Hands On

Be it a thorn, or a bullet, or a nail, even when taken for someone else, it still hurts.

Easter came early this year. With that said, every year I have a pseudo tradition where I try to find one thing that sticks out in the Easter story.  This year it had to do with hands.

It came to me weeks before Easter. While checking for evidence of mice in the shrubbery, my hand accidentally got a rose thorn embedded in it. It was during the discomfort and several days of trying to dig the shrapnel out of my palm that I got to thinking.  There was a man two thousand years ago named Jesus, who had something much worse happen to his hands. 

On Good Friday, angry men did much more to my Savior than just pricking him in the palm.  As per Roman crucifixion tradition, Jesus was brutally beaten within inches of his life, mercilessly whipped, made to wear a crown of thorns, and had to carry his own cross. 

And if that wasn’t enough, then those same angry men nailed his hands and feet to the cross.  Hmmm.  Just think about that excruciating pain for a moment. Talk about being treated cruelly and utterly unfair. 

So, why did Jesus do it?   Jesus believed in the hands on approach and here are 5 examples of how He lived it out:

1-God willingly became man when Jesus gave up all He knew to come down here for us, so He could stretch out his hands on a cross and we could eventually kill Him.  Talk about an unselfish act of love.

2-Jesus had a gentle, but firm approach.  Kind of like a good handshake, not a fishy one.  He had tender hands, especially when it came to children and those in need.

3-The virgin born man lived a simple life of a carpenter’s son, eventually using his hands to become a wood craftsman himself.  Ironically, in the end, those very nails and wood he had become an expert in were used against him to hold Him fast to the cross.

4-Jesus never had a place he could call his own. His hands never had his own kitchen table he could rest them on after a long day at work.

5-With those hands Jesus broke bread at the last Supper with his disciples.  With those hands he drew in the sand and pardoned a woman many wanted to stone.  With those hands he showed compassion.

Quite frankly, Easter should always be about more than just candy and pastel colored eggs.  It should be about the one who is still reaching his hands out to you and me.

The best approach to show others we care about them is always the hands on one.

Swavel

 

Smooth Stones

 

What we gather over time, we carry around with us.

Mighty things often come in small packages.

Take the classic story of David and Goliath.  Historically, we are taught that the shepherd boy, David, had the disadvantage because he was younger, smaller, and only carried a slingshot with a pouch of five smooth stones to battle with him. Goliath, on the other hand, held the advantage because he was bigger, battle tested, and wielded a spear while being covered in armor.

That was what I used to think, but after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, I now think different.  According to Gladwell, a New Times best-selling author, David’s slingshot had the potency of a small handgun when used correctly.   And Goliath, quite possibly because of his extraordinary height, most likely had vision troubles, which in turn made him a sitting duck. Not to mention, Goliath was used to hand to hand fighting, where David had no intention of engaging that closely with the giant.

The one time shepherd boy selected to go with the strategy that would ensure him the best chance to succeed.  He made the most of his opportunity by defeating the giant when he hit him square between the eyes, needing only one small, well placed stone. 

That leads me back to the five smooth stones David carried in his pouch.  In my experience, as a bug killer, I run into many people who have decorative polished stones with catch phrases printed on them, like live, laugh love.

With that being said what stones do we carry around with us?  That’s to say, if I had to pick five smooth stones I think they should be ones like: kindness, grace, courage, mercy, and peace.  Instead, many of us carry jagged stones in our pouches, like anger, bitterness, revenge, hate, and jealousy.

If we really thought about it, far too often, instead of being ready to compliment others we are carrying around ammunition.  Get them before they get us. If only we thought about what we said instead of being so reckless, I think so much more good could come of the stones we carry. 

Better to polish your stones smooth and encourage others, then rough them up and cut others down with them.  The choice is ours.

Swavel

Now Forgotten

What seemed so important yesterday may not even be remembered by tomorrow.

Always take a deep breath.

In this crazy world that we live,  it always seems that we are all running one step behind, kind of like a tiger chasing his tail.  Sometimes it is just best take a deep breath and relax.  The way I relax best this time of year, after the Super Bowl is over, is to read up on baseball. 

This year I took a trip down memory lane.  Actually, a few months ago, while at my daughter’s school function to meet her teachers, I found myself in the library.  With time to kill, I found an old baseball encyclopedia and began reading names from yesteryear. 

Then I happened upon a name I had never heard of before: Ewell Blackwell, aka the Whip.  In 1947, he won 22 games, lost 8, struck out 193 batters and was an All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds.  The six foot six inch, right hander even almost threw back to back no hitters, which has only been done once before ever. Baseball history tells us that many a batter feared his sidearm delivery that at times was nearly unhittable. 

 

Sadly, Blackwell’s brilliant season was overshadowed by a 10 year up and down career.  It was a career that was interrupted by military service in World War II and losing more games than he won most years.  His career record was 82-78.  And for most people, Ewell Blackwell is now forgotten.  However, when I read about him it is like those memories of The Whip come back around.

Where I’m going with this is that for most of us there are moments when we can do nothing wrong. And then for whatever reason, that season ends. Here today gone tomorrow. 

  

With that being said, when it’s going good take a deep breath and when it is not going so good, remember the good and keep going.  Our life is just a vapor, so the Bible tells us. Let’s not waste a breath being miserable and instead just keep pushing through and do things that are significant, both now and eternally. 

One hundred years from today what I thought was so important will have become now forgotten.

Swavel