The Biggest Risk Ever...

I'm not sure I could name the biggest risk I ever took. Not sure I could get it down to just one risk. I think I would have to break it down by category. You know, stuff like: My biggest physical risk; My biggest financial risk; my biggest relationship risk; my biggest professional/job risk; my biggest educational risk; etc.

I used to enjoy playing the board game "Risk" with my sons. It is, as you probably know, a game of world-domination. The object is to aquire territory, defend it against attack; aquire more territory, defend it against attack; and eventualy, hopefully...through strength and luck...control enough territory to rule the entire world!
There's nothing like the feeling you get when control the world!

I wonder which involves the greater risk: exercising strength and luck to gain control (of the world, or anything else), or exercising whatever it takes to remain in control (of the world, or anything else). However, you name it and someone for sure wants to control it...and will for sure take the risk of gaining control of it.

Strange things: control and risk. Probably best to limit the damage that can be done by either or both in our lives. Or, if you prefer, roll the dice.

Some Seasons Moreso than Others

In the Spring of my life I was probably more fun than I am now.
In the Summer of my life I was probably more cool than I am now.
In the Autumn of my life...whoa, that's the struggle, I think: am I now in the Autumn or the Winter of my life?

If you were to divide up an eighty-year-long life (let's just use that as an example...actually, I think I am very close to the end of the expected life-span for a non-smoking, white male born in the midwest in 1945), the four seasons of that life would each be twenty years long. Using that method, I would now be in the Winter, not the Autumn, of my life!

But there are other ways you could speak about the seasons of your life...it could be divided into health-seasons, wisdom-seasons, financial seasons, faith seasons, relationship seasons, etc. Or, you could just use any old random method that seems to fit.

I think the Spring of my life lasted from 1945 to 1963ish (18 years).
I think the Summer of my life lasted from 1963ish to 1987ish (24 years).
I believe I am now in the Autumn of my life and that this will last until 2017ish (30 years).
If the life-span calculators are correct, the Winter of my life will last from 2017ish to 2022 (5 years).

Now, using the random method I have chosen above...and it just happened to fit a pattern (I chose those dates for some very specific personal-life reasons, not related to a pattern or formula of any kind): My Summer lasted 6 years longer than my Spring; my Autumn will last 6 years longer than my Summer; and it could be argued that my Winter should last 6 years longer than my Autumn...meaning I would be drawing breath and Social Security until the year 2053, and the age of 108! The chances of that are "not much!"

Well, whatever the Season of life you or I are in, it probably is important for each of us to:
*Have some fun...
*Enjoy family and friends...
*Grow in wisdom and grace...
*Learn something new each day...
*Deepen the faith we profess...
*Be kind to one another...

...And in the end (wow! that's a powerful word to use in a blog like this), leave more behind than we have used-up along the way.

Creepy Prayers

Now I lay me down to sleep/I pray the Lord my soul to keep, etc.
God is great, God is good/Let us thank Him for our food, etc.

Those are the earliest prayers I can remember saying...its probably true for many folks, as well. The Lord's Prayer found its way into my prayer repertoire probably before my 10th birthday. I am pretty sure I was aware by then that I was attempting to communicate with the Creator.
I have been a part of groups/teams that prayed for victory in an athletic event. I went thru a period in my twenties when I stood on a street corner in Hollywood and prayed for folks passing by to see the light and come to Jesus (I lived in the L.A. area at the time and our church would often travel down to an area of Hollywood and "pray for sinners.")
At the advanced age of almost 67, and after over 35 years of serving as a church pastor, I think very differently about prayer than I did years ago. I think of prayer now as a way of quieting myself in an attempt to sense what can be known about the Creator's presence. I think of prayer now as a way of "dumping" some of the busyness...some of the crud...some of the trivia that resides in me, and taking in some calmness and grace that the Creator may want to send my way.
On those Sunday mornings when I lead the prayers during worship at the church I serve, I offer these words: In these moments of silence/Speak, and we will listen/Listen, and we will speak the words of our hearts.
Its been quite a journey from those first prayers I learned to where I am now.
The journey will most likely continue.

In the Middle of Somewhere...Not Sure Where

Are you anything like me: You know when something is about to happen, but you don't know exactly what; You can feel a big change is on the way, but you can't decide which way the wind of change is blowing; You can sense that you are in the middle of something, but you don't know just what or where. Yeah, you are like me. Its a real bummer when this sort of thing happens, huh?

"The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart." That, from Buddha.
"If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found." That, from I don't know who.
"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." That, from Nelson Mandela.
"That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden. And then you realize how obvious they've been all along." That, from Madeleine L'Engle.

The painting above is titled "Abstract Suffering." Sometimes it feels like that painting makes me feel...to be in the middle of somewhere, but not sure where; to be in the middle of something, but not sure what.
I recommend that if you find yourself in that place...the middle...that you take some time. Time to be calm. Time to center. Time to let things sort themselves out.
"Readjusting is a painful process, but most of us need it at one time or another." That, from Arthur Christopher Benson.
"When your heart speaks, take good notes." That, from Judith Campbell.

I wish you well when you find yourself somewhere, but you are not sure where. Call upon all your gifts and strengths and resources to help you find where you are and where you should go next. And here is one more quote, again from Buddha: "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."

A Million Ways

The thoughts here came from today's New Year's Day sermon...but sometimes even sermon stuff is good for further consideration.
The suggestion this morning was that there is no "one right way" to be a faithful follower...There is no Path, There is only a Guide, There are a Million Right Ways to Follow...was the title.
I've got my way of following and you've got your's. She has another way. He is marching to the beat of a very different drummer. And its all good. Or, at least it can be. I am not at all convinced that there is some "only one way" cookie-cutter path spread out before all of us. Some take-it-or-leave-it road down which everyone has to march in lock-step.

So, find a good guide...make provision for a year-long trek down any of a million different paths...and enjoy the days, weeks, and months of 2012. You may just find yourself at the end of this year exactly where you needed and/or wanted to be, but having arrived there by some route you never expected.

Oh, and don't let the past get in the way of having a good 2012! Find a good guide...have a good trip.