Getting Fit in 2012

            The start of a new year is the perfect time for making some commitments about fitness. Need to take off a few pounds? Need to be more frugal in spending and more zealous about saving? Need to do some things to enhance your business and family life? Want to end 2012 with more spiritual muscle?

            Making a few changes in your life can really make a big difference in your savings and retirement. As 2011 draws to a close, for example, most financial advisers are telling their clients about a higher contribution limit for 401(k)s that goes into effect for 2012. If you discipline your financial life to add the extra $500 the law permits – that’s $42 per month – it can help your retirement prospects.

            Then there are basic suggestions about improving your health most of us think about at the turn of a new year. If cigarettes and alcohol are still part of your lifestyle, save yourself the fiscal, health, and social problems they cause by eliminating both. The same goes with the excessive junk food that tempts us all.

            For your life as a leader in your business, this is the time to review last year and to focus for 2012. Does your company have a mission? One that people can recall? Articulate? Maybe this is the time to sharpen your communication.

            What about your family? Are you finding yourself making too many apologies for being absent from family events and unavailable to the people you love most? Are you feeling alienated from your children? The start of a new year is a good time to reset priorities with your family. And just sitting down with them to say out loud what you are doing – and to ask their help – may help heal some wounds.

            Then don’t forget your spiritual life in framing a fitness plan. I once heard a lady express admiration for a Bible teacher she respected. "I'd give half my life to know the Bible so well!" she gushed. "That's about what it would take," a bystander replied. I'm not sure she got the point. Do you?

            We'd prefer instant Bible knowledge from a pill or potion. Most of us would pay well for self-control, peace of mind, or power in prayer. But spiritual life is like physical health or fiscal soundness in one critical way: All the positive steps you take, even the smallest ones, make a significant difference over time.

            The art of change begins with a plan. Even the things only God can change in us depend on our plan to be open to the work of his Holy Spirit. Pounds, pennies, and prayers — success with all of them begins with a plan.

            May you live within God’s daily grace in 2012 and have a Happy New Year.

Christmas: “Denying the Rest of the World”

            There is a wonderful line from the American scholar Stephen L. Carter that is appropriate to the Christmas season: "Religion is, at its heart, a way of denying the rest of the world." He is surely, astutely, and gloriously correct.

            Faith's view of this world is strangely skeptical. No, more than that. It is a posture of unequivocal distrust leading to rejection! When the world recites its mantras – you matter only if you are beautiful, the most important thing is money, winning is everything, Look Out for Number One – faith protests them all. It adopts a posture of doubt and incredulity. It lives in skepticism and disbelief.

            I refuse to believe that selfishness is acceptable or that it is permissible to resent another's good fortune. I will not swallow the world's way of thinking in order to justify prejudice, aggression, and hatred. No believer can be anything but incredulous about the claim of this world that she is entitled to anything she can get her hands on or that he should feel no guilt in exploiting others.

            So distrust the alleged certainties of sense that cancel the mysteries of faith. Dispute the tendency of the masses to look forward only for the sake of declaring the impossibility of living with hope. Deny altogether the inevitability of such greed, hatred, and violence that we cannot prove the reality of love.

            The Bible warns against being blinded by this world and speaks of the danger of the blind leading the blind. That warning puts us on notice that things, people, and ways of thinking totally rooted in the finite world of time, space, and matter will keep us from discovering, experiencing, and delighting in the greater realities of God, spirit, and eternity that can only be known by faith.

            Faith isn't self-deception. It is neither wish projection nor wishful thinking. It is our willingness to hear and stand with the things God has shown us through events and people as awe-inspiring as a trembling, smoking mountain in the desert and as modest as a baby's first cry in the village of Bethlehem.

            So let Christmas deny the hold of this world on your heart. Let it open your eyes to what the willfully blind will never see, your ears to things the incorrigibly deaf can never hear. See Immanuel – and know God is with us. Hear the song of angels – and receive God's peace given to anxious hearts. Hold the confusion, cynicism, and antagonisms of this troubled world suspect – and choose God's reign as your way of affirming the true realities. Merry Christmas to all!

A Christian Version of “Dear Virginia”

Dear Virginia,

            There are many things you are discovering as you grow up. One of them has to do with all the fantasies we adults have invented for your entertainment. Bugs Bunny is on TV every Saturday morning. The Easter Bunny brings chocolate eggs in colored foil in the spring. Frosty the Snowman comes to life and plays with children. And Santa Claus comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve to bring you presents.

            We mean no harm with our tales. Sometimes, though, we may go overboard and try to convince you they are more than imaginary. We blur the line for you between “real” and “pretend.” Talking bunnies, snowmen coming to life, Santa coming down the chimney – these are fun characters for your pleasure.  But they are not the same as your Mommy, Uncle Bill, or me.

            What bothers me right now, Virginia, is the thought that what most of us call “The Christmas Story” might get caught up in your mind with all the other make-believe things you are coming to recognize as only pretend. I would hate for you to push Baby Jesus out of your world along with Elmo and Frosty or the Easter Bunny and Santa. The story of Jesus is very different. It is the true story of how much God loves you.

            We don’t know the exact date of his birth. December 25 was chosen centuries ago when some Christians wanted to turn a festival to the sun into a holy day for Jesus. It’s as good as any other day we might choose, and I find it hard to think Jesus would be upset with anyone for honoring his birth on any day of the year.

            It happened almost 2,000 years ago now. In a little town called Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary heard the first cries of a tiny baby. He was more than “precious” or “special.” He was the Son of God. Angels and shepherds worshiped him that night. Eventually people like Anna, Simeon, and the Wise Men paid their homage too. Millions of us worship him still.

            I want you to understand why Baby Jesus was born, Virginia. He came to show us how much God loves us and that he wants us to live with him forever.

            Jesus grew up and became a man who loved everyone, helped all who would accept his help, and changed people’s lives. He was God among us, and I want you to believe on him and make him the center of your life.

            This isn’t just another make-believe story. It really happened. Yes, Virginia, there really is a Baby Jesus!

                                                                                                                                                Your friend,

                                                                                                                                                            Rubel Shelly

In Defense of “Merry Christmas”

            I hope I’m not being overly sensitive. But I think window designers, greeting card companies, and media have fallen victim to what I hope is the unintentional diminishing of December 25 for people with backgrounds similar to my own.

            Have you noticed that “Happy Holidays” seems to have replaced “Merry Christmas” as the standard greeting for this time of year?

            There are some persons and groups who crusade against anything that carries even the slightest hint of God, religion, or faith. Thus you’ve read about the occasional music teacher who bans “Silent Night” or “Joy to the World” in favor of “Here Comes Suzy Snowflake” or “Walking in a Winter Wonderland.”

            Sometimes it is the decision of a school board to ban all religious music in favor of performances that are exclusively secular. And sometimes it is the real or threatened court action of the American Civil Liberties Union that undergirds the move to ban religious songs and symbols at this season of the year.

             For the most part, however, I suspect the majority of people who celebrate Christmas – and that’s about 96 percent of Americans – have simply embraced the shift in terminology without thinking. And no wonder! Washington now has a “Capitol Holiday Tree” instead of what used to be the “Capitol Christmas Tree.” In our rush to political correctness, we can turn ourselves inside out. In trying to be so open-minded, we can let our brains roll out onto the floor.

            The vast majority of us cultivate a spiritual life. Should Jews be barred from sharing the story, music, and joy of Hanukkah with their non-Jewish neighbors? Should Muslims be silenced about the meaning of Ramadan? So why should Christians be expected to re-brand Christmas as “Winter Fest”?

            And it isn’t only Christmas that gets voided in our culture. Maryland, for example, defended its Thanksgiving curriculum recently by explaining that holiday “from a purely historical perspective” and omitting all references to God and religion. The truth is, of course, that one cannot teach the historical facts about Thanksgiving and omit the Pilgrims’ faith in and gratitude to God.

            I don’t use Christmas to bully or to offend my non-Christian neighbor. And my sense of Christian tolerance tells me to respect his alternate belief or unbelief as his right. But tolerance does not imply abandoning one’s own faith and custom.

            “Happy Holidays” is too bland. It falls flat for me. It misses the point of who I am and what I’m about. All that for the sake of telling you this: Merry Christmas!

Lists

            I operate from daily to-do lists. Do you? Making out my list not only helps me remember the things ahead but to prioritize them. Deadlines are their most menacing when you’ve let them get so close that they smother you into inactivity.

            The list I’m working on right now actually covers more than just today. There are some complex and interrelated issues that are going to take several days to unravel – if they can be unraveled. So they are on the list in priority positions.

            I try to keep each list reasonably short. As the number of items on my to-do list grows, the ability to manage my time effectively diminishes. Referring back to the list imposes discipline on my day and holds me to my tasks. “Planning is of no use at all,” says Peter Drucker, “unless it eventually degenerates into work.”

            There are two other lists I keep as well. These aren’t always written down in a notebook. Yet I carry them with me everywhere I go. And the strange thing is that each has the power to cancel out the other. One shrinks as the other grows.

            My worry list tends to be composed of things that are beyond my power to control. So crisis events, others’ demands on me, and things I’d like to bring under my control make this list. These are the things that distract me during the day and keep me awake at night. They seldom generate anything productive, for the idea that I can bring life under my personal control is only a delusion.

            My prayer list is made up of the people, situations, and events I choose to surrender to God. These are the things I know I can’t handle. They are too big and too important for me to try force them to an outcome I can dictate.

            See why they cancel out one another? Anything I’ve given over to God doesn’t have to be fretted over. He’s competent enough to handle it. So long as I am trying to bring things under my personal control, though, I run the risk of fighting not only the defiant realities around me but God’s will for my life. The more praying I do, the less power worry has to interrupt my strength or sleep.

            The Bible presents this challenge: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NRSV).

            The more items that get moved off your worry list onto your prayer list, the better off you’ll be. God will graciously replace your anxiety with his peace.

This, Too, Shall Pass!

            What shall I write for Thanksgiving Day this year? I have been wondering for several days. These are not the best of times. Lots of people are hurting. Political leadership is in short supply. Headlines tend to be negative and discouraging. So is there anything to be grateful for when we gather around the table Thursday?

            Maybe this is worth some thoughtful reflection this year: This, too, shall pass.

            The truth is that nothing in this world is going to last very long. Recession, war, cancer, migraines, an ogre for a boss, a physics class – not one of them is going to last forever. Of course, we are usually thinking about beautiful sunsets, ice cream at picnics, or extended family around the Thanksgiving Day table and lamenting those when we comment about things that are too short-lived.

            But the same is true of life’s setbacks and heartaches as well.

            The longest of human lives are incredibly short – when measured against eternity. David said it 3,000 years ago: “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath” (Psalm 39:4-5 NLT).

            Perhaps it would help all of us to keep more things in perspective to realize that the good and the bad, the best days and the worst, or the achievements and the embarrassments are always less than they seem to be at the moment. The person who takes the positives too seriously is in danger of arrogance; the one who thinks a failure or humiliation is forever falls prey to depression and despair.

            For every good thing, give thanks to God. For every transgression, receive his forgiveness. In sickness, loss, and grief, accept his daily grace and strength.

            It isn’t just that I see it in others. This tendency to see too much that is negative and to live with needless stress is too much within my own personality. So one of the items on my list of things for which to be thankful this Thursday will be that life is transient. Successes are only momentary. Failures need not be viewed as permanent either. There is a certain element of relief in knowing that nothing in this human experience is forever.

            When I was just a little boy, I remember an old fellow saying – with a twinkle in his eye – that his favorite part of the Bible was this line: “And it came to pass.” Maybe I’ve had to live nearly as long as he did to get his point.

            Two verses later in the Psalm quoted above comes this: “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.”

            Come Thanksgiving this Thursday, I will remember that – and be grateful.

Your Attitude Makes the Difference

            Attitude isn’t everything, but it’s probably more important than most of the things to which we assign our daily outcomes. The person inclined to whine that others have gotten more breaks or to excuse his failure or poor performance by blaming someone else is likely sabotaging himself with a sorry outlook on things.

            Many things about your life are simply the hand you have been dealt. You can’t change the fact that you were born in that place and with certain givens for your appearance, IQ, or natural skills. Education and training can open some doors for you, but they cannot change your past, make you taller and more athletic, or alter the fact that some people are unfair in the way they treat you.

            The one thing you can do something about is how you choose to respond to your life circumstances. Even Jesus couldn’t control what other people thought and said about him. But he refused to let them dictate his spirit and behavior.

            There is a section in John Baillie’s A Diary of Private Prayer that reads . . .

       Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

            Let me use disappointment as material for patience;

            Let me use success as material for thankfulness;

            Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;

            Let me use danger as material for courage;

            Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;

            Let me use praise as material for humility;

            Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;

            Let me use pains as material for endurance.

            What enables everything in one’s life to generate “the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin”? What can turn such negatives as disappointment, anxiety, and criticism into positive outcomes? And what can keep success, praise, and reward from becoming pride? Your attitude makes the difference.

            When a given day begins, countless things are headed your way over which you have no control. It may be bad weather or someone’s bad temper, a deadline that won’t budge or a client equally resistant to a new idea. The one factor you can control through it all is your attitude toward them.

            The difference in today being a good day or a bad one will be your attitude.