While I'm Thinking About It

Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161-180 AD was a Stoic philosopher (among other things) and is reported to have said: "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." Persecutions of Christians ramped up during his reign, though there is some question as to his active involvement in the process. Be that as it may, his statement is reminiscent of the story Jesus told the Jewish lawyer who had asked Him: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" That question was the springboard from which Jesus told the story of the "Good Samaritan" and ultimately made the stinging point to His antagonist: "This do, and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:28). This was a pointed answer because the Jewish "lawyers" of the time didn't actually "do" anything. They just, as my friend Charles Coil said, "polished frog hairs down to the size of gnat's whiskers." Godliness and righteousness is not something that can be practiced without doing. Not much of the "doing" can be done wearing anything other than "work clothes." In

Some things are clearly more important than others. That stated, and I assume accepted without argument, most of us should give more thought to the priority placement of the items we rank as important. Jesus rebuked a group of self-proclaimed "guides for the blind" (no really, the Pharisees actually called themselves that). He pointed out that "faith, justice, and mercy" should be considered more critical than tithing garden herbs and seeds (Matthew 23:23). Point made? Public perception is one of those items that doesn't belong on the top of the list, but it is a consideration. One of the qualifications of the church's special servants that were going to be "out front" in the community, was that they should have a good reputation among the town's people (1 Timothy 3:7). Their reputation clearly wasn't as important as the reality of who the servant really was. However, since believers no longer just wear their own names, but also wear the name of the Master, public perception is a consideration. The common ant

I have a picture of a sculpture. The image is of an old woman standing on one side of a door that is clearly representative of death. On the other side of the same door she is running toward Jesus, arms open and a big smile on her face. I love the picture. It captures the essence of graduation into eternity! In 2004 I got a "whiff" of my own mortality. Cancer was found, and removed from my "innards." When I asked my surgeon and oncologist about how long it would be until I would be considered cancer free, they both replied without hesitation, "never." There is something about coming face-to-face with your own mortality that puts a man on his heels. My princess was crushed, concerned about being alone (even though our sons would never allow that). Her reality was/is somewhat different from mine. Her concern was being alone, having to move, what about income (even though she is a teacher), what will it be like to care for a dying man, etc. My battle was with my body and my ego. Twelve years later we have both t

Several years ago my princess and I headed west on a motorcycle. On that trip we experienced many things and places. One that rises in my memory is the stop we made in the Black Hills of South Dakota at the Crazy Horse Memorial. During our visit, Crazy Horse was described as "a spiritual being living a human experience." He saw himself as more than his flesh, with a higher calling than his personal well-being and comfort. Isn't that how God challenges us to think and therefor act? We are to think of ourselves as "pilgrims" here, like Abraham, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. We are spiritual beings, temporarily wrapped in humanity, looking forward to going home. That makes John's encouragement (1 John 2:15) make sense: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." We can not, after all, be "ALL IN" with God at the same time we are chasing the offerings of "the world." Keeping that perspective: "A Spiritual Be

This is an interview with Dale Wells, Superior Court Justice from California.

Human frailty gets in the way of being "ALL IN." Have you noticed? When in pain, whether emotional, physical, financial, etc., our vision seems to narrow focus upon the issues which are causing the pain and distress, to the exclusion of others. It becomes the urgent vs. the important. Since the pain is urgent, it usually wins. Reminded of that these last few days, the important is now coming into view once again. Recalling conversations with others that were insensitive, ignoring or not even being aware of needs during my distress, failing to openly appreciate gestures of care and concern are symptomatic of the spiritually cancerous self-focus of the "I am important" mentality that lies just beheath the surface of each. It is a concern easily dismissed because we all struggle with it, but it is not OK. James wrote to refugees about the difficulties they faced and instructed joy as the appropriate response to the difficulties that distract us from our mission to be God's person all of the time. His rationale w

There is an old Zen Proverb that says: “A donkey carrying a pile of holy books is still a donkey.” Initially it doesn't sound very profound, but it really is. Being loaded down with or surrounded by trappings doesn't change the nature of who or what a man is. The "who" and the "what" may impact the trappings chosen, but the trappings guarantee nothing about the man. History is replete with anecdotes of charlatains in religious regalia posing and imposing their personal agendas, all the while proclaiming their messages were sourced in the Creator Himself. David Koresh comes to mind, probably because that tragedy took place a few miles from my childhood home. Others from the past few decades may wash over you, but this is nothing new that our generations have brought on mankind. It is man being who he is, man focused upon his own agenda. Simon the Sorcerer, Diotrophes, Herod, Judas Iscariot, shall I go on? Man, unwilling to have the reality of God shape his finite mind and thoughts, discar

There is a great gulf separating "being told" and "being shown." In the 1970's a young Texas couple moved to North Alabama trying to accomplish several things, most notably and needed among them: growing up.  Many lessons were awaiting discovery in God's "wisdom cache" for us. The one I reference now is at the convergence of the male ego (of a Texan), an old mare hitched to a single-tree, and a shrivelled up, but wise and patient older man. Renting an old cinder block house from Raymond and Lena came with several perks. Beauty and elegance were not on  that list. The house was bare essentials, having had a bathroom added a few years before. It was adequate, comfortable, and cheap. The $50/month stretched me a little, but Raymond said he would help me put in a garden so I could "lay by" some vegetables to save more than the rent each month in food savings alone. In addition to the anticipation of the fresh, self-canned and/or frozen vegetables, Lena took a special interest in me and taught 

A picture came to my attention. It was the picture of a little girl. The caption read: "I am not a naughty brat. I'm little and I'm still learning. I get overwhelmed and frustrated just like you do, because nobody is perfect. Help me. Guide me. Love me." Too quickly forgotten is the value every man is to place upon others ahead of self. Too easily we slip into preoccupations with our own circumstances and see others as a help or hindrance in achieving those goals, long term or short, that we have set for ourselves. "Suffer the little children" unintentionally becomes "Let the little children suffer." Do not misunderstand, while some purposely target the little ones, most don't. I have that confidence in humanity. Those who intentionally target children are certanly worthy of attention, but they are outside the purview of this brief. Several years ago, while counseling teens in juvenile court charged with truancy, the go-to excuse was, "I didn't miss the bus on purpose." While tha

"The sunrise, of course, doesn't care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it." - Gene Amole "Essence" is just that, essence. PR campaigns employ sophistry and repackage reality into fantasy, enticing others to buy in to the charade. "Essence" just is. "What a man is" comes out, if not immediately, over time. Public opinion, reshaping reality, revisionist history doesn't change who I am. It usually required professional help to misunderstand the master: "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). Being "All IN" as God's man begins on the inside. He will keep on being God's man, even if no one bothers to notice. Blessings

Did you ever zone out at a lecture or in a class? How about drifting into some other place during church, or worse, go to sleep? I have. I am usually the speaker, so it is more difficult to grab a few winks than when I was younger. Sleep deprivation and progressively shortened attention spans may be a factor, but I suspect a deeper issue. Several years ago while running a string of horses, I had a couple of Border Collies. Those dogs were amazing. There are other working breeds equally notable, but my experiences were with the Borders. They could be across the pasture nosing around in a fence row and hear a faint conversation I was having with someone else at the barn. They immediately stopped their search for... well, whatever it was, turned and looked my direction, ears straight up. Many dogs when looking straight into your eyes challenge for dominance. These Borders  scanned for instruction. If they were asleep they sprang to attention at my whisper as if my voice was an old Big Be

"Gittin' even" is a passion better left unfulfilled, but we do it anyway. The expectations of revenge never measure up, but the justifications always revolve around a twisted sense of justice. Not willing to be seen as a childish whiner, some resort to "passive aggression" (hereafter referred to as "PA") just because "we can." Admittedly not knowing Gene Roddenberry's mind, suspicion sniffs out faint traces of PA in his 1973 film, "Genesis II."  Seeing or understanding this Sci-Fi flick is not a prerequisite to understanding the connection. According to my anonymous sources (journalism speak for "I ain't gonna tell ya") in a 1986 production of Gene's, censors required Mr. Roddenberry to cover an actress's navel. Five years later when he was making the pilot for Genesis II he cast the same actress as an alien and gave her two bellybuttons! Whaddaya think about that? I suspect he was snickering about that with his buddies for some time, but I doubt it had any positive impacts. Promoting himself and taking

Through the years a great distraction has been the preoccupation with the insignificant while the important goes unattended. For those not afflicted with this uncompromising skill set, I need only refer to Cliff Claven of "Cheers" fame (if you have a few years on you) in an attempt to provide a point of reference. Cliff seemed to have a wealth of inconsequential trivia on the speed dial of his instant recall. Not only were his forays into the unnecessary void of any real value, they seemed unlimited in scope as well as length. There are other practitioners of assault by the mundane. If you suspect you have earned similar recognition by those who know you, ask. I have probably been guilty myself, although I would rather wonder about the whole thing than be certain. While reading casually I stumbled across an interesting tidbit to add to my cranial card file: "The USDA once paid $46,000 for a study to find out how long it took Americans to cook breakfast." photo credit: Truffle Scrambled Eggs via

C.S.Lewis was a difficult read for me as a younger man. It wasn’t that Lewis was too deep, which he was… deep that is. The problem was that I was too shallow, like a toddler in the 3 foot end of the swimming pool. The shallow end of the pool isn’t extreme, but a non-swimming toddler is too short to successfully navigate that depth. In one of his addresses Lewis noted that one's neighbor is "the holiest object presented to your senses" other than, of course, communion with God Himself. He mentioned one additional "more holy" object: a Christian neighbor. It's true you know. Since God created each of us, every individual is valuable just because He made us. Within those who are His, God the Spirit actually dwells. No surprise that Jesus didn't mention the Greatest Commandment without including the Second. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you

I was asked about my reason to believe, like Bruce Springsteen's song,  "Reason to Believe"- “At the end of every hard-earned day / people find some reason to believe.”  If you are like most, why you believe can be a tough question to answer when you actually get down to putting it on paper. Many just muddle along, drawn by habit and circumstances, not really thinking about motivation or purpose. It is easy to have an intellectual answer, but far more difficult to engage soul searching to find a personal gut-level answer. You'd think it easy for me since my message is that God expects us to be "All In" as disciples, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be when I actually sat at the keyboard, beginning to type. There seems to be a place within me that is empty without God. As a younger man, I would have scoffed at such a simplistic notion, but now it is perfectly reasonable and a remarkably profound answer. I have found fulfillment living in God... and God actually li

Yesterday was one of those days that seemed to be constantly going, but not to anyplace in particular. There were recurring themes and variations, like an old song. The song that came to my mind was one from 1971: Put The Lime In The Coconut. Written by Harry Nillson and released just before my high school graduation, I was assaulted by the song all day long if my radio was on... and it was. Everyone isn't affected in the same way, but it seemed to spin around in my head looking for a way out, but never managing to find one. It had it's theme and variations, but no resolution. Yesterday was writing, searching, thinking, accomplishing nothing measurable... spinning around and around yet making no progress... puttin' "the lime in de coconut and you drink 'em bot' togedder / Put de lime in de coconut and you'll feel better / Put de lime in de coconut, drink 'em bot' up / Put de lime in de coconut and call me in the morning..." Not much to be said for yesterday's efforts other than there was effort

This is the first in a series of interviews with people trying to live out their "ALL IN" walk with God. This "self-interview" is Wayne's account of his walk, covering the information he plans to cover with others he will interview about their walks. This "ALL IN" series differs form the standard "While I'm Thinking About It" episodes in that these will be longer (20-30 minutes).

For all of my talk about “faith” and “trusting God” I still slip into the thought process of my culture that “I can be what I want to be.” The reality is that I may be able to swim upstream and, working against the current, function in a way or in an area for which I am not best suited. That doesn’t change the fundamental truth that there are certain realities that have been created within me. (Non-believers may exit here while the rest of us go on.) Take for instance that I am a blend of genes that place me firmly in the broad descriptive category: white, male. I may rail against that reality, even going about in “black-face” or having some body work done that makes me resemble something other than than a 60-ish year old WASP. The point is that you and I have been created to bring glory to God and function where we have been placed in life as God’s handiwork. Instead of going against the will of God and trying to remake ourselves into the image we t

Reading excerpts from a collection of trivia (Okay, it was one of the “Bathroom Reader” books) I ran across a most intriguing tidbit: “The average American home has 8 extra rolls of toilet paper.” That begs several questions, a few being: Who would do such research?How would they go about it?Who cares?That aside, it occurs to me that as people, we tend to “plan for the future” in some areas of life and ignore the future in others. That is, of course, understandable, and as it should be I suppose. However, the “areas” we choose to plan ahead for, as well as those we choose not to plan for, seem to be randomly differentiated or else just chosen subjectively. Since the practice of successful waste elimination in the outdoors seems to be a disappearing skill set, the whole toilet paper reserve is predictable. I must admit that even I buy that particular commodity by the case. It would seem that the same attention to avoiding future inconveniences and calamities woul

Several years ago while living in Western Pennsylvania, Cindy and I were having a really difficult time financially. All of our children were still living at home, we were 1400 miles from our families, our automobiles were beyond going, and there was no foreseeable way we could have them repaired or replaced. It was clearly out of our hands and we knew it. A successful businessman from the church we attended was, unknown to us, replacing his wife's minivan with a new one. They showed up at our door one evening and gifted us the Dodge Grand Caravan that was still, by our standards relatively new! After I pleaded with them, they allowed me to pay them the ridiculous sum of $1 just so I could claim I had bought it. (The male ego does seem to support the notion that God has a sense of humor.) I am still, some 25-30 years later brought to tears as I write this. It is true that these people responded to our unspoken plea, but God was the source of our automotive deliverance. He moved the Sessions family and they re