Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

On 29 October 2012 with hurricane force winds and rain, Super Storm Sandy pelted the coastal regions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  Resulting in several human casualties, billions of dollars in property and material losses and substantial damages to roads, bridges, public transportation systems and other types of infrastructure, Super Storm Sandy comparatively remains the worst natural disaster in United States history.  The longstanding ravages of Hurricane Katrina which pounded the greater New Orleans region on 29 August 2005 seemed insurmountable.  Nine years later as residents of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi rebuild their lives, they offer hope to their fellow citizens in the Northeast region.  In the Breezy Point neighborhood in the borough of Staten Island in New York City, one hundred houses burned in one swoop as an uncontrollable fire ignited inexplicably and raged ferociously.  Firefighters had to withdraw given the magnitude of the blaze.  Interestingly, a wall of water created by the storm encircled the burning houses simultaneously containing the fire and preventing first responders from saving any property.  News footage captured the helplessness of emergency personnel and Breezy Point residents as Mother Nature forced everyone to stand in amazement and watch her lethal and merciless handiwork.  A year and a half following Super Storm Sandy, countless residents in the Northeast strive to rebuild their lives and property as they grapple with local, state and federal governmental officials to obtain financial and other resources. 

A resident of Cambria Heights, New York in the borough of Queens, I received divine and circumstantial favor as my family and neighbors did not experience the tremendous and incalculable losses of our fellow citizens.  Fallen trees littered our lawns, driveways and side streets.   Collapsed power lines conjured fear of shock and electrocution as pools of water lay adjacent.  After remaining patiently indoors and listening to howling winds and observing its fierce destructive abilities, we emerged in the storm’s aftermath with our lives and property relatively intact.  Actually, a huge tree fortunately fell onto a neighbor’s front yard rather than onto both of my cars which I left on the street.  I should have parked them in the driveway between my house and my neighbor’s residence.  Still, my problems in the aftermath of the storm were miniscule compared to thousands of other families who continue to find “a new normal.”

Whether a person sustained substantial or minimal material and property damage in the aftermath of the storm, all citizens in this region faced a circumstantial “gas shortage.”  Unlike the long lines in the late 1970s in which OPEC turned off the valve and deliberately limited the supply of oil to the United States and other Western nations to inflate artificially gasoline prices, I stood in line for hours seeking to purchase gas.  Many stations had gas but were unable to pump and sale it because of power shortages.  Generators were in high demand.  The combination of power outages, inability to pump fuel, need for generators and challenges in transporting gasoline produced a shortage.  For nearly a month following the storm, I had to incorporate purchasing fuel into my daily and weekly routines.  Will I stand in line today?  If not, how many days can I still travel before I absolutely must buy gas?  I had to consider the essential trips to and from school and dropping off and picking up my wife at the commuter train station.  I maximized each trip in the car.  I only used the car when very necessary.  As it related to balancing competing priorities of time and resources, my experience was not unique.  Average residents of the tri-state region faced the same reality. 

I did not appreciate fully that a “gas shortage” threatened daily routines and conveniences.  Cambria Heights borders Long Island; within five minutes of leaving my front door, I reach the Nassau County line.  Though I saw lines forming at neighborhood gas stations, I ignored them as overzealous and reactionary people whose anxiety overwhelmed them.  The residents of Long Island sensed the looming threat of a gasoline shortage before New York City dwellers fully absorbed the magnitude of the burgeoning crisis.  People from Nassau County came into Queens to fill-up their gas tanks.  Despite listening to public service announcements on the radio and television, many New York City residents like me casually and cavalierly disregarded the wise advice to get fuel.

Within days, the magnitude of the gas shortage became evident as everyone had to consider whether he or she had sufficient gas to get to and from work, handle normal familial obligations such as grocery shopping and school transport and respond to medical emergencies if necessary.  Only one quarter of gas stations in the greater New York area were operating.  Power shortages in the Northeast region resulted in delivery challenges.  Some stations waited for greatly anticipated deliveries.  As gas became an invaluable commodity, long lines formed at gas stations with fuel and the capacity to pump it.  By the Thursday following the storm, the gas shortage was most evident to citizens of the City and tri-state region.  Stations created two different lines.  You could stand in line with approved gas containers.  First, you could fill as many gas cans as you could carry.  Within a week, station managers had to enforce strict limits of three containers per purchase. 

On Friday, November 2^nd, I stood in line for the first time.  I immediately recall just how cold it was.  Within the three and a half hours that I kept moving my two containers inch by inch until  I finally made it to a pump, I became colder and colder as a progressive wind chill coupled with cloudiness of a fall day tempted me to abandon a necessary task for my family.  Second, there were car lines, which stretched blocks in length.  Ironically, many people burned a lot of gas as they waited in their vehicles to fill-up their tanks.  Erroneously, some people thought they were saving fuel by turning the ignition on and off as they crawled in the car lines.  Actually, that method consumes more gas than it saves.  Desperation often overpowers reason.  Interestingly, both types of lines demonstrated the best and worst of human nature.  Limited resources usually result in scarcity of human consideration, graciousness and goodwill.

I waited in line with personified frustrations of persons who simply sought to purchase gasoline and return to their daily existence.  I observed many people attempting to buy gas with wrong containers.  The station manager told several people to leave the line; he would not risk a citation and fine for dispensing fuel in milk jugs, glossy party mix jugs, cartons, glass cider and vinegar jugs and other flimsy and insufficient containers.  Despite his concern for his license to operate and consideration of their safety, many of these people persisted in their demands to buy gas; after all, they had waited for an hour or more.  Incredulously, the possibility of transforming their cars into potential bombs, as the gas would have burned through those inadequate containers and probably ignite in reaction to any spontaneous spark, did not alarm any of these frustrated people.  

Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy Part II

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

Part II

Also, I listened to the lengthy lament of a wife whose husband called as she waited to scold her for failing to be in line sooner.  Understandably, as the primary provider for their family, the husband’s work schedule prevented him from attending to this critical need for his wife and children.  His impatience and compassionless criticism seemed harsh and inconsiderate as we waited in falling temperatures and rising wind chills. 

Rather surprisingly, I along with countless other parents stood in these long lines; our children were invisible.  On one day, I overheard the phone conversation of a young lady who profanely and profusely complained to a friend.  “My Mom has me standing in this damn gas line when she knows I am allergic to the smell of gasoline.  Besides, I don’t want to do this [expletive!]”  The young lady proceeded for an additional half hour to inundate her friend with every conceivable profane word and thought.  It did not appear she considered how arduous waiting in frigid temperatures amongst feverishly irritated human beings whose latent fears about potentially scarce fuel resources ignited the passions and choices of their lower beings.  Continually I relegate that young lady’s selfishness, insensitivity and indifference to her mother’s needs as regrettably indicative of a generation that lacks capacity to allow the needs of other people to penetrate their consciousness and influence their choices.  Were you to multiply that young lady’s apathy, you begin to appreciate the collective incivility of many people in the gas lines. 

Another gentleman exhorted anyone within ear shot about the failure of the New York City government to establish a pecking order for the gas lines.  Because he lacked fuel to operate his personal generator, he was unable to heat his home.  He did not disclose whether there were any infants, senior citizens or seriously ill members of his household.  Quite possibly, the composition of his family would not have had any bearing upon the situation.  Each person in line could argue an equally logical and personally significant reason for a privileged spot in line.  Nonetheless, several listeners who shared his predicament of living through the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy without electricity agreed with his primary premise; citizens without power deserved some type of preferential consideration. 

Yet another woman in line began to insist that she deserved advancement to the front of the line because of her job.  The verbal barrage of condemnation and criticism she received for stating aloud that her job exceeded the priority and worth of everyone else’s soon quieted her self-importance and grandiosity.   Many other people in line shared her self-centeredness expressions.  I heard recitations about how arduous the gas shortage was on family and especially children.  People articulated anxieties about having enough gas to attend to school drop-off and pick-up in addition to extracurricular activities, routine family chores and personal errands.  Somehow, the emergence of a shortage multiplied the worth of these daily and mundane tasks; fearing their inability to function normally, most people convinced themselves that their “To Do List” greatly exceeded the importance of other people’s usual activities.  Ordinarily, people complain incessantly about marital requests (items on the proverbial “Honey Do List”), parental obligations and familial commitments; they relegate these administrative tasks which are essential to a healthy and functional family as impositions upon private time and finances.

Did any of us standing in line look beyond our niche in the forest and take a panoramic view of the substantial pain and devastating loss many of our fellow citizens suffered because of Super Storm Sandy?  Were we so self-obsessed that we refuse to view the storm and its incalculable damages in a larger societal context?  As we waited for gasoline and periodically asked people to save our places in line so that we could walk into an adjacent convenience store to purchase snacks and beverages, there were families that did not have any food.  The lack of refrigeration and electrical power completely ruined whatever they had.  Trees fell on cars, into houses and other buildings and onto roadways and driveways.  Actually, downed trees littered many neighborhoods requiring many motorists to swerve and avoid potentially live power lines and possible car accidents.  Water damage closed several schools for weeks.  Flood insurance became a non-negotiable component of many homeowners’ policies.  Did anyone in the gas lines pause to consider the destitution and dispossession of their fellow Americans? 

Feelings of frustration rarely yield gratitude.  All of the persons in line, were they to consider the deaths in addition to the wholesale loss of every material possession, would transform complaints into thanksgiving.  Inconvenience for twenty-first Americans, which indefinitely suspend our use of creature comforts and impede our satisfaction of hedonistic impulses, composes a repertoire of self-centered complaints.  The aftermath of Super Storm Sandy and limited ability to pump and sell gas revealed the very best and the absolute worst in people.  An unbridled demand to oblige personal preferences underlay lengthy pontificating about fundamental fairness and equity in distribution of fuel resources.  Attempts to fill illegal gas containers reflected an indifference to the law and any possibility of governmental violations levied against owners of gas stations.  People were insensitive to the definite probability that inspectors and enforcement officers would immediately close any station that created unknowable dangers in cars, on the roads, bridges, and tunnels; and within homes as people reportedly began to stockpile gasoline in their basements.  Closing any station would have compounded everyone’s worsening situation. 

Escalating tensions regarding a person’s place in line resulted in the need for police patrol at myriad gas stations.  In Brooklyn, shootings, stabbings and hospitalization occurred.  There were a few arrests because of serious threats.  Imagine gun violence and shootings adjacent to gas tanks; one misfire and countless persons may have lost their lives!  Devious schemes to purchase a person’s place in line developed as some people were determined to profit personally from the fuel shortage.  I witnessed several men waiting in line to fill large containers.  They then stopped passing cars to sell the gas at rates as high as ten dollars per gallon.  Parenthetically, the Attorney General of New York State deserves acclamation for ensuring that gas stations and other businesses did not engage in price gouging which usually happens after natural disasters.  Gas prices remained at the same pre-Sandy levels.  Nonetheless, the aftermath of that historically unparalleled and monumental storm revealed people’s charitable, compassionate and merciful disposition as well as their vulgar, sadistic and narcissistic dimension.

Incredibly, a certain strand of American jingoism lays latent within the minds and hearts of average citizens regardless of race, creed, color, ethnicity and culture.  Innumerable times, I heard the arrogant and reprehensible statement.  “This is not a Third World country!”  Beyond the blatant economic, geographical and political chauvinism, the comment reflects increasing moral, ethical and humanitarian decline in the American mindset.  Interestingly, some of the persons pronouncing this vitriol did so with the accents and flourish of the countries and cultures that they condemned.  Have Americans become so comfortable and complacent with daily creature comforts that our lack of them for a brief period of time leads us to esteem their worth over the significance of entire nations of people whose hard labor produces the technology, power and electronics we utilize? 

Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy Part III

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

Part III

Citizens in the United States could learn a lot from Third World neighbors in the global village.  Though these nations are developing in terms of manufacturing, gross national product and other economic indicators, they appear rich in familial, relational and other human resources.  During the last decade of the twentieth century coinciding with the years of the Clinton Administration, Americans experienced unequaled economic prosperity.  The New York Stock Exchange broke ten thousand and sustained that considerable growth for months; the rate of return on investments approximated an average of fifteen percent.  Average Americans per capita individually owned more materially than at any other point in human history.  By the end of the twentieth century, the United States had become home to more than forty thousand (40,000) stand alone storage units.  That mind boggling figure excludes the possessions that Americans have in closets, attics, basements, garages and car trunks.  Quite possibly, Americans store more items than people in Third World countries actually own.  This propensity to acquire more items for its sake and store them created a competitive market of garage and yard sales and auctioning of storage lockers throughout the country.  Perhaps, global neighbors in developing countries could help Americans curb their ferocious and insatiable economic appetites and reorder their priorities. 

One Saturday morning during the weeks of gas shortage, I walked two blocks from my house to a station where people had stood in line over night anticipating a delivery.  An adjacent McDonald’s franchise undoubtedly exceeded its sales goals as the street garbage cans overflowed with their coffee cups, food containers and bags.  Each day possibly earned a week’s worth of normal sales projections as Super Storm Sandy imported an impromptu captive, large and lingering market.  As people waited endlessly in the long gas lines, hunger and the cold forced them into McDonald’s.  Beyond marveling over the incredible amount of fast food that people in line consumed, I was delighted to stumble serendipitously upon an overnight conversation and debate on religion.  A clergy colleague and contemporary in seminary had spent the night in line and participated thoroughly in the discussion.  He holds a doctorate in Modern and American Religious History; yet he possesses the uncanny ability to resist pedantic airs and fully respect laypersons in heated debates about politics and religion.  Beginning with ancient Egyptian civilization and indigenous African religions, the conversation participants traversed the complex, intriguing and provocative terrain of the development of formal belief systems and religious institutions. 

They traveled from East to West surveying origins of Buddhism, Hinduism and the History, Religion and Literature of Israel.  At my arrival with a couple of gas cans circa 8:00am, they had sped through centuries; chronologically, they began in 10,000 BCE.  As I assumed my place in line, they had arrived in Rome following the Protestant Reformation of the early 1500s CE.  One gentleman whose physical strength, mental acumen and ideological resolve did not waver despite hours of exposure to natural winter elements took the crowd to task about the rogue and reprehensible actions of Protestant Christendom.  He demanded all Protestants, clergy and laity, immediately and irreversibly repent of their wickedness and the error of their ways by rejoining the “one true Church,” the Holy Roman Catholic Church.  This gentleman’s words reverberated forcefully in the conversation because his remarks reiterated Pope Benedict XVI’s similar position articulated in the first year of his papacy.  Eventually, everyone recovered from the shock of such a wholesale indictment of four hundred and fifty divergent strands of Protestant Christianity,

The conversation turned toward recent financial, sexual, political and moral scandals of Protestant clergy.  As an African American clergyperson with twenty-six years of professional experience, I felt compelled to ask the crowd to resist the easy temptation of depicting my colleagues with broad brushstrokes which result quickly from incendiary and inflammatory news accounts pertaining to atypical pastors at mega churches who lust for celebrity and fortune.  My valiant efforts proved futile in response to the understandable and entrenched cynicism relating to clergy within any of the five major faiths.  That iceberg floating in the ocean of public discourse is much wider and deeper than I suspect.  Nonetheless, I then recalled the event that was to begin at the church within in the next hour.  Regrettably, I had to leave.  Still, I marveled about the depth and breadth of that theological and historical seminar in a gas line.  Genuinely, the qualitative exchange of ideas and penetrating questions paralleled graduate school courses.  The aftermath of Super Storm Sandy yielded joys, mysteries and experiences that many of us would not have had otherwise.  Again, that natural disaster unearthed the best and worst of human character.

In the first gas line in which I stood, I learned that an owner of a home improvement company brokered a deal with the station owner.  The home improvement business owned two huge generators that had the capacity to operate two gas tanks and the station’s store.  Whereas the station owner had generators, they were not powerful enough to enable him to sell gas.  With the contingency that he be allowed to commandeer one side of one tank for his business vans and the private vehicles of his employees, the home improvement owner loaned the gas station owner the two generators.  This deal positioned both men and their businesses to maintain operations during the month immediately following the storm when many other enterprises suffered tremendous losses because of the fuel shortage.  As versions of this story seeped through the crowd, many of us became grateful to these anonymous men whose mutually beneficial business deal afforded us an opportunity to care for our families and attend to daily professional and personal demands. 

However, one woman complained incessantly through the hours she stood in line about how unfair it was that the home improvement personnel received special treatment.  Along with other persons in line, I appealed to her to be pragmatic and consider that their boss’s generosity however personally and economically motivated still resulted in favorable actions for us.  Had not the deal been brokered, then there would have been one less gas station open.  The potential loss of that one station would have significantly exacerbated the gas shortage.  All of us would have experienced even greater hardships as would the people we love at home and serve at work.  Incredulously, our appeals to this woman fell on infertile mental and emotional ground.  Within interims of ten to fifteen minutes coinciding with the arrival and departure of the home improvement vans, she restated her objections about the lack of fairness.  The self-centered nature of her shameless grumbling became most evident for anyone continuing to listen.  Many of us simply began to ignore her as she lacked the capacity to look beyond her personal needs and appreciate the good deed that the business produced even if it were not fair fundamentally.  What is?  Her recalcitrance and unwillingness to consider the collective needs of everyone in line and the fact that this deal presented a perfect but albeit human opportunity to meet those needs exposed the pungent and repulsive stench of indifference with which many people respond to this historic natural disaster that adversely affected and effected countless millions of American citizens. 

Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy Part IV

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

Part IV

One day, I shared a space in line with a young man who was experiencing overwhelming anxiety about his athletic ambitions.  Possessed with an athletic intelligence and a commanding knowledge of football, he aspires to play in the National Football League.  But, his physique is rather small; most scouts immediately dismiss him and negate his dreams and goals as they do not posit he could survive and thrive in professional football.  Beyond finances and fame, he greatly desired success as it would enable him to marry his long-term girl friend and future fiancé.  I reasoned he really loves her and earnestly desires to build a life with her.  Their untainted and early love impressed me.  Silently, I prayed for their success and maturity in love and as individuals.  Still, his anxiety plagued him as we talked.  In response to constructive and caring criticism he received from a couple of coaches and scouts, he sought positions on Arena Football teams hoping to parlay any successes into openings on a NFL team roster. 

Recounting the stories of Doug Flutie and Warren Moon, I suggested that this young man consider playing in the Canadian Football League.  Flutie and Moon utilized that route to their NFL dreams and goals; eventually, Flutie achieved the starting quarterback position with the Buffalo Bills and Moon acquired the same position with the Houston Oilers, present day Tennessee Titans.  The young gentleman acknowledged his unawareness about this possibility with a glimmer of hope in his eyes and a broadening smile on his face.  Again, I silently prayed that he would explore this option by researching Canadian Football League teams.  I suggested he produced a DVD profile of his playing skills.  Quite possibly, a scout or coach would call him.  Nevertheless, as we progressed in the line and neared the gas tanks, he reiterated his heart’s desire to arrange his vocational and financial affairs to enable the fulfillment of his heart’s deepest desire at that time; he wanted to marry his girlfriend as soon as he demonstrated his ability to provide for her as he deemed a husband should care for his wife.  With nearly eighteen years of marriage when this conversation occurred, I instantly remembered those feelings of having found the woman you want to marry and doggedly arranging your lifestyle to enable your wish.  As I wished him the very best and prayed genuinely for his personal and professional success, I gave thanks that the gas shortage afforded me the blessing of that encounter.  I humbly hope I imparted hopefulness to him.  His rightly enumerated priorities of love and relationship preceding work and professional ambition reminded me of the importance of valuing marriage and family above personal achievement. 

Carl Jung posits, “Man is an animal with a fatally overgrown brain.”  Natural disaster and human tragedy often expose humankind’s base animal instincts and predatory tendencies.  The emergence of an entrenched and expanding “Black Market” incontrovertibly proved Jung’s bleak assertion regarding human nature.  Senior citizens and persons with disabilities paid ten to fifteen dollars per gallon for gasoline; their critical need for fuel to travel to medical appointments coupled with their inability to wait in the long lines made them fresh prey for unscrupulous persons who waiting only to extort very vulnerable citizens.  I witnessed many transactions as shady individuals hailed cars and sold gasoline at highly inflated prices.  Within a week of the storm, the NYPD began to stop these “Black Market” deals.  People were no longer allowed to fill unlimited containers using grocery carts and red wagons.  To facilitate their schemes, these predators offered to buy other people’s places in line.  Once, one of them offered twenty dollars for my spot.  Beyond the fact that his offer fell way below my hourly billable rate, it offended me because it disrespected the time of everyone else in line.  Imagine the amount of loss wages that accumulated as people from all professions and types of employment forcibly stood in line as they had to have gasoline to travel to and from work.  In addition, some retailers began to inflate the price of gas containers; prices tripled and quadrupled overnight.  Once the gas shortage abated prices for gas containers fell but did not return to their normal rates; mostly, they settled approximately twenty-five percent above pre- Sandy levels.  Commendably, the New York State Attorney General’s Office fiercely and forcefully regulated gas prices to prevent gouging.  Had not he done so, desperate citizens would have paid twenty dollars or more a gallon! 

One of the worst instances of predatory profiteering in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy centered upon free gasoline that President Obama made available to citizens in the most severe areas.  The federal government using armories as distribution centers initially gave ten gallons of gas to citizens who had the means of acquiring it with proper gas containers.  Within hours of this benefit, there were news reports of verbal threats, vulgarity and possible violence.  The common bond of severe need in dire circumstances proved ineffectual in creating unity, respect, and graciousness toward fellow citizens.  Moreover, people retrieved the free gas only to sell it to senior citizens, neighbors and other desperate persons.  Within days, federal authorities cancelled the distribution as it became a means for a thriving “Black Market” which would produce residual crime and hardships upon storm victims.

Whereas natural disasters such as Sandy quickly reveal the worst in human nature, they equally expose the better characteristics of countless, nameless people.  The neighboring state of Connecticut did not experience the gas shortages that the greater New York City and Long Island area did.  Utility companies and state government officials quickly restored power to Connecticut residents.  Gas stations did not need generators and fuel deliveries occurred without interruption.  Not surprisingly, this favorable news trickled down to the five boroughs of New York City; specifically, residents of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx began travelling to the gas stations adorning Interstates 95 and 91 in Connecticut.  Their wait time never neared the long lines in which I stood for hours.  Personally, I observed and benefited from the magnanimity of generosity as a member of our church traveled to Connecticut for gas and spontaneously asked if I wished to purchase any.  His willingness to assume considerable risk to enrich my family’s life and the lives of a few other people continually challenges me to serve faithfully, immediately and willingly when opportunities arise.  Eventually, he filled his trunk with several full containers of gasoline.  An accident with a minimal collision would have transformed his car into a liquid bomb.  Nonetheless, he withstood that formidable risk because embedded within his character is the genuine and humble will to share.  That attribute became more apparent when he discovered subsequent to his return from Connecticut that another member of our church, a single middle-aged woman, needed gas.  Without hesitation, he divided the gas to accommodate her need.  When he arrived at my house, he shared his decision which I understood and agreed.  I refused his offer of reimbursement for the portion of the gas that went to our Christian sister.  His graciousness sufficed as payment. 

Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy Part V

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

Part V

Interestingly, I had the occasion to return this good deed while waiting in a gas line on another day.  An anxious mother seeking to reduce her wait time and expedite her errands actually left the line in which we waited initially.  She walked across the street to grab a place in line as an adjacent gas station.  That line appeared to move faster.  However, unbeknownst to her, each person ahead of her was purchasing larger quantities of gas than in the line she left.  Before she reached the tanks, the station had run out of gas.  Crestfallen, she had to return to the end of the line where she began the day.  Unfortunately, her time was running out as she was due to pick up her daughter from daycare.  Fortuitously, she was returning to the first line as I was leaving with two full gas containers and heading to my car.  After hearing her dilemma, I refused her offer of payment for one of the containers.  I gave the gas to her and a ride to her car which was parked a good walking distance away from both gas stations.  As I put the funnel in the opening to her gas tank and poured the gas, I for the first time understood just how precious of a commodity that gasoline is in Western economies and nations.  Her car was parked yards away from two fell trees; an oak tree essentially blocked off this road as it was impossible for any vehicle to pass around and the other tree fortunately fell in the right direction and landed on the neighbor’s front lawn.  Mother Nature favorably spared this woman’s neighbors a few totaled cars and months of agony of haggling with insurance companies while simultaneously acquiring temporary transportation.  She spared one neighbor the extreme difficulty of substantial home repairs had the tree fallen in the opposite direction.  Observing these details in those few moments made me grateful.

On a few occasions as I waited in line, I observed the best of human nature in difficult times.  A woman upon entering her cards into the tank to purchase gasoline discovers that it does not work.  Multiple attempts yield the same result.  The next person in line bought her gas and suggested she pay it forward.  Hopefully, she did not use purposefully an expired card.  Still, any ulterior motives on her behalf did not cancel that man’s willingness and generosity to assist a woman in need.  Beyond his desire to buy gas as quickly as possible, he conceivably thought of her children whose lives would be adversely affected were their mother unable to buy gas.  Additionally, I recall people sharing food and drinks with each other.  Hardly anyone went inside to purchase snacks without offering to buy items for others in line.  Just as I hope I imparted encouragement and hope to that aspiring football player, I gleaned wide-ranging practical advice and spiritual wisdom as I listened to the myriad conversations of other people. Hearing their collective desire to endure the gas shortage and meet their personal and professional obligations in addition to helping someone else as occasion warrants renewed my hope. 

In the gas lines following Super Storm Sandy, I relived a valuable childhood lesson.  Hard times divulge the absolute worst in people.  Anyone with entrepreneurial and capitalist impulses immediately starts profiting from tragedy.  Who is weakest?  What is the maximum price of their desperation?  They would do it to me were the situation reverse.  These types of people will utilize any opportunity to profit and prey upon the most vulnerable citizens such as seniors and persons with disabilities.  However, the converse remains true.  Natural disasters also motivate the best tendencies within people.  Communities spontaneously form during times of crisis.  Enduring solutions to lingering problems ironically emerge as hardships greatly disrupt people’s daily routines.  Severe discomfort, agony, adversity and personal pain combine to create pathways to a better quality of life.  An analysis of the causes of the Breezy Point fire will result inevitably in innovative residential planning and zoning for twenty-first century living.  In addition to the physical destruction of property and scenery, Super Storm Sandy demolished outmoded paradigms of urban residential and commercial planning.  Federal government agencies and authorities will examine their disastrous results of their attempt to distribute free gasoline to the neediest citizens.  Next time, they will be able to avoid the dastardly schemes and ill-gotten propensities of citizens with entrenched character defects who only seek to profit from other people’s defenselessness.  More personally, natural devastation affords individuals small yet significant opportunities to rebuild by touching the lives of people whom they encounter.  A kind deed that seeks nothing in return and done anonymously potentially renews each recipient’s faith in God and humankind.

Retreat to Sacred Space

Retreat to Sacred Space

I live in New York City, the City that never sleeps.  At any hour of the day or night, the City’s cacophony drowns out nature’s symphony of chirping birds, buzzing bees, singing crickets and rustling leaves.  Screeching brakes of buses and delivery trucks, honking horns of impatient drivers and noise emanating from millions of people living in a compact space prevent silence and solitude.  Appreciating spatterings of foliage in the fall is nearly impossible when driving along the Cross Island Parkway and Grand Central Parkway.  Fast and furious motorists with loud mufflers weave sporadically between lanes necessitating extra vigilance.  The pace of City living relegates everyone to the proverbial rat race in which a person rarely reflects as he shifts between activities and places in a New York minute.  Still, it is hard to function effectively and efficiently without daily introspection.  An assessment of daily living, just before sleep, results in immediate snores followed by piercing sounds of an alarm clock.  Accordingly, I suggest retreating to sacred space at some other time during the day.

Though physically located in New York City and perhaps driving on one of its major veins, I retreat to one of my favorite sacred spaces.  Mystically, I travel back to the front porch of the wooden house where I grew up on the Old Salterstown Road in Sumter, South Carolina.  Encased with torn screens designed to keep bees, flies, wasps, mosquitoes and other insects out, the porch had a warped gray wooden floor that would not absorb a shine.  It was twice the size of an efficiency apartment kitchen in the City.  There, on a clear sunny Carolina morning in any season, I sat in a worn kitchen chair with a seat cushion.  Surrounded by bright daffodils in springtime and October roses in the fall, a huge chinaberry tree adorned the adjacent driveway made of rocks, dirt and gravel.  Across the road, Mr. Burgess’ soybean field extended into the horizon.  Graciously, he allowed the neighborhood residents to pick freely from bountiful pear and pecans trees on his property.  Actually, on any day whether sunny, cloudy, rainy, misty, foggy or brilliant and picturesque, I meditated, planned, reflected, retreated and dreamt about my future.  Mostly, I thought of myriad ways to escape the poverty which surrounded me.  I knew it would break my spirit and severely limit my life if I failed to devise a means of liberation.

Sacred space is holy ground because of God’s presence.  You will recall God’s instructs Moses to take off his shoes at the scene of the burning bush.  Moses hears the voice of God in the bush which though illuminated is not being consumed.  Moses must take off his shoes because he is in the presence of Almighty God.  Sacred space offers an especial opportunity for a transformative and singular encounter with the divine.  The Bible contains several stories in which ordinary people experience a theophany as they attend to daily tasks.  Joshua meets the Captain of the Lord’s Host in the midst of a fierce battle.  In the Upper Room where the Lord instructs them about the burgeoning kingdom of God, the disciples receive the Holy Spirit after the resurrection.  Paul and Silas, as they sing hymns at midnight, more greatly understand God’s power via an earthquake in a Philippian jail.  In the serenity and silence of these sacred spaces, these ordinary persons receive an astonishing moment of truth and clarity.  Similarly, when we retreat to our favorite sacred spaces, God reveals insight and spiritual knowledge yielding inner healing and wholeness.

Howard Thurman discourses upon self-mastery which emerges within periods and spaces of retreat and pilgrimage.  At these times, a person withdraws voluntarily from daily busyness with intention of better understanding himself.  Self-evaluation is vital to spiritual maturity and personal development.  Many people would not suffer emotionally if persons with whom they share intimate relationships consistently examined raw and unvarnished motives.  Men would not manipulate women’s feelings in order to have sex with them, were men to straightforwardly admit their self-centered and self-seeking desires.  The recovery community admonishes it adherents to practice taking an inventory of character assets and liabilities on a regular basis.  The process of self-mastery progresses through three stages: hubris, humiliation and humility.  First, you admit your intensely ego-driven desires.  Second, you sit humiliated before Almighty God as you honestly accept defects of your character and incapacities of your heart.  As you remain in God’s gracious presence, He transforms your character thereby granting you humility.  Additionally, God teaches you HOW to return to human relationships with intention to live as a moral and ethical agent.  Being truthful fosters increasing willingness to practice a lifestyle that honors and glorifies Almighty God. 

Sacred space is necessary to practice spiritual disciplines necessary to emulating mind, heart and character of Jesus Christ.  Prayer and meditation occur naturally in mystical spaces where you feel the presence of God.  Contrary to entrenched religious traditions, a person does not have to be in an ecclesiastical sanctuary to pray.  Geography hardly determines the genuineness of a person’s heart.  Whether driving on a parkway, mowing lawn, riding New York City subway, washing dishes, doing laundry, shoveling snow, your sincere heart and authentic desire to commune with Almighty God transforms the activity and space into holy ground.  There you receive God’s gracious gifts of insight and guidance to achieve the deepest desires of your heart.

In addition, sacred space becomes a mystical studio.  We are channels of God’s love and creativity.  He uses us to communicate His favor, compassion and mercy to humankind.  As unique children of God, we express His divine gifts.  Retreating to sacred space equates with an artist diligently spending time in his studio where divine inspiration, creativity and ingenuity emerge.  There, God rewards the artist’s persistence in his craft.  Similarly, God graciously imparts imagination, bold ideas and superlative achievements to any person seeking His face.  

Faith and Trepidation - Part One

Faith and Trepidation – Part One

Trepidation permeates a person’s life as he strives toward faithfulness.  Genuinely relying upon Almighty God is actually scary.  It is hard to sit still and observe the salvation of the Lord.  Equally, it is challenging to stand aside as the Lord instructs King Jehoshaphat and watch the Lord fight your battles.  Our rugged individualism coerces us to argue vociferously in our own defense.  Should words prove insufficient, it is natural to become combative and venomous.  Yet, Florence Scovel Shinn posits in her compelling book, The Game and Life and How to Play It, that spiritual maturity consists of willingness to trust Almighty God to bear your burdens and fight your battles.  Regardless of how easily a person recites these spiritual affirmations, remains very difficult to avoid feelings of trepidation about the unknown outcomes.

A persistent uneasiness about of future events, trepidation manifests in myriad ways.  Imagine angst consuming every waking minute as you anticipate an arbitration hearing.  Will the Lord defend your honor and protect you from your enemies?  At the hearing, will you resemble a goose in a courtroom filled with foxes?  Though you theoretically trust God to orchestrate outcomes toward your maximum benefit, you internally fight the temptation to manipulate the results.  You wonder whether you are wasting time and energy.  Does anyone owe you any favors?  Can they favorably influence the proceedings on your behalf?  Your deep desire for an end to living provisionally compels you to force an outcome.  Excited yet pensive and cautious as you genuinely and humbly rely upon Almighty God, you strive painstakingly to deaden the vociferous disquiet that overcomes your soul.  Whereas faith fills your heart, trepidation resounds within your mind.

Left unchecked, trepidation eventuates in mistakes.  Trusting Almighty God with an unwavering faith is the cure to trepidation in all its insidious iterations.  Wallowing in confusion and willfulness and a thousand forms of fear culminates in regrettable consequences.  Trepidation creates paralysis.  A decade ago, I realized that the persons with whom I worked and I were mismatched.  In the words of one of them, we were “force fitting things.”  On the third Thursday in August of that year, I knew beyond any doubt that I should resign my position to explore other professional and personal endeavors.  However, my trepidation about the monthly mortgage payment and other obligations prevented me from listening to my inner still small voice.  Enduringly, I wish I had possessed the faith to rely genuinely upon Almighty God to lead me to new opportunities.  Because of intractable trepidation, I made a costly mistake!

Veiled as adhering steadfastly to the will of God, my trepidation coerced me into staying another four and a half years.  In retrospect, I lament wasting one thousand, six hundred and forty days (1642) of my life.  Currently, I pursue educational and vocational goals that I could have accomplished sooner had I possessed requisite faith and trust in Almighty God.  My fears overshadowed my faith thereby empowering the worst attributes of a combative, assertive and intractable egotistical personality.  In the starkest irony, I fought to serve people who were incapable of appreciating and unwilling to receive my service.  Yet, my bravado at the time compelled me to fight against the hard reality that the persons with whom I worked and I operated with fundamentally divergent principles.  Had I been more humble and genuinely reliant upon Almighty God, I would have forsaken the trepidation I felt and trusted Him to open the door to the next phase of my life.

Often, character defects fuel trepidation.  Patterns of thought in a person’s consciousness and character create resistance to spiritual maturity and personal development.  I had a proverbial “chip on my shoulder.”  Easily, people offended me.  My ingrained sense of dignity emanating from my proud value system made me inflexible.  Regardless of any one’s intention, I heard and saw offense.  I immediately addressed it and demanded an apology.  Like a bull in a china shop, I confronted the perpetrator with the intent of eliminating any possibility that he would repeat his error.  My argumentative nature and righteous indignation combined to annihilate any reasonable explanations to the contrary.  Extending the benefit of the doubt did not occur to me as an alternative. 

As I reflect upon this experience, I regret my inability to see the blessings embedded in my vocational and existential crisis a decade ago.  I had an opportunity to learn finally how to trust in God in every situation.  Being self-reliant, I never imagined resigning a job without having another job.  Actually, I worked three times as hard to prevent any possibility of termination.  Still, the incongruity between my congregation and me afforded me a chance to cease investing a losing proposition.  Had I not found the wherewithal to trust God, I could still be there.  Regrettably, I did not also ask for willingness and courage to trust His will.  I could have avoided wasting irretrievable time and energy had I accepted God’s will and “staggered forward rejoicing” in obedience.  Though I repeated religious and sanctimonious rhetoric of leaning on the everlasting arms of God, I was too afraid to seek His next divine assignment.  Two of my most favorite Bible verses reassure me that God always seeks my best in every predicament: Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28.  The former verse insists God’s plans a bright, hopeful and rewarding future for each disciple.  The latter verse says God mysteriously and magnificently orchestrates every detail toward my good. 

The intervening years taught me to rely unconditionally upon Almighty God as He does not shift like sand or move like shadows.  His will is the safest place for me vocationally.  I cannot depend upon any human power for my security.  People will disappoint you.  God will never leave me or forsake me.  As I internalize these spiritual and biblical truths, I obtain willingness to trust God without conditions.  I relinquish my previous self-reliance emerging mostly from persistent trepidation.  As a child, I felt adults consistently failed and disappointed me.  As a consequence, I could not trust anyone.  That belief extended even to Almighty God to whom I only appealed for His sanction of my predetermined plans.  My refusal to trust Him meant I lingered in fear and trepidation for decades.

Faith and Trepidation - Part Two

Faith and Trepidation – Part Two

Friends of mine offer FEAR as two acronyms: (1) Forget everything and run and (2) False evidence appearing real.  Fear’s irrationality and insidiousness motivates its victims to bury their heads in sands of denial and paralysis.  It equally magnifies feelings and confuses them with facts.  Fear, a persistent negative outlook upon life’s circumstances, permeates mind and heart.  A person living with fear possesses an unsettled mind and troubled heart.  He expects the worse in each scenario.  He questions whether he can trust God.  As he lacks peace of mind and heart, he waits for the next unfortunate outcome; as a positive one is unimaginable.  He fears God will fail him.  Priding himself in being an intellectual skeptic and realist, he refuses to put his faith in God.  He imprisons himself within the valley of the shadow of death, seeing decay and decomposition all around him.

Trepidation appears normal in the life of a genuine disciple as it is difficult to be still and wait on God.  My family and I survived Super Storm Sandy which ravaged the Northeastern region of the United States on 29 October 2012. Though we prepared for the storm by purchasing food, non perishable items, flashlights, batteries, candles, blankets and other essential supplies, we sat in trepidation listening to hurricane force winds and battering torrential rains.  We wondered whether we would lose electricity.  We feared the winds might break windows.  We prayed that trees would not crash into the house.  We hoped lightning would not cause spontaneous fires.  We wished power lines would remain intact thereby preventing any random electrocutions.  Our trepidation during that natural disaster, the second worst storm in the history of the United States, resembles daily angst.  Though they prepare for positive outcomes and proceed to with their daily affairs, many people harbor a level of trepidation about whether they are safe.  They ask silently whether Almighty God will protect them from unforeseeable danger. 

Mature faith rarely progresses in a straight line.  Spiritual growth happens in life’s daily furnace as experiences, mysteries and lessons burn away dross of a disciple’s character.  As he zigzags imperfectly through daily challenges and adversities, he discovers genuine faith in Almighty God as his Infinite Provision, Protection and Intelligence.  Trials and tribulations cultivate humility within him as he learns to rely steadfastly upon God’s goodness.  Practice of spiritual disciplines yields a disciple’s attentiveness to God’s faithfulness.  As he experiences change of natural seasons, he realizes greater appreciation for God’s trustworthiness throughout seasons of his personal life.  Complexity, confusion and challenge offer greater faith as he benefits from God’s amazing grace.  Though feelings of trepidation fluctuate, he experiences new joys and mysteries because he holds unswervingly to God’s unchanging hand.

Abraham, the father of faith and many nations, demonstrates ideally how to have faith despite daily interruptions of trepidations.  God promises Abraham an heir from his own loins though he is one hundred years old and his wife, Sarah, is ninety years old.  Physically, it seems impossible for God to accomplish this feat.  Still, Abraham believes God possesses power to manipulate natural law to accomplish His purpose.  Relying upon God’s enduring faithfulness from His initial pledge when He instructs Abraham to leave the Ur of the Chaldeans.  Abraham trusts God to keep any promise He makes.  As a consequence, Abraham’s heart leaps with joy and his mind explodes with excitement as he realizes God will give a natural heir, to him.  Understandably, as the promises lingers, Abraham’s emotions shift from enthusiasm to trepidation.  Abraham does not waver in doubt and unbelief because God’s previous faithfulness steadfastly persuades him that God is able to do what He promises.  His impatience is a type of trepidation; it counteracts its effects, Abraham dwells upon God’s character and trustworthiness.  Countless examples of God’s unquestioned reliability flood his consciousness and memories.  From Lot’s rescue from the burning sulfur of Sodom and Gomorrah to the preservation of Sarah’s honor to the bounty of Abraham’s material, agricultural and geographical acquisition, he knows he can trust God’s word. 

To conquer their collective trepidation about the reliability of the resurrection of the Lord, Paul encourages the Church at Corinth to “be steadfast, immovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)  In practical terms, Paul’s admonition means “take the next right step.”  For contemporary disciples who suffer with trepidation as they wait upon God’s deliverance and revelation, faithfully practicing spiritual disciplines negates angst and fears.  It is hard to be still and rely genuinely upon God.  Every impulse towards self-reliant and self-aggrandizing behavior arises.  Fueled by self-centered fears and self-seeking motives, these instincts eventuate in self-sabotage.  As we evaluate our unvarnished motives, we often discover longstanding patterns of thought in consciousness and character that clash with God’s will.  A fear that these egotistical impulses will remain insatiate is the primary causes of trepidation.  As we pray, affirm and meditate upon the Word of God, we find clarity as to the next right steps towards God’s purpose and will.  Additionally, exercise, journaling, reading and study are means of discerning the next right step. Adherence to these spiritual disciplines deadens trepidation.  Moreover, faithful practices of spiritual graces are the means of maturity in faith and character.

Acceptance of life on its terms as it evolves daily is the surest means of eradicating trepidation.  Realizing that God does not allow anything to happen out of order equals acceptance.  As the Creator of the Universe, God does not abandon us to chaotic, random and dangerous forces.  He permits whatever happens.  However regrettable many experiences may be, they occur within God’s permissive and circumstantial will.  Easily, negative experiences overwhelm us as we ponder God’s silence and inactivity.  In contrast, we learn from every situation.  We further commit to trusting God as we know He orchestrates suffering, pain and misfortunate toward redemptive purposes.  In each experience, we ask “What do I need to know?”  Answering that question usually resolves any trepidation; it refocuses our mind and yields clarity of purpose.  

Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God: "What Would You Have Me to Do?" - Part One

Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God:

“What Would You Have Me to Do?” – Part One

Have you ever really asked God, “What would you have me to do?”  Many disciples with longstanding histories in any churches and generations of legacy in the Christian faith have not asked Almighty God that simple and straightforward question.  More amazing, countless clergypersons assume they have.  Religiosity, rituals, righteousness and repetitive attendance at worship easily lend themselves to this assumption.  However, it is not a certainty that faithful practice of spiritual disciplines and growth in discipleship development necessarily mean you ask to discern God’s.

What do you do when your will conflicts with God’s will?  Admitting this clash of wills offends the prevalent righteousness of many disciples.  Of course, I want the will of God to unfold in my life!  In their book, A God Centered Church, Henry T. Blackaby and Melvin D. Blackaby record a funny and challenging story of a couple who prayed for a dream house into which they moved fully furnished to ideal specifications.  Within two years, the couple felt strongly that God was urging them to sell their long-awaited and deeply desired dream house and go on the mission field.  Like Jacob, this couple wrestled long and hard with Almighty God before yielding to His will. 

Additionally, a clergy colleague in an exhorting sermon on stewardship tells the story of a couple who saved seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) to purchase their dream house.  Simultaneously, a woman in their congregation needed the same amount of money for surgery.  They faced a dilemma as to whether they would obey the Holy Spirit’s leading and give their entire savings toward the surgery or whether they would purchase of the house.  Further, I attended a missions meeting at the annual session of The General Synod of The Reformed Church in America where a Christian brother shared his story of having saved the money to buy an antique Ford Thunderbird convertible.  As God would sow seeds of providence in his life, shortly before buying the car, he and his wife went on a missions trip to Haiti.  Overwhelmed by the extreme poverty he saw, this brother felt the Holy Spirit challenge him to give the money to missions in Haiti.  Hoping she would encourage him to buy the car as a reward for his many years of faithful service as a husband, father and disciple in the Church, he asked his wife for her thoughts.  She encouraged him to seek the Lord for His will.  These three examples demonstrate practical challenges for disciples in asking genuinely what God’s will is.

This question frightens many disciples as its answer may not accord with their instincts and ambitions.  Asking the question, “What would You have me to do,” leads inevitably to other queries.  What is the cost of doing God’s will?  Will it conveniently fit into my life?  How does accomplishing God’s will enrich my life?  God’s will does not always seem to make sense.  How do I follow Him when I have so few details?  What will be the ultimate outcome?  Will I succeed?  Will God embarrass me?  Will I receive any tangible reward or recognition for my service?  These very human questions often prevent well-intentioned disciples from to fulfilling “The Great Commandment” of loving the Lord God with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength.

God lives with us in the messiness and craziness of daily living.  Often our circumstances appear to eclipse God’s presence.  How do we ask genuinely, “What will you have me to do,” when a litany of challenges and adversities bombard our minds and hearts?  Bills begin to pile up on the dining room table.  Just when you think you have totaled your indebtedness to the penny, you discover another financial liability exceeding thirty percent of the previous sum.  At work, strained relationships jeopardize your job.  The resulting anxiety permeates your marriage and family life.  Your children wallow through murk and mire of adolescent indifference to grades and household chores.  You repeat the same admonitions, encouragements and lessons a million times.  A proper diet, consistent exercise and good sleep are very nice ideals.  Reliably, your cars need some type of unexpected maintenance at the most inconvenient time.  Emotionally, you ride the rollercoaster of fear, bewilderment, expectancy, and hope.  Still, you seek resolutions for these intertwined and complex challenges.  How do you ask for a clear revelation of God’s will in the midst of an emotional, financial and spiritual mess?  Would you not understandably relegate that question to being some esoteric and theological inquiry?     

How we ask genuinely to know God’s will as we struggle with multiplying and regrettable circumstances?  You stand to lose your job and primary source of income.  A renter refuses to remit thousands of dollars of arrears.  Bills mount on your kitchen table.  Someone saws off your catalytic converters necessitating an insurance claim and an unnecessary expenditure of five hundred dollars.  Adding insult to injury, your automobile company decides to discontinue your policy due to an excessive number of losses.  You know the truth of the old saying, “When it rains, it pours.”  Nevertheless, as someone seeking greater spiritual maturity, you ask Almighty God, “What would you have me to do at this juncture in my life?  What is your will   for me?”  The confluence of foregoing circumstances ideally positions you to humbly about God’s will.  These bleak circumstances coerce you to rely genuinely upon God.

Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God: "What Would You Have Me to Do?" - Part Two

Genuine Reliance Upon Almighty God:

“What Would You Have Me to Do?” – Part Two

You may feel legitimately that God is playing a cruel joke upon you.  Perpetual problems create this feeling particularly when you have not done anything wrong.  As someone who strives to honor the Lord in daily living and treat your neighbor with compassion, you ponder incongruity of blessings and burdens within your circumstances.  Though you appreciate the spiritual maxim that the rain falls on the just and unjust alike, you want to know why God allows it to pour on your fields.  Someone with your skills and abilities deserves a more fruitful and successful life.  How can God equip you with myriad talents and fail to provide opportunities to actualize them?  Why did He even give them to you?  Is He playing a cruel joke on you?

Cynicism undoubtedly results as these feelings persist.  You believe you are living a nightmare from which you hope an angel loved one will wake you.  You descend more deeply into an existential death.  You conclude your life is an utter waste.  You cease to dream anymore.  You lose the joy of your salvation.  For what would you praise God as your life seems to spiral out of control?  Feeling stuck helplessly in life’s quicksand, you courageously and faithfully ask Almighty God, “Is there more?”  What did God have in mind when He put His eternal spirit in you and sent you earthward?  However difficult these questions of faith are, they encourage and empower you to seek the will of Almighty God. 

As your Infinite Supply, Intelligence and Defense, God mysteriously transforms these circumstances into catalysts of change and growth.  Your financial challenges become a means of practicing good stewardship.  In future days of bounty, you will maximize your blessings.  As you recall your time of lean harvests, you will be a blessing to others who are in need.  Termination from a job forces you to finally pursue your heartfelt dreams.  The comfort and convenience of receiving a regular paycheck every two weeks hardly motivates anyone to re-evaluate his finances or priorities.  The love of spouses, family members and close friends becomes more meaningful during difficult times.  The self delusion of being in control of our lives rarely leads to a genuine reliance upon Almighty God.  Multiple adversities and challenges in a season of life tempts us to wallow in negative thoughts.  When mental balance returns, we are in an ideal place to ask God for His guidance.

There are several noteworthy stories in which biblical characters feel God abandons them.  Job, after enduring unimaginable grief, asks Almighty God, “Do you have eyes of flesh?  Do you see as a mortal sees?”  (Job 10:4)  His bewilderment forces Job to confront God.  Is it reliably the case that God is good all the time?  Job’s trepidation and questions about God’s motives seem reasonable as Job did not commit any offenses or lapse into apostasy.  Further, Jonah dismisses God’s will as misguided when he flees to Tarshish instead of obeying divine directive to travel to Nineveh and preach a message of repentance.  Jonah concludes the Ninevehites do not deserve God’s grace.  He more especially resolves that it is a waste of his, Jonah’s, time.  Jonah determines that it is beneath him to follow God’s orders; he expresses disdain for the people of Nineveh.  Jonah eventually adheres to God’s will but afterwards regrets doing so.  As Jonah sulks underneath a tree, he believes God abandons him to a worthless and fruitless vocation as a prophet.  Third, in the well-known biblical passage relating to tithing, Malachi 3:8-18, the prophet chastises his listeners for questioning whether it pays to serve God.  They distract themselves as they observe the bountiful blessings of persons who do not subscribe to their religious beliefs and commitments.  What is in it for them?  Essentially, they feel abandoned to randomness of daily living.  What is the purpose of surrendering tithes and offerings as a devotion to a God who fails to bless them?  Finally, the Psalter asks some very heartrending questions about God’s character and faithfulness in Psalm 77.  “Has His unfailing love vanished forever?”  “Will He never show His favor again?”  “Has His promise failed for all time?”  These inquiries reflect the Psalter’s hopelessness and helplessness as he doggedly strives to cling to his faith in Almighty God.  The cumulative question of Job, Jonah, Malachi and the Psalter, “How does a person genuinely rely upon God when he feels abandoned by God,” mirrors heartfelt questions of countless contemporary disciples.

Nevertheless, when disciples ask that question they are ideally situated emotionally, experientially and existentially to rely genuinely upon Almighty God.  The confluence of circumstances in their lives coerces the question.  Certain humility befalls disciples who find themselves in this predicament.  As these disciples recognize their extreme limitations, they humbly ask God, “What would You have me to do?”

A Good Helping of Famous Amos Cookies

A Good Helping of Famous Amos Cookies

During my collegiate years, I heard a sermon in which the preacher loved chocolate chip cookies.  Actually, he assured the listening congregation there would be chocolate chip cookies in heaven.  His lack of theological orthodoxy greatly offended one of my contemporaries as the preacher mentioned this forthcoming celestial delight a few times during his homiletical discourse.  Perhaps guilty of sophistry, I relished the idea because chocolate chip cookies happen to be one of my most favorite treats.  The founder of Famous Amos Cookies, Wally offers us a good helping of spiritual chocolate chip cookies as he shares hard earned lessons in starting, securing and succeeding in business.

Many people spend inordinate amounts of time and energy attempting to eliminate or neutralize their weaknesses.  They assume the lack of flaws equates with perfection.  It stands to reason that a person without limitations can achieve and excel at anything.  However, recent research trends in business, intrapersonal and organizational systems stipulate this approach is a colossal waste of time.  Rather than eradicating weaknesses, a person gains mostly by building upon strengths.  Wally “Famous” Amos reflects, I learned that I should have spent more time doing what I was good at – marketing and promoting and glad-handing – rather than trying to do all the things I wasn’t good at.  Trying to turn deficiencies into assets consumes twice the time and energy required to expand upon talent or passion.  It drains creativity and laughter from you when you focus upon tasks you simply do not enjoy.  Inevitably, your mind wanders as you wish you were elsewhere.  Amos learned after repeated trials and errors to delegate tasks that are not his strengths.

Work from your strengths instead of spending huge chunks of time compensating for your weaknesses.  Assets emerge naturally from self-evaluation.  It is important to know specifically your talents and abilities.  This knowledge in turn yields self-acceptance and self-confidence which enable you to trust your intuition.  These attributes fuel your ability to complete a task without questioning your wherewithal.  You maximize your potential when you concentrate upon your forte.  Amos says Another thing I’ve learned from my mistakes is that it’s important to work from your strengths.  Focus your time and energy on the things you do best.  Leave the rest to the other members of the team.

He learned to embrace mistakes as they yield better outcomes.  Most people shun mistakes; gloss over them; and refuse to admit them.  In contrast, Amos characterizes mistakes as the necessary pathway to success.  An old adage posits, “Show me a man who have never made a mistake and I will show you a man who has never attempted anything meaningful.”  Amos learned to welcome mistakes as building blocks of dreams.  When all is said and done, mistakes are the process through which we in turn create success.  Mistakes create the foundation for our life.

In addition to Amos’ wisdom, I recommend Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton’s book, Now, Discover Your Strengths which formalizes Amos’ experiential lessons as their primary premise.  An online test accompanies the book.  Requiring forty-five minutes of uninterrupted time, this socially scientific and methodologically respectable test delineates your five fundamental strengths.  The book defines thirty-four predominant strengths.  Buckingham and Clifton argue that a strength is a talent or skill you perform well consistently over a long period of time.  Winning one competitive swum meet does not make an Olympian of you.  Coordinating one great dinner party does not mean you are a professional events planner.  Writing one bestselling book does not mean you should quit your job and become a fulltime writer.  Rather, if you possess internal ability and self-discipline to perform a task to a superlative degree consistently, then you have a strength.  Additionally, Buckingham and Clifton insist that strengths are hardwired within us.  They do not fluctuate like fleeting thoughts and illusions of grandeur.  Amos’ experience wisely instructs us to invest in developing our strengths as they definitely comprise our characters.

Arguably, mistakes are the very best teachers in life.  However, you can minimize them as you focus upon your strengths.  Famous Amos’ sage advice also prevents you from becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none as you learn to focus upon what you do best.  

"Finding Authentic Happiness in Life"

“Finding Authentic Happiness in Life”

How do you find authentic happiness in life?  Lynn Peters suggests perpetual gratefulness for people, relationships and activities that enrich your daily life is the best means of finding happiness.  She discourages the idea that happiness occurs when the circumstances of your life coalesce harmoniously thereby eliminating adversities and misfortunes.  Instead, Peters recommends “stop wishing for what we don’t have and start enjoying what we do have.”  Happiness is a choice.  This moment, you can begin to be happy for the rest of your life.  In Peters own words, happiness isn’t about what happens to us – it’s about how we perceive what happens to us.  It’s the knack of finding a positive for every negative, and viewing a setback as a challenge. If we can just stop wishing for what we don’t have, and start enjoying what we do have, our lives can be richer, more fulfilled – and happier.  The time to be happy is now.

Far too often, we determine whether we are happy in relation to our current situation.  With a stack of unpaid bills, ambiguity in parenting, and monotony in marriage due to household administration, how could a person be happy?    Peters ironically contends such a person can be exquisitely happy!  Whether he is or is not depends significantly upon how he perceives those circumstances.  If he perceives the proverbial glass of life is half empty, he remains unhappy as he focuses upon what he lacks.  In stark contrast, if he views his challenges as means of spiritual progress and personal growth, he offers thanksgiving and utilizes them to further his objectives.  He rejoices over these challenges as he knows they ultimately create even greater happiness.

More specifically, Peters recommends developing “the knack of finding a positive for every negative and viewing a setback as a challenge.”  The art of accentuating the positive and discarding the negative necessitates faithful practice.  As a child of the six and eleven o’clock news which operate with a cardinal principle, “If it bleeds, it leads,” I easily see tragedy, destruction and death on any day.  The news begins with rape, robbery, accidents and murder.  “Breaking news” interrupts people’s daily affairs to inform them of crimes in progress and other negative events.  Some people are so prepared to respond to misfortune that they do not know how to handle positive events.  It requires painstaking practice in redirecting your focus.  Peters encourages you to find a golden nugget embedded in the rubble of each unfortunate experience. 

Setbacks occur perhaps providentially to test the level of our commitment.  Do we deeply desire our heartfelt dreams as much as we suggest?  Conceivably, setbacks are God’s ways of testing our hearts to ascertain whether we have requisite faithfulness and perseverance to achieve our goals.  Setbacks equate with pit stops.  They allow a chance to pause and reassess priorities.  Setbacks offer time and space to recalibrate, refocus and refuel.  When we resume our journey, we will be more grateful and joyous as momentary setbacks encourage and empower us to “stagger forward rejoicing.”

Quintessentially, Peters equates immediate happiness with persistent gratitude for our lives as they are.  Resist the temptation to want more for its sake.  Gratitude creates joy and happiness as you appreciate what you have.  Delays for future happiness are futile.  Inability to be grateful for what you have means you will be unable to offer thanksgiving in the future.  Develop daily discipline of being thankful for each day.