Grief and Idols

12 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in death, idol worship, idols, loss, Rick Ross

I appreciate my friend Rick Ross so much. One of the things I appreciate is his sharing of what he has learned through a extremely painful event in his life. He’s been speaking in class about some of the things he learned and he made a comment yesterday that has stuck with me. I wish I could remember it exactly but I will give my rendition. We must be careful we don’t let what we grieve become an idol in our life.

I’d never thought about something I lose becoming an idol but it’s true. I have likely come close at times to letting something I grieve become an idol, become something that I hold more dear than anything else, something I could almost worship by giving more attention and focus to what I lost than what God wants to give me.

What if you lost all your money?

What if you lost your health?

What if you lost your spouse?

What if you lost your child?

Would the loss of any of those things consume you? For some people a loss can do just that – consume them. What a dangerous situation that can sneak up on me if I’m not aware, not prepared for how a loss can transform my life.

I appreciated the reminder of how to keep life in perspective and keep God in focus for my life.

Grace and peace to you.

More On Jobs

07 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in death, heaven, Steve Jobs

≈ Leave a comment

Steve Jobs commencement address at Stanford is everywhere. He said some really good things, some really motivating things and something that made me stop in my reading tracks and go back to what it said. I suggest reading the whole speech but read the following excerpt with me.var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Did you catch the first two sentences? No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. WOW! The sad part to me is that I think he is right on based on many conversations I’ve had. I have heard several sermons and many class discussions and plenty of conversations about how wonderful heaven will be but so many people don’t want to go. What will happen to this? Who will take care of that? What about the kids? These conversations go on like we have all the control over all these factors and we have the best plan and it sure makes it seem that when some talk about the almighty power of God they must not believe it.

Jobs missed the mark on me. I want to go to heaven and I’m ready to go NOW. I trust that God will take care of my kids in ways I never will. I trust that God will make a path for things to work how he, the creator and author of life, knows is best. That path might be that I don’t get to go to heaven anytime soon, that he has plans for me here in this dark place. So be it. I simply ask that he open my eyes, my mind and my heart to what he has in store for me. If that’s to claim my reward, let’s get rolling. If it’s to stay here and be the hands and feet of Jesus for another day, I will trust him.

Grace and peace to you.

4-0, UConn and 1 Loss

05 Tuesday Apr 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in death, Faith, questions, Rangers

≈ 1 Comment

I’m sitting here thinking how exciting it is that the Rangers are 4-0 behind real good pitching and a bunch of homeruns. Honestly, I wish the Rangers were grinding out runs instead of hitting bombs because the bats will cool off but, hey, I’ll enjoy it while I can.

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I’m sitting here after just watching One Shining Moment which is played at the end of every Final 4. I love the videos and good for UConn and their big win. I wish Butler could have pulled one out, similar to Texas Western many moons ago, except without the racial overtones.

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I’m sitting here wondering how the parents of a 14 year old boy who was found dead Sunday morning are coping because I cannot fathom what they are going through.

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The Rangers are 4-0, UConn is the National Champion for a brief while and the Sitzman family will not see their young son grow up. Two of those things make me happy but it’s fleeting and one of those things just gnaws at my gut while I wonder why.

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It’s a question I won’t know an answer to but it upsets me all the same. It makes me ask God “why?” without expecting an answer. It makes me want to touch my kids, to see their smile, to hear their voice. I’m fortunate to only be separated from them for brief periods but they are excruciating periods of time.

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I wonder if God feels that way about me. I wonder if he wants me in heaven with him as soon as possible or if he’s content because he can see me here and now. Another question I won’t have an answer to anytime soon. Nor do I need one.

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However, it’s times like this when my faith is shakier. It’s times like this when I have more questions than contentment. Still, I know that God’s ways are not my ways and I cannot begin to comprehend all his thoughts. I hope I will wake up in the morning and simply be willing to follow his direction.

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Grace and peace to you.
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