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“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways . . .”    Psalm 37:7 

As a young business professional there came a point when I became impatient that my career was not advancing fast enough.  I wanted to move ahead, and move ahead of my peers.  Chalk it up to ambition, but in retrospect my impatience sometimes caused more setbacks than advancements, such as the time I uprooted my family for an “opportunity” in another city.  What I thought would surely lead to a giant leap in my career, thus my family’s financial wellbeing, turned out to be a near disaster.  Fortunately – and literally by the grace of God – my mistake got redeemed and all turned out well.  But I wonder sometimes how much better off I might have been had I remained slow and steady and waited patiently before the Lord.

There is no better illustration of this than the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare”, one of the best known and most beloved among Aesop’s fables.  So the story goes, “The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals.  ‘I have never yet been beaten,’ said he, ‘when I put forth my full speed.  I challenge any one here to race with me.’  The tortoise said quietly, ‘I accept your challenge.’  ‘That is a good joke,’ said the hare, ‘I could dance around you all the way.’  ‘Keep your boasting till you’ve won,’ answered the tortoise.  ‘Shall we race?’  So a course was fixed and a start was made.  The hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a nap.  The tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run up in time to save the race.  Then the tortoise said, ‘Slow and steady wins the race.’” 

Sarah Young, in her bestselling devotional book Jesus Calling claims that, “Much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come.” Boy was that ever true for me!  But in my case, it was not that I was cocky and over-confident like the hare, I simply got impatient, and fretted when others succeeded ahead of me, instead of “being still before the Lord and waiting patiently for him.”  Thankfully that near demise of my career served as a wakeup call, awakening the tortoise within me.  It reminded me that God’s pace is always perfect, not our selfish ambition, and being slow and steady, obedient and faithful to Him will win the race – every time.

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”  – Matthew 9:37 

Two partners were discussing their business strategies for the upcoming new year.  One was focused only on making more money, to which the other responded, “instead, why don’t we see how many more people we can help?”  The first partner reminds me of my annual failed attempts at New Year’s resolutions, which typically center around exercising more, improving my diet, losing a few pounds, those sorts of things – but ultimately are about me.  Perhaps the second partner was suggesting a better approach, focusing less on themselves and more on helping others.

An old pastor friend of mine is an amazing observer of people. Oftentimes when in a restaurant or Starbucks together, noticing someone acting surly toward the server, or otherwise appearing distraught in some way – troubled or lonely or angry – he would lean over to me and whisper, “that person needs to be loved on.”

I think the second business partner and my old pastor friend may have been singing from the same page in the songbook, different verses perhaps, but the same song.  My pastor friend recognized the abundance of people around in need of help, starving as he would say “to be loved on.”  Likewise, the second business partner recognized an opportunity in there being a scarcity of people willing to do so.  Together it was exactly the message Jesus was trying to teach his disciples when he pointed out to them that “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” 

Admittedly, after over-indulging during the holidays I could use a good dose of self-discipline to take off some of those extra pounds I have gained, which may well enhance my personal appearance and even my health, but does little toward helping others or improving mankind.  Instead, says the writer of Hebrews, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  Is that not what the second business partner was trying to suggest to the first?  Sounds like a good business strategy to me, and a New Year’s resolution that will not end in failure.  And if in fact “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few,” perhaps by joining the workforce might even help knock off a few extra pounds, or in the case of the two business partners improve their profitability.

“Behold, I make all things new.”  Revelations 21:5 

As is my custom each year, Issue 50 will be the final edition of Abundant Living for 2024.  So, I take this opportunity to wish all of you, my faithful readers, supporters and encouragers, a blessed Christmas and holiday season with these final thoughts: 

It is not known the exact time of Jesus’ birth, which has created much speculation throughout the centuries, along with extensive scholarly research.  December 25, of course, eventually became the settled-upon date for celebrating the birth of our Lord, but no one seems to know for sure why that day was chosen either.  There are, however, several factors that may have influenced the choice.  One source I read theorized, “December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year, and the first day in which the days would begin to elongate, and the sun would have a longer presence in the sky.  Jesus was identified with the ‘sun’ based on an Old Testament verse [from the Book of Malachi], and the date [25^th] is exactly nine months following the Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated.”  Several other theories exist, but no one knows for sure.

Regardless how it came about, what I find curiously fascinating about December 25 is its one-week proximity to New Year’s Day, such that in our modern world we have tended to lump them together.  I doubt that was intentional in the beginning, but perhaps through the increasing commercialization and secularizing of Christmas it has simply evolved into an extended celebration.  We say, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” in one breath, and commonly refer to this time of year as the “Holiday Season”, as if it were all one singular event.

There is an interesting irony in lumping the two celebrations together, for although both events celebrate new beginnings, there is a difference as New Year’s places the burden on us to begin anew, and the reason we make New Year’s resolutions.  Christmas, on the other hand, places that burden on – of all things – a Babe in a manger whose new beginnings fulfill an ancient promise of restoring mankind’s relationship with God.  And while New Year’s resolutions are sure to fail, the Babe in the manger is a sure thing – He who proclaims, “Behold, I make all things new.”    Merry Christmas!

“To accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift of God.” – Ecclesiastes 5:19 

“A farmer, being at death’s door, and desiring to impart to his sons a secret of much moment, called them round him and said, ‘My sons, I am shortly about to die.   I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard there lies a hidden treasure.  Dig, and you will find it.’  As soon as their father was dead, the sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil of the vineyard over and over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie buried there.  They found none, however: but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen. . . . . There is no treasure without toil.”  [From Aesop’s Fables]

Once upon a time I was convinced that the goal of education and hard work was to be able to free oneself from the drudgery of having to work at all.  Perhaps that is what attracted me to the arena of Wall Street investment banking, the notion that since that is where the money is I might have the opportunity to actually accomplish that goal.  But over time my attitude changed as I came to realize that the real reward from working had little to do with wealth, and much to do with the privilege and pleasure of work itself.

In his parable of “The Rich Fool” Jesus tells about a rich man who had the good fortune of producing a big crop.  The man considered what to do so he decided he should build bigger barns in which to store his great wealth of grain, then he would have plenty so he could “take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”  “But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded of you.’”  (Luke 12)

As I say, once upon a time I might have been tempted to claim “The Rich Fool” as my hero, believing that becoming like him was the achievement of the American dream.  Instead, nowadays I find myself thanking God for giving me work to do – paid or not – praying that I may continue to do so as long as possible; for as the wise father so cleverly taught his two sons, there is no treasure without toil, except we learn that the real treasure, the true reward, relates to much more than dollars and cents; rather it is the pleasure derived from having the opportunity to grow, serve, and be productive each and every day.  For as the wise King Solomon reminds us, “[for a person] to accept his lot and be happy in his work – this is a gift from God.”  And truly, what a gift it is!

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat . . .” – Matthew 25:35 

There is an old Jewish parable which describes a scene from hell in which the condemned are, surprisingly, sitting together around a banquet table where a sumptuous feast is set before them (imagine Thanksgiving), except everyone is screaming out in agony because, due to their arms being stiffened, they are unable to feed themselves and enjoy the feast.  Likewise, the parable describes a scene from heaven the exact same way, including the stiffened arms.  Except in heaven the dinner guests are all laughing and enjoying a grand celebration, with their stiffened arms extending across the table feeding one another.

You should have seen the surprised expression on Sam’s face recently when he showed up for work at Hugs Café, where Tee and I volunteer two days a week.  Sam had just passed his driver’s test, and if that was not excitement enough, there awaiting his arrival were his “teammates” / colleagues, kitchen staff, volunteers, even the customers having lunch, all standing and cheering and congratulating him as he walked through the door.

The other day I found myself caught up in one of those conversations we all probably engage in far too often about all the bad things going on in the world.  Suddenly, without thinking, I interrupted with something that surprised even me.  “Everyone should have a chance to work at Hugs Café,” I blurted out.  “At Hugs only good things happen!”  Sam’s story is a prime example, only it is not unique, it happens every day, as success stories happen every day, dreams come true every day and are celebrated every day.  As for Sam, earning his driver’s license has been years in the making, now a dream come true.

“Hugs Café,” according to its website, “is a non-profit social enterprise . . . dedicated to providing meaningful training and competitively-paid employment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  It is our passion to offer a place of hope, understanding, grace, and success [HUGS] to each individual so they may be recognized for their abilities and talents in the community,” a place where only good things happen.

Like all restaurants, Hugs’ business is feeding people.  But as Sam’s story attests it is also a place where, like the heavenly banquet, people feed each other.  May Thanksgiving be like that for all of us, a time for reaching out to feed each other, and being thankful.