Keeping an open, optimistic attitude--it's not always easy: "Situation hopeless. Nobody wears shoes," cabled one shoe salesman. "Fantastic potential. Nobody wears shoes. Send more samples," cabled the other.
"...and there appeared to the Apostles tongues of fire...resting on each of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit...and devout people from every nation were there to witness this, and they were amazed, and wondered, 'How could this possibly be?"
A couple of weeks ago, Carol and I drove up to Las Vegas to visit with our daughter Susan who is attending the university in that ever-amazing town. While there, we attended one of the more popular shows, Siegfried & Roy, a spectacular program which somehow combines the beauty of white tigers with the cleverness of a good, old-fashioned magic show. There were many of the old routines, like sawing a lady in half, but near the end, Siegfried & Roy managed to make a full-sized elephant appear and then disappear in a puff of smoke.
Susan and I looked at each other and exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing! I wonder how they did that?" As we were walking out after the show, we did our best to figure that trick out, but at one point, Susan said, "Well, Dad, maybe it's best that we don't know. If we did, then it wouldn't be amazing anymore." So we let go of our analysis and re-entered the wonder, surprise and amazement of disappearing elephants and a great evening together.
I think it must have been that way for the congregation of people who witnessed the wondrous events of Pentecost, with tongues of flame settling upon the apostles, and tongues of speech which opened up their ears. And I suspect they walked away from that spectacle, as Susan and I did, amazed and wondering how could this possibly happen.
This holy and festive Sunday of Pentecost is a right and good time for us to reawaken our sense of amazement, God's wondrous gift of joy and wonder and surprise. Because, "to be amazed," says Mr. Webster, "is to be affected by great wonder." But the dictionary also adds this secondary definition: "Amazement is to be bewildered or perplexed."
In our all-to-analytical world, I fear we may be losing touch with this Pentecostal gift of God. Do we allow ourselves to be amazed or bewildered by the wondrous surprises of creation--the miraculous events which happen all around us every day?
With this question in heart and mind, let's take a few moments and explore how we might renew our awareness of and sensitivity to God's wondrous surprises in life.
First, and I suspect most obvious, is that we must open ourselves to the possibility of being surprised. Take a chance--and put ourselves into those times and places where amazing things can happen.
During his tenth-anniversary show, Garrison Keillor told a story about a formative experience of his teenage years. Walking down a sidewalk one day, he saw an unbelievably beautiful woman coming toward him--a stunning, lovely person. What could he do to stop and meet her? Looking aside, he spied a large white Cadillac parked next to the sidewalk. Strolling over to the Caddy, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a dime and put it into the parking meter. He then leaned confidently against the Cadillac and smiled broadly at the approaching woman. To his absolute delight, she returned his welcoming smile, moved towards him and said, "Thank you." Ecstatic beyond words, he watched as she then took out a set of keys, got into the Caddy and drove off.
What's delightfully true about his story is that Keillor took a chance--he opened himself up to the possibility of being amazed and surprised. And in a wonderful way he was!
It's so easy to be too analytical, so practical about life that we become spiritually blind to God's amazing grace. Do we approach life as one big magic problem to be figured out, or as mystery to be enjoyed and even amazed by?
My second suggestion is also an obvious one--check out your basic attitude in life. Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
I have learned that Pentecostal events of surprise are much more accessible when I work at keeping my attitude not only open, but optimistic. Once again a classic story which makes this point:
A shoe factory sent two salesmen to two emerging nations of Africa to survey the sales potential of shoes. A few days after his arrival, the first salesman cabled the home office: "Situation hopeless. Nobody wears shoes. Returning home."
The next day the office received a cable from salesman number two which read: "Fantastic potential. Nobody wears shoes. Send more samples."
That's what I mean by developing a positive attitude about life's experiences. I heard two different weather broadcasts last Wednesday from Los Angeles. One said, "Today will be partly cloudy." The other noted that, "Today will be partly sunny." Two people who saw the same thing through different lenses.
A third basic attitude which allows people to perceive and enjoy the amazing Pentecostal events of life is trust. Trust that in the long run God is great and the world is good and we are okay. In his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore says that all too often:
"We keep (trust) in a bubble of belief, so that we don't see it having any relevance to day-to-day living...many people have no trust in themselves and they don't entrust themselves to life."
Moore cites Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a classic example of one who trusted both herself and life. What greater amazing event than the appearance of an angel announcing the birth of Christ and what greater trust than Mary saying, "Let it be, even though I don't understand...let it be."
We cannot always control what life dishes out to us, but we can control and be positive about our personal response to it. Scholar Matthew Henry wrote that he was once robbed of his wallet. After feeling badly for most of the day, he sat down and wrote in his diary:
"Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, although they took my wallet, they did not take my life; third, because it was not much money; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed."
We are faced, nearly every day, with a basic decision, a choice to see the amazing good and blessings of life where others might see only the negative and curse:
"...and there appeared to the Apostles tongues of fire...resting on each of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit...and devout people from every nation were there to witness this, and they were amazed..."
Let's become one of those devout people on this lovely Pentecostal Day; open yourselves to the possibilities of amazing grace. Take a chance and trust that life is good, God is great, and let the flames of God's Holy Spirit come upon you this day! Amen.
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