Becoming A Child Again

Within our world, too many times we see children as mouths to feed, diapers to change and pretty much a drain of resources and time.  In Jesus’ day, it was much the same.  How many times when growing up did you hear the statement, “Children are to be seen and not heard!”  In this kind of world, children have no say in what happens to them.  They are totally dependent upon adults for everything, including food, shelter, and clothing.  

During Jesus’ day, the disciples were pushing children and their parents away.  Jesus upon seeing this was greatly disturbed by the adult’s actions.  He told his disciples and others nearby who were keeping the children from him to stop and let them come near. Matthew 18:2 tells us that Jesus called the little children to him and then looked up to the adults nearby and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”  This is how Jesus saw children, and not necessarily how we as adults see them.  He not only viewed children this way, he asked that we become like them.  When children play, they many times mimic adults in their games.  It is a child’s form of work, but with the fun factor included.  This does not mean that we as adults should play all day and walk away from responsibility, but that we look at our surroundings through new eyes.  

You have heard some individuals say that they haven’t worked a day in their lives because they have enjoyed the work that they do.  Somehow, many of us adults have forgotten how to have fun, and at the same time accomplish the tasks before us.  So much of the time, we go through the day and look at it as drudgery all the while waiting for the weekend to have fun, or for that matter, even until retirement.  When the time for fun is allowed by us to take place, we have been in the trenches of despair with our jobs and lives for so long that when this time comes, we have completely forgotten how to have fun.  

Many times, adults look at the sadness in their lives and blame it on their circumstances such as jobs, location, or even those people around them.  I believe Jesus is trying to tell us that life is more than seeking the elusive rainbow around the corner.  Many times, it isn’t what a child has that makes them happy, it is what is before them that they see as the potential for happiness. Taking our eyes off of what might be, to that of seeing what is, and finding joy in our surroundings.  If we take the time to watch children and how they meet the day, perhaps we as adults can learn from them.  William Wilberforce was a person with great influence in the British Parliament and was influential in gaining the freedom for African slaves in England. As influential as Wilberforce was, he would leave a meeting of prominent men to run out and play with his children when they beckoned him.  This confounded his peers very much, but over time Wilberforce’s example helped other influential lawmakers to see another perspective towards children, their value and importance. 

In this time of restrictions and confinement, perhaps we too can learn from our children and rediscover life through the eyes of a child.  “Father, help us to see our lives as you do, so that we may live a completed life filled with joy, excitement, and with the heart of a child.”

Leadership In A Time Of Crisis

During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln worked directly with the military on a daily basis.  He quickly found that generals who were good in peacetime were not always the ones who brought victory on the battlefield.  Striving to find those that could lead, Lincoln searched for a general who could promote positive leadership as well as one whom he could work with.  Eventually, he found that man in General Ulysses S. Grant.  Grant had won the war in the Western front and now was asked to take command of the whole army in the East where the heaviest battles were taking place.  He instilled in his men the belief that they could win, and Grant quickly removed those that proved to be ineffective and replaced them with men who could show the attributes that Grant was looking for.  Eventually the war was won by these same men.  

During World War II men who could get the job done were promoted very quickly.  Dwight D. Eisenhower who just a few years earlier was the adjutant to General Douglas McArthur.  As Eisenhower worked with and for General McArther, Eisenhower watched and learned from him.  Eisenhower took  from McArthur the ideas that worked for him personally as a leader, and put those aspects that Eisenhower saw as less than stellar about General McArthur off to the side.  Eisenhower became his own man and he himself chose men that possessed the same attributes as himself.  Eisenhower did not object to removing men from leadership as did Lincoln and Grant before him.  The situation demanded it and he could not cotyle, politicize, or sympathize with poor leadership.  One situation that Eisenhower was tasked with was to remove a general who waited too long for what (this general deemed as necessary for victory) re-enforcements to arrive when invading central Italy by the sea. By waiting, this general waited too long and the German divisions were allowed to escape to the North, forcing the American and British to fight them again, and this time on the German’s terms.  This was a costly mistake that costs many hundreds of lives and extended the Italian campaign by many days and weeks.  His delayed actions proved fatal for many G.I.s.

Today we are facing a crisis much like our great leaders have had in the past.  Rather than being fearful, our leadership must be decisive, and individuals must act promptly.  Mistakes are bound to be made, but by wavering in decision making, many, many lives will be lost due to ineffective leadership.  Decisiveness is crucial, but also good decision making is important.  Truly good leaders do not surround themselves with "yes" men, but those men and women who are allowed to disagree, those that have ideas that might be contrary to their leader.  Without the ability to do this, subordinates cannot share perspectives that might be better than their respective leader.  One leader once said, “I surround myself with a leadership team who challenge me to think outside the box of my conventional ways!”  Good leaders must also show to their constituents that they are confident in getting the job done, and they in turn must instill that confidence in those they lead.  Whether they are in education, business, law enforcement, or the military, these same skills still apply.  

During the Great Depression, American citizens were hungry for more than just food, they wanted hope as well.  During this time, President Roosevelt began his “Fireside Chats” over the radio.  Weekly, President Roosevelt would update American citizens on the programs that he newly initiated that would help them with their jobs, food, and communities.  This one event told the American people that their leader cared about them, and was not somewhere in an ivory tower unaffected by their collective hardships.  This too is another trait of great leadership.  

Just before the invasion of Europe, General Eisenhower knew that he would be sending many thousands of lives into harms way and many would not make it back home to their loved ones.  Eisenhower decided to walk among his men listening to their individual stories, all the while encouraging them and thanking these individuals for their willing sacrifices in the challenges that they would soon face in the coming days, weeks and months ahead. These men needed to know that their sacrifices were not in vain and that those who led these men cared about them and believed in them.  Eisenhower’s visit to these men strengthened their weary hearts, gave them hope, and instilled in them that their efforts were not in vain. 

Now is the time for our nation and the world to pray for great leaders. We need those who understand the people they lead. Leaders who care about their challenges and who are willing to sacrifice for them.  When Israel was wanting a leader, God allowed the Israelites to choose the leader that they thought would lead them like the rest of the world leaders.  They chose Saul who was tall, strong and handsome.  In the end, he turned out to be selfish, arrogant, a coward, and a defeatist.  When God could stand his failing leadership no more, he appointed his prophet Samuel to choose another.  Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to make God’s leadership selection.  Samuel looking at the 7 oldest brothers who were tall and handsome thought God would definitely choose one of them.  He was incorrect in his thinking.  Exasperated, Samuel then asked their father, "Jesse, do you have any other sons?” Jesse said that there one other son, “My youngest who is out taking care of the sheep.”  Samuel eventually stood before David looking down on his short stature and youthful smile and asked God, “Is this the one you have chosen?”  God said, “Yes! Man looks at the outside while I look at the heart!”  David turned out to be the greatest leader that Israel had ever had.  We likewise need to give this prayer to God, “Please Lord, give us the leaders that 'you' have chosen.”

He Is Waiting

In Matthew 14:13 we see Jesus being told that John the Baptist was just beheaded.  Scripture recorded that Jesus left everyone and went to a lonely place by himself.  One has to ask, why did he do that?  What is obvious to everyone reading this scripture is that Jesus must have been overwhelmed with grief and emotion.  We can only guess that Jesus needed to talk to someone who could offer him support with his grief, someone who could love him and give Jesus the answers that he sought after.  We can only surmise that Jesus was talking to his father, the one person that could help him with his feelings of grief and loss.  

I know that collectively we are all facing loss right now.  Whether it be with work, income loss, separated from family and friends, perhaps even the death of a family member.  Every one of us needs to talk to someone who will listen, advise, love and understand them.  We know that children often learn by watching adults in how they navigate through life’s challenges.  For us, as God’s children, we can follow our Father’s example in how he met life’s adversities by going to the person that could comfort, listen, lead and love him.  Jesus told us that he wants us to come to him, as recorded in Matthew 11:28-29.  “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.  For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

For those that do not know what a “yoke” is used for, it is a wooden collar placed upon two oxen.  The yoke keeps both oxen in tandem with one another.  If the load is too heavy for one ox, the stronger of the two will take up the slack and pull harder for the weaker of the two.  My father once told me that they had two plow horses on the farm that were yoked together and did all the heavy work side by side throughout their lives.  Dad said that when one was weak, the other horse would help by taking up the slack and pulling harder.  These two horses did every job on the farm together, but one day one of the horses grew ill all the while the other horse refused to leave his side.  He refused to leave him for they were the closest of friends.  By staying near to the sick horse, the other horse’s presence helped ill horse to get well sooner.  Each horse with their actions told my father that their bond of brotherly love was stronger than the challenges that they faced.  

Jesus wants to help us with our burdens.  He desires to take the yoke and support us. He has said that he will never leave us, and wants to help us.  James 4:8 says: “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”  He is waiting patiently for you because he loves you.

Coffee

A couple of days ago Anne and I were shopping at Natural Grocery in Fargo.  It was late and I was hoping to get some coffee beans that I had been waiting for.  I had stopped a couple of times before, but they either were sold out or the shipment was delayed.  I was feeling frustrated when coming up to the cashier when she asked me if I had found everything I needed.  I responded by giving a curt answer, “No I hadn’t!  I have stopped by a couple of times before and one of the workers had told me that the breakfast blend coffee would probably be in today’s shipment, but I see that it was not.”  She patiently thought for a second and asked me if I would be interested in the coffee near where I was standing.  I responded by saying that I had bought the pre-ground coffee yesterday but was hoping I would find the unground Breakfast Blend coffee in the back.  Feeling frustrated, I paid her for the groceries, and I was busy packing them up when I noticed Anne (my wife) speaking quietly to the same checkout.  When in the car I asked her what she was discussing with her.  I thought maybe Anne was talking about how to get the coffee when it came in.  Anne said that she was asking the checkout how she was doing and if she had a rough day.  I then asked Anne what the young lady’s answer was.  Anne said, “She told me that the day was filled with patrons rushing in to buy goods and fearing that they would not find what they felt they needed.  I then asked her how she was doing.  The young lady told me that she was very tired and was looking forward to heading home.”  

I then realized that I was one of those frustrated and panicked customers who was making this young lady’s day that much harder.  I realized that I was not concerned about her, but only my own needs.  But, God in his loving patience was not finished teaching me yet.  The next day as I was walking from my car to the coffee shop, I stopped to listen to a loud-sounding car coming up to the stoplights.  My first reaction was that of frustration since I detested what I called the “Bugle Mufflers.”  “Another kid with his loud car again!”   I turned to look and spotted the car, and the first thing I thought after looking at the car was to say to myself, “That muffler is worth more than the car!”  It screeched to a stop at the stoplight and what happened next made me halt in my tracks.  I saw the young man reach over to the passenger window and hand a man some money.  As the loud car took off, I could see that a man was standing at the stoplight with a sign asking for money to help him buy food.  I then turned to watch the broken-down loud car take off into the distance in a cloud of smoke.  I could then smell that he had belts in his engine compartment that were slipping and burning badly.  Growing up with a father who as mechanic, I knew that his belts were about to break from the excessive slipping that came from almost being worn out.  I realized that he had to drive fast to keep the engine going, since it was dying from a lack of electrical charge from his alternator belt slipping. He wasn’t showing off, he was just holding on with his broken-down car.   It then came to me that this young man was giving to the homeless man on the corner money that was very much needed in order to keep his vehicle going, or for that matter money to live on.  He was giving to the man on the corner out of his need, not his excess.  

As I turned to go my thoughts went back to Jesus in the book of Mark, chapter 12:44 Jesus was talking to his disciples about giving and trusting God.  After watching people put money into the offering box, Jesus from a distance pointed out an old lady putting two copper coins into the offering.  Spreading his hands to all the wealthy giving large amounts of money and then to the old widow, he said, “They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on."  I knew that a woman’s income in those days came from a husband who worked outside the home while the wife worked within the home.  If the man died, it was left up to the grown children to help the parent.  This lady obviously had no one to provide for her, but she gave non-the-less.  

Thinking about this further, I came to realize that this lady depended on God to meet her needs.  

In examining myself, I was upset about not having a luxury, “special ground coffee.”  I was angry over someone else hoarding the coffee when I myself was wanting to do the same thing. In my selfish anger, I failed to notice the checkout who was having a very rough day. The next day I was still thinking of my own needs when I came to see the homeless man who needed money for survival, food to exist. On the other hand, the young man in the broken-down car was giving out of his need while I was angry over his noisy car, thinking at first that all he wanted was for people to watch his bugle exhausted noisy vehicle.  I was judging him wrongly, and God was showing me in his gentle way that people are not always what they appear to be.  He was revealing to me that putting others first is not always easy when scarcity is present, but God does not abandon us.  I am coming to realize that God promises to take care of us, and he knows our needs before we do.  Needless to say, sitting in the coffee shop, I drank my coffee in silence and pondered further what God was going to teach me.