Monthly Archives: May 2012

I can’t deny it.

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Hollywood and the Bible have something in common: they’re both full of stories, not to mention the colorful personalities populating them. God’s plots and those of filmmakers could be skewed any way the authors choose, but the movie that sells the most tickets is usually the one with the most reprehensible characters in its script. We’d rather see actors make trouble than watch halo-worthy people do everything right.

God knows that, which is why he’s included so many off-kilter stories in the Bible. It’s more of a tell-all book than a goodie-two-shoes tale. He could have shown us only the holy side of his players, but instead he spells out the whole story, even the seedy parts.

How come?

It’s probably to convince us his Word is about real people, people who may have lived thousands of years ago but are really very much like us. Once we buy into that, we can learn from their rebellious behavior (and its resulting consequences) as much as from their cooperation with God. Probably more so.

Lively guys like superman Samson, bully Goliath, longsuffering Noah, first-man Adam, temper-tantrum Jonah, and dancing David are intriguing. All of them got into massive messes, and as we study those exciting (and sometimes far-fetched) stories, we shake our heads and remember what not to do.

When Jesus arrived on the biblical pages, he continued to acquaint us with people who were out-of-the-ordinary, even strange, putting his words and experiences into everyday contexts. Take his 12 disciples, for example, men of all ages, educational backgrounds, and professions. Some were gracious, others abrasive, but as we get to know them, we can see ourselves in their behavior.

Personally I relate to Peter the most. During the 3 years of Jesus’ ministry, Peter was probably about my age, older than the rest of the men and because of that, supposedly wiser. Instead we’re shown an impetuous character who was often reckless in his responses to circumstances. For instance, betraying and abandoning his dear friend Jesus when he needed him most.

In another incident (this one in John 21), Peter plays the lead in a grilling session that takes place at the beach, and I don’t mean on a Weber. Jesus had risen from the dead, and a handful of his disciples had just finished a spontaneous picnic breakfast with him at the edge of a lake.

Peter, probably unsure of where he stood with Jesus after his 3 blatant lies about him (using swear words for emphasis), was no doubt thrilled to be sharing a meal with him again. After they’d all finished eating, Jesus turned toward the impulsive Peter and zeroed in on him with a thorny Q&A session.

(Concluded tomorrow)

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.” (John 21:12)

Well Care

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Throughout the childhoods of my 7 children, we used only one pediatrician, Dr. Bernard Hankin, and during 34 years of active parenting, we visited him hundreds of times. On one of those occasions, when I was toting a feverish child, I said to him, “How do you stay well with a continual parade of sick kids coming to you?”

“When I was a young doctor,” he said, “I caught all kinds of things. But I’ve built up immunity to almost everything now, and I virtually never get sick.”

Going through sickness can build resistance to more of it. The vaccines Dr. Hankin gave our children were examples of the same principle, an intentional but small dose of the disease in exchange for not having to fight the full-blown version.

God sort of inoculates us in similar fashion. He lets us take on some of the disease of sin, hoping we’ll quickly identify it as a “sick” way to live and immediately step away from it. If we insist on experiencing sin’s “illness” in a full-blown version, he lets us have it.

Today’s youngsters are fortunate in not having to suffer through many of the childhood diseases my generation did: measles (several kinds), mumps, chicken pox, even polio for some. The generation before mine had to deal with all that, plus whooping cough, tuberculosis, diphtheria, typhoid, small pox, and killer infections. As science continues to gain knowledge of infectious diseases, the rest of us gain the benefits of fighting them more effectively.

Fighting the disease of sin, though, is a different story. It’s negative consequences don’t usually appear immediately, just as being exposed to a disease doesn’t produce symptoms for several days. But at that point, it may be too late for God’s preventive medicine. He might say, “I’m sorry you had to go this route, because doing things my way would have been like using a protective vaccine. But now you’re choosing the full-blown disease.”

Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t turn away after that. Just like a parent goes out of his or her way to soothe an ailing child, God administers reassurance and doesn’t let us wallow in our misery without offering to help us. When we finally say, “I can’t heal myself!” and recognize his way is the only way to rid ourselves from sin, he shows us the route back to good behavioral health, through Jesus. I know this from harsh experience and have gradually grown to be a devotee of his preventive measures.

Our friend and medical mentor Dr. Hankin is now in his 80’s, and though my children are too old to bring in for exams, he’s still active in his pediatric practice. His conservative approach to doctoring was something Nate and I appreciated, and his medical advice always yielded good results. Because of that, each time we left his office we were faithful to follow his orders.

If only I could always follow God’s instructions with the same faithfulness.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6)

Be prepared.

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I loved being a Girl Scout. Our motto was: “Be prepared.” This meant we were always to be mentally and bodily ready to face difficulties or even danger by knowing what to do and when to do it.

In an effort to get properly prepared, our leaders encouraged us to earn badges to prove how prepared we actually were. They taught us to make a fire, understand food nutrition, know about leadership, learn water safety, and much more.

As we earned our badges, we accumulated knowledge, and in order to apply it, our leaders role-played with us, testing our responses to different hypotheticals. They figured if we practiced enough, when a moment of need arose, we’d automatically jump in to help in appropriate ways.

Role-playing is a practical way to learn, and most of us do it eagerly. For example, before a couple gets married, they often attend counseling together. The pastor or teacher describes marriage moments they’re bound to encounter and asks how each would respond. The resulting discussions point out potential problems.

Nate and I did plenty of role-playing as we prepared for marriage: “What if we don’t have children? What if we do? If we move away from family, how will we handle that?” We worked to trouble-shoot, hoping we wouldn’t have too many bumps in the adjustment road, once we were married. It was all part of getting prepared.

At the other end of our marriage, as empty nesters heading toward retirement, we role-played once again: “When is it best to retire? Then what? And should we move? If so, what’ll happen when our children and grandchildren visit? And will our money last through old age? Should we travel before we get too old?” We wanted to be prepared.

The thing we didn’t role-play was an “early” death for one of us. “What will your/my life look like, if you/I should die? How can we prepare for that?” Other than life insurance, we hadn’t even discussed it.

Subsequently, when we learned of Nate’s cancer, we huffed and puffed trying to prepare, but death caught up to us before we were ready. When it was all over and I was alone, I stood in my living room on a wintry night and thought, “Now what? I’m completely unprepared for this.”

But God, who’s always ready for everything, had a good answer. “Since you couldn’t prepare for what was coming next, I did it for you.”

And here’s what he’d prepared:

  1. my grieving process
  2. this blog to tend
  3. a book to write
  4. Birgitta and her baby to help

In hindsight I can see he had me ready, so I’m not going to worry about what numbers 5 or 6 will be. And if I’ve learned anything in the last few years, it’s that living within God’s preparedness is a better place to be than role-playing the unknown, all by myself.

 “I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.” (Psalm 57:2)