How do you do?

When I became unemployed I was no longer the person I thought I was. Silly, right? I looked in the mirror and saw nothing different. But now I had no answer to the “what do you do?” question. Or at least not what I considered an acceptable answer. It was that ‘acceptable’ notion that helped me realize how corrupted my ideals had become. When did I decide that “What do you do?” should replace “How do you do?”? As a young adult I’d asked it all the time. I can follow the change in my values with the change of the question. When I’d ask, “How do you do?” I received surprised looks; sneers and jeers and folks telling me I talked funny.  So succumbing to peer pressure I changed the question to “How are you?”. I thought changing the focus from ‘do’ to ‘are’ was less committal, less personal. I was wrong, it made people even more uncomfortable. “How are you?”, if people thought I was being sincere,  either made them feel worse than they really did or made them lie about it. But most of the time people thought it was an insincere question. So, not wanting to be thought insincere, cause more pain or hear lies, I started asking the more acceptable question: “What do you do?”. Most folks are comfortable with that. They either tell you what they do, what they used to do, or what they want to do. All answers provide good fodder for conversation but don’t really allow seeing the true state of the individual. And isn’t that our whole purpose? Hebrews 3 tells us we are here to encourage, exhort and edify one another? How can we do that effectively without first knowing ‘how’ a person is? Knowing ‘how’ about someone is more important than ‘what’. Don’t you agree? Does ‘what’ really matter as long as you ‘do’ to the best of your ability with joy and humility?  I will no longer ask what you do. I want to know; “How do you do?”

 

It took R&R to recover from depression.

For years I didn’t think recovery was possible. I thought I would always have to take medication to control my moods. I went to counselors. Each week I completed a questionnaire detailing my mental state; had I lost my temper, had a panic attack, was I drained of energy. Based on my answers medication was prescribed. After a few months of treatment I stabilized and my medication did too. Then the unthinkable happened. I lost my job, my insurance and my ability to pay for any medical treatment or medications. The city offers medical treatment to the indigent but my military service disqualified me. A few months later my sister and I began an early morning bible study. Before my financial and social collapse (unemployment) I read The Bible daily. I knew the stories but had never personalized them. But this time, as we read, the language of the stories changed. These were not just historical occurrences, they were lessons. David (Psalm 42) and Elijah (1 Kings 19) were advising me how to heal. I needed R&R; rest and rejoice. Resting in Christ (Matthew 11) and rejoicing in the confidence of His grace (Philippians 4). Reading the Bible this time has allowed me to reclaim my mind. To take it back from the one whom only wants to kill, steal and destroy. This time asking for a clean heart (Psalm 51) and renewing my mind (Romans 8) were truly requested and received. Do you suffer from depression? I’m not advising you to stop taking your medication or no longer attend counseling sessions. But I am whole-heartedly advising you to add a daily dose of The Bible to your regiment. As you read, take His yoke and lighten your burden (Matthew 11) and ask Him for wisdom and healing. Discover the R&R as He has planned it for you (Jeremiah 29). I recovered – so can you.

 

She’s full of it!

Have you heard or said that about someone? I’ve heard myself described that way more than once! This morning I walked to the bay front thinking about that. Full is a derivative of the word fill. Fill is both a noun and a verb. We fill; plug-in a hole or pour liquid into a container. We are filled; satiated by eating or drinking. We use fill; earth or stone. I’m sure you could come up with a few ways to use the word.  Sunday is Pentecost. Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit came to us. I don’t think folks were thinking of the Holy Spirit as the ‘it’ I was full of but I was asking to be as I walked to the park. It was still, the air and the water. That’s very unusual for Corpus Christi. I sat on a step at the water’s edge and wondered at the glass like surface of the bay and thought how would I even know if I was filled with the Holy Spirit? How would anyone else know? It’s not as if we have a gauge or meter. From my seat I could see across the bay to downtown. There were no boats (or ships), no birds and no fish jumping. As I sat there in the sunlight the water in front of me began to ripple. The ripples were rolling away from me. There was nothing visible causing the water to ripple. There was no increase in the lapping of water against the steps. But for ten yards on both my right and left side the water’s surface had changed.  There were small waves rolling toward the center of the bay. I strained to see but could find no cause. I did however notice the effect. There were not only small waves but now birds had appeared and fish were jumping, too. I knew, as I watched, that the Lord had answered my question. The Holy Spirit has an effect.  I may not see Him but I see His effect. I am full of It. Just ask and you will be too! You may not see it happen but you’ll see the effects.