Let Them Fly Commercial!

This is one of those I clipped and saved a few years ago out of the newspaper from the late ANN LANDERS’ column:

Dear Ann Landers: I hope you have enough nerve to print this letter because the person I am complaining about is an American hero. His name is Larry Bird. He made his name as a player on the Boston Celtics, and he is now coaching the Indiana Pacers. This is what happened.

During the pre-season, the team’s plane was scheduled to leave for Nashville at 4 p.m. Two of the players, Travis Best and Dale Davis, were nowhere to be found. The stairs had been pulled up, and the plane was just about to take off.

Suddenly, one of the players who was on the plane and looking out the window yelled, “Travis and Dale are out there on the passenger cart. Somebody should tell the pilot to lower the stairs.” Larry Bird shouted, “No way. It’s after 4 p.m. Those guys are tardy. They’ll have to go commercial.”

I was shocked when I heard about this on TV. How could a guy be so mean to his own players? It just doesn’t make sense. I hope you will print this.

--A former Larry Bird Fan

Dear Former Bird Fan: Did you say “mean?” Sorry, I don’t agree with you. I believe Larry Bird showed a great deal of courage when he left those late arrivals standing on the tarmac. He taught them a lesson they needed to learn. You can bet your life they will never be late for a team plane again. And neither will the players who witnessed this extraordinary example of disciplinary action. Call it being “mean” if you want to, but in my opinion, it was a demonstration of strong character. Way to go, Larry!

Way to go, Ann.

We live in a society starving for discipline. God’s word emphatically states that His people, of all people, should be a people of discipline. May we walk God’s talk.

Where Seldom is Heard

Many years ago, a Roman Catholic nun was teaching a math class at a junior high school in Minnesota. Not pleased with the way things were going, she interrupted class one day and asked the students in the room to take out two sheets of paper and list the names of the other students present. Then, she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each classmate and write it down. The assignment took up the remaining period of the class, but the students turned their papers in and departed.

Over the weekend, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on an individual sheet of paper, and listed the things other students had said about that person. The following Monday, she gave each student his or her appropriate list. The kids were very pleased and encouraged. The teacher noticed an immediate improvement in atmosphere for class.

The teacher’s mission had been accomplished. Consequently, she never mentioned it again.

Many years passed, and one of her students, a young man named Mark, was killed in the Vietnam War. His body was brought home for the funeral.

The teacher attended the funeral as well as many of the young man’s classmates. Afterwards, the teacher and many of the classmates were invited to the house of Mark’s parents.

While there, Mark’s parents approached the teacher and said, “We want to show you something. Mark was carrying this when he was killed.” Out of his wallet, Mark’s father pulled the list of all the good things that Mark’s classmates had said about him. Mark’s mother told her, “Thank you so much for doing that. As you can see, Mark treasured it.”

Seeing what was happening in hearing the exchange, a group of Mark’s classmates approached. One smiled and said, “I still have my list and it is in my top desk drawer at home.” Another classmate said, “I have mine, too. It is in my diary.” Classmate after classmate shared of how they still had their sheets of affirmation.

All this was too much for the nun. She sat down and began to weep, moved by the realization that the seemingly, small exercise had made an impact on so many people for so many years.

Perhaps we underestimate the value of encouragement. The NIV contains over 58 references to the word “encouragement.” God understands its value and need; we should as well.

The Cannon Inside

Years ago, I heard Rick Atchley in sermon revive a story from the literature of Victor Hugo. A sailing ship is caught in a storm out on the high seas. The waves toss the ship back and forth when, suddenly, the sailors hear this terrible sound coming from beneath the deck. They know immediately what it is. A cannon has broken lose from it's moorings and is rolling back and forth pounding the walls of the ship.

The sailors realize the cannon is much more dangerous than the waves. If someone does not secure it, it will bust a hole in the side of the ship, and they will sink. Two sailors risk their lives and, under great duress, they use their strength and finally secure the cannon.

In life, it's not the high winds nor the waves blowing us around that destroy us. It's what's inside. You cannot always choose when it's going to rain or when there's going to be a storm, but you can choose how you react to that storm.

My fellow staff member, Tim Henderson, often tells people he counsels, “It’s not what happens to you that matters. What matters is how you react to what happens to you.”

I have found in my nearly half a century that one of the most important components in living is one we can absolutely control. This component can be summarized in one word—attitude.

The Clank

(Photo by ABNCPARTIES.COM)

I, along with my wife and my two oldest children, joined millions of others in watching the Duke vs. Butler NCAA Men’s Championship basketball game. It was a great game, in doubt to the very end.

We held our breath as Gordon Hayward (who looks like an old friend of mine named Joe Don Ridgell) launched a mid-court shot. The shot banked off the square on the glass… and bounced off the rim—making an incredibly loud sound of “CLANK”.

Victory was so close! So much so, CBS replayed the last shot several times.

Had Hayward’s shot gone in, Butler would have pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history, winning by the score of 62-61. Had the shot gone in, it would have conceivably become the greatest shot in basketball history. Unfortunately (unless you were pulling for Duke), the shot clanked.

Reflecting this morning, I could not help but think Hayward represents the majority of us. For most of us, the best we will experience in our respective fields is getting close enough to clank. Very few of us win the "National Championship”—see Colt McCoy.

What do we do with the clank? One response would be to choose to live our entire lives in misery or sadness, thinking we can only really enjoy our lives the day we win the "Championship." But I wonder, could it be that God places higher value on other experiences available to us all?

I dare to believe the answer is—yes.

The Housekeeper

In your job, how would you like to always be remembered in a negative way? That happened to the White House housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt.

Nesbitt was hired by Eleanor Roosevelt, when Franklin Roosevelt was govenor of New York. Later, she joined the family in the White House, after FDR was elected president.

Nesbitt offered the president a very bland diet. One morning, FDR exclaimed to his secretary, Grace Tulley, "Doesn't Mrs. Nesbitt know that there are breakfast foods besides oatmeal? She has served it morning in and morning out for months and months now, and I'm sick and tired of it!"

Later that day, when the secretary appeared, Roosevelt showed her that day’s newspaper inserts displaying various breakfast cereals along with their prices. Then he began his dictation, "Cornflakes! 13 ounce package, 19 cents! Post Tosties! 13 ounce package, 19 cents! Cream of wheat! Two for 27 cents!... now take this gentle reminder to Ms. Nesbitt."

All of this was to no avail. When Roosevelt was running for his fourth term, he joked to his staff, the main reason he wanted to win was to fire Mrs. Nesbitt.

For years now I have seen Henrietta Nesbitt's name in various biographies of Roosevelt. Not one time to remember anything positive written about her. What a terrible indictment. Nesbitt's problem was she forgot who she was serving.

Christians do not have that excuse. Even when we do not like our earthly boss, Paul reminds us that we serve someone even higher:

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (Col. 3:23-24.)

May we daily work for the Lord Jesus.

Back Taxes

I read in WORLD magazine this week something that made me crack up. Aaron Zeff was sitting in his office, when two dark-suited men approached.

Aaron owns a car wash business in Sacramento California. The two men were IRS agents. They were there to collect delinquent taxes. Hearing this, Aaron’s heart sank. However, fear turned to mirth when he opened the agents’ envelope. Inside was his tax bill the agents had come to collect – the grand total was four cents.

I laughed until I thought about Jesus’ story of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. In spite of God’s forgiveness, how often do I hunt somebody down to pay the "four cents" he owes me?

Remember the slogan, "More Taste--Less Filling"?

" Maybe ours should be, "Less Bitterness--More Forgiveness!"

Sue the Fisherman--He Hurt the Fish!

Antoine Goetschel finally carried things too far. In the past, he had enjoyed tremendous success as an animal rights attorney, suing citizens on behalf of the animals, including a recent case, in which he sued a local angler for torture because it took the fisherman ten minutes to reel in a Pike.

On March 7, voters in Switzerland voted against Goetschel’s initiative to extend legal representation for animals beyond dogs, fish, birds, and chickens. Even Goetschel admitted that his lawsuit, on behalf of the pike, may have created a voter backlash.

All of this reminded me of the question the psalmist asked:

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor (Ps 8:3-5.)

While we Christians are certainly called to be stewards of this great earth, I do not see the elevation of animals to the level of humans in Scripture like I see in culture.

God’s Word, such as we see in Psalm eight, seems to emphasize over and over again how God’s crowning creation is the human being. Maybe we, in culture, should invest as much in protecting the human as we do the animal.