The Force of Character

Character takes a lifetime to build and only a moment to destroy.

It’s been unusually windy recently here in the valley of the sun. For a Midwestern boy who grew up hearing the tornado sirens every spring it’s surprising how quickly I forget about the force of wind. One violent storm can change the landscape of a town forever. Even when not violent whirling winds can erode entire mountain sides over time. It’s a force to be reckoned with.

Our character is a force to be reckoned with as well. Ask Billy Graham or Frank Warren. If you would rather, ask Alex Rodriguez or Bill Clinton. Or the people who hang out with you…

The word, character is closely related to the word, virtue. If you trace its original meanings, you’ll eventually come cross the idea of force. (Both in the English dictionary and in the Hebrew Lexicon)

In other words, someone with character is a force. The wind shapes as it moves through and moves by… likewise as you move through your life, through your company, career and relationships your character will leave a mark.

The question becomes, what kind of mark?

What are you leaving behind?

What will people discover after you’ve “blown” through?

The One Prayer always Answered

The one prayer always answered is the honest prayer.

I.
David found out about honesty after the presumptuous yet covert fling with the Hebrew beauty, Bathsheba. David assumed the event was hidden until the prophet, Nathan, came calling. Forced to be honest, he had to admit his mistake, his issues, his tendencies.

It was a horrible moment for David.

It was the best moment for David.

Through it all he learned how much God desires honesty. (See Psalm 51:6)

II.
My most memorable Halloween costume was Evel Knievel. Memorable because a)Knievel was so ‘huge’ in the 70’s, b)I think it was the only costume we ever actually bought new from the store, c)mostly because I looked so good... full-body white suite with the stars and stripes across the chest, flowing cape, the big collar and to top it off an Evel Knievel mask. I was the coolest. The over all effect was stunning. But as with all costumes, the drawback was the stinkin' mask. It was hot, suffocating and made everything smell like cheap plastic. (hmmm, as opposed to expensive plastic?) On more than one occasion I felt compelled to remove the mask. So to summarize, with the mask on I was incredible but claustrophobic. With it off I was ordinary but able to breathe. To be the coolest or to breathe is always a tough choice for an 11 year old but finally I decided to take the mask off once and for all, give it to my dad and enjoy normal respiration.

III.
Masks are fun as a child. Unfortunately lots of adults I know still wear them. You might be wearing one right now. (Probably not a Knievel mask although if you were that would be awesome! ) Most likely you are wearing another kind of mask, a barrier, something you hide behind.

Unlike the Halloween mask - you would prefer to not take this one off.

Like the Halloween mask - you cant breathe unless you take it off and give it to your Father.

What’s your mask?
Who are you trying to impress,
hide from,
manage,
convince,
deceive,
protect?
Who are you trying to be?
Who are you?

Be honest, discard the mask. I learned what David learned what all spiritually growing people learn what you need to learn...

The one prayer always answered is the honest prayer.


(This idea pretty much comes from Vince Antonucci’s book, “I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt”.)

Will You be Exposed?

Hebrews 4:12 - For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

...it exposes my innermost thoughts and desires...

That's either incredibly freeing or incredibly scary. I guess the choice is mine.

At Peanuts.com Linus says to Charlie Brown, “You want to know what the problem with you is Charlie Brown?” Charlie replies, “No.”
Linus just stares at him for a minute, then says, “The problem with you Charlie Brown is that you don’t want to know what the problem with you is.”

Advertising the Epidemic of Needs

Most obsessions are the perpetuation of misjudgments. In fact, more people die in the epidemics of needs than in the epidemics of disease. Abraham Joshua Heschel

I seem to be a laboratory of unpredictable needs and interests. Some of these needs bubble up from what I would call healthy places inside of me and I recognize them as simply inherent in being human. Others, induced by volatile chemicals like advertising, style, envy or a combination of many things seem to be wildly unhealthy. In and through it all I’m aware that there are not as many days in the laboratory as I would like where I feel content in the sense that the Apostle Paul said he was content. I probably shouldn’t admit that. It may ruin whatever impression you have of me. But as I am in a life-long struggle to rid myself of impression-management I think it would be best for me to confess.

Along those lines, I can’t seem to get over this line from Dag Hammarskjold (the ‘o’ in Hammarskjold should have a couple little Scandinavian dots over the top but I don’t know how to do that so pretend that they are there.) who said, “Hunger is my native place in the land of passions.” First of all, that is amazingly creative and concise. I wish I had written it and he had written something better. Secondly, uh… that’s me many days. Hungry. Not for food. (Although I am going to my moms in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to cinnamon rolls. ) No, it’s not food or drink. It’s a feeling, a desire, a little voice, a discomfort like bare feet on hot sand that makes me move with more emotion. Left unchecked it could ruin me. I would be caught up in the "epidemic of needs" that Heschel speaks of. But admitting seems to deflate it's temptation and it's intensity. (It's almost like God is providing a way out of temptation through confession... hmmm... neat concept.)

As of this writing it is Christmas season. (Although in Phoenix it’s 75 degrees, sunny and hanging lights in a yard full of cactus and sharp desert foliage doesn’t put me in the Christmas mood.) My gift to God and subsequently everyone this season is at every gift I unwrap, each card I open and during each hug I receive I'll whisper a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer of submission.

Yes, I know hunger. That’s just a part of it all. But it will not control me. The One who “satisfies my desires” will.