For get-down honesty, turn to the Bible
The Bible is a get-down-honest book about human nature. It's all there, spelled out.
On a recent picnic with family — playing on the beach and exploring the forest — several of the younger grands found some deer bones. There was nothing to do but collect them to take home. They got deposited in a large empty nachos bag.
One of the teens came along and wanted a look in the bag, thinking it was chips. Her 7-year-old cousin holding the “chips” told her it was bones. Sarah peeked in the sack and jumped back with a squeal. At which point little Alice said, “Some people are just afraid of the truth.”
That's a more accurate statement than she probably comprehends. Or maybe not — because children excel in honesty. Wasn't it a child in the fairy tale who stated the obvious — that the emperor's fancy duds were in fact not there.
Last week while camping, I wrote I wanted to bring home an attitude of anticipating each day as though it were a gift to be opened. I'd love to experience every day like this. But what happened — I came home and started feeling anxious about several things.
It's easy with happy things happening to anticipate the day — even though it ended up being too hot for fishing and the huckleberries were a bust. But what about distressing things like my sister-in-law who could lose her leg if they can't contain this rare condition in her knee destroying her joint. Or our daughter who's going through a divorce. Or a friend who is trying hard to manage her bi-polar — and another just diagnosed with cancer. Or my husband who has a neurostimulator implanted in his back to control pain — which works better some days than others.
And then there is this drought. We've already escaped a wildfire once in Alaska. Terry and I are thinking we should gather some important papers and keepsakes together in a suitcase — do a grab and run if we need to. His friend who has been a forester for years says he's never seen it this dry.
Here's where the honest question has to be asked. If I believe in a good God — who calls me to trust Him — though He clearly indicates there's plenty of trouble in the world — and if I've declared myself to be a person who follows the “Jesus way” — He who said a bazillion times, “Do not be afraid” — then what am I doing feeling anxious. Where is the lost joy in each day's good gift.
Am I a total fake?
No — I've believed through good times and hard times. I've lived story after story of God's unchanging goodness and mercy. But I can still get scared — still lose joy — because I'm human and sometimes life gets too big. That's honesty.
It is also honest to say that again and again God has been the “stability of my times” and the “lifter of my head.” There is a song by Travis Ryan, “You Never Give Up On Me” — and “ain't that the truth.”