Dangerous Circumstances
Our building is in the process of being painted. This week the hanging scaffolding passed our balcony. I was impressed by the way the two workmen lightheartedly bantered, joked and even sang as they went about their work. Their relaxed demeanor seemed extraordinary considering they were dangling 220 feet above the ground by two, 3/8 inch steel cables. The men who clean the windows of the world’s tallest building (the Burj Khalifa in Dubai) don’t even use a platform. They simply strap on rappelling gear and swing a leg over into the dizzying void. In a video about their work I saw the same phenomena I’d witnessed from my balcony; relaxed chitchat, casual repartee between men dangling from threads 160 stories above terra firma. How can people do anything at that height but desperately grasp the rope and cry out for Jesus?!? How can they become comfortable in their peril?
They have learned to trust their rope. It was not that way the first time they climbed onto the platform or over the railing. They had to do that by relying on someone else’s testimony. But now they have personal experience that tells them their equipment will not let them down (literally). It takes the men who clean the Khalifa’s windows three months from start to finish … and then they start again. Almost every day of the year they trust their life to the rope. Eventually they look as comfortable on their thread as I might in my favorite chair.
If you meet a Christian who seems at peace in the face of trying or even dangerous circumstances … that didn’t just happen. It came with listening to God’s word (Romans 10:17) and then acting on what they heard (James 1:22). It came from repeatedly testing the rope of God’s faithfulness and finding it sound.
Don’t Waste Your Life
Father, some cubby in your kingdom
To guard a switch, to light a darkened hall
Some task simple, some task small
But let me guard with holy diligence
The station that you put me in
Sleeping not, nor slipping off to sin
And when the wanderer stumbles to my path
Let me ready, steady, waiting be
To throw switch, to turn the key
No greater prize for life’s significance
But at the proper time and place
To show the light that leads to Grace
Reckon not wealth by World’s math
I’ll leave no heap of gold behind
But pass heaven’s gates and find
The souls for whom I did my little task
All my reward, this sweet taste
To hear, “Your life was not a waste.”
My reflection on these words from Daniel 12:2-3 …
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.
The Family Perspective
It’s been cool having our family visit from the States. We were able to see Panama through four fresh sets of eyes. Those eyes discovered with wonder some of the same scenes and peculiarities that intrigued us. They discovered some things we’d never seen. But what interested me the most was hearing them discover things to which we’ve grown accustomed.
Sue and I have been blessed to see a fair amount of the world. One of the hazards of that privilege is that some things become routine that shouldn’t. I witnessed something anew through my brother-in-law’s experience. Several times, Andy commented on the disparity between how he lives and what he owns compared with the average Panamanian. Not that I’ve grown totally accustomed to the divide, but traveling in the Philippines, South Africa, Peru and Panama has definitely taken the edge off. I realized that I’ve started to see as normal houses that hardly looked livable to my relatives. It was good to hear comments again like …
- They live with so little … why do I need all that stuff?
- So many things we think are necessities … really aren’t.
- I wonder what they think of how we live.
- They seem pretty content even though they don’t have anything.
We not only need to hear thoughts such as these, we need to keep them close. We need to be thankful for the opportunities and privileges that we’ve had and others have not. At some point we need to realize that more is just more and may, in fact, become a stumbling block to our spiritual life. We need to live with an open hand and remember the warning of our Savior …
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” For the rest of the story read Luke 12:16-21
It’s Not in the Title
For twenty years, Sue and I lived in a community where a Master’s degree was almost as common as a high school diploma. I worked on a staff with three people with their Doctorates. Sue worked at Trinity International University among some of the most prominent theologians in Evangelicalism. How does that impact you? It can lead to a predisposition to stake your value as a human on titles and degrees. The drive to improve yourself is healthy and productive. Achieving excellence in your field is a noble ambition. But when your achievements elevate you in your mind to another class … you’re headed for dangerous territory in your relationship with God and fellow Christians.
Panama has made me more aware of my own tendency toward this type of judgment. I drive passed an old day-laborer trudging along, sun burnt and labor-bent and my mind classifies him and his contribution to the world as less significant than my own. God may not agree … and I’m certain He’s not pleased by the impulse.
It’s possible that the day-laborer has done a better job at pursuing God’s priorities. The Prophet Micah penned these words to Israel’s elite,
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
None of these requirements are impingent upon higher education or “significant” employment. The man who has made his life with a machete or a shovel may have been more just, mercy loving and perhaps had an easier run at humility before his maker. Or … he could have been a drunken, abusive, womanizer. The point? We too easily absorb value systems that don’t square with God’s Word. I have been in the presence of unschooled men whose knowledge of and relationship with God made me feel a spiritual dullard. For an example of a man who got his priorities straight read Philippians 3.
Dampened Spirits
A dozen of us were h
uddled beneath a tree trying to escape the soaking rain. We were waiting on the outskirts of Casco Viejo to be picked up by one of those double decker tourist buses. Taxi drivers stopped and stared in disbelief that we didn’t want their services. They don’t understand that when a Gringo pays for bus ticket, he’s going to use the bus.
I started whistling “Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head.” Then I started singing it. (I can’t believe Sue still smiles at this.) The longer we soaked, the sillier I became. I threatened to break out in a full-blown dance routine of “Singing in the Rain.” Sue reminded me that I can’t tap dance. Then I started making up new words to “Itsy-Bitsy Bikini.” “They shared an itsy-bitsy black umbrella … too small for a girl and her fella.” We were soaked, but our spirits were not dampened.
I noticed family sitting on the nearby park bench. They had no umbrellas or rain coats and were soaked all the way through, but they didn’t seem to care. Actually … better than that, their youngest had her head back, tongue out and was smiling ear to ear.
When we finally got on the bus, I complimented the father on how his children embraced the rain. He said, “You must have been watching my youngest … our older one was not as thrilled.” I know that we come into life with some formed disposition, but God has left so much for us to will. You can be miserable in the rain or you can dance. I believe little repetitive choices build a rhythm for how we’ll respond to the future. Look up these verses and see how they might fit with what I’m proposing: Psalm 9:1-2; Psalm 42:5; Hebrew 12:7. Share your favorite verses with me.
