Filed under: life | Tags: david herndon, free music, jason harwell, rebuilt records, saving private ryan, this was the worst
There is a great scene in “Saving Private Ryan.” Actually there are a lot of great scenes in one of Tom Hanks’ best movies. My favorite is when the platoon sneaks up on an enemy bunker. They’ve got to take it out in order to complete their mission, and so they quickly come up with a game plan. The most dangerous route to take in splitting up and attacking this bunker is to go to the left. As soon as they come up with the plan soldiers begin volunteering for tasks and routes… all of them except the left route. And the Captain (Hanks) calmly asks, “Who’s going left?” No answer. Again, with more force, “Who’s going left?”
Who’s going left? Who is taking the most dangerous route? Who is going to do this thing? It is a peculiar role to play - to take on the most necessary and vital task that is at the same time the most uncomfortable and perhaps most dangerous task. Who is going to volunteer for that? It is the best thing that could happen, but yet it is the worst thing to do.
You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever had to confront a co-worker about a conflict in the office. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever stood in front of a group of people in order to tell them about God. You know what I’m talking about if you have ever pursued a job or endeavor in which you knew doing so would mean lots of people were going to doubt you and gossip about you and feel sorry for you. It can be so uncomfortable, so much so that you feel wrong in doing it. But you have to do it, because you know it is the right thing to do. And as painful as it is - you’ll do it again. It is the worst, but it is the best.
My friend Jason Harwell runs our record label, Rebuilt Records. It is a non-profit record label with a heart for restoring goodness to music and seeks to help musicians learn the ropes of the “biz” and to do it right. In other words, Jason makes no money in taking on a seeming impossible task with a bunch of novice musicians no one has ever heard of. Many people would say this is the worst idea ever. Yet, it is the best thing that has ever happened for many people (myself included) and one of the best things that could be done in the music industry as well as in Christianity. This is something that is necessary, and Jason was blessed enough to be one of the people God called to do it. He’ll tell you himself that at times he’d rather just quit and walk away, but there is something bigger at work that beckons him to continue, and as a result good things keep happening. It is the worst, but it is the best.
There are times in all of our lives when we are called to “go left,” when we are the one who has to do what is most necessary yet most uncomfortable. As a result we may be met with open criticism, with unwarranted sympathy, or with snickers and whispers behind our back. You feel weak and naked and vulnerable. But you have to do it because, as painful and as uncomfortable as it is, it is the right thing to do.
So if that’s you - be proud today. Hold your head up high and keep doing what you know is right for you. Forget what other people think. What ever discomfort you feel - this is about the worst it will get. It will only get better from here.
“This Was The Worst” is the newest song in The Writer’s Closet. As always it is available for free download, so be sure to share it with your friends who are “going left.” This song is for you, Jason, and all you other crazies out there who are doing the right thing no matter what.
As many of you know I help support a group called Mission:Change, who is currently ministering to a little boy named Easton Blanchard and his family. To read more about Easton, go here.
Below you will see the latest update I received from the Blanchard family. Please read and then pray for this amazing little boy and his family:
Today, well yesterday, has been a very hard and trying time for Easton and us all. As most of you know, Easton started going through rejection about a week ago and they said that things were starting to look much better. Easton was feeling and looking better. Last night about 5:15 PM they took him back in to surgery because he was having some draining from his belly. They got in and saw that the small bowel was very sick. So sick that they had to remove the entire transplanted small bowel. They say that the next 2 weeks will be very critical for him. He is septic.
This is the strongest little boy I know. He fights with everything he has everything time. I it so hard to know that he has wanted this for over a year now and he can’t have it. The only thing he has from it is the mark where they cut him, pain from after and the memories he doesn’t want to keep.
Time and time again I ask myself what am I going to tell him, How is he going to feel when he finds out and what is he going to say? There has been many tears cried and wiped. I am sure there will be more to come. Right now he is stable and is holding his own.
Please visit his caring bridge site at www. caringbridge. org/visit/eastonblanchard. If you look in his journal at some of the other things that have been posted, you will see and address. That is the address for Easton at the hospital. Please take a little time and send him a card or just a note to say that you are behind him and thinking and praying for him. It really means the world to him to get mail and hang it in his room.
I’ll try to update again later. Thanks for the support, thoughts and prayers.
Love,
Brian & Heather Blanchard
I know that most of you don’t know Easton or his family, but it would mean a lot if you would send him a card or at least visit his Caring Bridge site and leave a note there. If you would like to make a contribution, visit Mission:Change and buy something, and to help tell Easton’s story you can download the song, “Pittsburgh” from my website or from The Writer’s Closet.
Thanks everyone! Now pray, pray, pray!
Filed under: life
Last week a stomach virus invaded my house. All 4 of us had it at one point during the week, and I was the last… and the worst. I’ve never been so sick in my life. It was the kind of sick that makes you pass out on the bathroom floor, and not because you drank too much. It was the kind of sick that makes you truly believe you’ve contracted something the CDC should be notified of. It was the kind of sick that makes you bargain with God. It was both awful and spiritual at the same time.
Sometime in the early hours of Friday morning, in between praying to the Porcelain Queen and begging with the Heavenly King I had a bit of a revelation.
We typically have 3 responses to illness.
1. Deny It - We refuse to believe we’re sick. We say its just a little cough when really its pneumonia. We often take on this response when the sickness is more inconvenient than usual. If you just won tickets to the Super Bowl, you don’t want to come down with the flu. You’d rather be sick and do whatever you’re doing, rather than miss it altogether. The danger here is that in your denial, you’ll fool others too.
2. Fight It - We get in the ring with the “bug” and we get all competitive. All of a sudden we’re Dr. Quinn the Medicine Woman and we’re making up homemade rememdies and drinking awful things like Emergen-C or TheraFlu. You failed high school chemistry but all of a sudden you think you could be a self-made pharmacist. The sickness is nothing more than opportunity to test your intelligence and resourcefulness. The danger here is that in reality you don’t have a clue about the practice of medicine, and you could make it worse by trying to do things on your own.
3. Embrace It: Sometimes the sickness can be a little convenient. Maybe you’re sick because you over-worked yourself to illness, and now that you’re getting some rest you don’t mind being so sick. Its nice to be waited on and have other people do things for you. Sometimes we just feel so bad that we don’t believe we’ll ever get better, and our response is a little more than dramatic. Maybe you even make the sickness last a little longer or take one more sick day… just to make sure you’re really better. Come on - you all know what I’m talking about and you’re all guilty. Being sick brings out others’ appreciation and concern for you - something we often don’t see enough of, so who wouldn’t want to make that last a little longer? The danger here is that if it goes on too long, people will feel like they can’t help you… so they won’t.
So laying on the cold tile floor I opted for option 4: Get On With It. I wasn’t going to deny it or fight it. I certainly wasn’t going to embrace it. I was going to do what I had to do: rest, fluids, medicine. It was basically like a surrender with hope. I knew it was coming. Now here it is. I know it will pass. I didn’t change any appointments, I didn’t ask anyone to do my work, and I didn’t call the CDC. I just waited patiently to get better.
Sin is much the same. In faith it is the sickness. So often we respond in 3 different ways. We deny it - but that only hurts us and possible others. We fight it - but trying to cure it on our own only makes it worse. Or we embrace it - we give up all hope on ourselves and we declare ourselves incurable - and those who could help us most stop helping us altogether.
The only real way to respond to sin is to get on with it, much like David does in Psalm 51 after his Bathsheba incident. Do what you have to do to get better. Confess it. Ask for forgiveness (from God and others). And most importantly - move on! Don’t deny it, don’t try to fix it yourself, and don’t sit in it. Get on with it.
So after my littel revelation, I had a time of prayer seeking God’s forgiveness for my sins. And then I repented to the toilet for eating those chicken nachos. And then I passed out.
Filed under: life | Tags: children's hospital of pittsburgh, dale earnhardt jr, david herndon, easton blanchard, mission:change, nascar, pittsburgh, rebuilt records, small intestine transplant
Last Friday night I was at a party. The guest of honor was an 8 year old little boy named Easton Blanchard. Easton is just like any other little boy from Leesburg, GA. He likes baseball and NASCAR and hanging out with his friends. Easton is unlike any other little boy in that he was born with a rare degenerative muscle disease - muscular dystrophy with myosin deficiency. After numerous surgeries, Easton is left with only four inches of his small intestine forcing him to subsist on an all-liquid diet, fed to him through a feeding tube. He is currently on a waiting list for a small intestine transplant through the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, an operation so rare and complicated that Easton and his family will literally have to move to Pittsburgh for the duration of the surgery and recovery period.
So here I was playing a show for Easton and his friends and family, and I’ve never been so honored in all my life. The party was hosted by my friends Mission: Change, who have designed a T-shirt and complete Jewelry line to raise money to support Easton and his family when they have to move to Pittsburgh. You should check out their site to read the full story on Easton and to give some support in exchange for some very fahionable accessories.
The thing that blows me away abou Easton is this: He has so much against him, but you’d never know it. He was smiling the whole night, goofing off with his family, and fully relishing in being the center of attention (as it was his party). His wheelchair is fully styled after Dale Earnhardt Jr’s race car, complete with an autograph from “Junior” himself. As I shook Easton’s hand and had a picture taken with him I could not help but think, “He’s just a kid.” It seems unfair that someone so young should have to face so much. Easton never even had a chance - from day one he’s been the underdog. Not long after that thought and the picture I looked over at Easton only to see the biggest, shiniest smile I’ve ever seen. It’s like he was saying to me, “Don’t feel sorry for me… this race ain’t over yet.”
Easton is in no way an underdog. He’s a winner through and through. He is young. He has been through a lot. He has a long tough road ahead of him. But I feel confident that he will storm that road like “Junior” storms the racetrack every Sunday. I can’t wait to see how God continues to reveal himself through Easton’s life.
This past Monday Easton finally got the call - they found a match and he immediately flew to Pittsburgh for surgery. As you read this he is in recovery. Please keep Easton and his family in your prayers and please visit Mission:Change to find out how you can support this amazing little boy.
“Pittsburgh (Easton’s Song)” is available for free download as usual at The Writer’s Closet, my site David Herndon Music, and MySpace. Please download it, play it for your friends, and share with them the story of Easton Blanchard. Thanks!
Filed under: life | Tags: david herndon, interstate travel, isuzu amigo, jason harwell
The other day I was driving down the road when I noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of me that read, “Protect Our Borders Now.” Apparently the driver of the vehicle is not a fan of illegal immigration. Normally I would bumper stickers leave my memory as soon as they enter it - its just not that significant to me. But what was significant - and humorously ironic to me - was the vehicle. It was an Isuzu Amigo. Pause here… let it sink in… now laugh. The driver who dislikes immigrants from Mexico enough to paste this bumper sticker on his car actually drives a car named by Mexicans. You would think that someone with such a blatant distaste for immigration would drive something different.
My friend Jason Harwell once told me about pulling up to a stop light next to the biggest pickup truck he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. This truck was like Bigfoot on steroids and it was painted bright canary yellow. With the huge tires, the blingin’ rims, and the “heat of a thousand suns” paint job it was a true “look at me” vehicle. When Jason peered up to see who was driving such a vehicle, he noticed the driver was dressed head to toe in all out camoflauge. Camoflauge generally communicates that you do not want to be seen. What is someone who wants to be invisible doing driving a vehicle that demands occular stimulus?
Its kind of like the driver who cuts you off and almost shaves your bumper with their Christian Fish decal or their WWJD sticker. I once accidentally cut a guy off on the interstate. Upon realizing my error I turned around to do the “I’m sorry” look only to be greeted with his middle finger. My eyes then drifted down to notice his front license plate that read “Clergy.” The men of the cloth can be real boogers behind the wheel.
I know more than a few people who refuse to put a Christian/Church sticker anywhere on their car because they know their driving behavior will not match the message. While I want to admire their honesty, I’m not sure that is the answer either. Perhaps we’d all be better witnesses if police started issuing tickets and fines for hypocrisy. Its kind of like false advertising. If Jesus was an American citizen maybe he could sue for defamation of character or something. Maybe I think too much when I drive. Either way - if I was a cop I would definitely pull over that Amigo.
Oh the joys of traveling on our nation’s highways and biways. Do you have a “hypocrisy on the highway” story? If so, please share by way of commenting.
The newest installment of The Writer’s Closet is up. It’s a song called “Baby, There’s Still Me.” Here’s the message behind the music:
“It’s Better on MySpace.” That’s what her shirt said. Her eyes said it too. I had seen her earlier walking through the mall with her boyfriend. Now she sat on a bench near the food court and was currently necking (as the old folks call it) with said boyfriend. From the neck down she was totally invested in this guy and in what they were doing. But in her eyes she looked… bored… distracted. She looked like she was thinking much harder than a person should while participating in full blown PDA.
Her shirt said it all. “It’s Better on MySpace.” It’s better when you make up a new you. It’s better when you can give details about yourself that impress people, whether they are true or not. It’s better when you can show people photos of yourself that make you look your best, whether they really look like you or not. It’s better when you can make the person on the outside come across as someone others will like and maybe even love. Because you are not so sure they might like (or love) the person on the inside.
So we play this game. We buy the right clothes. We drive the right cars. We get the right jobs. We hang out with the right people. We sell sex for love and we sell love for sex. We say the right things. We act tough when we really feel scared. We act pretty when we really feel ugly. Inside we really just want to be loved, to be accepted, to be found worthy more than anything else. And we’ll do just about anything to get it.
The problems come when the truth comes out – when we wear the wrong clothes, when we drive the wrong cars, when we take the wrong job, when we hang out with the wrong people, when we say the wrong things. When our true self comes out it totally discounts the “better” self, and therefore it totally discounts any love, acceptance, or worthiness that came with it.
Love based on lies is no love at all.
God doesn’t work this way. God says nothing could separate us from His love (Romans 8). This means that nothing we are ashamed of – our failures, our blunders, our mistakes, our weaknesses, our doubts – nothing would make Him love us less. It also means that nothing could Him love us more – the right clothes, the right car, the right job, the right friends, our strength, our glamour – none of it will earn His love. Simply said, we don’t have to play the game with God. He loves us just as we are.
The sooner we accept this truth is the sooner that we really are better.
I hope you enjoy the new song, “Baby, There’s Still Me.” Its available for a free download this month on The Writer’s Closet, my Home page, and, yes, on MySpace.
Also, I need your vote at Indie Heaven “Church or a Brothel” is currently #30 on the fan faves chart, and #3 on the Rock chart. If you’d like to see my song climb to the top of the chart, vote here.
Filed under: God, environment, life, people | Tags: david herndon, going green, mvule project, the greatest commandment
I wanted to expand on last week’s entry about “going green.” If you missed out on that entry, be sure to catch up because its not about what you think its about based on that summation.
I firmly believe that we (human beings) get things backwards sometimes. We know our world is messed up, so we try to fix the world - and not the people that live on the world, control the world, destroy the world, etc. Example: We try to “go green” by inventing hybrids, building recycling stations, and growing “organic” products. You can produce all the hybrids you want, but if people still don’t care about other people, things are never going to really change. I believe this is what Jesus had in mind when he said the most important commandment was to love god via loving people. If every human being genuinely cared about every other human being (or at least every other human being), then I believe our world would be a lot greener… in more ways than one. None of this is to say that I don’t support the green movement. I do. I believe loving people and loving the planet are two important things. I also believe you can combine the two for one dynamic, world-changing effect.
Here are some ways you can go green and love people at the same time (go green via loving people)
1. Car Pool Evangelism/Discipleship: If you’re a Christian, you probably have that certain person really want to share Christ with. Effective evangelism and discipleship requires time, it requires a relationship. Often this relationship is with someone you spend a lot of time with, a fellow student, a co-worker, etc. So, what better way to initiate more time together (for talking/listening/sharing) than a car pool? You could lead someone to Christ and cut down on harmful emissions.
2. Feed the Hungry, Not the Landfill: Do an inventory of everything you use on a weekly basis in your home, from food to laundry detergent to toilet paper. Try to categorize these things (and more importantly the quantity you use) into three categories: absolutely necessary; beneficial but not necesarry; and pure pleasure. Try going a month using only the “absolutely necessary” category. Use the extra money you save at Wal-Mart that month to sponsor a mission organization, a church, or another benevolent charity. You’ll cut down on waste, probably lose some weight, and help the needy community. Take it a step further and go a year using only the “absolutely necessary” category.
3. Save the Ozone/Save a Village: The Mvule Project is a great organization to sponsor. Visit their site to get all of the wonderful trees, but here are the basics: Certain regions in Africa have been completely deforested, the people lack education, employment, and health care to name a few. When you buy an Mvule tree from the Mvule project you ultimately provide job opportunities and stimulate economic growth which leads to the building of schools, churches, and hospitals. Your one tree will change the future of generations. You’ll also be helping to alleviate the deforestation problem that is facing the globe.
Those are a few of my favorites. Sound Cheesy? A little. Simple? Yes. But real change does not happen over night. It happens in small steps. We can all take at least one step. I have more to list, and will do so in the future. In the meantime, please share your ideas about how to go green via loving people. More importantly, act on your ideas!
Filed under: God, environment, life, people, religion | Tags: christianity, church, david herndon, environment, God, going green, hybrid, recycling
Its been a while since I posted a controversial blog. I know you’ve all been waiting for one, so here you go:
With gas prices soaring and global warming heating up, everyone from Woody Harrelson to Rob Bell has something to say about “going green.” It is a real issue and the state of the environment is something we all need to seriously think about. It is also a movement that is on the rise within Christianity and the Church’s voice on the matter gets louder every day. As an avid outdoors person myself, I am a big supporter of the “go green” movement. That being said, I do have some concerns with the way it is being presented in Christian circles. It seems that the Christian view is being taught that if you are a believer, yet are not environmentally conscious or active, then you are committing a sin. In some ways “go green” is being taught as the Eleventh Commandment (thou shalt drive a hybrid), and as usual I have a little different view on the spiritual side of this discussion.
The question that keeps popping up in my head as I hear green sermons and have green discussions with people is this: What is God’s perspective on “going green?” Is it really as big a deal to Him as it is to us? How concerned is God with our environment? If Jesus traveled by jet, would he buy a carbon offset? It is often taught that God is green and that being environmentally aware is vital to our spirituality. I’m not so sure.
The most famous scripture quotation would come from Genesis 1, in which God gives man authority over the earth, the vegetation, and the animals with the command to subdue to the earth and be fruitful and multiply. The interpretation is often that God’s command for man to “care for the earth” is really a command to “take care of the earth,” that our responsibility is to do our best to preserve it and protect it. But is that what God is saying? He could be saying, “I’m giving you the earth - do with it whatever you want -it’s yours.” In Isaiah God talks about how the grass will wither and the flower will fade, but the word of the Lord will stand forever. I interpret this as God saying, “Don’t get too invested in temporary things, but invest in what is eternal.” He presents the earth as being a temporary thing - a material thing, if you will. It will not always be here. God’s word is eternal. It will always be here. It will always stand. It is the only thing worth truly investing in. Biblically speaking, no matter what we do environmentally, no matter how green we get, the earth is eventually going to be destroyed anyway. It was never meant to last forever, so how concerned should we be in preserving it? In Genesis 6, God himself decides to flood the earth and start over (talk about a global warming crisis). He doesn’t seem too concerned there about “going green.” He does seem concerned with preserving righteousness.
The truth is, I just don’t find much in the bible that presents a strong spiritual argument for “going green.”
One day someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is. Jesus did not say to recycle or install solar panels on your house or to drive a hybrid. He did say this: “you shall love the Lord, your God, with all of your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. All of God’s laws hang on these two commandments.” It seems Jesus’ priority was less in how we treat the earth and more in how we treat the creator and the people of the earth.
Before you get too angry with me and misinterpret what I’m saying, let me be clear: As humans, we should try our best to be good stewards of the earth. As Christians, we should be the front runners in this movement. I’m not telling you to start throwing all of your trash on the side of the road or to start burning down forests or to start killing bunny rabbits or anything. Out of respect for our Creator, we should respect His creation. I just think we’re going about things the wrong way.
Instead of opening the newspaper and seeing articles about how to care for the environment, I would be delighted to see articles about how to care for people. Instead of seeing a movie star on TV talking about being green, I would like to see a movie star talking about being loving. Instead of governments imposing pollution taxes, I would like to see governments imposing uncompassionate taxes. Instead of Nobel prizes being awarded for environmental accomplishments, I would like to see Nobel prizes for evangelical accomplishments.
I think if we as humans became consumed with loving people, then our environment would be in a better state. Our world is going to great lengths and spending incredible amounts of money in the interest of the environment. What would our world look like if we went to such lengths and spent as much money in the interest of loving people?
The grass will wither. The flower will fade. The earth is temporary. God’s word and God’s ways will stand forever. You tell me which is more important.
I look forward to your comments.
Failure is not the type of thing that any of us really like to talk about. No one really jumps at the opportunity to list their weaknesses either. But every once in a while we all have days when our weakness is more evident than we would like it to be and failure stands over us like a magnifying glass over an ant.
A couple of years ago the church I work for, The Chapel, wanted to do something different for Sunday morning. We think it is vitally important for people to be involved in small groups (even more important than Sunday morning worship) and so we thought, “what if instead of having ‘normal’ worship this week, we just did one big small group?” One thing you should know about our small groups - 90% of them are based on DVD curriculum (several of which we make ourselves). My one job for this Small Group Sunday event was to play the DVD. How much easier can it get? We chose one of our “homegrown” DVD’s. I had made it myself. I had used it before. This was a no-brainer situation. I looked forward to such an easy, mindless task. So it never crossed my mind to play the DVD before hand or to have a backup DVD… just in case.
I’m sure you can guess where this is going. The DVD started out okay, but after about 2 minutes the screen froze, the audio sounded like a Max Headroom sample, and everyone turned around and stared at me and with their eyes asked me, “how could you screw up so largely with such a simple task?” Then the video started playing again. The Max Headroom was back. Then the silent question of the people became a vocal question from various points of the room. Certain things in life are truly uncomfortable - your first kiss, your first physical, the dentist - but having 400 people look at you at once and knowing they are all thinking the same thing about you is downright unbearable. The DVD finally quit altogether and our Pastor “talked” through what a small group would be. The whole point of the morning was to show people how easy and rewarding it is to be a part of a small group and I had successfully delivered the exact opposite message.
I was literally sick to my stomach. I’ve never left church (or anywhere) as quickly as I did that day. Later that day I sought refuge in prayer and God really spoke to me very clearly. This is what he said: “Your worth in my eyes is not measured by what you can or cannot do. It is not measured by the amount of success or failure in your day. Your worth is measured by Jesus Christ on the cross - and nothing else.”
This was/is a truly freeing statement, and it really has changed my life. That moment of prayer is a defining point of my entire life and each day since then I have thought about God’s words to me at that time. As joyful as I was to hear (and believe) what God was saying, I was equally confused. How is that possible? How could you possibly find me worthy of anything? I’m not just talking about messing up a DVD. That’s small potatoes compared to the failures in my life no one knows about (and I’d like to keep it that way). God - who knows everything, including my sins, doubts, questions, thoughts, intentions - finds worth in me? I don’t understand it. But if I did understand it, I’m not sure it would mean as much to me. Maybe that’s the point.
Failure and Weakness is such a big deal to us because Success and Strength is a big deal to us. Success and Strength make us feel competent, purposeful, fulfilled. Failure and Weakness make us feel inadequate, incomplete, empty. We strive so hard, we spend so much time, so much money, trying to “make it,” so that we don’t have to feel inadequate, incomplete, empty. And that’s why it hurts all the more when we fail - we come face to face with the reality that despite our best efforts to succeed, on our own we just are not good enough. On our own we are empty, we are fragile, we are frail, we are weak, we are broken.
This is a good thing, because this can lead to our discovery that we will really only find our worth when we seek it in Christ, who gave himself up for us on the cross. Your worth is measured by Jesus Christ on the cross - and nothing else. Failure can be the best thing that happens if it leads you to discovering this truth.
Download the song “Fragile and Frail” for free from my page or visit The Writers Closet… and make sure you give Max a visit.
The other day my family decided to take a beach day. We’ve been going hard and working hard and needed a little quality time, so we hit the beach to relax and play and just be with each other. My wife and I were having a great time just playing with our two boys. A grandmother and her grandson were walking down the beach and suddenly stopped next to us. Her grandson, being the same age as my son, was interested in what we were playing. The grandmother instructed him to introduce himself, and my son, being the socialite that he is , introduced himself back. Then the grandmother asked my 4 year old son (not me or my wife) if her grandson could play with him for a little while, to which my son, the socialite that he is, said yes.
What happened next has perplexed me for days. Upon making the proper introductions and luring out an invitation for her grandson, walked away. She actually said, “Well, that settles it. Everyone is happy now.” She then walked about 50 yards down the beach and sat down in her chair and proceeded to have her own personal beach day.
Everyone was not happy. Our family time, our escape had now been invaded. We had been scammed into a play-date. We had unwillingly become the babysitters of a complete stranger. And for the next half hour we were responsible for another person’s child that we did not even know.
In reflection, I realize that perhaps this grandmother needed a break from looking after the kid. He is young and full of energy, and she was old and I’m sure a little tired. But does that give her the liberty to pawn her kid off on us? She felt burdened, and she cast that burden on us.
You may think I’m overreacting, but think about it. She didn’t know anything about us. We didn’t know anything about us. What if her grandson took off and ran into the ocean? What if he stepped on an oyster shell and cut his foot open? What if he just got up and ran as fast as he could down the beach? Am I responsible? I felt that I was, and that was a burden I was not ready to carry for a complete stranger.
I still don’t know how to respond, and I guess that is why I’m blogging. On one hand, as a Christian, I feel that I should be willing to understand her burden, her weariness, and I should be willing to help her out for a little while. On the other hand, the whole reason we came to the beach was to relieve our own burdens, and now we just felt more burdened.
I think we often do this. We cast our burdens on other people. We feel so overwhelmed by life and situations, we feel helpless, and we put responsibility on other people to carry our burdens for us. In the context of some relationships, this is okay, this is the way it should be. I will gladly take on a family member’s burdens. I will gladly take on a co-worker’s burdens. I should - these are people I’m connected to. But what about the complete stranger? Am I responsibly for the poor and the hungry? Am I responsible for the drug addict? Am I responsible for the over-stressed grandmother on the beach?
Often I would say that I am not. But I’m beginning to think that I am.
I Peter says to cast your burdens on the Lord, because he cares for you. I Peter also says to be holy as the Lord is holy, which basically means, be like God. And if he willingly takes on people’s burdens, then maybe we should to.
What are your thoughts?
