my precious

“Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Jesus

The more I read the words of Jesus, the more I realize He just calls us out – that is, He forces all our ‘human’ cards on the table. His desire to invade every known space in our life is evident by His words that speak directly into the very problems we have - that for the most part we are unaware of whether intentionally or unintentionally.

To worry is to be anxious, troubled with cares AND to seek to promote one’s (own) interests or self-interests. So, Jesus is not saying for you and I to be carefree – no, that’s what we want to hear – He is saying that we should not allow ourselves to be consumed with our own self-interests. To be consumed by our own self-interests is to invite worry, anxiety and trouble into our lives. Any type of worry or anxiety is rooted in the fear of losing hold of something we deem as important or necessary for life (existence). Anthony De Mello called these “attachments”. Most of the worry, anxiety and angst in our lives stems from our fear of these attachments (self-interests) being threatened in some way.

“Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

To have trouble is to have malice, ill-will and a desire to injure. The less we are aware of how we have placed our attachments on a pedestal – similar to the way Gollum considered the Ring “my precious” – the more that “trouble” will be available every day. Without any assistance on our part, “trouble” will be there. To realize this, is to realize that many of the problems of this world are rooted in protecting some type of attachment that we humans have falsely made precious or necessary for life. The veil should be pulled back for us to see the responsibility each of us has to become more and more aware of this pitfall. Trouble comes from worry and worry comes from trying to protect or not getting what we have been programmed to think is necessary (or what we deserve) in life.

As we draw closer to Jesus, we will learn what is truly necessary for life – not of this world, but of the “kingdom at hand”. For you and I to truly be the Beloved of God we must be made more and more aware of our human tendencies to want a king (attachments) more than a Savior (Jesus).

Below is a paraphrased text from Anthony De Mello’s book “The Way to Love”. I’ve taken the words of De Mello and created an outline of his thoughts concerning attachments and their toxicity to the soul.

The words of Anthony De Mello:

• Your society and your culture taught you to believe that you would not be happy without certain persons and certain things.
• You develop an attachment to this person or thing that you are convinced you could not be happy without.
• You make efforts to acquire your precious thing or person.
• You cling to it once it has been acquired.
• You fight off every possibility of losing it.
• You abject (sink to) emotional dependence so that the object of your attachment has the power to thrill you when you attain it; to make you anxious lest you be deprived of it and miserable when you lose it.
• Finally, once your attachment has you in its grip you begin to strive every waking minute of your life, to rearrange the world around you so that you can attain and maintain the objects of your attachment. This is an exhausting task that leaves you little energy for the business of living and enjoying life fully. So instead of a life full of serenity and fulfillment you are doomed to a life of:
FRUSTRATION
ANXIETY
WORRY
INSECURITY
SUSPENSE
TENSION

Although De Mello is only restating the words of Jesus, it’s amazing how much we can hear the same thing over and over again and not begin actually doing it.

Jesus said to be “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. To be perfect is to be the consummate of human integrity and virtue – it is to be fully alive in the reality of Jesus and His kingdom at hand.

Today, make less room for worry and more room for living life fully alive.

To obey or not to obey

wisdom of oz (no. 1)

To obey or not to obey

Reading the thoughts of Oswald Chambers today I realized there a difference between discipline and obedience.

To obey is to “do nothing of himself…do only what He sees His Father doing.” (John 5:19)

It’s an issue of the heart; to obey, to listen.

Discipline without obedience is to not have ‘righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees’. Obedience without discipline is to abdicate our responsibility in “capturing every thought into captivity.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 PAR)

Obedience with discipline is when we love God with all of our “heart, soul, mind and strength.” (Mark 12:30 PAR)

keep it simple

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -the words of Jesus


Believe it or not, I used to be a sales person. I’ve sold courier services blue jeans, insurance, musical instruments, etc. From all of the various training involved with educating myself to be a good sales person, I remember the old acrostic K.I.S.S. No, not the rock band, but the adage “keep it simple stupid”.

Humans, I believe, have a real problem with keeping things simple. We just seem to love a little bit of drama in our lives. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it gives us something to talk about with others in the break room at work or maybe it’s because we know deep within us that we have nothing else really going on in our lives. Either way, it’s sort of sad. Isn’t it?

Jesus, I believe, knew this about us - the fact that we humans have a real problem with keeping things simple. So, not only did he personify ‘simple’ with His entire life, He also brought it to our attention when he interacted with the people and spoke with them.

“…simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” In other translations it says that is comes ‘from evil’ rather than ‘the evil one’. When translated from the Greek, that word ‘evil’ means: full of labors, annoyances and hardship. Bottom line, you (and I) complicate our lives when we are wishy-washy. For whatever reason, we make our lives NOT easy and NOT simple.

Because we naturally tend to complicate our lives, this makes it difficult for you and I to truly understand why Jesus says “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We’re so wrapped up in the managing the drama of our lives (which has accumulated over time from the many wishy-washy responses we have made) that we are far removed from the mindset we really need to comprehend what Jesus said and IS saying. Let me paraphrase the words of Jesus: my way of living Life (the kingdom of heaven here on earth) is easy, natural and the way God originally intended it (the way of the Kingdom).

We are only human and fortunately Jesus knew that then and He definitely knows it now. The fact that we like to complicate our lives rather than live them simple is more a product of our humanity (our human condition) than any else. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus, then being aware of our tendency to complicate our lives should be a source of freedom not of guilt or shame (better to know than not to know). The more we learn and are aware of who we truly are, the better followers we become. And through that following, we become more like the One that we follow.

better to know

Talking with a friend yesterday I learned a valuable lesson. He said to me “it’s better to know”. Although it is a short phrase, it really makes sense when you use it in context.

For instance:
It’s better to know if…someone is angry with you.
It’s better to know if…you have a heart condition.
It’s better to know if…you are going to fail a class.
It’s better to know if…you’re license is going to expire.

The point being that it’s better to know, than not to know. Why is it better to know? Simply this: it gets to the heart of the matter. And only when we get to the heart of the matter will we actually be able to move forward with our lives and that of building the Kingdom (on earth as it is in Heaven).

This morning I read the words of Jesus:

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” (Matthew 5: 25-26)

It dawned on me that Jesus was in so many words, saying the same thing. “Settle matters quickly…or you will not get out…” How often do I trap myself in the mire of life’s confusion by trying to please people or be non-confrontational? It’s as if for the sake of being nice, I’m not being truthful. Because of that, I not only hurt myself but others around me. Now, I’m not saying that we should be mean or be jerks to one another, but we should be honest – truly be honest. Because honesty leads to the truth and the truth will set you and I free.

Is the baggage we carry in life from not knowing? Probably not. I'd venture to say is it from not settling the matters we know about and not settling them quickly?

It’s better to know, than not to know.

as to the Lord [drive time journal no. 1]

I fly on a lot of airplanes and that means I have quite a few trips to the airport. Those trips to the airport are about 30 minutes and that is a significant amount drive time. Sometimes I listen to my iPod; sometimes I listen to talk radio; sometimes I just keep it quiet; but today on my way home from the airport, I had a little talk with God (that’s a Stevie Wonder quote, not me being trite). Seriously, I prayed and here’s what transpired….

drive journal no. 1 [9.4.06]

Thinking about Labor Day (that’s today) got me thinking about working, which triggered a thought about NOT working today; which got me visualizing ways to spend time with my family and that triggered ideas about how to love and serve my family which made me think of Brother Lawrence which brought me to a modified version of Paul’s words to the people of Colossae. “As unto the Lord” (Colossians 3: 23 PAR) or “As to the Lord” (Colossians 3: 23 TNIV)

And yes…I’m in denial of my O.C.D. ☺

As I thought about what I was going to do on my day off, I thought and prayed out loud about ways to serve my wife and my daughters – as to the Lord.

Washing the dishes…as to the Lord.
Taking out the trash…as to the Lord.
Changing diapers…as to the Lord.

And then I felt a bit awkward saying “Lord” so many times. I’m not sure why I felt awkward, but as I questioned myself I realized it’s just another sign of my humanity. Think about it…

We humans are total control freaks. The sooner we admit that fact the better off we will be. We naturally want to be in the driver’s seat of our life. That way we can ask Jesus for guidance but, when it all comes down to it, we’re the one driving so ultimately ANY direction will be controlled by us. Whereas, if Jesus is driving the car, then He is in complete control of where we are going. That means He is Lord. Lord of our life and completely in the driver’s seat. We (humans) do not naturally give up control of our lives, thus, our (and my) small discomfort with saying Lord so many times. I’m human and as I realized my humanity on the drive home, I was thankful that God (in His Spirit) made me aware this. It triggered more tasks and things in my life that I could do “as to the Lord”.

Just as Brother Lawrence practiced the presence of God at all times, my hope is that each and every one of us would do the same at all times in our lives….you guessed it – “as to the Lord”.