Doing the Difficult

The man said he climbed Mount Everest simply because it was there. The woman demurred her artistry and merely said making the quilt was easy and the natural thing to do. The carpenter was bashful at praise given him for the exquisite cabinet he made. The mother hugs the crying child to comfort and goes on to make dinner for the family of four.

Dad mows the lawn in the heat and among a swarm of mosquitoes. The leaking faucet is repaired and checked off the list; this house is old and has a long list of needs begging for attention. Not quite the money pit, the home represents to the man an onus of major proportion; but he ministers to it because it is the accepted role.

Then comes a knock on the door and a neighbor has trouble and asks for help. Uncomfortable is the request but we venture out the door, sit on the porch, and begin mapping out a response to the problem. One is drafted; the role uncomfortable, but the need so very great. Dad goes next door and speaks with the husband who is drunk and angry. He is surprised by the neighbor’s presence in his own home and listens as Dad soothes the upset man.

An hour later calm is restored. Husband and wife are embracing and dad comes home to fix a squeaky door. As he does he ponders what he has done. He notes surprise at the role he assumed without training. It worked; more surprise. He learned he can do more than commute to a job and fix an old house. He hadn’t had time to consider the risks, just the doing.

Years later the pastor asks dad to give a sermon when she is on vacation. For some reason he agrees but wonders how on earth he will be able to come up with a preaching topic. And how will he tie the topic to the church’s scripture reading for the day? And who in the congregation will need a soft approach? And who a humorous note? Suddenly he panics at what he has agreed to do.

For three weeks he labors over the assignment. He wonders how a priest or minister is able to do this week in and week out for years on end? And yet they make it seem so normal, like a conversation among friends. Dad realizes that’s just the tone he will take but what of the topic, the theme?

The news provides ready hints for topics. But no, that would never do; only examples of struggles, maybe, but not the main topic. Such would be making the church political, and we don’t need that added to the mission of the church!

The concept of struggle enters his mind. He grabs at the thread and works it forward a bit. An idea takes shape and he feels certain a theme has been presented to him. Out of thin air it came, like a gift.

So the theme is ‘getting along in the world’ through our many challenges. And then he is on task writing on this theme. Before long he lays open a lesson for the reader/listener. That lesson is stepping forward and accepting whatever role is needed to be done. At that moment the present comes alive and later can be appreciated for what it meant. A role tried with no preparation stretches the inner self and expands it.

By the end of his written message dad realizes he is living his message by creating a sermon for his church, a role he has never attempted or thought about. By doing this he is learning more about himself than the task itself. Delivering the sermon will be yet another learning experience.

And the day has come! Dad steps to the pulpit and is about to speak the script he labored over so long. With heart pounding he looks up and out at the congregation. They are his friends and fellow members. They smile up at him expectantly. He murmurs a ‘good morning’, they rousingly respond Good Morning!

And then he is presenting the written message, remembering to slow down, enunciate each word, present in phrases short and easy to hear. He recalls the need not to recite the sermon but to deliver it so it will be heard and understood. Twelve minutes later he is finished. He says ‘Amen’ and returns to his seat. The organ springs to life with the hymn of the day and he celebrates by singing it with gusto.

The sermon is done. He is drained. But the congregation seems to have accepted his message without any repercussions. He did OK. And he survived. They are shaking his hand at the door.

He drives home and realizes he has done something totally new to him. Not that he wants to do it anytime soon, but now he knows he can, and survive it!

Dad has done this four times in recent years. Each time with trepidation but with a little more confidence. Still he is cowed by the solemn task. But he has learned that he can rise to it and do little damage. Not a bad lesson to learn in life.

Step up and do what is needed, comfortable or not. This is what expands our life and mind. Not a bad lesson to learn. No, not bad at all.

July 12, 2017