Trusting the Tour Guide
My wife an I took a vacation to Boston. We love to travel when we can and we tend to try to see everything a person can possibly see. On our first day in Boston we walked the Freedom Trail. We could have taken a 2 hour tour (with a tour guide!), but we wanted to see it all. We wanted to do it our way. We took the better part of the morning and afternoon seeing it all. I'm not sure how far we walked, but it was miles. Near the end of the Freedom Trail you find the Bunker Hill monument. It's 294 steps up the 221 foot tall monument. That's about 22 stories after walking all day. You also have to come down the steps.
*Stair number 200 in the climb to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument.
Once we got outside, my legs were so weak that I was wobbly. I had to stop and gather myself, but it was only about 4pm and we had the USS Constitution, the Boston Public Library, and Cheers to see that day. So we kept going. In the middle of the evening tour of the Boston Library, I realized that I couldn't walk down any of the steps. I was holding onto rails and "floating down." It was the same trying to go down the stairs to the subway. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be injured for the rest of our trip!
Many of us are striving to accomplish so many things in life. We want money, power, relationships, things for our family. We strive after it all and never slow down. I didn't want to use a tour guide because I wanted it all. To be fair, the tour guides do a shorter version, and might have left out some of the more subtle or less prominent details.
And just like our hesitance to avail ourselves of the expertise and expedience of the tour guide, we often tend to assume (wrongly) that God, as well, may give us the "less than ideal tour." Afterall, we tend to "want it all" and not necessarily want what is "best."
Psalm 46:10 says "be still" or "cease striving" and "know that I AM God."
Once you stop long enough to know God, you begin to understand that following the Holy Spirit is better than striving after all the things you think you need, and you discover what you are truly created for.
What's A Moon Tree?
Mother Nature Network reports:
Moon trees were grown from seeds astronaut Stuart Roosa carried in his personal kit on the Apollo 14 mission in early February 1971. About 500 loblolly pine, redwood, sweet gum, sycamore and Douglas fir tree seeds went up with him and orbited the moon 34 times. (Roosa stayed on board while astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell made the third moon landing.)
Roosa had been a smoke jumper (that's a forest fire first responder) for the U.S. Forest Service prior to becoming an astronaut, and he brought the seeds not only to honor the service, but also to run a simple test: Would the seeds that had gone to the moon sprout as easily as Earth-only seeds?
About 450 of the seeds sprouted in similar numbers and as typically as their Earth-only control seeds. After a few years of care at NASA, the now-baby trees were planted in locations across the United States, many as part of the 1976 bicentennial celebrations.
Where are the trees? According to NASA,
A loblolly pine was planted at the White House, and trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, and presented to the emperor of Japan, among others. Trees have also been planted in Washington Square in Philadelphia, at Valley Forge, in the International Forest of Friendship, and at various universities and NASA centers."
...Roosa died in 1994, but a moon sycamore grows at his grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
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As it turns out, a moon tree is no different from its earthly counterpart. Merely visiting the moon didn’t change the nature of the seeds. All that changed was the world’s estimation ... it made them famous.
One has to wonder why anyone ever thought that simply orbiting the moon 34 times would somehow change the nature of a seed. Likewise, one has to wonder why it is so many seem to believe that simply attending a church every week will somehow change the nature of a person.
The truth is, people who go to church are subject to the same temptations as people who don’t attend. And many of them fail, just like their non-church attending counterpart. Human nature doesn’t change just because we've spent time in close proximity to a church. However, faith in God’s promise does invite the presence of God's Spirit, resulting in a new capacity to desire the things of God.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Where’s The Beef?
The following study has found that a third of vegetarians admit to eating meat when drunk:
One in three admitted to eating meat every time they were under the influence and noted kebabs and burgers as their meat cheat of choice.
Of the 1700 vegetarians surveyed, 27 per cent said they ate bacon, 19 per cent ate fried chicken and 14 per cent went for pork sausages.
Almost three quarters of confessors said they kept their meat meals a secret.
The survey was conducted by a British money saving website, Voucher Codes Pro.
George Charles, the founder, said he knew of "vegetarians who sometimes crave meat, but it seems that a few are giving into their cravings when drunk.”
Charles adds:
I think it's important for friends of these vegetarians to support them when drunk and urge them not to eat meat as I'm sure they regret it the next day.
Most people who consume alcohol do so to relax and have a little fun. But, as with many things, too much of a good thing can quickly become a bad thing, especially when it comes to alcohol. With overindulgence, relaxation can quickly cross-the-line and become a loss of self-control. This is when even deeply held convictions become most vulnerable.
For the Christian, even weightier things are at stake. Things like character, integrity, and marital and familial commitments are all threatened by the weakening of resolve that comes with intoxication.
If we are willing to use constraint to protect our diet, shouldn’t we be willing to use constraint to protect our relationship with God?
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
And what about the rest of us who see our brothers and sisters lapsing into vulnerable situations? Perhaps it's best to echo the sentiments above: We must come along side them, encouraging them to exercise constraint.
"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted" (Galatians 6:1).