Man Plans, and God Laughs

Today is June 24.  Sixty six years ago at a small hospital in West Point, Mississippi Jack and Dot Drees welcomed their first child into the world.  They named him William Harold.  Most folks knew him as Billy when he was younger.  Mother started calling me Bill when I went to college.  She thought I looked younger than the other college kids and dropping the y made me seem less like a kid.  I grew up in Columbus, MS but the year I was born we lived in West Point because dad was the assistant manager of the Piggly Wiggly and I tell people I was born in West Point because I wanted to be near my mother at that time.  I know it’s a tired old joke but I like it and I don’t get many opportunities to use it.  Sorry!

As I reflect on the significance of this date I realize that 66 is not much of a milestone.  We often seem to think of the birthdays that have some significance, like 15 (I got my driver’s license) or 18 (I was eligible to be drafted into the military…not a great day in the late 60’s.  I also could vote.  By the way my first presidential vote was for Nixon.  Ending the draft was probably a big factor.  Then he quit…so much for my first presidential vote). At 65 I qualified for Medicare and at 66 I qualify for my full Social Security benefit.  Also birthdays ending in a zero are often distinct because we are entering into a new decade.  With that in mind entering the last half of my 70^th decade is not that thrilling.  Psalm 90:10 reminds me of the brevity of 70 years as “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”  After this there is no great consequence for another birthday number except marking the day one dies when people will say, “Wow, I didn’t realize he was that old” or “Man, I thought he was older than that.”  Seriously, I have learned to appreciate every day of life, especially since I should have died in 2001.  If interested, you can go back to the blog archive for February 2010 and read ‘Life is Good’…or you could take me to lunch and I will share more info.  After all, it is my birthday, and a late birthday lunch…with cake for dessert would be OK.

As I grow older I seem to lean to nostalgia more often than when I was younger and busier with ‘important things’ that seemed to matter.  Some of those things did matter quite a bit but it is interesting how ‘things that matter’ seem to change as life moves along.  We have plans and ambition but life has a way of changing our plans and teaching us how unpredictable the road of life can be.  “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” is an old Yiddish adage meaning, “Man Plans, and God Laughs.” 

Mother told me when I was too young to remember that people would ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  I would smile and say, “Nothing!”  That was cute when I was 4 but as I got older I realized I needed to develop something more concrete.  I never remember living a day without an awareness of God in my life.  I also seemed to have always have a sense that God had a plan for me.  However, my theology was not developed well enough to know how to discern His plan so I just enjoyed the ride until I got out of college and mother was probably worried that I was trying to achieve my childhood goal of being ‘nothing’.  My primary ambition was to enjoy life.  I had fun, good clean fun, but there comes a time when one realizes that such a vocation does not usually have great compensation. 

Although I was a believer, as I stated earlier, I was not mature enough in my faith to discern God’s will for my life.  As I look back I realize how strongly His hand was guiding me even when I was unaware, especially when I was unaware.  My home church was without a pastor and I visited another church in town with a couple of friends.  I did not know the pastor but somehow felt a connection that caused me to show up at his office to ask for his guidance as I “felt that God was calling me to preach.”  I was initially disappointed as I expected him to say, “Can you be ready Sunday?”  However, his advice was exactly what I needed.  I was able to reconnect years later, as a fellow pastor, and thank him for his wise words.  I have shared his words to many other young men seeking to follow God’s call over the years.

Among the things he shared was guidance to get more involved in God’s word.  “If God is going to speak to you that is where you will hear his voice most clearly.”  God spoke clearly to me as I read in Proverbs 16:3 for the first time; “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.”  God seemed to be speaking personally and directly to me telling me that He had an established plan for my life and I needed commit all my actions to Him and he would take care of the rest.  Well it is not quite that simple, I am reminded of the preacher who said, “I asked God to give me a message but I had to study for this one as well.”  We have to do the required work as we follow His lead but if we commit ourselves to Him, no matter what the vocation or direction may be, He will guide us along His plan. 

Most of the folks who knew me as Billy growing up would have never predicted me to be a preacher.  Oh, they knew me to be a good kid but extremely shy.  In fact, when I told mom and dad that I believed God was calling me to be a preacher; I never knew until many years later that when I left the room mom looked at dad and said, “I don’t think the boy will make it.”  She loved me but also knew how timid I was. 

Committing my works to the Lord led me to the wonderful wife God had already established for me and two daughters who have grown to be women whom I am proud of beyond words.  His established plan also allowed the shy timid boy to grow to be a man who has been blessed to preach on five of the seven continents on this planet.  It has been quite a journey, far greater than anything I could have planned.  I have certainly learned over the years that life is fleeting and fragile, so I don’t know how long the journey may last but I live each day confidently that His plan, and my days, are established in His hand. 

Forgive the personal reflection, but I hope the message will come across to you that no matter what age or stage in life you may find yourself, Proverbs 16:3 still works.  It is never too late to give it a try. 

Can You Be Certain?

I was doing my usual channel surfing recently.  It is a known fact that men are not as concerned with ‘what’s on TV’ as much as we are interested in, ‘what else is on TV’.  I think it comes from our heritage of being adventure seeking discoverers as ‘hunter/gatherers’.  Women are usually less prone to channel surf as their heritage leans more to ‘nesting’.  But I digress.  Back to the point, I was channel surfing and ran across a program on the recent suicide of celebrity chef, Anthony Bourdain.  They were playing a montage of clips and quotes from his programs about his life and travels.  He spoke of a tattoo he had on his arm that said, “I am certain of nothing”.  This tattoo described his continuing search for meaning and purpose.  He spoke of having respect for religion but he leaned toward atheism. 

The quote “I am certain of nothing” is a partial quote from Romanticist poet, John Keats.  In a letter to his friend, Benjamin Bailey, Keats wrote “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of the imagination”. The letter was written speculating on religion and imagination.  It is believed that since his friend Benjamin was studying theology, they may have had discussions regarding theological philosophies during Keats stay at Oxford that influenced this letter. In this quotation, Keats is telling his friend that he is confident in the sacredness of things that the heart finds pleasure in and the reality that can be invoked by creativity.

All through history people have sought to find meaning, purpose and joy in life.  Keats found meaning in imagination and creativity.  Anthony Bourdain seemed to have a great gig going; in fact I recently told my wife that although I am enjoying retirement I would not mind his job; traveling to exotic destinations, meeting interesting people and eating all kinds of food…and getting paid for it!  However, there was emptiness in his quest that was revealed not only in his tattoo but in his final act.  He had riches, fame and was doing what he seemed to love.  He was filming another episode of his show on travel and gourmet food in the city best known for such but he decided to end his own life by hanging himself with his bathrobe belt in a motel room in Paris. 

In my days of being employed as a minister part of my work was research.  I once ran across an article, by an anonymousAre  non-believer asking ‘What is the Point of Life?’  The writer argued, “that the only reality we have is the present, the more life seems somewhat pointless – particularly if there is nothing after this existence and can't be sure that there is something more. And let's be honest, we can't be certain. No matter how strong our faith in a particular religion or philosophy, we can only ‘believe' if we don't have the evidence to truly ‘know'.  Saying, “I believe”, is never an adequate substitute for being able to say, “I know”, and faith is largely centered around belief because it relies on second, third, fourth (and so on) accounts of things that may or may not be true.”

His conclusion with his supposition that we can’t be certain of anything but the present was this; “The point is to live with what you know to be real. But the fact is, we don't know what's around the corner, what happens when we die or even the true extent of the control we have over our lives. What we do know is that we have an awareness of being here now. Stop for a moment and look around. That's an awareness looking through those eyes; a soul, a physical being, a personality, a beautiful individual. Don't spend your life believing, because the happiness is in the knowing. There's nothing to hope for in the future but everything to embrace right this second. This is the point. You are the point, along with every other living organism that surrounds your existence in this moment. The tiniest, seemingly insignificant insect you see on the floor is a fundamental part of the point, because you know it exists in the here and now.  When we start living with what is real, the point of life falls into place. It has context, substance and meaning. Live in the present moment, stick with what you know to be real and the meaning of life will become your individual experience of joy. Any thoughts of what might be will become just that, thoughts, rather than self-prophesying “beliefs” that amount to non-reality living."

While I obviously don’t agree with everything that writer said, I do agree that living a life enjoying the reality of the moment is not such a bad way to live.  In fact, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow.  Contrary to the writer, who says that ‘we don’t know what is around the corner’, Jesus is tells us that we can trust Him for ‘what is around the corner’ and that is why we can enjoy the reality of the day and not worry about tomorrow.  I also agree that things we, as believers, hold dear in our faith cannot be proven as reality in a laboratory however, the things that can be proven in a laboratory or the reality of the ‘here and now’ are not the embodiment of ultimate truth.  While Anthony Bourdain tattooed, “I am certain of nothing” on his arm Jesus spoke often of the importance and power of belief and faith.  Hebrews 11:1 says this about faith, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Believers have assurance and certainty that non-believers can never know. 

So, before I get too long-winded in making my point (which my wife will say that I already have done), I guess what I am trying to convey is that the pursuit of joy and meaning in life comes down to three choices.  I loved multiple choice test questions because there was always a chance that I might get the right answer with a wild guess even when I was clueless.  This question of finding meaning and purpose in the way we live is far too important to make a wild guess.  Nevertheless, we can choose, as the practicing non-believer would choose, to live a life of total uncertainty and unbelief in anything which usually leads to despair (notice I am not using the word atheist as some non-believers are actually agnostics (which means they are not sure whether God is real or not and are just uncertain…as the tattoo on Anthony Bourdain’s arm suggests).

The second choice is stated in the article I shared where the non-believer chose to live a life of believing only in the reality of the moment.  This also can lead to a negative outcome as one has no real regard of the future since the only reality they can know is now.  This belief usually leads to Epicureanism which Paul referred to in Corinthians 15:32, saying what is the point if there is no resurrection we might as well follow the philosophy; “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will be dead.”  

Thank goodness there is a third choice.  One does not have to live a life of hopeless despair and unbelief or a life of Epicureanism pleasure seeking.  The third choice is to live a life of faith in Christ.  Jesus speaks of living in the moment because we are trusting tomorrow to Him.  Jesus speaks of living a full and abundant life as we make the most of today loving our fellowman as we love ourselves and loving God with all our heart soul and mind.  Jesus speaks of eternal hope and rewards when we live a life of faith. 

So, while some may struggle with living a life of meaningless uncertainty or a life of empty pleasure seeking...I may be a product of the Mississippi public school system but I think the smart choice is number three; choosing to live each day as a life of faith in Christ.