Somebody—probably a preacher—has said, "Don't put a period where God only puts a comma."
Good spiritual syntax. When negativity insinuates itself into the narrative of our lives, we tend to end the story too soon. Writer's block sets in. Creativity runs out. The river dries up. We instinctively figure that what's in front of us is a dead end and we can go no further.
There is a quality about failure, heartbreak, and betrayal that fuels a myth of finality: we are hoodwinked into thinking that losing something means losing everything.
If you are like everybody else who shares space with you on the planet, bad things happen to you. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I know this with absolute certainty. At one time or another you will break up, break down, lose out, go broke, give in, get sick, be sad. Life happens. Don't buy a used car—or a slick sermon—from anyone who tells you otherwise.
Your business venture is violated by close contractual partners, significant investments of money and energy are squandered, and you determine never to risk in this way again. Your marriage hits a rut of familiarity and routine, and you think the thrill of love is long gone. You find yourself in a one-sided relationship where you give good things disproportionately more than you get them, and you wonder if the whole thing is worth the effort. Somebody dear to you dies or leaves, and you vow never to let yourself get so close again. Your church disappoints—or worse, demeans—and you want to wash your hands of such a fickle, feckless bunch.
Funny thing about humans: they are never as good as we want them to be. The temptation is to cut our losses, take our meager winnings, and never place bets on human beings again. In short, the temptation is to put a period where a comma used to be.
Don't make that grammatical error this year.
Feed your faith imagination. Discipline yourself to believe that every ending entails a new beginning. Train your eye to see potential success winking over the shoulder of every failure. Believe that the possibilities of grace have a way of outwitting the established patterns of our past. Dare to deliver an alternative speech of hope to yourself. Say words that inspire and stir, that subvert all stored up messages of grief. You thought these messages were indelible, but they're not. Pray this: Lord, let me live with faith in the good that may happen tomorrow rather than regret for the bad that happened yesterday.
Pray that prayer to the one whose creative spirit hovers over all the failure and brokenness of our lives, whose divine eye is peeled to spot all our dead ends and connect them up with everybody else's. Look closer after praying these prayers. You will see that the road hasn't run out; it goes on after all.
The script of your life is still being written, and the pen is in your hand. You've incurred losses like everyone else, but all is not lost. Losing something does not mean losing everything.
So delete that period. Put a comma in its place. How you finish the sentence is up to you and God.
(Charles Johnson, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewLibrary.asp?LibraryID=3863)
Read more of Charles Johnson at his blog, Connectivity.
Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts
Failure and Success
Poor Milton. He opened a business, and it failed. Did he quit? No, he headed west, continuing to learn his trade. When he had sufficient new working knowledge, he moved again: to New York City. And he opened another business, and it failed.
So he returned home to Pennsylvania and opened another business. This time: success! His caramel candy business grew and thrived. But Milton didn’t stop there either. After extensive research, he developed a unique recipe for the product of his dreams—milk chocolate.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Milton Hershey had a dream. And neither failure—repeated failure—nor moderate success could get him off track. Today, I wish you dreams AND dogged determination . . . in the high calling of our daily work.
(Howard Butt Jr, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=396&WID=381&T=H&SID=12675)
So he returned home to Pennsylvania and opened another business. This time: success! His caramel candy business grew and thrived. But Milton didn’t stop there either. After extensive research, he developed a unique recipe for the product of his dreams—milk chocolate.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Milton Hershey had a dream. And neither failure—repeated failure—nor moderate success could get him off track. Today, I wish you dreams AND dogged determination . . . in the high calling of our daily work.
(Howard Butt Jr, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=396&WID=381&T=H&SID=12675)
CHAMPIONS ARE MADE IN PRACTICE
Nine-year-old Casey Stokes, like his namesake, loves baseball. Already it's taught him the rewards of hard work. Casey’s team was headed for the Little League World Series when his aunt asked him a question.
She said, “Casey, if you were building a team and you had to choose between a talented player who worked hard sometimes and an average player who always worked hard, who would you choose?”
Casey hardly paused. He said, “The average player—because champions are made in practice.”
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. This nine-year-old has already scored with an all-important life lesson: champions are made in practice . . . in the high calling of our daily work.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Cor. 9:25)
(Howard Butt Jr, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=391&WID=375&T=H&SID=12675)
She said, “Casey, if you were building a team and you had to choose between a talented player who worked hard sometimes and an average player who always worked hard, who would you choose?”
Casey hardly paused. He said, “The average player—because champions are made in practice.”
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. This nine-year-old has already scored with an all-important life lesson: champions are made in practice . . . in the high calling of our daily work.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Cor. 9:25)
(Howard Butt Jr, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=391&WID=375&T=H&SID=12675)
If you pay attention to business failures, you may start to perceive what some call “dead ends onto right paths.” Here are a few Harvey McKay gave in his classic business book:
1) Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper. For what? For lack of ideas.
2) MGM’s memo after Fred Astaire’s screen test said: Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.
3) Beethoven’s violin teacher declared him hopeless as a composer.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. If that list of dead ends doesn’t encourage you, have someone check your pulse. Failures do not a career UN-make. On the contrary: A dead end is your signal to make a RIGHT turn . . . into the high calling of our daily work.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:26)
(Howard Butt, The High Calling of our Daily Work, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=387&WID=371&T=H&SID=12675)
1) Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper. For what? For lack of ideas.
2) MGM’s memo after Fred Astaire’s screen test said: Can’t act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little.
3) Beethoven’s violin teacher declared him hopeless as a composer.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. If that list of dead ends doesn’t encourage you, have someone check your pulse. Failures do not a career UN-make. On the contrary: A dead end is your signal to make a RIGHT turn . . . into the high calling of our daily work.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:26)
(Howard Butt, The High Calling of our Daily Work, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewMessage.asp?MessageID=387&WID=371&T=H&SID=12675)
Daffodils
Gene Bauer planted a garden of daffodils on a mountainside. Each spring that mountainside is awash in yellow. Visitors come to marvel at the beauty. And they come with questions. So Mrs. Bauer posted a fact sheet about her monumental daffodil extravaganza.
The fact sheet says:
* More than 1 million bulbs have been planted.
* The planting has been done over 46 years.
* Some bulbs that were planted in 1958 are still blooming.
* Gene Bauer selected and planted every bulb you see.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Mrs. Bauer's daffodils are a picture of how to build a legacy. Do a thing well. Stay faithful, plant carefully, persevere . . . and transform your surroundings in the high calling of our daily work.
(Howard Butt, Jr., http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/Browsing_Messages.asp?TypeID=1)
The fact sheet says:
* More than 1 million bulbs have been planted.
* The planting has been done over 46 years.
* Some bulbs that were planted in 1958 are still blooming.
* Gene Bauer selected and planted every bulb you see.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Mrs. Bauer's daffodils are a picture of how to build a legacy. Do a thing well. Stay faithful, plant carefully, persevere . . . and transform your surroundings in the high calling of our daily work.
(Howard Butt, Jr., http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/Browsing_Messages.asp?TypeID=1)
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