“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life . . . so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.”  – 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 

Does the name Oceola McCarty ring a bell with you?  To jog your memory, or in case you missed the flurry of publicity some years back, Oceola McCarty of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a “washer woman” with only a sixth grade education, gained notoriety following her death at age 91 when it was revealed she had left her estate of $150,000, an astonishing amount for someone of such modest means, to The University of Southern Mississippi to establish an endowment to fund scholarships for deserving students in need of financial assistance.

A Google search reveals that “McCarty never owned a car; she walked everywhere she went, pushing a shopping cart nearly a mile to get groceries. She rode with friends to attend services at the Friendship Baptist Church. She did not subscribe to any newspaper and considered the expense an extravagance. Similarly, although she owned a black-and white-television, she received only broadcast transmissions. In 1947, her uncle gave her the house in which she lived until her death. She also received some money from her aunt and mother when they died, which she placed [in] savings” as her mother had taught her.

But let’s be realistic.  While $150,000 is an amazing estate for someone to leave behind who had to rely on doing other people’s laundry to make a living, yet in today’s inflated economy with college tuitions being what they are it doesn’t seem that $150,000 would go very far.  But imagine if it only helped a few earn a college education who otherwise would not have been able to do so, and those few became doctors, nurses, teachers, and entered other professions that saved lives or helped others to also pursue higher goals, would Oceola’s estate not have multiplied, in a sense, way beyond its original value?

For most of my life, I’m afraid, I have misunderstood what it means to be successful, believing it to mean rising to the top of the corporate ladder, becoming wealthy or famous, the top expert in one’s field.  Not that those things aren’t good, and we need people pursuing them.  But if we really want to make an impact, the Apostle Paul says instead to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life . . . so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.”  God bless Oceola McCarty.  She certainly won my respect.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  – Romans 12:21 

When I was in high school there was this character in our school named Jim.  I suspect I may have mentioned him before in these writings.  Jim was perpetually getting in trouble, one of those people who spent more time in the principal’s office than the classroom.  But unlike the class clown whose mischief made everyone laugh, Jim’s antics were not especially humorous, just disruptive.  He had few friends and was a bit of a loner, yet quite intelligent, if only he had channeled his intellect toward academics or other constructive activities instead of mischief.  I knew little about him or his family to dare speculate whether his behavior was environmental, emotional, or due to some sort of medical or mental condition.  All I know is Jim was always causing trouble.

There are two kinds of people, a wise friend of mine once observed, those who create problems, and those who solve them.  I think he was referring to the contrast between people like Jim – admittedly an extreme example – versus those who, in keeping with the high school theme, played by the rules, were captains of the sports teams, student body and class presidents, studied hard to prepare for college, cheerleaders, members of the marching band, held jobs after school and over summer break, or otherwise participants in constructive activities and leaders in one way or another.

There may indeed be two kinds of people, as my friend suggested, but I think he would also agree that no one is a hundred percent one or the other, as most of us tend to be little bit of both.  Who among us has not created a few problems along the way, even as we may have endeavored to be problem solvers?  And as for Jim, the consummate troublemaker, while I don’t know what became of him, he surely had some good qualities as well that hopefully emerged after growing out of adolescence.

As we embark on this new year I am thinking that rather than attempting more sure-to-fail resolutions, perhaps I might instead focus on moving the needle more in the direction of solving problems versus creating them.  The Apostle Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  I think he is right, for good people doing good deeds are the only ones who can right this crazy world when it gets out of whack, and the only ones who can sustain it for a brighter future – always have been.  Happy New Year!

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  – John 1:14 

“It was thousands of years ago and thousands of miles away, but it is a visit that for all our madness and cynicism and indifference and despair we have never quite forgotten.  The oxen in their stalls.  The smell of hay.  The shepherds standing around.  That child and that place are somehow the closest of all close encounters, the one we are closest to, the one that brings us closest to something that cannot be told in any other way.  This story that faith tells in the fairytale language of faith is not just that God is, which God knows is a lot to swallow in itself much of the time, but that God comes. Comes here.  ‘In great humility.’  There is nothing much humbler than being born: naked, totally helpless, not much bigger than a loaf of bread.  But with righteousness and faithfulness the girdle of his loins.  And to us came.  Is it true – not just the way fairytales are true but as the truest of truths?  Almighty God, are you true?

“When you are standing up to your neck in darkness, how do you say yes to that question?  You say yes, I suppose, the only way faith can ever say it if it is honest with itself.  You say yes with your fingers crossed.  You say it with your heart in your mouth.  Maybe that way we can say yes.  He visited us.  The world has never been quite the same since.”  (Frederick Buechner, The Clown in the Belfry)

I must admit that even after being taught this story since infancy and hearing its re-telling thousands of times, I still sometimes think it must be a fairytale.  No wonder there are so many cynics, skeptics, non-believers, scoffers, and persecutors.  I stand with them at times; for who in his or her right mind could believe such a thing, that God (if there is one) visited earth, born as an infant like the rest of us, and lived alongside us experiencing everything we humans experience.  It’s outrageous!  Except for this one undeniable historical fact that even the cynics, skeptics, and non-believers cannot dispute.  When “The Word become flesh and made his dwelling among us,” the undeniable fact is, as Buechner points out, “the world has never been quite the same since.”  Fairytales don’t have that kind of impact, only the truest of truths.

As is my custom, this issue number 50 will be the final one for 2023.  May you have a joyful and blessed Christmas season!  Abundant Living will return in January.

“But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 

My neighbor and I were commiserating the other day about the problem we are both experiencing with our newspaper carrier, who is unacceptably inconsistent in delivering the papers on time, or some days not at all.  Yet, the system for reporting such matters only offers two choices, either an automated voice response if you call on the phone, or an automated on-line link.  No option is offered to speak with a live human being.

While I am a huge believer in technology and a supporter of its continued advancement, I also believe there is nothing mankind can ever invent or develop that can replace human contact, including artificial intelligence (AI) that is getting so much press these days.  Technology, after all, even at its best, is merely a human invention.  We humans, though, are created by God in His own image, and there is no way man can out-create God.

Many years ago in my former career there was great fear that technological advancements were going to displace many of our jobs, that clients could access the same information we had and they would be able to transact business without our assistance.  But the CEO of our company reminded us of something I have never forgotten, that is that “people will always be in need of the advice and counsel of a fellow human being.”

Recently an urgent message appeared in my inbox from a client who needed to talk to me right away about a crucial meeting he was about to attend.  He needed some assurance that he was properly prepared in terms of the content for which he was responsible, and “advice and counsel” on the best way to present himself.  In a conversation that lasted no more than ten minutes, all I did was listen and offer encouragement.  Yet, at the end he thanked me profusely, that I had helped him get “his head screwed on straight.”

Being human, something I believe technology can never do even in its highest form, was the missing link with my neighbor and me in our frustration with the newspaper carrier.  It is only our fellow human beings who provide us with companionship and intimacy, and with whom we have relationships.  Let’s face it, we need each other, or as my old boss once said, “people will always be in need of the advice and counsel of a fellow human being.”  “But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

“We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks . . .”  – Psalm 75:1 

“Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us.  We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things.  Amen”  (Book of Common Prayer)

Hope your Thanksgiving has been filled with joy and gratitude!!