Offering, encouraging and teaching friendship in Christ to leaders in the business, political, arts and spiritual marketplaces.
Archive for March, 2011
“I Feel Like God’s Giving me the Finger”
Holding his hand in my face, miming his thought, my visitor aggressively made his point. He felt that because he hadn’t expressed gratitude to God when times were good his current difficulties were God’s quid pro quo response More >
What are We Really Afraid Of?
We sat around the dinner table quietly listening to Jesus’ comments about worry. One friend broke the silence saying, “none of us worry about food or clothes – I’m not sure this means anything to us today.”
“I worry about losing my reputation.” “I worry about becoming useless.” …. “about having a stroke.” …..“becoming dependent on others”….. and the list went on as others expressed what concerns us in the midst of our abundant economic circumstances. More >
Gratuity or Entitlement (2)
Life’s gentle gifts arrive in unorthodox packages. Until a week ago I never thought of tears of grief as a gift.
As Susan and I were leaving a funeral for a 38 year old man killed suddenly on a mission trip, we paused with his grief stricken father. I said “What you said in the service was outstanding. Who you are in all this is amazing.” More >
Gratuity or Entitlement
“If you give me a 10 dollar tip it won’t mean much to you but it will mean a lot to me.” I groaned inwardly, “they all want tips for everything”. I was the Gringo in the golf cart returning to my resort hotel in the Dominican and my driver was a local worker.
My tip was generous but my attitude was parsimonious – the irony being my reading that morning focused on the word “gratuity”. All of life is a generous gift from God.
I acted with a sense of entitlement that I deserve a break from the demands of those in need. But I was impoverished even in my giving because it didn’t emerge from my experience of God’s generosity to me.
A Prayer for Today
God, thank you for being present in those around me. Keep me from feeling entitled to the good things which are really gifts from you. Enrich me with your generosity. For Jesus’ sake…
