I recently listened to a pastor tell a story about prayer. He said he was a young pastor many years ago at his first church, and one of the older leaders in the church always finished his prayers with the same words. The pastor acknowledged we all tend to do that - adopt our own prayer language. But he said the first several times he heard this man's particular language, he didn't get it.
He said this man, no matter what the prayer occasion was - dinner, communion, special requests, closing prayer - he always finished the prayer by saying "and Lord, thank you for what you're going to do." The pastor said he eventually got it. He understood those words. He said they have a profound effect on him to this day. I suppose much like they have me since I heard them. Those words of prayer are a beautiful acknowledgement of something I've felt powerfully since last New Year's Eve. Just because I don't necessarily like what is going on in my life, doesn't mean for a second God isn't doing something in my life. Too often, we limit feeling God's presence to the spaces where we feel good. Which makes it possible - maybe even likely - that we feel less of God - that we are less thankful for God - when we don't feel good where we are. This old and wise man had figured this out, I think. So his solution was to start thanking God for everything before it ever happened. He realized we are prone to base our gratitude on the situations in our lives, so he started thanking God for every situation before it ever came to be. And trust me, I know how God works in my life. If I thank God ahead of time for everything he's going to do, if I then get to grumbling about any of it after the fact, God will be quick to remind me - "it's all cool, Keith, you've already thanked me for it." Which in turn will be my reminder to turn my heart away from grumbling and toward gratitude. I don't know what your new year holds for you. I don't know what mine holds for me. I imagine if we look ahead we might see what we see if we look behind at 2021 today. There was some good, there was some bad, some stuff I'm grateful for - some stuff I'm NOT so grateful for. Well, I don't think we can control all the good and the bad ahead. But we can control the gratitude. If you're the praying kind, you can stop with me now, or maybe later today when you have a quiet space. And you can say, "Lord, thank you for what you're going to do it 2022." Maybe even commit to what I've committed to in 2022. If I start a day with no other words of prayer other than "Lord, thank you for what you're going to do today," those words will be enough. Enough, I think, for me AND for God. Today, we can't remove the variability and the uncertainty out of the days ahead. But we can make certain we're grateful for all of them. Sometimes in the middle of the moments we don't much like, it can be easy to forget to cling to gratitude. I think God gets that. I think he expects it of us. And I think he'd have no problem if we thank him now - just in case we forget. So Lord, thank you - thank you for what you're going to do.....
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In writing about healing yesterday, I think I landed on my word for 2022.
It's JOURNEY. Yesterday, I dismissed the idea of a place called 'healed' as a final destination - as an ideal - and in doing so, I was reminded just how much final destinations can stand in my way of living. Much like imagining a place called healed stands in the way of healing. The more we focus straight ahead on destinations, the more we miss out on the beauty lining the sides of the roads that's taking us there. The more we get to looking ahead to that destination and thinking - I'm not there yet - the more we can get to wondering - why keep going at all? I think it's good to have destinations in life. Targets are helpful. But I also know this about targets. We don't always hit them. In fact, I think hitting them might even be rare. Today, I don't live where I was aiming for. I don't do the job I was aiming for. Shoot, I have two kids that I sure wasn't aiming for. I guess when you get committed to the journey more than the destination, you discover beauty in life landing off target. And in time, I believe, discover life never really gets off target at all. Off target is something we create in our minds. It's a way for us to celebrate I made it, or beat ourselves up for not getting there. More and more I wonder just how much of life is about getting there. More and more I wonder if the point isn't more about going there than getting there. Maybe destinations are simply a motivation to get us out of bed in the morning. The motivation life uses to keep us going so life can show us the magic that happens when we get off track. The motivation life uses to show us life is about the journey, not the destination. As we wind down the last days of 2021, many of us are thinking about where we want to go next year. Again, I do think there is some value in that. But I know often those plans get shattered in the first months of a new year. The destination that was once exciting and hopeful - it begins to feel as distant as last year's destinations became. Maybe more than deciding where you want to go, decide to get up every single day and get going. Commit to a good direction. Go with love and with generosity. Point yourself toward beauty and simply trust that will be the right way. In doing so, you won't guarantee yourself of getting there. But maybe this will be the year you discover getting there was never the point at all. The journey was. If I have heard it once the past year, I've heard it a hundred times. 'Wait until you are healed before you move on' to this or to that. It's said with good and loving intentions. I appreciate it. But here is what I've come to believe about healing.
There is no finish line to healing. Life really is sort of a traumatic deal. We come into this world by exiting the relative darkness and calm of the womb, and we meet the chaos of a world full of light and overwhelming stimulus. And from there, life becomes a journey of healing. I believe this: the world is full of far more people who are healing than people who are healed. I talk to people every day who haven't experienced a broken marriage, and yet, they too seem to be trying to heal from something. I think one thing that stands in the way of healing is the belief that there is a place called healed. One of the things that keeps us from living is the idea that I'm not fully prepared to live until I have somehow met the standard of fully healed. This idea of healed - I think it goes against the flow of life. If life truly is about healing, then we were never designed to be healed, we were designed to heal together. If life is truly about the healing, joy isn't found once you're healed, joy is found when you find the people most interested - most invested - in healing together. There is a joy - a connection - that can be found in let's heal together that can never be found in thank goodness we're all healed. Maybe because healing is authentic; healed is an illusion. Joy isn't reserved for the sunny days. Joy is found in any day where there are people committed to weathering all weather together. If you are reading this, you're alive. That makes this a special occasion. If you are reading this, there's a really good chance you are healing, too. That doesn't make your occasion less special. It might make this day more difficult, I feel for you. But don't make the day even more difficult by believing your healing is standing in your way. Because I'm here to assure you, healing is the way. Healing will always be the way. 12/28/2021 0 Comments What Will you leave behind in 2021?I have lunch with my friend Rachel about once a month. I always leave those lunches a little better. Rachel is a wonderful combination of compassion and wisdom. There is always room in my tank for more of both.
When we met yesterday, she told me about the sermon she heard at her church Sunday. The pastor was helping the congregation look ahead to the new year. He talked about the Roman God, Janus, after whom the month of January is named. In Roman mythology, this is the God of beginnings and endings. If you look for images of this God, you'll find a God with two heads. One looking ahead; one looking behind. We are in the transitional last week of 2021. Many of us are looking ahead to 2022 with new hope, maybe some excitement. But I think there is some space this week - maybe even it's a good idea - for one head to look behind. Look back and gather up the pieces of 2021 we want to take with us, and to also make note of the pieces we'd just soon leave behind. Without question, 2021 was one of the most challenging years of my life. I found myself in places that I surely never imagined myself being. This has not been the 2021 I predicted for my life. Yes, I hear you life, it is indeed a foolish endeavor to ever try to predict you.... But as I look back on 2021, I know what I'm grabbing hold of. I know what I refuse to leave behind; I may even wrestle anyone who tries to grab it before I do. I'm grabbing strength. I discovered a strength in 2021 that I never knew I had. I discovered a strength in 2021 I never knew God would so generously share with me. It is true, that in our weakest moments we find our greatest strength. And the beautiful thing about it is, once we find it, we get to keep it. The head looking behind gets to grab hold of it and take it with us. We get to be forever strong. Thank you 2021.... what a gift. What will I leave behind? As I turn all heads forward, as I look ahead, what doesn't get to come with me? Regrets. Regrets are staying behind. I may even leave Janus at the door to make sure they don't try to follow me. I've learned this year that strength and regrets don't play well together. A life full of regrets has no strength. And strength will not tolerate regrets. I've lived a life forever smack dab in the middle of their conflict - regrets and strength. But no more. Janus guard the door. I encourage you, look behind, what are you taking with you? You have a suitcase for your journey into the new year, grab hold quick of all that will serve you well. Because there ARE things about 2021 that have served you well. And be sure, as you look behind, there IS some stuff worth leaving behind. Leave it. Leave a guard at the door to make sure it doesn't try to follow you. And start looking forward. With new hope, and maybe some excitement. Start looking forward to 2022. I wrote this several years ago. It's always a good piece to rewrite and reflect on this time of the year......
It's that magical time of the year. We can see the new year from here. Our chance for a new beginning. To become a new person. Trade unhealthy habits and hang-ups in for healthier ones. Ones that will help grow us and not continually defeat us. It’s that time of the year when possibility feels more possible, and change doesn’t sound as unchangeable. As you consider your own possibilities and changes, let me offer something that running has taught me. Before you focus on who or what you want to be different, first ask yourself why you want that difference at all. I used to hate running. That's because running used to be a what. Something that had to be done and frankly something I had no interest in doing. Then I started running and eventually discovered WHY I do it. There are days running is still a chore. WHAT I'm doing isn't enjoyable and it's seemingly without value - a race with no finish line. But when that happens, I don't focus on fixing the WHAT, instead I reflect intensely on WHY I'm doing it. In running, I have quiet. I have a space to hear God. Running is where I feel Him reaching through the endless noise in my life and pulling close to him all that overwhelms me. In running, I have found not just health, but a desire to be healthy. In running, I have found the fuel to tackle every other area of my life - with purpose - even as obstacles rise up against me daily. Next year, I want to feel closer to God, be my healthiest self, and experience a daily reminder that obstacles are the way to the finish line, not a means to keep us from it. Those are my WHYS. When my what gets tiring and boring and seemingly getting me nowhere - I will remember my WHYS. I may lose interest in what I'm doing, but why I'm doing it is too much a part of who I am - it's what keeps me going - to lose interest in that. So, I’m not going to ask you what you want to be different in 2022. I’ll simply ask you why you want it to be different. Because if your why is big enough, some beautiful changes will come. Maybe some you can’t even imagine in this moment. But on the other hand, if your why isn’t big enough – maybe you don’t even know your why – well the difference you want doesn’t matter so much. Because chances are, nothing will be different at all. Trust me, I’ve been there done that one. It’s the last Monday of 2021. Next Monday, 2022 will be off and running. Will the new year be different for you? If so, why…..? 12/25/2021 0 Comments Jesus will never take his eyes off youOur message at church last night included the nativity scene. I see the scene and imagine how many visitors must have come and gone in those earliest days.
There is something symbolic about that. How our attention to Jesus comes and goes. Our attention is high here at Christmas; but tomorrow will be the day after Christmas. Our attention toward him might begin to fade. I'm reminded this morning, Jesus came with the hope that our attention would always be fixed on him. That was his hope - for sure. But Jesus came with the promise that he would never take his eyes off us, not for a second. Tomorrow will be the day after Christmas, our attention might fade, but his promise won't. There's something very encouraging about that. A very merry Christmas to you all. 12/24/2021 0 Comments This is my dreamI was running yesterday. Listening to a favorite Christmas song. I especially like this one the closer we get to Christmas. It speaks to the dad in me. The song is Joseph's Lullaby, by MercyMe.
The author uses the song to imagine Joseph as the father of an ordinary son - not that any son is ordinary - but in the case of Joseph - one that wasn't the son of God. In the song, Joseph prays - and he asks - I know this kid has a lot in front of him, but can he have just one night to be my baby? I've listened to this song hundreds of times before. But yesterday, these particular lyrics in the song hit me - they spoke to me as I was finishing up my run. Go to sleep my Son Go and chase Your dreams This world can wait for one more moment Go and sleep in peace Listening to those words, I could imagine the scene. Joseph holding his baby, wanting to ease the burden of a child sent to absorb the burdens of an entire world. As a dad, I could feel Joseph wanting his child to have just one night of peace - one night to chase the ordinary dreams of a kid - one night to enjoy life before he had to go live life. I've always felt that part of the song that way. But yesterday, I felt something different. I felt the baby answer. And the baby said, dad, this IS my dream. I've come to love them all, and I can't wait to get started. This Christmas Eve, maybe you need to hear that, too. Jesus can't wait to get started loving you. He's arriving in a manger, but he's pursuing you. You ARE his dream come true. We all long for that at some level - to be pursued - to feel like someone's dream come true. Many of us spend an entire life wrestling with that. All the while, there's a baby in a manger dying to love you. I haven't always believed in the love of God the way I do today. But today, I know this. Better than ever. Even when I didn't believe in that love, that love was chasing me, and pouring out on me, like I was a dream come true. It's a beautiful thing to be finishing a run and hearing those words: this IS my dream. I wish you all a beautiful Christmas eve. I wish for you all the hope that comes with knowing someone has you and is dying to hold your burdens. I wish you all the chance to go and sleep in peace. And maybe, as your eyes start to close, you'll hear - and feel... this IS my dream. I’ve read few words that better describe the miracle of Christmas: “That the infinity of God should take upon itself human narrowness…”
It is never lost on me just how upside-down God turns the story of life Christmas morning. The things we most long for in life – bliss and forever – God already has. And yet, he willingly leaves them behind to join us in our longing. There is no other God story like that. I suppose that’s the point. It was never meant to stay a God story. Christmas is God writing himself into OUR story. In fairness, God didn’t leave us in total control of our story. He outlined the plot. Okay, maybe he commanded it. He insisted - this must be a love story. Nothing but love. No matter who, no matter what. We’ve struggled with this story. Sometimes we get the love part right; it’s the ‘nothing but’ and the ‘no matter who, no matter what’ that trips us up. When it does, we look to heaven. And we shout, you have no idea what you’re asking of us. You have no idea the narrowness of these humans you are insisting that we love. This story you want us to write – with all due respect, God – it’s impossible to write. And then we see him – both - the baby in a manger and the man on the cross. Welcomed to the world surrounded by human love, sent out of the world at the hands of human evil. And we see him – just looking back. In silence. Loving us who have loved him and loving us who have killed him. In his gaze, we see and feel just how upside-down the Christmas story truly is. We feel challenged to put aside the limits of our own human narrowness to pursue the infinity of God’s love. Christmas is a beautiful story. One of the most beautiful love stories ever written. But it comes with a loving reminder. No matter who. No matter what. The infinity of God took upon itself human narrowness. I don’t think that was to show us what God is capable of. I think it was to constantly remind us what we are capable of. Nothing but love. No matter who, no matter what. 12/22/2021 0 Comments I advise you to simply have a dayA dear friend sent me these words the other day. She said she sent them "not to assume 'sadness' but I know epsecially with the holidays there are hard days..."
She is right. There are hard days. And what a gift it is to have someone in your life who will predict it - see it coming - and say it - I know there are hard days. And what a sweet relief, too - right? To be granted permission to not have a great day - or to not knock it out of the park today - or to even be a constant smile. What a blessing to hear - I advise you to simply have a day. I think some days our days are hard because we can't live up to the expectations a day places on us. Expectations that are all the heavier during this Christmas season. But my sweet friend has reminded me, not all days were made to be life changers. Some days were made to just be life. And there is nothing small about the gift of life. So no..... no, there is nothing small at all about simply having a day. My friend also said this, "I could see you make this into a beautiful post that reaches so many more people." I think that was her heart wanting more people to know - it's OK to simply have a day. So for her, and from me, I don't want to assume sadness. Because you don't have to be sad to be having a hard time. And you also don't have to have a great day to have a worthwhile day. If you are reading this, you are a gift to this day. You are a reason that makes this a day so worth having. If it's a hard day, I feel you. All I can say is feed yourself well, wear some comfortable clothes - and don't give up on yourself just yet. It'll get better. Until then - hey, let's you and me - let's simply have a day. I often hear people say they wish every day was Christmas. I don't. Things that happen every day seem to lose their magic. Or maybe we quit seeing the magic. Either way, Christmas always seems to come through with the magical.
I was sitting in my chair watching a ball game last night. It was dark. I leaned over and grabbed the cord to the lights on the Christmas tree. I plugged it in. And just like that - like I had waved a wand - the world seemed softer and more beautiful. When I went to bed last night, I decided I'd leave those lights plugged in. I wanted to see hints of the magic seep through my cracked bedroom door all night; I wanted that magic to be the first magic to greet me when I woke up this morning (sorry coffee - you can't always be the morning magic 🤷♂️). It worked. There seemed to be magic in the air all night. I hope you're doing things to turn the magic on this Christmas season. I hope you're finding ways to turn it up and ways to refuse to turn it off. I love that Christmas comes at the end of the year. Some of us have had challenging years - maybe the magic is a little more welcome this year. I think the most magical thing about Christmas is it comes with hope - maybe even a promise - that a little of the magic will spill over into the coming year. So while the magic is here, cling to it. Absorb as much of the light as you can possibly absorb. Because the magic only lasts but so long. But maybe through us, the lights can keep shining. Bright. Until the magic comes again. Because it only comes once a year. And I wouldn't have it any other way. |
Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
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