Monthly Archives: January 2011

What a Character

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We see the slogan “Character Counts” on banners across elementary school entrance doors and are taught from young ages that who we are when no one’s watching is the real us.

Tonight six of us began a dinnertime chat that evolved into an hours-long discussion on the character of an individual. Although some people conduct their lives based on principles they refuse to compromise, others live in the wiggle-room between conviction and chaos.

Most of us know that doing the right thing in any given set of circumstances usually means making the hard choice, and that’s especially true when no one’s keeping track. But how many people actually do the right thing every time? Our conclusion was, not many.

What if we define the specific lines we won’t cross no matter what, and then a test comes? How likely is it we’ll stick to our guns? How likely we’ll give in?

Our discussion led us to several conclusions: First, Satan lives by a set of principles, too. The trouble is, his are always at odds with ours, if we’re Christians. The second conclusion: everything that coaxes us to violate our own standards comes from him. And the third: oftentimes we’re unaware of crossing our own lines-in-the-sand until both feet are planted on the wrong side, because of Satan’s subtle ways.

We tell ourselves, “A thought to do something bad is only a temptation, not a sin. I can’t help what pops into my head, and one thought leads to another. Until I’ve acted on it, it can’t be sin.” But that may be stretching the truth.

We came to a fourth conclusion: if Satan presses us hard to violate our principles for living but we prevail and make the hard right choice, he’ll be sure to return later with the same temptation, hoping repeated prodding will weaken our resolve.

Does Scripture teach us how to defend our principles?

First of all, it provides a flawless model in Jesus Christ. When we study his example, we see how to be faithful to right principles. Jesus lived a human life hounded by the devil just as we are, but he never crossed the line into sin. Satan often used the established Jewish hierarchy to harass him in an attempt to break down his resolve.

One day these men approached him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.” (Matthew 22:16) Then they went on to try to trap him with words. But in this introductory statement we find two keys to living a principled life: (1) Base it on “the way of God in accordance with the truth,” and (2) don’t be swayed by the opinions of others.

As we work at these two things, we’ll learn to deny our natural me-firsts and substitute the ways of Christ. With enough practice, we’ll stop justifying our sins and find ourselves doing the right thing, even when no one’s watching.

“Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

Blessed by a Blizzard

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Before our Florida family left us for their southern home, they’d hoped for a heavy snowstorm. Although they loved our northern cold after a hot weather year, they were disappointed with the small accumulation they found at Christmas time.

Louisa also arrived home eager to get into a Michigan winter after a school semester in sweaty Kona, Hawaii. Hopeful for deep snow, in the short time she was here, she didn’t get it.

Our British family has been here long enough to have enjoyed a blizzard at the front end of their stay but were counting on just one more snowfall before they left (next week).

Tonight they hit the jackpot.

A narrow column of lake effect snow is crawling at 4 mph from north to south along Lake Michigan, dumping its load directly on us as it hits land. On the satellite map the storm looks like Mother Nature’s gloved finger moving along the water surface as if checking for dust on a mantle top. Tonight’s forecast is in feet rather than inches, although in nearby Chicago, skies are clear.

Looking out the window, I feel like we’re living in a glass snow globe someone has just shaken. The blizzard churns in every direction, and we can hardly see the end of the yard. But it’s strikingly beautiful, clean and bright-white, even through nighttime’s darkness.

The God of summer rain is also the God of winter snow. He has set the world in motion and in that sense the laws of nature obey his orders. But according to Scripture, he’s more directly involved with our storm than that. Consider this passage from Job 37 and its description of the Lord’s command over nature:

“He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth.’ So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.”

The Bible says it well. We’ve stopped what we’re doing to look out the windows, marveling at what’s going on out there. Massive Lake Michigan is being stilled as frozen winds freeze it, and the clouds are loaded with moisture as they swirl in obedience to God’s commands.

 

Although tonight’s storm is an excuse to get out and frolic, it’s also the perfect chance to be enveloped in one of God’s wonders, appreciating him in the snow and giving him credit for this display of power and impressive splendor.

“The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power.” (Job 37:23)

Charming

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Memoirs are big business these days, and not just for celebrities. Anyone can self-publish a life story, a valuable gift for generations to come. “Getting it in writing” is a wonderful way to preserve the family history told in stories by grandma and grandpa.

My sister, brother and I made an effort to record our folks’ remembrances before video cams were available, using a cassette recorder and still photography. None of us anticipated what a treat it would be to hear their voices after they’d died, and of course the stories they told of the Great Depression, of family deaths, of their courting months were priceless.

Video memoirs are also popular, adding the face and voice to a loved one’s explanation of what’s most important to him or her. The wisdom of age is precious, and preserving it in print or on video is worth the effort.

There’s another way a person can communicate their life story: a charm bracelet. Originally soldiers wore charms for good luck during war or as identification in case they died on the battlefield. At the time of the Roman Empire, underground church members would wear tiny fish charms attached to their clothing to identify themselves to other Christians.

 

It wasn’t until British royalty began wearing charm bracelets in the early 1900’s that they became trendy, and ever since then the fashion world has fallen in and out of love with charms. When I was 16, my first boyfriend started a bracelet for me, and I was thrilled. Over two year’s time, he added nine silver charms, each one proving how well he knew my life story. When people were inquisitive about the bracelet, I got a chance to speak-out my memoir.

I have a second charm bracelet put together on a family trip to Europe in the 1960’s, one charm for each country we visited. My sister has a gold charm bracelet given on her wedding day when her groom presented her with a charm representing their marriage.

 

All of us want to mark the milestone events of our lives in a special way. It’s healthy and helpful. Memoirs, recordings and bracelets can accomplish this. Scripture demonstrates the same principle when God told his people to pile up stones of remembrance or make altars of worship as monuments of watershed moments with him, “lest you forget.”

He reminded them often of his personal touch on their lives and wanted them to know beyond doubt he’d always be there for them. Sadly, they had a dismal track record of remembering. A few charm bracelets might have helped.

And right there is the loftiest purpose of a memoir, to serve as a reminder of God’s consistency in touching our lives. During the daily grind when nothing special is happening, it’s easy to forget his former activity in our lives. We wonder if he’ll ever do amazing things for us again or if he’s forgotten about us.

 

Knowing who he is, this kind of thinking is shameful. Instead we ought to read our own memoirs and be lifted back to a place of belief and full expectation.

 “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” (Psalm 77:11-12)