Prayer – Page 47 – gregoryjoel.com

The rain of Friday gave way to brilliant sunny mornings for the weekend. Still, my grandson’s Friday scrimmage and the Saturday game were cancelled due to the condition of the field. It was way too muddy to play. I’m sorry we missed the game, but a cancellation means he wasn’t disappointed. The case of Chicken Pox he came down with this week would have kept him from playing anyway. Every cloud has a silver lining, right? Thankfully, his vaccinations may not have prevented the pox, but they have limited the severity of them. Just thought I’d throw that in for the “anti-vaccers”, since he probably caught it from one of your kids…

Since there was no game Saturday, I’ve had more time on the porch. I’ve been somewhat distracted the last few days. I’ve been at the doctor several times this week undergoing sonograms and CT scans. I won’t bore you with all the details. It’s probably issues with some old stuff. It’s probably nothing and the doctor is just being safe. My healthcare team tends to be extremely watchful as I get older; particularly with my medical history. I really appreciate that. I’m grateful that I have some wonderful doctors. That isn’t the case for everyone.

Despite the great healthcare I’ve received, overcoming past physical obstacles, and all the faith I claim to have, I still get fearful during the periods of “not knowing” – the period of waiting for test results. It’s a difficult state of mind for me. Even though I have 100% proof of God’s care and grace I’ll immediately go to the worst scenario possible and be in hospice by the end of the day. That may sound foolish and a little crazy to some of you, but I have a feeling that such thought processes are more common than one might think – especially for people with HIV/AIDS or other chronic physical conditions.

My friend Edgar told me there are five answers to prayer – yes, no, maybe, wait, and “are you crazy?”. “Yes” is my favorite, although “are you crazy?” is more frequent. The one I like hearing the least is “wait”. Mom used to tell me “patience” is a virtue. Apparently, I have a long way to go to be virtuous – especially when it involves something of importance to me like my health. I keep hearing over and over in my head, the old Tom Petty song, “…the waiting is the hardest part…”. Experience has taught me that he’s right…

My thoughts go way out left whenever I’m confronted with my powerlessness over life (particularly mine!). It doesn’t matter what the situation is. My first thoughts are almost always wrong. Rather than trust that God already has the solution to my dilemma figured out, I spend my time praying over and over for the result I want to see instead of praying “Thy will be done”. I try to exercise some degree of control over a situation in which I have none whatsoever. Thankfully, my time in left field has become shorter over the years. Recovery has given me a “pause button” of sorts. My first thought may be wrong, but my first response (action) is often more fitted to the situation.

It’s a little easier to get back in the game when I realize that God has my best interests at heart regardless of the outcome. I get to experience some relief from my fears and relax. I’ve learned that, for me anyway, impatience is always centered in fear. Today I choose to be centered in love, and “perfect love casts out all fear”.

I’m grateful I have a God, my Abba, who isn’t the least bit worried about the craziness and feelings of doubt going on in my head. I grew up thinking that God’s care and love were dependent on my performance; that any kind of doubt or questioning showed a lack of faith. That’s no longer my truth today. I’ve learned to accept myself better because of the God who accepts me just as I am, without reservations.

Fundamentally, for me anyway, patience is about trust. Do I trust that the God I’ve come to know has got my back? Definitely. Has He ever failed to care for me? Never! Then why do I doubt? Maybe it’s because I’m human and I still get scared from time to time about things I can’t control. So, what now?

I’ve got a house to clean up, a yard to mow, a wife to spend time with today, dogs to walk, a garden to tend (and fresh strawberries!), and the list goes on. In the midst of my doubt I find myself filled with gratitude and now it’s not so difficult to practice patience. Amazing how that works. I’m off to pick some berries…

Today I was asked to repost this, and given the long list of things to do today, I’m grateful for the brevity required to put this up today. I wish all of you a wonderful and blessed day!

It’s raining today here in Fort Worth. It’s the kind of Spring rain I love: constant, but not too heavy, gently soaking the soil, and intensifying the vibrant greens of the trees beyond my porch. I’ll be picking strawberries this weekend! It’s the perfect morning for sitting here and simply enjoying the day. My thoughts stray and wander among the raindrops. All is well, except for the dogged determination of one little bugger that keeps asking me why good people do messed up things…

Many of you know that I tend to be a news junkie. It’s a habit I acquired in high school and college, long before the “24 Hour News Cycle” and the up-to-the minute “reporting” of the Internet. I was a student activist majoring in Political Science and had some pretty high ideals. I guess everyone thinks they can change the world when they’re young, but the reality of family, jobs, bills, and the often unfortunate drudgery of adult living hasn’t set in.

My motivations have changed over the years. I still watch the news (more than I should), it still drives me to some degree of activism and usually, insanity. The high ideals of my youth have come full circle. The difference today is in the lens that I view the world with. Today I see things differently because of my relationship with the God of my understanding. I’ve talked about that “lens” a lot. I apologize for any redundancy in my posts. Just think of a blind man suddenly seeing for the first time and maybe you’ll understand my obsession (one of the better ones that have dominated my life!) with visual clarity.

Seeing the world differently has enabled me to see all sides of the story. I say all sides because, as my friend Jim used to say, “There’s three sides to every story – yours, mine, and the truth”. I must confess that growing older, and hopefully a wee bit wiser, has helped broaden my vision as well. That’s probably why I understand “conservatives” better.

That being said, I hate political and social labels like conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, and socialist or libertarian. They seem to be ways of dismissing anyone who doesn’t agree with you. It’s just one more way we divide into “us versus them”. Moreover, they don’t really define who we are. Most, if not all, of us are not the labels we use to define one another.

I am not the labels you assign me, nor are you the labels I often find myself assigning to you. I still do that even though I know it’s not true for any of us. Changing one’s way of thinking is a difficult and most likely (for me anyway), an impossible task. It took a new relationship with a power greater than myself to transform my thinking and, more importantly, my actions. I’ve grown a little less judgmental as a result. My vision is beginning to clear.

I’ve come to re-prioritize my belief structure and activism. Things that seemed so important in my younger days have been put on the back burner, and more often than not, taken off the stove completely. Social justice and peace are fantastic things to work toward and my calling toward them hasn’t changed, but the locale has. I’m not going to change the world, but I am going to change my response to it. I probably won’t change my Senator’s vote (especially our Senators!), but the way I live may influence someone else to live a little more loving and kind right here in my neighborhood. I’m not going to impact Washington, D.C. but I am going to do things different right here in Fort Worth, Texas. I’m going to look beyond the labels and be a little kinder, courteous and, hopefully, a lot more accepting. Above all, if I’m to be labeled, I hope I’m thought of as one of those crazy followers of the Rabbi…

It’s a little easier to be an “us” today. There’s far less of “them’ today. I still have differences of opinion with people on political, social, and economic issues. Cultural differences are hard to get past at times. I continue for clarity, to see people as God sees them, and they become easier to understand. If the truth be known, becoming older has made it easier to understand people who want to “conserve” old ways of thinking and acting. Change is difficult at best…

When I came in from the porch, Margaret was watching old episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. I couldn’t help but think of how wonderful and idyllic a place like Mayberry would be. I know a lot of other people, at least Baby-Boomers like myself, who share in my feelings. Nostalgia, no matter how well-intentioned lacks any foundation. There never was a Mayberry. Even in the early sixties it was just a TV show. It may have mirrored a simpler time, but not reality. I grew up in the last few years of the Jim Crow South. I know. I still recall the resistance to civil rights and acceptance of horrors like Vietnam. The reality makes me wonder about one’s motivation toward conservatism. How can you” conserve” an illusion; something that never was?

I was meeting with a business mentor of mine a while back and he pointed out that I’m a dinosaur. I know he was referring to my lack of technological savvy (I can still create great content though!). I don’t need any reminders that I need to ask my grandchildren for technical support sometimes but, if I’m honest, I am a dinosaur and I’m okay with that. There are times I wish we lacked some of the communication, informational and mis-informational ability in our world today. Just because you saw it on the Internet doesn’t make it true, if you know what I mean. There’s enough crap out there to cement anyone’s convictions – real or imagined.

I have a long, long way to go in my journey toward the kingdom where God’s will “is done on earth as it is in heaven”. My experience is one that tells me to move forward down the path and don’t look back. I’ve made my fair share of detours and walked in a lot of circles. The cool thing is that you have, too. We’re far more alike than either of us would like to admit. Maybe we can set aside the labels, lending a helping hand and try to figure out how to help navigate to wherever both of us are headed…

Category: Prayer

It’s probably nothing…

Dinosaurs…