The Blessing in Adversity



When I was about five years old, I lived with my family in Enterprise, Alabama for a few months while my father attended an advanced aviation course at nearby Fort Rucker.

What makes Enterprise, Alabama especially memorable is a strange monument they have in the middle of town. You can't miss it. In fact, you have to drive around it because it sits right in the middle of the road. The monument is a statue to the boll weevil.

It's probably the only monument in the world erected in honor of an insect. It certainly wasn't done because of its aesthetic value, the boll weevil is a particularly ugly-looking creature. Surprisingly, it was erected because of the devastation the boll weevil caused to the cotton crops of the surrounding area!

Why did they honor this pest? Well, had it not been for the boll weevil, the local economy would have continued its unhealthy dependence on its one-crop, one-product economy. Until then, everything depended entirely on cotton. When the boll weevil came, the farmers and all the other businesses that were reliant on the cotton farmers were forced to recognize the need to diversify.

In the long run, they saw that the boll weevil had, in fact, done them a favor by destroying their crops. No longer were their eggs all in one cotton basket. They started raising hogs, peanuts and other cash crops, and the entire area was better off for it.

I think it is to those southern farmers' great credit that they were able to see this adversity for what it really was a great blessing. Too often, we see difficult times as something to avoid something only to endure. We usually don't see the benefit until much later if at all. If we look back at the things in our lives that were the most trying, the most painful and frustrating, we have to admit that there was value in it (if you can't see this, you probably aren't seeing it from a distant enough perspective).

Our lives are far more enjoyable (certainly more instructional) if we view each thing that happens to us as just that: a happening. Remember, it's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that makes the difference in the quality of our lives. I believe that everything that happens can be a lesson.

Next time things don't seem to be going the way you want, ask yourself what the positive aspect is. What's the benefit in the adversity? You'll have greater enjoyment and learn more in the process.
By Michael E. Angier

Blessed is the [one] who perseveres under trial, because when
he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life
that God has promised to those who

love him.

James 1

The Right Question



There were a thousand reasons not to stop. I was running late for a Very Important... well, whatever it was that I was running late for that day. The freeway was busy -- I might have caused an accident or something. Surely the Highway Patrol would be along soon, and it's their job to help stranded motorists, isn't it? And I had on my navy blue suit, with a light blue shirt and a silk tie. Not exactly car-fixing clothes, you know?

Let's see -- that makes 1,004 reasons not to stop. And here's 1,005: I am the world's worst auto mechanic. Public enemy No. 1 on the AAA's Ten Most Wanted list. Mr. WhatsaWrench.

The first time I tried to change my car's oil myself I did fine -- until I forgot to put the new oil in. The boys down at the garage had a big laugh over that one. The next time, I remembered to put in the new oil -- only I put it in the transmission. That triggered a letter from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chryslers. They suggested I get a horse.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not feeling sorry for myself. God has given me other talents to use for the benefit of mankind. But I'm not sure how much it would have helped that lady whom was stranded by the side of the freeway if I would have pulled over and belched on cue. So I didn't pull over. I drove on by, just like hundreds of other drivers on the freeway that day. And I felt guilty about it. So I turned off at the next exit and made my way back to see if I could at least give her a lift or something. But by the time I got back to her, an Hispanic gentleman had pulled in behind her, and was tinkering away at her car's engine like he knew what he was doing.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"No, thank you," the lady replied. "This nice man says he can fix it." At that moment, a voice from under the hood shouted: "OK, try it now!" The woman reached for the key and turned it. The engine started beautifully.

"It was your serpentine belt," the man explained, wiping his hands on his pants. "It slipped off. It's pretty worn. You want to take that to a mechanic, get a new one put on."

The woman tried to give the freeway Samaritan some money, but he declined and waved as she drove off. It wasn't until we started walking toward our cars that I noticed he had five more reasons not to stop than I did; his family was sitting in the station wagon, waiting patiently. "Do you stop and help people like this often?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Somebody has to," he said. "What's she going to do if nobody helps?" And for him, that was reason enough.

In his final sermon, given the night before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took as his text the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan. In the story, a man is attacked by thieves and left by the roadside. Several travelers happen upon him, but they pass by. Eventually, someone does stop to help, although it is the one person who might have had a reason not to. He is a Samaritan and the victim is a Jew. Those folks didn't get along any better back then than they do now. According to Dr. King, those who passed by the injured man were asking themselves the wrong question: "If I help this man, what will happen to me?"

The Good Samaritan stopped to help because he asked the right question: "If I don't help this man, what will happen to him?" Dr. King spent a lifetime asking the right question. If we truly want to honor him, then we need to ask ourselves that question, too. No matter how many reasons we may think we have not to.

-Joseph B Walker

 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

 

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10:30-37

Going Out of Your Way to Help Anyone Always Brings Surprising Benefits

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.

Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.  A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960's. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached.

It read:  "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's' bedside just before he passed away.... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.

Are You For or Against?

It seems that we live in a world, today, of division.  Who is for this __________?  (You fill in the blank with an issue, a product, an idea, or even a thought).  Who is against this_______________?  We were all created with a mind of our own, much to the chagrin of our parents and grandparents.  We learned very early in our lives that we could use that mind to determine our own path, our own ideas.  We didn't have to think the same as our brother or sister.  We didn't even have to think the same as our friends, although it could make for some interesting conversations when you shared those differing opinions.

Here is my question...is it better to be for something or against something?  I've been doing some thinking about this lately because it seems we have become a culture of anti.  We've got anti-drug campaigns, anti-smoking campaigns, anti-war campaigns.  You name it, there's probably a group of anti-something toward it somewhere.  I'm not saying being anti is a bad thing.  I'm certainly anti anything that is harmful to ourselves or our world.  But therein lies the problem.  What I think is harmful, someone else may believe is helpful.  And then we're back to those pro versus con issues again.

Mother Teresa was asked one time if she would join an anti-war rally.  This was her reply:  "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there."  I'd never thought about that before.  Maybe it's all in how or what you focus on. 

We can choose to be against something, or we can choose to be for something else.  Mother Teresa wasn't against war, she was for peace.  There will be those that claim this is the same thing, but I think I would have to disagree.  Being against anything is a feeling of negativity.  To be negative is the opposite of being positive.  Mother Teresa was saying she chose to attack things from the positive end of the spectrum instead of the negative.  This thinking required a great deal of contemplation on my part. 

I had always been...anti-drugs, anti-smoking, anti-war.  But where have all of the anti-anythings gotten us?  In all of the years since the anti-campaigns began, have we made much progress?  We have a lot more campaigns against a lot more things, but do they work?

I wonder if we took a different approach, an approach that may be less publicized but may be more effective, if we would begin to see the changes we've all been 'fighting' for, for so long.  What would happen if we started being for things instead of against other things?  Instead of being anti-war, we followed Mother Teresa's advice and became for peace.  Instead of being anti-drugs, we became for sobriety.  Instead of being anti-smoking, we changed our focus to being for clean air.

Would it make a difference?  Some will see this shift as pointless.  It would appear, on the surface, that we are all aiming for the same goal, but I would question that.  You see, when you fight against anything, you are sending negative emotions and feelings to that goal.  These negative emotions produce all kinds of bad things because when you focus on the negative, your body takes those signals and channels those into all of your energies.  You become what you focus on, so if you're focusing on opposition and fighting, you'll get more opposition and fighting.  Even if you're fighting for something, it's still fighting.  It's still war.

If you focus on the positive, being for something, then you'll get more positives in return.  You're no longer fighting and moving in a negative direction, you're moving in a positive direction and more positives will return to you. 

I used to try to teach this concept to my preschool teachers.  They would come to me complaining about a particular child and how 'naughty' that child was.  My first question was always, "And what have you done?"  (I learned this idea from my parents.  It was always their first question to me when I had a problem).  The teacher's response was almost always, "Well, I've put them in time out, I've sent notes home to the parents, I've talked to the child over and over again.  I just don't know what else to do." 

My next question always surprised the newer staff people.  I would ask, "Have you told them what they're doing right, or well?"  The teacher would inevitably look at me as if I had two heads and say something to the effect of, "No, I don't think you understand me.  This child is a problem.  There aren't any good things to talk to them about."   My response was, "Really, NOTHING?  Do they cry when they come to school, or are they happy to come?  Do they help other children at any time?  Do they walk, instead of run, through the room?  Do they smile when you talk to them?  Isn't there something that they do that you enjoy about them?  No matter how small or seemingly insignificant, there must be something."  And as we examined it more closely, we would inevitably find at least one or two things that were good.  Many times the teacher was surprised by all the good things we could find.

My assignment to the teacher was to try something different; try to point out the good things, however few and far between they were, to the child.  Some days it would be difficult to find something, but they should do it.  Find something, any little thing, that was positive and celebrate it with that child.  Once the teacher made that shift, from the negative to the positive, change would begin to show in that child's behavior.  And there would be more positive behavior.  By the next visit with the teacher, in almost all of the cases, they would have good reports.

It's a small shift in our thinking.  Well, OK, maybe it's not so small.  For some of us, to shift away from being against the bad to being for the good, is a quantum leap but it has huge benefits.  Mother Teresa was never for war, but she understood that fighting against it would only produce more of what she didn't want.  Fighting just produces more fighting.  We've seen evidence of that over the past forty or fifty years.  Maybe it's time to try a new approach.  Maybe we need to start deciding what we're for!

"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."

 

I Love to Laugh!

Laughter is good for your soul--and your body!

 ©iStockphoto.com

When was the last time you had a really good laugh?  I LOVE to laugh!  I always have.  Something catches me, and I can chuckle, giggle, and laugh right out loud for the rest of the day, maybe two or three days.  It doesn't take much.  My landlord loves to stop by with his latest joke.  Now these jokes are old, most of them, and sound very similar to the ones I heard when I was teaching school from the kiddos, but he is so excited to tell them and, just like those kids, he waits with anticipation to get my reaction.  He always looks so pleased when I laugh (and I always do). 

I can't imagine living life without a sense of humor.  We all know those people who very seldom smile, let alone laugh.  It's like they're afraid their faces will crack or something if they smiled.  I actually had a lady that told me, many years ago, that she didn't smile because it made wrinkles.  Well, good!  Then when people look at your face they can see how happy your life's been.  (At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

I recently watched a video from YouTube with a baby who laughed because her father was tearing paper.  Now, I didn't find the paper-tearing humorous but it sure was fun to watch that baby!  I watched it several times and I still giggle when I think about that baby giggling and laughing. 

You know, laughter really is good medicine.  It can help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity.  There are even laughter yoga clubs now. I had to check them out.  Dr. William Fry, well-known research scientist from Stanford University scientifically proved that 10 minutes of healthy laughter is equal to 30 minutes on the rowing machine. Laughter is the best cardio workout. As an exercise it has similar benefits as compared to other aerobic activities like jogging, dining, swimming, and cycling. Laughter Yoga is ideally suitable for people who cannot walk, have no time to exercise like business professionals, and those who are bedridden.

So, look at all the therapy I've had over the years!  And it was free!  What could be better?  OK, so I have some wrinkles around my eyes...just a few, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and the best part is, it's just fun!  Isn't that the important part?  Remember, it's the only life we've got.  We can choose how we face each day.  Find the humor; laugh at something, laugh at nothing!  It's good for you!