Conditions Permitting

We were driving back to my mom's house from the awesome Curves convention & training.  It's a two hour drive, so I had plenty of chances to see the speed limit signs, which kept bouncing around between 45, 55, & 65. 

What I like about these Jersey signs is that right below the big numbers is some fine print.  CONDITIONS PERMITTING.  As I was driving along I couldn't help but reflect on those two words.

Although the intent is to go 55 miles an hour on this road, conditions don't always allow for that.  The same goes for my life.  So I'm asking myself if I know when the CONDITIONS are telling me I need to slow down.  Being a mom to a 3 and 5 year old is definitely one of those conditions.  As I'm writing this blog, the conditions have already caused me to stop twice.  But stopping to tie my daughter's necklace and helping my husband find a nailcutter are important to me.  I don't want to run over my family because I am so focused on a goal: POST NEW BLOG.  By the same token, I don't want to run over any construction workers on the road!

I have to recount to you something I read in one of the books I'm currently reading.  The book is called Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God, by Mark Batterson. 

Two psychologists from Princeton University did an experiment that was inspired by the Bible story of the Good Samaritan.  In this story, a traveler is mugged and left for dead on the side of the road.  Several people walk past him, including a priest, but don't offer any help. Then came the Samaritan, who scooped the man up and took him to a safe place.

The setting for this experiment was a campus full of seminary students.  The seminarians picked for the experiment were first interviewed and asked why they wanted to go into ministry.  Most said they wanted to "help people."

Then, they were told to prepare a short sermon they would have to preach in a nearby building.  Half of them were told to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan, and the other half on other topics.  Then they were sent to give their sermons.  Along the way, an actor was strategically placed in an alley, portraying the traveler from the Bible story.  He was hurt, and groaning loud enough for passersby to hear. 

The researchers figured that those doing a sermon on the Good Samaritan would be more likely to stop than those that were preaching on other topics.  That wasn't the case.  The factor that was most prevalent was the final twist in the experiment.  Some of the seminarians were told, "You're late, you'd better hurry."  The others were told, "You're early, but why don't you start heading over there."

The results: Only 10% of those who were in a hurry stopped to help, versus 63% of those who were not in a hurry!  It didn't matter what their sermon topic was.  It only mattered if they thought the CONDITIONS were PERMITTING them to stop and help.

What an eye-opener!

"Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity."- Mark Batterson

Here's a link to that book: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Goose-Chase-Adventure-Pursuing/dp/1590527194/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288192573&sr=8-1

Live Long and Prosper!

Some topics are quite hard to grasp; to really wrap your mind around.  A few things I put in that category are heaven, the universe, and the human heart.  We know the heart mainly as an extremely vital organ.  Just 18 days after conception, the human heart begins its work.  In an average lifetime it will beat over 2 billion times, without ever pausing!

A good workout strengthens your heart and lungs, increases blood flow to your muscles, and ultimately helps your heart work more efficiently.  I definitely want to help my heart be more efficient!  I want to keep it pumping oxygen-rich blood throughout my body for a very long time!  "Please, how can I can help you?!" is what I'm thinking.  Well, if you asked your heart the same question, it would tell you, "Exercise, eat healthy, and stay away from things that make me work harder, like smoke, drugs, alcohol, anger, and bitterness." 

Well, ok, those last two I added in.  You won't find that listed in any mainstream publication.  But I would venture to say that "keeping your heart with all diligence" is just as important as those other recommendations, "for out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)

Did you know that the Proverbs were written by the wisest man who ever lived? Solomon wrote the Proverbs as a guideline to his sons for how they should live their life.  He was passing on what he thought was vitally important for a prosperous life. 

My favorite dictionary, Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, defines heart as "the chief part; the vital part; the vigorous or efficacious part."  When you see the word "heart" in the Bible, hundreds of times, this is what it is referring to, and this is what Solomon is referring to when he speaks of the heart throughout the Proverbs. 

As a side note:  Have you noticed how convenient it is that there are 31 chapters in Proverbs?  One for each day of the month.

Let us ponder what it means to keep our heart with all diligence.  The implications this proverb leaves us are many, both on a physical and spiritual level.

"My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you.  Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.  Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 7:1-3

Fresh Air

Well, we can almost open our windows again and stop dipping into the college fund to pay the electric bill.  It's one of my favorite times of year.  I love the newness in the air when fall is beginning.  It's so refreshing!  It makes me want to find a big field, skip around with my arms wide open, eyes to the heavens, exclaiming, "Thank you Lord!"

This season also means that Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  It makes me stop and count my blessings, literally.  Even with all the negative things going on in the world, and the economic forecasters claiming that things are only going to get worse,  "I lift up my eyes to the hills...

...where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." 
Psalms 121: 1,2