Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Bloopers
You've heard of sports bloopers. You know--those film clips of football players being hit by another player and flipping head over heels only to land on their head or the one that shows two baseball outfielders who both try to catch the same fly ball and end up smacking into each other while the ball lands in between them. Sometimes preachers have bloopers too. These are called "Sunday morning bloopers". Recently I experienced one of these Sunday morning bloopers. I was leading the hymn He Leadeth Me and noticed that some people in the congregation seemed to be in a slight post-Christmas holiday daze so I stopped to pause after the second stanza, and in an attempt to energize the congregation, told them to think about the words in the next stanza and sing them like they mean them. Here are the words to that stanza: "And when my task on earth is done, when by thy grace the victory is won, even death's cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me" (the reference to the Jordan River is a metaphor for crossing over into death). Well, as you can imagine this blooper did not create the desired enthusiasm. After singing the first two words I realized my mistake and wanted to wave my arms and shout: "No! No! Not this stanza!" But then I'd be going from bad to worse, so I just ended with a comment about how that wasn't really a verse to get enthusiastic about and moved on to my sermon for the morning. When I was younger I was very self conscious about making these kinds of mistakes. Since then I've learned not to take myself so seriously. Life is too short to get stressed out over the small stuff. I don't know the source of the original quote but Dr. Robert S. Eliot, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Nebraska was quoted in 1983 by Time magazine as saying: "Rule number 1 is: 'Don't sweat the small stuff.' Rule number 2 is: 'It's all small stuff.' " This axiom is actually based on an ancient biblical principle. We find this principle in Jesus' words: "Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)"1 Jesus tells us not to worry about even the most fundamental needs--food and clothing. When Jesus tells us not to worry about even our most basic needs, he's saying: "Don't sweat the small stuff; it's all small stuff." Yes, I admit that sometimes I do worry--even about the small stuff. But I'm slowly learning to laugh at my mistakes, learn from them, and move on. As we head into this new year 2008, let's remember Jesus' words and not let ourselves worry. May God help us to lighten up and enjoy life. Life's too short to get stressed out about the small stuff, and remember--it's all small stuff. Still laughing at the bloopers, Pastor Steve January 6, 2008Footnotes1 Matthew 6:25, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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