I had an encounter recently with my chief
nemesis. He is well known to me and some of you have had occasion to meet him.
He is not my favorite guy but he is always challenging when he is not being
morose or too cavalier.
“So,” he says to me, “what is driving
your life?”
“What do you mean?” say I, for it is
apparent that my adversary is armed with agenda.
“You know my life quite well,” I
continued. “You know how I live and what I do and what my vocation is.” As I
said these words I tried to look deep into his eyes with all the conviction I
had. He didn’t even blink.
He looked away—purposely and then as he
turned his gaze back to meet mine I knew it was coming…“So, are you maintaining
the Ideal or moving toward the Ideal?”
Do you see what I mean about this guy?
This is how he is. Always making me second-guess my priorities and evaluate the
trajectory of my life. Our relationship over the years has been profitable in
that I tend to listen to him more than just about anyone else and it isn’t
because he is the wisest person I know, but more because he listens to the wise
and tends to assimilate their thinking into principle. So I am appreciative of
the fact that we occasionally have these tete-a-tete sessions. But they are never
easy and furthermore, they tend to alter my life, which can be and usually is,
uncomfortable.
“I’m not sure what you mean or quite get
your distinction between ‘maintaining the Ideal or moving toward the Ideal’…aren’t
they the same?”
“That depends on your flexibility.” He answered with a grin.
Now if a person knows that you play the
odds then they also know when their hand is likely to beat yours. This is a
very happy time for them and it is when they grin that you realize that the
chips are all in and now it’s too late.
“I’m flexible,” I bluff…in hope.
“Really, then what are some of your
Ideals?”
“Well, let’s take Courtship for
instance.” I offered.
“You mean like Ruth bundling with Boaz?”
he snarked.
“Homeschooling.” I parried.
“You know, don’t you, that Moses was
educated by Egyptians?” he countered.
“Liturgy.” a thrust.
“Would you include any songs or music
written by another ‘failure’ like King David who had a rap sheet that included
adultery and murder; not to mention a very dysfunctional home? Or perhaps
worse, would you lower yourself to sing anything written in the last 20 years?”
His eyes were flashing.
“Agrarianism. The simple life.” I shot
back. I was determined not to yield.
“Poor in spirit.” He stated quietly. And
it was then that I knew I had lost.
We stood there for a while. He had won
but he looked tired and a bit sad. And it was then that I realized that he
always won but never at my expense. Somehow, I always took the winnings home.
When he finally spoke again it was with
great care and concern. “Laurence, if you spend your life trying to maintain
the Ideal then what you are saying to yourself and to everyone else around you,
your wife, your children, your friends, your congregation is that you have
arrived. Laurence, no one in this life ever arrives; though the Pharisees
thought they had. And, my friend, that particular group had THE IDEAL put to
death on a cross.”
Our encounter, our conversation was over.
I left the room and have been reflecting
on his wise words for some time now and I think that I get it.
None of my ideas are bad. In fact, they
all are quite good. His argument wasn’t, after all, against any of my ideas but
the way I held them so very tight. What was it that he pointed out? It was that
maintaining the Ideal and moving toward the Ideal are the same only if you are
flexible…able to allow the plan and providence of God to take your ‘good’ so
that He can give you His ‘best’.
After
that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and
to wipe them with the towel
with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You
washing my feet?”
Jesus
answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you
will know after this.”
Peter
said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus
answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my
feet only, but also my hands
and my head!”
No comments:
Post a Comment