Life

A Busted Mailbox, and Just Getting By Spiritually

/ Bill Jones / Leave a comment

Rural-Mailbox-Post

It was the middle of the night when someone swerved off the dirt road in front of our house and flattened our mailbox. It would have been better if the box and post were demolished, but they happened to be salvageable.

The post had broken below ground, so I stood it up and tamped the dirt back around it. A couple of leftover deck railing balusters nailed between the post and the landscape timbers around it made suitable braces. The contraption worked, but had a slight forward lean and twisted to the left, and looked like a busted post held up by two sticks.

“New post and mailbox” went on the to-do list that day. My wife, Sharon, and I discussed it at times, and we searched for what we wanted. Maybe it was time for a change – perhaps, a different style that would still fit with the dirt road location. After several tries to find something different, we gave up and decided on a mailbox identical to the one we had, and a post only slightly different from the old one.

“Put up post and mailbox” went on the to-do list that day. But, everyone knows you can’t rush out and just do it. You have to think and plan, consider the weather, decide to paint or stain the post, etc. etc. And, with a mailbox, you need to make sure you have the time to complete the installation without being interrupted (after all, the mail comes every day except Sunday, so you must have a place for it at delivery time.) So, the mailbox and post sat under the carport where I laid it when I brought it home from Lowes. After that, anytime I got in or out of the truck, I had to step around the post and mailbox.

I’m not sure how or why it all came together, but one Saturday morning I took down the old mailbox and began the installation. The post was standing and the mailbox labeled and attached when the mail carrier drove up. I asked her if the height suited her and met the regulations, and she said it was great. I tamped the post in and stained it, and the task was complete.

And, it only took me two years.

The problem was the old mailbox worked in its catawampus condition, so it never made it to the top of the to-do list. It was ugly, and the door might flop open if you didn’t close it just right, but it held mail just fine. As I said above, it would have been better if it had been a total loss. Then, I would have had to get a new one and install it quickly. But, we could get by with the old one and did, for two years.

Just getting by can become quite comfortable. The knowledge of something being out of kilter becomes blurred or filtered out of our vision. The thoughts of “I need to fix that” come farther apart and last shorter and shorter times, until the response becomes “Well, it’s not really that bad. I can get by with it.” And, we do just that – get by with it.

The physical things in our lives, such as catawampus mailboxes, should be addressed. But, it often happens the top of our to-do list should come on the spiritual side. “Just getting by” in that area could mean we’re outwardly following God’s Word, while inwardly our attitude conflicts with it, as Jesus explained in the Sermon on the Mount (“Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” Matthew 5:21-22.)

Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 13, our faith, knowledge and charity might be what people would consider good, but we are just getting by if we aren’t acting with love.

Jesus, in Matthew 23, berated the Scribes and Pharisees for just getting by with tithing of their herbs and spices, while leaving out such matters as mercy. I picture them proudly going to the Temple with their pouch containing an ounce of this herb and five grams of that spice, while stepping around the blind beggar on the steps outside.

As I said, just getting by can become quite comfortable, and in these busy times, sometimes it seems necessary. In some areas, such as mailboxes and posts, it may not be significant. But, if we discover we are just getting by (going through the motions, checking off a list, etc.) concerning our walk with God, it’s time to stop “stepping around the post and mailbox on the carport” and address it.

It’s possible that may be easy to do, but usually it won’t be comfortable and it won’t be instantaneous. It may take two days, or two years, or a lifetime of continuous work, but, thankfully we don’t have to do it alone (because we can’t).

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10

God Keeps us Humble, and Blesses Us, in Just the Right Proportion

/ Bill Jones / 8 Comments

I’ve had great fun with my book being published, and God has blessed me in the process – but he’s also kept me humble.

As you get closer to finally having a real book out there, thoughts of it becoming wildly popular do creep in now and then – at least they did with me. What if it becomes a best seller ! You could go in the bookstore and see it on the shelves right in front as you walk in the door. Amazon could declare you a “Best Selling” author. You could get rave reviews, even in the national media. You could write a book about writing your book, and it be a best seller too.

I have been realistic, and hopefully a little humble, enough that those extreme thoughts didn’t come to mind (most of them sound rather scary and bothersome), but a limited level of “wildly popular” did pop up.

I have prayed that the book would be to the glory of God and the good of His people, and it’s a sincere prayer. But, it’s also a phrase that flows easily across the lips so it shouldn’t be made without thought, which has been the case at times. And, it shouldn’t be prayed and then your mind start wandering and come out with a thought about how neat it could be for the book to be wildly popular. That has happened, too.

So, how wildly popular is it? My royalty payments from the first four weeks of sales came today, and the total was $16.52 in American dollars, plus 2 pounds, 60 pence from the UK. I won’t be retiring to the South Seas anytime soon.

I just checked Amazon to see where my sales rank. It made me smile to see I’m still in the seven digit category.  My book is ranked at 1,725,727. No national media headlines coming any time soon.

But, the reason for the royalty in pounds, is that two books sold in the United Kingdom. That’s awesome to think about. I have friends who tell me they use the book for a daily devotional. Others have read it, and bought additional copies because they want to give them to their young adult children, or their brother and father, or their Pastor and Bible Study teacher. What wonderful, and humbling, blessings.

God has a way of answering our prayers, in spite of ourselves. He can keep us humble while uplifting us. Praise the Lord!

“Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good” Psalm 135:3

Remembering the Proper Order of Our Prayers

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments

 

Wilderness Camping

Wilderness Camping

Several years ago I participated in a Wood Badge course for Boy Scout Leaders. Most of the class work was done on weekend camping trips over about a six month period. Along with instruction in the details of leading a troop the Boy Scout way, and being taught how young boys learn best, the camping setting allowed us to practice outdoor skills we could pass along.

I remember one of the first activities was related to setting up camp. The instructor led us on a short hike into the woods, stopped and gathered us around him, and asked “What’s the first thing you do in setting up camp?”

After a moment of the entire group’s silence, my reply was “You look around.”

Everybody burst into laughter and the instructor was laughing loudest. He repeated my statement, gave the old “what a stupid thing to say” chuckle and head shake, and moved on into his spiel. The answer he had wanted, and then gave us was  “set up a tent or shelter.”

He continued “Make sure you pick a good spot – don’t set up where you might get a flash flood in mountainous terrain or end up in a puddle of water here in flatland south Georgia. Is there space for a fire? Check for ant beds on the ground and rotten limbs hanging over the area. etc., etc.”

After my initial aggravation at being laughed at, I did get a kick out of listening to him, in effect, tell us the first thing to do: “you look around.” Some of the others may have also picked up on that, but the instructor never seemed to make the connection.

All of us may remember times when we were right, and were either laughed at, or not believed. As you see, that one is readily available in my memory. But, I hope I remember the incident more from the lesson to be learned. When setting up camp, or in any task, or plan, it’s best to look around first.

Sometimes we think we have the answer all figured out – Praying, “Lord, please bless this thing I want to do.” before the “looking around” prayer that should come first. “Lord, please guide me in what I should do next.”

“Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Psalms 25:4-5

Lay Aside the Weights Which Hinder Us in Our Race

/ Bill Jones / Leave a comment
Bent Power Pole

Bent Power Pole

This power pole is next to US Highway 80, along the route between our house and the church we attend. So, for quite awhile, on my trips to and from church, I’ve watched it bend a little more each year. (Yes, we electric utility engineers do notice the power lines as we drive along.)

It’s not leaning. You can see it’s straight at ground level. Leaning would mean the foundation is weak, but the foundation is strong (in this case it’s the dirt around about 6 feet of pole in the ground.) No, it’s just bending.

The pull of the attached cable that goes off to the right is causing the bend. Is the pole in danger of breaking? Probably not, unless it stays a long time, with enough bending and enough age (like our bodies, a pole’s strength lessens as it gets older.)

The more the pole bends, the more gravity comes into the equation. When it’s straight up and down, the entire pole carries the weight. But, as it bends, the weight of the top of the pole and, in this case, the weight of the transformer, create offset forces that increase the bending even more. That concentrates more force at particular locations along the pole (think of breaking a stick with your hands – it bends, then breaks at a particular point.)

If it’s not likely to break, what’s the problem? A power pole has one purpose – to hold things up. This next picture shows the span of cable that goes off the pole.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

You can consider the two photos and see that, as the pole bends more, the cable will sag closer to the ground. If it’s significant enough, the clearance to the ground can become unsafe. The pole’s purpose – to hold things up – can be compromised by weights and pulls and burdens. Even while just doing it’s job.

As I’ve passed the pole these many years, my thoughts often go to Hebrews 12:1-3: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our purpose is to glorify and worship God. Laying aside sin is obviously needed for us to fulfill that purpose (run the race). But, the Scripture verses and the pole in the picture remind us there are also weights and pulls and burdens, even “good” ones, that can hinder our race and compromise our purpose – slow us down, or get us off track, or cause us to sag under the burden. Those can be subtle and require continual self assessment to keep under control. And, as the verse also says, keeping our eyes on Jesus, and remembering what He has done, will help to reinforce the purpose in our life, and allow us to lay aside the sin and weights that hinder us.

What are some of these weights, and pulls and burdens that you’ve come across in your life?