Disappointment

 

A good leader will, in time, disappoint everyone. 

                                                                                                -Dan Allender, Leading with a Limp

Too Narrow

 

Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

  -Jesus (Matt 7:14, NIV)

It is there, but not attractive

Weeds covering the entrance

No neon signs

That road is bumpy

Not safe for the Tesla

I would have to walk

This way does not seem viable

Not efficient

I have a meeting

What am I going to tell them?

“I missed my flight 

I had to walk the road that leads to life

It wouldn’t accommodate my car

Or my luggage

And it went the opposite way”

They look at me blankly

Thinking how long will it take

To find this guy’s replacement?

They ask if I need a new cell phone

My GPS must be broken

It’s not just them

I also doubt my sanity

Crazy people wander 

The sane stay on the road

Check the boxes

Stay in the game

A little Starbucks

To focus

Essentialism

Good to Great

Can’t survive

Without clothes and a place to live

A functional garbage disposal

Helpful credit ratings

These are the ingredients of life

Wandering off the grid 

Is for later

On purpose

With a nice sailboat 

And a time share

The benefits of retirement

When I get there

For now: plug in, turn on

Access what does have neon signs

The fastest car, woman, AI

Prizes on the way

Bumpy narrow roads are not worth it

I need a superhighway

Shed

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Poem pending

Early morning in Mount Vernon July 2. Man taken away. Woman left in the car, couldn't drive, can't speak English (or Spanish), crying. 

Hope or Harrumph?

In Psalm 37, David says:

Do not fret because of those who are evil 

or be envious of those who do wrong; 

for like the grass they will soon wither, 

like green plants they will soon die away.

 Trust in the Lord and do good; 

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

(Psalm 37:1-3, NIV version)

David is contrasting two ways of responding to wrongs in the world and in people. First, he says “Do not fret.” In the original Hebrew, the word for “fret” is:

חרה (hrh)

That is, do not get hot, do not blaze. The word primarily means to burn. 

Listen as you ty to say it out loud—it sounds like burning fire. It is a burning anger. Like “Harrumph,” from the old comic books when a character was frustrated. Or a loud growl by an angry Orc.

 

In contrast to “hrh,” David says to trust in the Lord. The Hebrew word for “trust” here is:

בטח (batach)

That is, trust in God. Relax that anger muscle. Put out that fire. God is the one you need to look at. Hold on to him. Do not hold on to your response to evil people. That only joins the evil, because our anger comes from our evil selves, not from God’s holiness. 

 

Recently, in the midst of major work stressors at the hospital, a coworker told me I was stupid to hope that things would get better--because certain people could not be trusted. I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted to still have hope, but I agreed that poor decisions were made. This prompted me to think about David’s words even more. A Jewish friend told me this reminds him of the practice of “Mussar,” focusing on inner virtues.

 

My coworker made many good points. And if you rely only on people and situations, that is a thin support for hope. People will disappoint you, often purposefully choosing the wrong path. The only logical response is anger, and a big Harrumph! That is why David says to turn to God. Only in God is found the complete absence of evil. And only in God is there a firm basis for hope. 

 

Later in the same Psalm, David says: “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” David is speaking to the situation where evil people have the upper hand, and it looks like there is no hope. In that instance he says: “hope in God, delight in God.” Decide in your mind that there is a basis for hope: God. Then, tell your heart that not only are things going to be great in the future (whether in this life or the next), but that promise makes it worth enjoying God right now, whatever the situation.

 

Someone smiling amid suffering appears stupid. That is why my coworker was angry at me: he wanted me to wake up and smell the roses! I can understand that. And this idea should not be used to ignore evil, to allow it when we have the power to fight against it. But for those who believe that there is something more to hope in than our situation, someone greater to trust in than those who let us down, there really is reason to hope.