Maybe I Can Do Better

During the past 18 months, we have all faced challenges we never saw coming. Some have risen to the moment and pushed through. Others have held steady. Way too many slipped a few rungs on their ladder of growth. After handling some distasteful side effects of these days, I paused and thought, “Maybe I can do better.” Maybe.

It’s not an easy thought, but most of us struggle with doing and being better than we were a moment ago. We can ride that gravity-fighting roller coaster to the top only to have the next valley be a death-defying terrifying plunge. The pandemic results, loss of freedoms and income, and not sure if anything is safe as we once thought. How many seconds do you wash your hands? Statistics show mental health is in decline. Maybe I can do better. Be better?

Consider all those stories we read as kids. The little engine that could, Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, and a host of other tomes show us the possibility in the midst of crisis. When did we lose that child-like wonder of a simple story? Well, watch the news for 5 minutes, and you’ll quickly dispel any thought of things that will surely get better!

Businesses are struggling to re-open amidst one crisis after another. Schools. Churches. Even outdoor events are worrisome. There’s hope! Suddenly the call is for “Vaccinated shoppers.” You get to go to the head of the line. Enjoy special seating! Rewards are tossed out like Mardi Gras trinkets. Again, we are telling the fairy tale of those who did and those who won’t.

Here’s My Saturday Morning Thought

I’m watching others struggle to return to normal. It’s impacted me at a personal level on so many fronts, just like you. Though I’ve chosen to be aware of the warning signs from politicians, pollsters, and even the medical community, my focus is to keep living my life! Be safe? I think I know how to do it. It’s been explained ad nauseum. Do safe? Ditto. Hunker down and hide? Nope!

As our first responders continue to work through crisis after crisis. The burden of watching suffering has been unbearable, but they do what needs to be done. With my belief we can live, breathe, go, and do, I believe it’s time we step up, step out, and become who we were meant to be. Is there danger? Of course, Will Robinson. Do we take chances? Sure. Does everyone survive this? Nope!

Watch a few minutes of what’s happening in India.
Family members handling their own family members’ hope of recovery.
When all fails, funeral pyres are the conflagration of loss.
Handling it all? Family ill-prepared for continuing forward safely.

If you need to stay away, that’s your wise choice to accommodate your safety. Stay away! If you have issues with your own health and a compromised immune system, well, you are already used to self-preservation. Continue! If your mental health cannot handle it? You know what to do!

What Would Jesus Do?

Let’s ask ourselves this question, “What if Jesus were like me? What would he be doing?“

Take a gander at his ministry and ask yourself what you would do?

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
(Matthew 4:23-25 NKJV)

Well. He’s God? Yes. But he was tempted and tried like we are all day long, but still did his ministry. He touched the sick! Chased out demons! Dealt with every scary thing on their horizon. And, he laid his life down as a sheep led to slaughter. So that you can hide during one of the greatest challenges we face?

But another point of fact stood out. He went where “they” were. He was not hunkered down and staying away. The sick did not travel far. He went to them!

I’m not telling you what to do with your choice. But I am cautioning us that this is our finest hour! How will we show forth the God of our Trust? Don’t ignore protocols, safety choices, or good decisions. Do what you need to be safe. But like Jesus, don’t hide from the needs.

I Can Do Better! I Can Be Better!