As Dead As Dead Can Be!

Many people allow themselves to be de-railed by their opportunities. They look at their short comings and limitations and say, "I'm too young", "I'm too old", "I'm too uneducated", "I don't have enough money", I'm too much of this", and "I'm too little of that". Blah, Blah.

Let me give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about. You remember story of Abraham in Bible? He was told he would become father of many nations. But, when he was told that, he was already seventy five years old.

Now, looking at this in natural way of thinking, you tell me how a seventy five year old man could be father of anything, especially a nation. And naturally thinking; how was that grandma, he was married to, going to give birth to a nation?

He Never Was The Sharpest Tool In The Shed!

And, Bible says she was barren. Well, here is this old man and he thinks he's father of many nations. He even went around telling everyone he met, "I'm father of many nations". You can imagine how people must have looked at him.

They probably thought all of that old man's wealth has made him crazy. Well, Abraham's got a problem or opportunity if you will. He knows what his limitations are. He knows his body is beyond time of fathering a child, and he knows his wife is barren.

But, Abraham didn't think of condition of his body or his wife's barren condition. In other words, he avoided tendency to make "excuses" for his limitations. Now get this: Abraham did have a child and, by his barren wife.

That Takes The Cake!

But, he was one hundred years old before child was born. And, this is part I'm amazed with; He waited twenty five years and kept believing that he was father of many nations. I sometimes think I've gone limit when I've waited twenty five minutes. But, point is; he didn't make excuses for his limitations.

He couldn't afford to. Abraham was no different than we are. If he had considered his wife and his own body, there is no way that old man could have kept saying "I'm father of many nations" for twenty five years! He would have been just like some of us and quit after three days.

Abraham could have said, "I'm too old", "my wife is too old", . You see, his wife was ninety years old when child was born! Don't you know she was surprised? When she went into labor she probably thought she had appendicitis. Nah, I'm kidding.

Now I know that this is an extreme example, but, still same, excuses are part of our natural tendencies no matter how extreme they are.

The Conventional Wisdom!

My mother was full of aphorisms. I grew up with “All work has dignity,” and “It doesn’t matter what you do. If you’re a [floor scraper], be best one you can be.”

Coming from an intellectual family, I was always fascinated to see people work with their hands. It took such patience. They did same thing over and over. I wondered what held their interest.

When I watched, I often saw and felt love. I watched carpenter pause for a moment, stroking wood as if it were a living thing. Turning it over in his hands, caressing it.

I heard repairman coaxing plumbing -- “Come on baby, come on baby,” he would say to corroded screw, with pliers in his hands.

I never heard my father, a corporate attorney, talking to his brief that way, or father of my children, a pathologist, begging pap smear to reveal its secrets. Though George Washington Carver claims that's how he got his secrets from peanut – by talking to them.

I watched woman who cleaned our house. Her favorite thing was to polish silver. We took it for granted, but she saw silver pitchers and tableware for beautiful objects they were. She would dip into silver polish and make swirls on coffee pot, taking her time, admiring object and admiring her work.

When it was done to her satisfaction, she would hold it out to me. “Ain’t dat purdy?” she would say.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame was done by such artisans (not craftsmen).

The object of work was not to throw up a pew as fast as you could; everything that could be embellished was embellished.

Each artisan was creating his own glory to God that would be part of greater whole. They were not chipping stained glass, they were building a cathedral. They also did not sign their work.

In my days as a fundraiser, I often heard Archbishop of San Antonio speak. He had a favorite story for those of us who served homeless.

He told about a homeless person who came to back of chancery one day for food.

The Archbishop was busy writing and annoyed to be interrupted from his important work. He stormed into kitchen, he said, threw some bread on table, slapped some turkey on it, slammed down a mustard jar and said, "HERE! Here's your food."