Not by Chance

Bread. It is basic. You mix flour, water, and salt; let the resulting dough sit for a while, heat it in an oven or over a fire, and the resulting product is one of the oldest and most popular foods around the world. In spite of its few simple basic ingredients; bread comes in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, textures, colors, and flavors.

Fresh bread is prized for its aroma, texture, and taste. James Beard—American chef and father of American gastronomy—wrote, “Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods.” If you have had the privilege of tasting a slice of bread fresh from the oven, you know what he means.

Unfortunately, most people think of those slices of soft, gummy, pale, tasteless squares when they hear the word, “bread.” It is a chemically engineered product that has been designed to be produced as quickly and as uniformly as possible—and to stay “fresh” on the shelf for weeks. A leading artisanal baker has said, “I don’t think there’s any reason to make bread fast. I don’t think it’s healthy.”

Instead he is exploring ways to produce loaves with a dark crust and a deep flavor. His process brings out “nuances that otherwise would not be obtainable if you don’t take the time.” He is pursuing a craft which calls for the best ingredients, natural leavening, and radical freshness.

My grandfather was a baker. He owned his own bakery when my mother was a child. She told us stories of time she spent in the bakery while she was growing up.

While I was still in my teens, I became fascinated with baking bread. What I learned early on was that in order to produce that “fundamentally satisfying” loaf of bread, you have to pay attention to the process. It does not happen by accident. There are many different ways and a variety of ingredients you can use to produce a loaf you are proud to share with others; but they all require a measure of care and attention.

Paul urges the community of believers in Rome to allow God to transform them into the kind of people who live lives that please God. It is process that requires care and attention. It is a process that takes time.  But if you will commit yourself to the process, you will find there is nothing more satisfying. God is inviting you to begin the process.

Shining Light on the Solution

While similar maxims may have developed independently and some attribute it to U.S. presidents from Lincoln to Reagan: a Jesuit Priest named Father Strickland probably deserves primary credit for coining this aphorism: “I have observed, throughout life, that a man may do an immense deal of good, if he does not care who gets the credit for it.”

This claim is based on a diary entry dated September 21, 1863 written by Sir Mountstuart E. Grant Duff and multiple attributions thereafter. Duff recorded the quote after an evening spent at the house of the Rev. C.K. Paul where Father Strickland was also a guest. The diary of Duff—who was a Scottish politician and held important administrative posts in India—was published in 1897.

No matter who came up with this maxim, I do appreciate the variation which has been associated with President Harry Truman: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” However it is expressed, it is a powerful reminder that the key to great accomplishments is not focusing on yourself—and especially not trying to make sure everyone else is focusing on you; but to focus on the task at hand and the resources available to get the job done.

It is tempting to let your personality, your pride, your position, and your particular predilections distract you from seeing the powerful potential for making significant progress when it comes to many of the problems you face. You can fail to see the potential in the people who share the problems with you. You can even begin to believe others are the cause of your difficulties and begin to treat them like enemies. I guess that is the reason I am also fond of another proverb: “Fix the problem, not the blame.”

Where do you focus when you face a challenging situation—when things don’t go the way you think they should? As a believer you have the power to focus your attention on what pleases God—on what is good and right and true. Commit yourself to clearing the distractions and to seeing the power God provides to accomplish great things in partnership with his people.

Searching for Satisfaction

It was a dreary morning in Phenix City when I called on Tuesday to wish him a “Happy Birthday.” He was in a pretty good mood, though. Several customers were in his store browsing his extensive selection of fishing lures. If it had been warm and clear, they might have been out on the water. Instead, they were inside looking for the latest and greatest artificial bait.

If you have never wandered down the fishing aisle of the sporting goods section of a department store, you might be surprised by the sheer volume and variety of the options available. If you are a regular customer, then you know not only about the range of options; but also how quickly some products can rise and fall in popularity. The avid sportsman is always looking for an edge over his prey.

Some folks don’t want to wear last year’s fashions. My brother is glad there are lots of folks who don’t want to go fishing with last year’s lures.

The push to stay up to date is not limited to fashion and fishing, though. Somebody is releasing a new phone (or should I say, “mobile device”) every week. The smart phone I own asks me if I want to update some software application several times a month. We have grown accustomed to constant innovations in consumer electronics.

It’s happening at the grocery store, too. More than 10,000 new products are introduced each year. (Now you know why they have to keep rearranging the store.) Most new products are not revolutionary. They are only slight changes to the original—a new flavor, size or package; but they are changes the manufacturer hopes the consumer will believe are better.

Indeed, that is what drives much of our behavior. We are always looking for something better. Better food. Better phones. Better fashions. Better fishing lures. We seem to believe that once we find something better, we will be satisfied.

Consider that all this searching for what will satisfy may be a distraction from finding the one who has promised to supply all we need. Let me invite you to spend some time this week focusing on the one who is truly the Savior of the world.

Follow Me

Learn a new language.

Prepare for a career in an emerging industry.

Look your best.

Indulge your senses.

Your picture perfect vacation awaits.

Join us for a lavish evening of food and fun.

Discover a natural way to unwind.

Secure your future with investments in silver and gold.

So many opportunities. So little time. The invitations keep coming even though your calendar is already full. You think you have it all figured out and then someone shows you something that makes you question it all. It becomes a challenge not to feel overwhelmed.

How do you decide what is important? How do you decide where to invest your time, your money, your self? How do you decide how to live your life?

These are the decisions that define who you are and the legacy that you will leave; but when you are honest with yourself, you have to admit that most of these decisions are made on a whim, at the spur of the moment, based on how you are feeling at the time. Unfortunately, that combination leads to choices that you often come to regret.

When Matthew describes the Jesus’ life in Galilee (Matthew 3:23), he says that Jesus spent his time doing three things: teaching, preaching, and healing. Jesus’ teaching shows his concern for understanding. Jesus’ preaching shows his concern for commitment to the values of God’s kingdom.  Jesus’ healing shows his concern for wholeness.

I wonder how our lives would change if we based our decisions about the things we do on whether they led to greater understanding, deeper commitment, and authentic wholeness. My hunch is that our world would come to look much more like the kingdom of heaven.

You Are Mine

A few days ago you were sitting with your friends and family around a stack of gifts waiting for someone to read your name and hand a brightly wrapped package to you. As you tore through the paper to see what was inside, perhaps you were thinking, “I hope this is something I want to keep.” If it was something that you really wanted or needed—and something that you now hoped you could use for a long time; your next thought may have been, “How can I make sure other people know it is mine?”

Some gifts may already be marked with your name or initials. They may be stitched through, engraved in, or written on. You may belong to a family where everyone has their own color; so even if everyone in the family got the same item, you know which one is yours because it’s your color.

If it’s not already marked, then you may just pull out a permanent marker and write your name on it. You may scratch your initials in some inconspicuous place. Some folks put their most cherished gifts in a case made especially for them. I make a practice of pulling the label off the package and sticking inside the gift so there is no question that it is mine.

Campers write their names in their clothes. Workers write their names on their tools. Travelers write their names on their luggage. Students write their names in their books. When you value the things you have, you find a way to make sure the world knows they are yours.

God sent Jesus into the world to let you know that he loves and values you. Consider these ways God reveals this love across the ages: “The Lord your God chose you to be his own treasured people” (Deuteronomy 7:6). “The Lord treasures the people who honor him, the people who wait for his faithful love” (Psalm 147:11). “You are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).

When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, “A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him’” (Matthew 3:17). Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize new believers so they would know whose they are; and, that God finds happiness in them, delights in them,  cherishes them, values them, treasures them, loves them, too.

Remember your baptism and be thankful!

Moving Beyond Wishes

There is something magical about putting together a “wish list.” You can let your imagination run wild, think of all the things you like to do and how the right accessory or piece of equipment or item of clothing would magnify your pleasure. Even if you consider that the someone who will be doing the shopping is on a budget, you’re never quite sure how generous they may be feeling; so it’s not that hard to throw constraint to wind and put something on your list that is particularly outlandish.

But wishes are just that: trial balloons you send up to see what might come to you if you open your hands wide enough and leave them out long enough…and maybe, put on a pouty face every now and then for good measure. While there may be a high correlation between what is on your “wish list” and what you find under the tree on Christmas morning, as you mature you begin to understand that there is more at work than your wishes. Indeed, wishes have very limited power.

While the shopping season may be fueled by “wish lists,” Advent is a season for contemplating hope. There may have been a time when you didn’t draw any distinction between “making a wish” and “being filled with hope.” Faith teaches us that hope has the power to sustain and transform—a power that wishes never have.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu replied to someone’s question about Nelson Mandela: “Was he a saint? Not if a saint is entirely flawless. I believe he was saintly because he inspired others powerfully and revealed in his character, transparently, many of God’s attributes of goodness: compassion, concern for others, desire for peace, forgiveness and reconciliation.”

I believe Nelson Mandela revealed God’s attributes because he was a man who was filled with hope. That is what gave him great power over his enemies even while they had him locked up in prison. That is what led him to practice reconciliation once he was released. Hope informed his life and transformed a nation.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

Slow Down

No matter what pace you are keeping—whether you are walking on the sidewalk, running at the park, or driving down the highway—other people are always passing you. Everyone is in such a hurry. You may wonder where they are going at such a breakneck pace, but you also have to admit that you feel the nagging temptation to speed up.

Lots of voices out there encourage you to move along, get more done, check more things off your list. Your boss keeps setting benchmarks closer to one another, so deadlines approach with alarming speed. Retailers and online vendors announce sales that end tomorrow, so you feel pressured to make the purchase today.  As the invitations and announcements pour in and your calendar fills with events and opportunities, you begin to wonder whether you are the one who is driving or the one who is driven.

In the midst of this pressure to hurry from place to place, task to task, person to person; it becomes increasingly difficult to discern what God is doing in your life. Peace on earth, hope of the ages, joy to the world, and the transforming power of love become little more than greeting card sentiments. In haste your “hallelujah” becomes “humbug.”

Advent comes as an invitation to slow down. It is a season of waiting and it reminds God’s people of the way God continues to complete the work of salvation in God’s good time. Together we linger over the reality of God’s patience with us and with all creation. We take the time to contemplate God’s marvelous grace which extends from generation to generation. We savor the complex richness of God’s unfathomable love.

As we move through this month toward the celebration of our Savior’s birth, let me invite you to rest a while. Resist the temptation to cram in every sale, concert, party, or parade; but consider carefully your opportunity to join the faithful who come to worship and adore the new born king.