Category: Running Life’s Race With A Limp

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Bring it

Our old self is the self of rebellion. The prophet levels the charge without apology, “We have turned – every one of us – to our own way.”

Change must come. God through Jesus would bring it.

The Spirit of God has a way of very often beckoning us nearer in toward himself. The closing pages of scripture supply us a touching image depicting this, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone would hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and have fellowship with him and he with me.”*

Jesus is a bonifide historical one-of-a-kind person. This brown-skinned itinerate messenger, his voice carrying a middle-eastern accent, brought the reality of God to earth in tangible form. He is relevant as ever.

Living out his righteous, unique, generous life among us, Jesus gave himself to all humanity as God’s offering, paying in his sacrificial dying the penalty for all our wrongs, our sins. His crucifixion death secured complete freedom from guilt as well as from judgment in the afterlife for those who trust their lives to him.

For the Jesus-follower this all marks the beginning point, because to know Jesus is to grow in Jesus. In bringing us to himself he has ushered us into a brand new kind of living. It is companionship-centered. Jesus has laid claim to our present and future. He “companions” us, as children of the heavenly father into growth toward and into his own likeness. Once again, the thing Jesus brings to us is change. Beautiful, essential, transformational change.

We don’t easily drift when remaining near enough Jesus to feel his breath. The word plateau is a foreign term to those entering God’s kingdom with the aim of keeping company with the kingdom’s king, to train or apprentice under him in the way of love. The journey ahead is not static but dynamic.

Jesus came to change us. Are we In?

While it’s true the change begins the minute we first turn and yield to him, Jesus sets out to transform us day by day, little by little. If transformation is to happen at all it will mostly come by centimeters not yards. The Serenity Prayer suggests an appealing pace,

“Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time”.

* Revelation 3:20 ESV

©2022 Jerry Lout

 

 

 

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A New Look

Marathoner or sprinter, the athlete runs with focus, keeping the goal ever in view.

The best kinds of changes tend to often happen over time. Changes of character, changes of growing into the kind of person one is trusting or hoping to become. As we shift our attention from our own selves redirecting our spiritual gaze to the person of Jesus (the power source of a transformed life) a lot of old, unprofitable things begin simply dropping away.

Once the sprinter hears the crack of the starting gun her focus is laser-like. One thing alone matters. The finish line. Even when circling the track at points where the finish tape is momentarily out of view, the athlete keeps in some way holding that image constantly before her mind’s eye.

In my broken state as a teen I had been fixated on me. . . my wants, my self-centered ego. One Old Testament prophet casts a flood light about the soul, “We have turned – every one – to his own way”.*

Finally, in all the mess of my self-inflicted pain, I looked away to God (memo: prayers of mothers are underrated). And right away, then and there, my head turned his way, a curious thing called wisdom started taking form. Redirecting my line of vision. A radical shift in focus had happened, spurred from the aching heart of a wayward teen. turned me Jesus’ direction. I didn’t know it but he would soon be positioning before a new starting block. What a run lay ahead!

Anyone who has ever competed in a race – even a childhood dash to be first to the ice cream truck – feels a heart-stir in a brief reading from an old Hebrew parchment. Note, in the appeal, the object of the athlete’s focus, the disciple’s gaze.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

©2022 Jerry Lout                                                                               *Isaiah 53:6

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Resemblance

What would it be like to resemble God – Yes, eternal creator, sustainer of the cosmos and all that it holds? Could we mere humans even ponder such a notion?

The astonishing thing is we already do (by Holy Scripture’s account) share a profound likeness with the Almighty. While no mortal human has ever been or will ever be godlike in terms of things like self-existence, all-knowing, etc. . . Still, every human is in some precise way made in the image of God.

But further in, at a level even further beyond our ability to grasp, he has purposed that God’s redeemed (saved) ones embody the qualities of Jesus’ own character. To reflect the very nature and the virtues of his one and only Son Jesus. Yes, Christians are meant to, over time (through plenty of changings and growings) truthfully own the statement, “as he is so also are we in the world”*.

It is the interior world of Christ God calls us to emulate.

This, the Almighty assures, is within our grasp. With God’s nonstop assistance on our behalf to be sure. But within reach. Possible.

Christlikeness comes about through training in the ways of love and of joy and of peace. Qualities which he alone possesses in full and which he alone can reproduce in us as we humbly and courageously cooperate in the lofty enterprise.

So, what might be a first step?

The beginning move his direction always has and ever will be about vision. Onto what am I setting my gaze? To whom or to what am I continually directing my attention? We hear a saying, “You become like the thing you focus upon”.

Rick Warren penned four shocking words as the first sentence of his classic work, The Purpose Driven Life – “It’s not about you”, (ice water to the ego).

In order to set my attention more and more in the direction of Jesus so that I come to flourish in his qualities of love and joy and peace, I will find it necessary to shift much of my attention away from – yes – me.

Does the phrase “a work in progress” spring to mind?

Probably.

©2022 Jerry Lout                                                                                              * 1 John 4:17

 

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Near Resemblance

Whether changing flat tires in far off lands or fostering character qualities on the long journey of becoming Jesus-like, his followers make use of means.

What does means mean?

Means are things (practices/instruments) necessary to move toward a worthwhile goal.

The goal of getting changed into a kind of person resembling Christ is an aim unlike any other. What pursuit in all of life could bring greater challenges and deeper satisfactions when entered into with the whole heart?

Transformation to Christlikeness comes about (let’s be honest) through many days given to lackluster, routine plodding.

Doing the next good or right thing. If Jesus’ life is anything it is good and it is right (righteous). And it is routine plodding which often marks the pathway of the sincere person applying means to take on Jesus’ temperament, his humility and power.  Routine – not lifeless.

The whole apprentice-in-formation  journey can be equally characterized by surprise and adventure. Boring Jesus is not!

We never graduate from experimenting in the use of tools (means). This is the part where we discover a happy truth. The tools or the practices (stillness, worship, community, service etc) never are the point. Never. No more the point than if after undergoing a medical procedure the patient insists the surgeon hand over stethoscope, scalpel and sponge, “Just place them in my overnight bag at discharge time”. The point of everything was the patient’s wellness, not the collection of devices employed in the process, good and helpful as they surely were.

Though I was clueless at the time, the moment I decided as a high-school junior to opt for the Typing I course over the Spanish language track, a life-altering shift was set in motion. All this while any notion of tackling spiritual disciplines in hopes of becoming like Jesus could not have been further from my mind. Indeed “What are spiritual disciplines?”, I would have wondered. So, this small snapshot from my story serves only as an illustration.

As a high schooler, my means of afterward landing a job with a newspaper included the useful practice of learning to type. Those hours and hours of attentive practice yielded some rewarding fruit.  Firstly, gaining a set of marketable skills (typesetting). Secondly, landing a job in the glorious Wyoming Rockies. And finally, stumbling into a setting there where I would get introduced to a pretty young lady – my future bride. Surprise. Adventure.

We may then be wise on our spiritual journey to ponder and apply in humble faith some ancient, proven practices (means).

Practices which could bring each of us over time to (wonder-of-wonders) mirror a close resemblance to Jesus – Son of God.

2022 Jerry Lout

 

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Mindful Of Means

Exercising trust little by little that Christ is alongside to help, the Jesus-follower grows resolved. He has gotten serious about seeing a turnaround in his life. But the parade of things needing turned around is long. He feels at times like a mechanic lacking tools.

A friend of mine traversing a long stretch of Uganda’s backcountry heard a loud and sudden ‘Pop’ toward the rear of his Peugeot. His heart sank as the tell-tale quivering of the steering wheel vibrated in his hands. “Oh boy,” he moaned, “a flat”.  A troubled whisper then followed, “and here I am with no jack”.

Standing on the dusty roadway he surveyed the landscape. No sign of help.

A seeker after God offers an appeal, “Lord, change needs to happen here”. He names a vice or a struggle or perhaps a habit of negligence. “And so”, he prays further, “would you heal this or remove that or deliver me from the other thing there.”

Such an approach in prayer is admirable as far as it goes. The determined believer is getting specific. He aims to partner with the most helpful being in all the cosmos.

But the parade of obstacles is long, the struggles many. In time, weariness sets in.  Discouragement follows and the sincere but beleaguered faith-pilgrim begins asking why? He concludes that life transformation that the scriptures promise may forever remain out of reach. A flourishing life of rest and joy in God to which he had once aspired has now taken on the look of a lifeless mirage hovering at the desert’s surface.

The struggling believer’s musings are not entirely off. Seeing marked change and growth in one’s life for the good does not typically come, for instance, by voicing bold claims through gritted teeth. Enduring transformation can’t come by merely working on habits or struggles as they pop up, only to see them pop up again, then yet again. Not apart from some useful means. A few tools of the trade kept within easy reach can prove game-changers.

A distinct stirring sounded from a grove of bushes lining the remote Uganda road. Smiling a greeting to the young African males approaching, he was soon directing them to a strategic spot along the car’s edge. A few “heave-ho’s” followed by a sustained rumble of soft gruntings from the sturdy youth, soon yielded a freshly-mounted spare tire. Hard candies conveniently kept in the missionary’s console got dispensed. Laughter ensued, and with an arm-wave of thanks my friend drove off.

©2022 Jerry Lout

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Help

Seeing all things about us put right over time. . .

Who wouldn’t opt for such a prospect? Frankly, though, many of us in our quest for quick solutions might be less than euphoric over the ending couple of words there – over time.

Ralph Waldo Emerson offered a thoughtful if somewhat annoying perspective, “People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them”.

I once got left alone in a forsaken dry riverbed in the heart of Africa’s wild game country. Night had set in. I was on foot and fighting distressing questions about whether I would get out in one piece or be eaten by a leopard or some other carnivorous beast. Being unarmed and at the mercy it seemed of whatever may come my way, I called up by a pure act of will and perhaps a trace of faith, a string of verses from the Old Testament.

Assured from earlier times that the passage (Psalm 91) bore reliable truths and had come ‘God-breathed for his people in times of crisis, I began quoting them as best as I was able. After some moments as I trekked through sand hoping somehow for a safe exit, voicing scripture as I went, a great, unexpected quiet settled down over me. My mind no longer raced. Nor, it seemed, did my pulse.

Throughout my years in various kinds of settings – few of which competed with the riverbed episode for high drama – a conviction has grown within me. A priceless gift comes our way from the hand of a gracious God – the gift of growing disillusioned with ourselves.

Centuries-old histories from inside and outside the church offer up loads of evidence that people simply cannot tackle and conquer every vice or resistance that comes their way.  Even religious people.

Someone from outside ourselves must make himself present as rescuer, as advocate.

Thankfully (yes, we keep returning to it) someone has come.

©2022 Jerry Lout

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Ticket Home

As Albert Einstein was anxiously searching underneath and around his passenger seat during a train journey, a conductor took in the scene. Stopping then, he assured the physicist, “Dr. Einsten, don’t worry, I know who you are. We all know who you are. There’s no problem. You don’t need a ticket. I am sure you bought one.”  The famed but flustered scientist replied, “Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know, is where I am going!”

The amusing account strikes a chord in many who hope for deeper clarity about life and where it is meant to lead. Indeed, some feel uncertain whether they have yet boarded the train.

Followers of Jesus – people who have made an on-purpose decision to know him and be transformed by him – are often found appealing to God for help.

“Please grant to me the courage to change things about myself which you know need changing”. This is a raw, gutsy prayer. The appeal suggests that the disciple is taking seriously his call to apprentice under Jesus.

The honest Christ-follower who sees something within himself needing serious renovation moves to action. Praying has proven a good and much-traveled entryway into God, his word, his presence and help.

When, as a high school senior I defied my parent’s wise but firm counsel, my stubborn behavior resulted in a radical change of address. Moving to another town in another state more than 700 miles from home. No small matter.

In prayer we pause. We shift our attention, sometimes quite awkwardly, away from our own dysfunctional selves. The Holy Spirit is given space to work. He brings us (as we listen) toward a change of mind. And often signals to our hearts an avenue by which some troubling thing may get resolved. My “road back home” began when life started unraveling. Desperate, I called to God in prayer. A blubbering phone visit to my parents followed and soon I (and they) tasted the good fruit of my repentance and our reconciliation.

Wrongdoings that arise from our foolish or sinful choices do not make for pleasant travel companions. Then an old adage percolates in our mind, “Prayer changes things”.

Life Transformation Onramps offered us through Holy Scripture and by way of the Spirit’s guidance take us to a place that is bigger and fuller and grander than we might have dreamed. Here we find ourselves merging straight onto the thoroughfare of wholeness. It is a place where our entire being gets put right over time.  The missing ticket is found. We are coming to know who we are and where we are going.

©2022 Jerry Lout

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Changing Times

Changing Inside-Out.

We see it at every turn, especially where knick-knacks and touristy things are found.  Its eye-catching phrase shows up carved on a plaque here, a chunk of driftwood there. The Serenity Prayer invites us to pause and ponder.

“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. . .

“the courage to change the things I can. . .

“and the wisdom to know the difference. . .”

These much-read phrases only mark the prayer’s first words.

When I saw that the earlier (Accounting) track was not for me I revisited Oklahoma State Tech – moving a different direction this time (call it  ‘course correction’).

I soon found myself perched on a chair in front of a teletype machine. That move (direct result of a changed mind) influenced my future in ways I could have never guessed. Special details of one’s future (God knows why) seem often left hidden a while.

Teletypesetter Perforator Operator. Yes, that was once the actual job title for some of us laboring in the world of print media.

Unforeseen changes were soon underway.

How often has the course of history itself been altered by the changing of some plan – a  military strategy, a legislative vote? One person’s words penned long ago speak to the reality of mystery as we aim our squinting eyes toward future horizons, “we see through a glass dimly”*.

What is true of grand historical events is equally true on the personal front. A pretty Montana girl I met during my stint in Cody, Wyoming would later become my wife and the mother of our three children. By God’s grace, she’s sticking with me these many decades later.

Change happens and we are, all of us, creatures made for change. Another way of saying it, we are people in formation. All of us are getting formed. Yet, it goes deeper than this. Ask a follower of Jesus. As image-bearers of God, all people are designed by him and are therein meant to grow to be like him. That is, meant to not be merely formed, but transformed. This is what our designer is after. It really is what we were made for.

Here is another prayer, my prayer. Yours too, maybe?

And so Lord, would you grant to me the serenity (calm readiness) to accept the things I cannot change, and please grant to me the courage to change things about me which you know need changing. You are present to help me. Let it be, Lord. Thank you

©2022 Jerry Lout                                                               *Paul, 1 Corinthians 13

 

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Changing. Inside-Out

Hi and welcome back friends (old and new alike)!

Excited to introduced our freshly-resumed blog, offering up discourse on a stimulating topic. Change, Inside-Out. 

If you’ve visited my website in earlier times you know of my published memoirs,  Living With A Limp and Giants In The Rough.  See links at this website to view and order resources.

You’re invited to trek with me now as we together explore the what and why (and a bit of the how) of this theme. Life transformation.

Most of us would like to catch some hope of change for the better in our own lives or those dear ones we most care about.   I welcome you to ‘draw up a chair’ and savor a few samples of this cuisine. Maybe you’ll choose to linger at the table an extra moment, pondering a new flavor. Regardless, make yourself at home!

Serving #1

“I guess I’ll go with Accounting.”

What was I thinking. . . A better question, Was I thinking?

This little book is about changing. The accounting story is the first in a small parade of narratives with reflections sprinkled along the way. The thread linking them all together points to one common theme. Change.

Changing a vocation, an education stream, or a new place to live, all these mark common redirections for many. But, probably the most radical kind of shift, and weightiest, in our lives comes when we purpose to change our very selves. And undertaking the change from the inside-out.

The year (1963) had already been for me a stretch of transition, high school graduation included.

Thumbing through pages of a vocational school catalog I spotted the Accounting Program. “Sure, why not?”, I thought. (My friend Dan – father of eight adult children – is known for pithy statements, “the foolishness of youth that only age cures.”)

My romance with spread sheets, ledgers and calculations died two days into the course.

When a travel route starts leading to pointless destinations, revisiting a trusted roadmap is wise.

But neither Rand McNally nor GPS offer any real help when trying to navigate the larger highways of life. What we are offered in the midst of our broodings over multiple scenarios is something far richer and better than we might dream. The offers come through an ancient book bursting with story and counsel. The ‘book of books’ (the Bible) points us in a direction like no other.

Who among us desires transformative change, changing leading one to wholeness and to goodness, the real kind of goodness? Bringing that question home to me personally I had to reflect a bit, Do I want such a thing? The bible, lying open before me, leads the way I have found to just such a life. A life increasingly marked by flourishing.

Accounting 101 was not the smartest choice. It was, however, a wakeup call. Best I make a course correction, a correction leading to change. A refreshing word. Change.

“Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. . . the courage to change the things I can. . .”*

(c)2022 Jerry Lout                                                                                * [serenity prayer]

 

 

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A Hungering ‘Revisited’

Jesus of Nazareth invited two apprentices to walk and work with him. Then came a third. . . then another and another. Since those early days, the increase of his trainees-in-Christlikeness has carried forward until their number now spans the globe.

Jesus knew well the need of passing along insights and wisdom. But also, of modelling his rare kind of power – the power of love – brought here to earth by him from another world. He did this kind of thing at every step, this modelling and training.

As for insights and wisdom, what this master-trainer brought into view went deeper. It went past the understanding and good sense already found among people through centuries of human experience. Further, the compassion he showed left other forms of human caring shallow by comparison.

Many historians measure this Middle-eastern figure, whose name is more commonly spoken than any other in history, as the most gifted, the most brilliant human ever to live. Yet he didn’t hold his understanding to himself, wasn’t stingy with his gems. Rather, Jesus offered up to any who would take him seriously, his own qualities – wisdom and truth – which any sensible person might eagerly receive.

So, this carpenter-turned-rabbi – as a feature of his mission – recruited to himself a company of students, of learners who might grow to live as he lived. Might even, to a surprising measure, become as he was.  Many of Jesus’ apprentices arrived on the scene from ordinary backgrounds. Some were well-educated, others not, some well to do, others not so much.

They would travel with him in climates both calm or stormy. They tasted samplings of popularity and favor and weathered seasons of scorn and rejection.

These disciple-apprentices dined in community. They wrapped up countless action-filled days reflecting together before an open flame at a makeshift fire pit, often at places a good way from their homes. Their minds and hearts took in what they were able of their coach’s actions and sayings. Time in each another’s presence stretched them. They quibbled. They fussed. They were in training.

When one or two of the group asked him for advice on how to pray, Jesus answered in sensible language, “Pray this way. . .”

He also modeled praying. His apprenticing meant that he  would (in a manner unlike others of his day) shift readily into a conversation with the invisible God whom he knew to be among them. This would occur easily, naturally when a time or circumstance called for it, which tended to be often.

When their food supply got small, Jesus talked to them about carefree living, then, on occasion would completely surprise them, bringing forth a meal. Such actions would leave them in wonder and deeply curious as to this man’s other-worldly nature.

Never one who seemed rushed or fidgety, he chuckled easily with his apprentice-friends. And, like any skillful mentor, he corrected them without timidity, apology or fanfare.

On a given day Jesus’ corrective counsel might be directed to one or two of the apprentices or he may address a thing meant for the wider community.  Regardless, corrective action was each time offered in the interest of serving both his highest good and theirs. The trainees grew to own this.

The longer they walked with him, the less they wished for the former life, their old ways of being. It began to feel as though the rabbi was growing them, little by little, to become very much like himself. This seemed a good thing. They hungered for more.

©2018 Jerry Lout