Reading vs. Living

Before our kids went back to school a couple of weeks ago, my wife told me, “We need a theme for our family this year.” A theme? Immediately I was imagining colors, a theme song, a catch phrase, a logo, maybe some team shirts we could all wear… My wife stood there patiently waiting until I was finished chasing shiny things in my mind and explained.

“I want us to be more than we are settling for,” she said. She pulled out Joshua 1:9 and we read, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” And then she said the thing that has been ringing in my ears ever since… “I want us to stop reading about adventures and start living them.”

Now, my sons and I are avid readers of fantasy stories… if it has a quest or a dragon, a knight, a journey, an adventure… we love it! And to be dared to not just read about such things but to actually step out and do them? That thought is both invigorating and terrifying.

Invigorating because I ask myself “where do we find these adventures?” I am learning they are everywhere… in bike rides, shooting off model rockets, teaching my kids skills, exploring our hometown, our state, listening to the dreams of my family, trying something new, starting a tradition, not saying “we’ll do it later”, asking my kids what their opinions are, trying to do things for my wife before she has to ask, not being reluctant to be a Christ-follower in plain view, turning off the computer, turning off the TV,  ignoring what is “important” and focusing on who is important.

And terrifying because if I don’t seek out these adventures, I will miss them. If I don’t seek out my family, I will miss them. If I don’t seek out Christ, I will miss Him. There is only so much time and only so many days.

Now, adventures in the real world may not involve dragons and giants, may not involve life or death situations, may not be world changing events… but then again, maybe they do! But, the good news here is that no matter what the adventure, no matter what the situation or how long we have waited to face it – God is there already. Joshua says it clearly, God is with us wherever we go. In bike rides, model rockets, hospitals, around Christmas trees, in everything we face ‘from womb to tomb’ (to quote Westside Story).

So, no more excuses… time to stop just reading about adventures and time to start living them!

Oh… and we did get a theme song… remember that old MWS tune “Strong and Corageous”?

The Parable of the Reading Glasses

I recently got reading glasses. Not real glasses where you go and they match frames with lenses and your prescription… no, the kind they sell at pharmacies and Wal-Mart… you know, basically magnifying glasses in ugly frames prebuilt on a spinning display. Yep, those ones. The very ones I have often made fun of through the years, “You have got to be kidding me! Who actually buys these things?” Umm, I guess the answer would be… me.

For about the last year I have started to notice it, how reading books and magazines has become increasingly difficult. Not that I couldn’t see, but in lower light, or if the font was small or against a distracting background, I found that I was not able to easily focus. And then once focused, I could not easily un-focus when I was done. Then the ‘trying different distances’ started… first I put books closer, no good. Then I tried arm’s length, that was better… but never once did I think I needed reading glasses.

I am not sure what triggered it, maybe I saw myself in a reflection as I tried moving a magazine out and back in front of my face, or maybe someone commented that this was normal for “my age”… but somewhere along the line I realized I just couldn’t see clearly enough to read. Once I admitted that, one quick trip to the pharmacy took care of the issue. Now I can read again because now I have reading glasses.

It seems to me that my whole adventure is much like our fallen human condition. We are a messed up people, a sinful people. And I do mean all of us… (Romans 3:23 anyone?) But like me going through all the motions of trying to read, we try all sorts of things to cure ourselves. And we never admit that we have a problem.

Maybe that is the sticking point. Maybe that is the place we need to start… just to admit that we have a problem. Admitting we can’t read, leads us to reading glasses; admitting we are sick, leads us to the doctor; admitting we have a need, leads to filling the need; and admitting that we are fallen, leads us to the Cross of Christ.