labor camps, thus saving
them from extermination.
When Germany finally surrenders, Schindler knows he is a wanted
man for wrongly using Jews as slave labor. As he prepares to flee, Schindler
is surrounded by over 1,000 Jews whose lives he saved. His accountant-turned-friend
Itzhak hands Schindler a piece of paper with a list of names on it. “We’ve
written a letter trying to explain things in case you were captured. Every
worker has signed it.”
Schindler is moved by this gesture and thanks them. Itzhak then
gives Schindler a gold ring with an inscription on it. “It’s in
Hebrew, from the Talmud,” he says, “It means ‘Whoever saves
one life saves the entire world.’”
Weeping, Schindler cries out, “I could have got more! I
could have got more!”
Itzhak reassures him, “Eleven hundred people are alive because of you.”
Schindler laments, “If I had made more money…I threw so much money
away. You have no idea. If I just…”
Again, Itzhak emphasizes that Schindler has saved generations
because of what he did.
“I didn’t do enough,” Schindler says.
“You did so much,” Itzhak reaffirms.
Emotionally undone, Schindler muses, “This care –
what use is this car? Why did I keep this car? I could have saved ten more
people.” Then taking off his Nazi lapel badge, he guiltily says. “This
is gold. I could have saved more.”
Today, there are more than 6,000 descendants of Schindler’s
Jews living in the USA, Europe, and around the world. All of the world’s
possessions are not as precious as one person.
Our values determine our value – we become what we are
committed to being and having. Our reactions in times of crisis reveal the
kind of person we truly are. What we choose to live for will determine how
we react when we are under pressure. Being committed to the right values in
times of prosperity will produce a person able to remain consistent and content
in times of famine.
God uses difficult times to reveal something to us of our priorities
and where our treasure really is. We must be careful to choose wisely so that
our lives, in the end, are not ones of regret but of rejoicing.
Counsel of Spiritual Leadership (“Whatever you have learned
or received or heard from me—put it into practice” 4:9)
David Bloom, Today Show co-host on weekends, died on April6,
2003, while covering Operation Irawi Freedom. Ironically, Bloom did not die
from injuries sustained in conflict, but rather of a pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary
emboli occur among those who sit for long periods of time. Bloom spent much
of his time in a cramped Army vehicle.
When Bloom begin experiencing pain, he consulted several doctors.
Frederik Balfour, a reporter with BusinessWeek Online, wrote:
He consulted military doctors and described his condition to
overseas physicians. They suspected DVT, or deep vein thrombosis, and advised
him to seek proper medical attention. He ignored their advice, swallowed some
aspirins, and kept on working. On Sunday, he died of a pulmonary embolism.
David Bloom took several precautions to avoid becoming a casualty
of war, but ignored the warnings of doctors who insisted that his life was
in danger from a treatable condition.
Tragedy can strike at any time and place. But the greatest tragedy
of all is that which could have been avoided by paying attention to constructive
advice. The intelligent man will see the knowledge and direction of those
who can guide him; the wise man will follow that advice.
Paul exhorts his friends and challenged them to follow his counsel,
to imitate his example. They’ve been given directions and told how to
be genuinely loving and holy people. Now he challenges them to put it into
action. This is the lesson being offered by the one who has walked the difficult
paths of life.
Truth is the road map for negotiating the difficult challenges
of life. Without it we get lost and we develop emotional problems that tell
us we’re lost. We often settle for half-truths or no truth at all because
they are usually easier. But truth is the only road to emotional health. There
is no other path. (Citation: Psychologist Chris Thurman, Preaching Today)
When things fall apart around us, we can navigate the difficult
chasms of life with the help of those around us who have learned, who have
walked ahead, who can tell us what to watch for, how to act, where to go.
In times of great difficulty or critical decision-making we can rely on the
spiritual leadership of the Holy Spirit delivered to us through people he
places around us.
The bottom may fall out of life, but we don’t have to go down with it. It is possible for us to experience stability, contentment and peacefulness even when we face great obstacles in life. But this opportunity comes to us only through the comfort of divine companionship, the choice we make of prayerful dependence, the commitments we hold to the truth, and the counsel of spiritual leadership we seek from God through those around us.