Left to Right

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Many of you have heard me speak about being on the Left. Left, according to the dictionary, means “to abandon or forsake, to remove oneself from participating in.” Everybody wants to be right, to get it right. It’s a natural desire, but not always the best thing for you. The fact is, you’re going to spend some time on the other side, on the left. It can be painful, it can be lonely, it can be devastating.
Tim Allen knows what it feels like, and I can relate. When he was eleven years old, his father was killed by a drunk driver. Everything changed for him. As he describes it, “One day, a part of your emotional connective tissue is there, the next it’s not and you have this black gaping hole. If you don’t rake it over and plant something else, it eventually fills up with a kind of mud.” That’s a good description of being on the left-and how bad it can be. “I didn’t have any idea what to do with the fact that the world is a very cruel place.”

Maybe it’s not an accident that Tim Allen also studied philosophy when he went to college and comparative religion after that. But he also began drinking and doing drugs, trying to medicate the pain that was in his soul. It got so bad that he wound up in jail and in AA. That was where he began to turn a corner. “There was a moment when I felt a direct connection with that which brought me here. Through feeling that connection-that there’s a purpose to this whole thing-I can say, ‘It’s going to be all right.’ ”

It’s funny, isn’t it? Two Tims who were hit with the same punch but went very different ways with it-and then came back to a similar place. Because it is going to be all right, with that connection to the Spirit that moves us all.

Tim Allen spent a long season on the left, but he also became a hugely successful and highly admired actor and comedian. Is there a connection there? I believe there is. Some of you are probably thinking that you’re glad you haven’t been thrown to the left. Whew, you’re thinking,

I’ve had some bad times, but nothing ever like that! I don’t need that kind of grief! But you’re looking at it with your eyes, from your point of view. I think if you look at it with a God’s-eye point of view, it might look a little different.

I like to say it like this, sometimes you have to get Left to Get Right. Sometimes in life, we experience pain and frustration on our way to living the life we were destined to live.

CHALLENGE: What can I learn from the Left? Is my Right helping others move through their Left?

 

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Excuse Me While I Live My Life

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For many of us, we go through life aimlessly trying to make it. The distractions, though not necessarily wrong, are so constant, we can easily lose sight of our goals. Whether it’s trying to pay the bills, or playing catch up with the Joneses, we tend to miss the point of life.

I was talking with a neighbor the other day. He is an artist. Some years ago, he had decided to leave the corporate world, sell his house and pursue his dream. He told me he had to forget the job, forget the things that most people strive for (like new televisions, cars, homes, etc.) and go out on a limb. He told me the things around him began to distract him from living life. Now, while most of us could/should never consider quitting our jobs, his passion is inspiring.

Many of those around us have come to see success as the gathering of things. However, isn’t it possible that success is defined by something much more meaningful? Isn’t is possible that success is defined by how we live our lives. You can live in a low to middle class neighborhood and still be successful. You can ride the bus and still be successful. Success is not defined by the stuff you have, it’s defined by what you do with what you have.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green…” Psalm 92:12-14

Success is defined by how you live life. Success is growing strong, flourishing, bearing fruit, and staying fresh and green, no matter what circumstances you face. Don’t let your surroundings define you. Live life to its fullest every day, on purpose.

Now say this with me, “Excuse me while I live my life!”

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It’s Still All About Love

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HomelessIn my thirty plus years of speaking and walking people through miraculous encounters with a God who cares for them, no matter who they are or where they have come from, I have realized a few things. I’ve traveled to sixty-six different countries and have had the opportunity to sit and talk with people from various classes and cultures…from billionaires to the homeless. My belief in God’s hope is not grounded merely on something I’ve read, but in the lives I see across the world every day.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” Saint Augustine

We all kind of want the same thing. As unique as the world’s cultures are, if you speak to English millionaires, Irish farmers, impoverished Islanders, Nigerian fishermen and Swedish university students, in their own languages, you start to see that we are all very much alike.

We all experience setbacks and failures. We all seem to have the simple desire to feel loved, experience happiness, find a sense of security, be affirmed, and hold on to a hope of something greater.

It is interesting how people pray across the world and in different circumstances they are facing. In the United States, I hear a lot of prayers concerning new employment or a new husband or even more money. In parts of Africa, I hear a lot of prayers about health and protection. In areas that were recently affected by a natural disaster, I heard a lot of prayer for food, electricity and sustainability. In Europe, I heard the prayers for vision and hope. Across the globe, we all are reaching out to God for different needs and desires…things we deem necessary. We all desire love.

“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.” Hebrews 6:18

As large as the world is, it becomes very small when you begin to understand that our neighbors are not just the people living next door, but the farmers in Thailand, the singers in Nashville, the homeless in Los Angeles, the Club Owner in Miami, the Chef in London and the young soccer player in South Africa. We are all neighbors. When we were persuaded to love God and Love our Neighbor, we stepped into something bigger than we may have ever realized. We stepped into a world view that connects all of us to one simple truth…we all have the ability, no matter our resources, to embrace AND distribute love.

How will you embrace and distribute love today? Will you let class or culture separate you from being persuaded to Love God and Love others?

 

Above and Beyond

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There is a dimension in your life that is fundamental to your daily needs, fundamental to your sense of contentment, and fundamental to your utmost life. That dimension is what connects you to the world you see and the world you cannot see. It allows you to accept the promise you have been given and to give back from the rewards you’ve achieved. It allows you to live life above and beyond what you could even ask or imagine.

As we reach higher levels of accomplishment, we realize that there are even higher levels, and that those are the ones that take us out of ourselves. The experts tell us that we can’t really become fully human…appreciate beauty, create art, feel compassion and love for others…if we are starving, sick,or without shelter. Our basic needs must be fulfilled, but once those basic needs are met, we are almost compelled to try to make ourselves better.

I believe that a similar thing happens when our basic needs for success, self-acceptance, contentment and faith in the future are also met. For those who have really savored their life, that’s when the impulse is born to reach out to the world and return the what we have been given. We can’t focus on the rest of the world until we’ve fulfilled at least some of our basic personal needs. At the same time, unless we turn our attention to the life beyond ourselves, we will never be fully human and fully alive.

About twenty years ago I used to go jogging in a park near my mother’s house. I often saw a woman walking slowly and with difficulty, usually in old clothes. Some of the neighborhood kids made fun of her, which made me want to make her feel better. So I would say hi as I jogged by, and she would sheepishly say hi back. One day I took it upon myself to ask her how she was doing, and her face lit up because someone was talking to her. I found out her name was Diane, and I asked her where she worked. She told me she had a job in a factory bagging plastic knives, forks, and spoons. When I asked her how much she made, she responded, “Twenty-nine dollars and fifty-eight cents.” I said, “Oh my, that’s a lot! Can you imagine all the things you could do with twenty-nine dollars and fifty-eight cents?”

Two weeks later, I was jogging again and saw Diane. She ran up to me saying, “Guess what?” and pulled out her paycheck. I was a little higher that the last one. She was beaming, and I beamed right back at her. Then every time she’d see me in the park, she would have her paycheck with her, and every time it was a little higher. And she would say, “Can you imagine what I can do with this?”

As the years went on, Diane would begin to look for my children in the park. “Tell your dad how much money I made!” she’d say to them. Her clothes began to look better, and I even saw an improvement in the way she walked. While Diane didn’t receive the greatest treasures (from a world’s viewpoint), she did the best with what she had. And she had given me a great gift. She taught me that living above and beyond is not based on how much you have or what title you carry, but on being grateful, sharing life with others and living life to its fullest.

Ultimately, I believe, a life lived above and beyond your circumstances will always lead you to appreciate the miracle of life in the world and to accept that there must be a Higher Power that has put it together. The variety and richness of the gifts we have been given and the intricate connections between all of us are too amazing for it be an accident.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!”

Ephesians 3:20 MSG

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Another Year Wiser

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As a kid, I was so intrigued by life. Its ups and downs. Its challenges. I wanted to conquer anything I put my mind to. Whether it was baseball or basketball, I wanted to be my best. When life threw me some pretty big curves as a kid, like my father and one of my older sisters passing, I had to quickly learn to not settle in my setbacks if I was going to meet the challenges I so eagerly wanted to conquer. As I got older, life got harder. The more successful I got, the more setbacks I faced. Some of them I stood strong through and some I failed through, but all of them I learned through.

What I’ve learned about life is the that it’s a journey and wisdom comes to those who learn from their setbacks. I’ve committed to a life that not only focuses on entering my comebacks, but teaching others to learn from their setbacks and enter their comebacks. Failing forward.

Our birthdays have a way of putting into perspective how far we have gone in a year. I think about all the people I have been blessed to lead into their comebacks, whether it was the kids in South Africa, the couple in Texas, the grandma in Florida, or the celebrities in Hollywood. I am blessed, because I have learned to be a blessing to others. I am blessed because I am learning to serve and not be served. I am blessed because I listen to my mom, two sisters, and trusted confidants who encourage me when things get rough, to push through, learn and gain wisdom from my setbacks.

I look forward to another year.