The Power Of Now
Stories
Object:
Contents
"The Power of Now" by Keith Wagner
"Thankfulness in the Midst of Crisis" by Keith Wagner
The Power of Now
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 6:25-33
Don’t Worry, Be Happy is the title and principal lyric of a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. In September of 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and held that position for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart. At the 1989 Grammy Awards, “Don’t Worry Be Happy” won the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The song’s title is taken from a famous quote by Meher Baba. The original music video stars Robin Williams and Bill Irwin. The “instrumentals” in the song are entirely composed of sounds made by McFerrin and combined in production. There are no instruments used in the song.
Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
It’s a good song and there is nothing wrong with trying to cheer up folks who are down. On the other hand, to tell a person who is a worrier to lighten up and be happy can be a real challenge. Also, to tell a person not to worry means we might be discounting their feelings.
When Jesus told the disciples not to be anxious about tomorrow I don’t believe he was saying, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Worrying is normal behavior. Worrying is a coping tool to help folks get through difficult times. If we don’t worry, we might be in denial.
Jesus was speaking to hard-working people who were involved with sowing, reaping, storing crops in barns, toiling, and spinning. However, he wanted them to understand that their lives were not based on their labor alone. His main point was that they needed to “Strive for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In other words, they were to have faith that God would provide. He didn’t say, “Don’t worry,” he said, “believe in the power of God to sustain you.”
In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle said “that worry is when we imagine a variety of things that could go wrong.” On one hand we worry about the future, which isn’t here yet and on the other hand we judge the present by what has happened to us in the past. In this way we set ourselves up to be anxious. Tolle believes that the only way we can realize true happiness and peace is to live in the now.
It’s hard to live in the now since we constantly worry about the future. How high will gas prices go? Will I have enough money to pay my bills? What if I get sick? What do I need to do to ensure I will have everything I need?
One time an expert wood carver sat on his front porch, sipping lemonade and enjoying the sunshine on a spring afternoon. Around him on the porch sat his various creations. A friend of the wood carver stopped by for a visit and he was surprised to see the artisan relaxing. “It’s only 1:30PM, isn’t it a bit early for a break?” he asked. The artisan swallowed a mouthful of lemonade and yawned. “This isn’t a break,” he said, “I’m done for the day.”
His friend, a young executive, was confused. “What do you mean it’s too early to stop working? You could produce more. You could carve more figures. You could even hire an assistant to help you with your business. You could buy new tools. You could buy a shop and you wouldn’t have to carve at your house.” “Why would I want to do all that?” the carver asked. “So you could make more money,” his friend replied. “And what would I do with all that extra money?” the wood carver asked. “Why, enjoy life, of course.” The wood carver took another sip of lemonade, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He then mumbled, “What do you think I’m doing?”
We find happiness by living in the moment and focusing on what is important.. Being anxious gets us nowhere. The past is over and the future has not yet arrived. All we can do is live in the now.
* * *
Thankfulness in the Midst of Crisis
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 126
This is a song of joy and of thanks to God by the faith community. "The Lord has done great things for us," they proclaimed. The psalm was written to express their gratitude during a time of captivity. As they looked back they reflected on how God had delivered them and set them free. Consequently they were truly grateful.
This week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Families and friends will gather around the table, sharing things they are thankful for. It is an American tradition, one that has been practiced since the year 1621. What is extraordinary to me is how the pilgrims could be thankful since their situation was so tragic and hopeless. Half of the colony had perished. Only 5 of 18 wives survived. Only one family was left intact. To make things worse they were not experienced in farming and their governor, John Carver, died of sun stroke. In spite of their difficulties they made peace with the Indians. And with their help they put together a great feast.
I doubt if any of us could have survived that first Thanksgiving in 1621. Half of the pilgrims died from scurvy. The Wampanoag Indians too lost many of their tribe due to a plague. And yet they managed to get together, share their harvest and give thanks.
Historian Richard Pickering, deputy director of Massachusetts’ Plymouth Plantation, says that the real miracle of Thanksgiving was that the Pilgrims and Indians actually had some fun together. Amazingly, their gratitude came after a very harsh winter and a great loss of life. In the midst of great suffering and loss they acknowledged the presence of God.
I believe people continue to experience liberation and those stories usually happen on a smaller scale. Nevertheless they are still relevant especially when genuine gratitude is expressed.
In the book, Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul, there is a story entitled The Pillow. Casey Crandall belonged to a church that participated in the Appalachia Service Project. One week each summer, a group traveled in Appalachia to build homes for families there. One summer their client family lived in a trailer. It was in very poor condition and badly in need of repairs. They built a new home for the family and they were overwhelmed with their new home. It contained three bedrooms, a bath and kitchen and family room.
The group asked the three boys in the family what they wanted for their new bedroom. They anticipated the boys to say, posters, toys or games. Jose, the oldest said, “I just want a bed.” Casey was stunned. The boys had never slept in a bed. They had only slept on foam pads. The group went to a nearby city and purchased three beds, complete with linens. Later they returned and set up the beds while the boys were at school. When the boys saw their new beds they were enthusiastic. While they were gleaming over their new beds, one of the workers slipped a pillow case on one of the pillows. “What is that?” Eric asked. “A pillow,” Meggan, one of the volunteers, replied. “What do you do with it?” he inquired. “When you lay down to go to sleep you put your head on it.” The boys had never seen pillows before.
When we are grateful we are gracious. The faith community could be grateful because they looked back. They remembered those times in captivity. All of us can look back and recall a time we were liberated. Since God delivered usin the past God will continue to deliver us the present.
One time an anonymous caller called a radio talk show in Chicago and told the story of six year old Susie. She wondered why her mother was baking a casserole for their neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Her mother explained that the woman was very sad since her daughter died and she had a broken heart. Her mother said, "Since we are part of a community and Mrs. Smith is our neighbor, we need to do some things to help her." She then challenged Susie to do something for her too. Susie went to Mrs. Smith’s house and said, "My mommy says that you lost your daughter and you’re very, very sad with a broken heart. This is for your broken heart." At that moment she gave Mrs. Smith a Band Aid. Mrs. Smith accepted Susie’s act of kindness and took it one step further. She put the Band Aid in a key- ring picture frame to remind herself to heal a little every time she looked at it.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 26, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"The Power of Now" by Keith Wagner
"Thankfulness in the Midst of Crisis" by Keith Wagner
The Power of Now
by Keith Wagner
Matthew 6:25-33
Don’t Worry, Be Happy is the title and principal lyric of a song by musician Bobby McFerrin. In September of 1988, it became the first a cappella song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and held that position for two weeks. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 2 during its fifth week on the chart. At the 1989 Grammy Awards, “Don’t Worry Be Happy” won the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The song’s title is taken from a famous quote by Meher Baba. The original music video stars Robin Williams and Bill Irwin. The “instrumentals” in the song are entirely composed of sounds made by McFerrin and combined in production. There are no instruments used in the song.
Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
It’s a good song and there is nothing wrong with trying to cheer up folks who are down. On the other hand, to tell a person who is a worrier to lighten up and be happy can be a real challenge. Also, to tell a person not to worry means we might be discounting their feelings.
When Jesus told the disciples not to be anxious about tomorrow I don’t believe he was saying, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Worrying is normal behavior. Worrying is a coping tool to help folks get through difficult times. If we don’t worry, we might be in denial.
Jesus was speaking to hard-working people who were involved with sowing, reaping, storing crops in barns, toiling, and spinning. However, he wanted them to understand that their lives were not based on their labor alone. His main point was that they needed to “Strive for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In other words, they were to have faith that God would provide. He didn’t say, “Don’t worry,” he said, “believe in the power of God to sustain you.”
In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle said “that worry is when we imagine a variety of things that could go wrong.” On one hand we worry about the future, which isn’t here yet and on the other hand we judge the present by what has happened to us in the past. In this way we set ourselves up to be anxious. Tolle believes that the only way we can realize true happiness and peace is to live in the now.
It’s hard to live in the now since we constantly worry about the future. How high will gas prices go? Will I have enough money to pay my bills? What if I get sick? What do I need to do to ensure I will have everything I need?
One time an expert wood carver sat on his front porch, sipping lemonade and enjoying the sunshine on a spring afternoon. Around him on the porch sat his various creations. A friend of the wood carver stopped by for a visit and he was surprised to see the artisan relaxing. “It’s only 1:30PM, isn’t it a bit early for a break?” he asked. The artisan swallowed a mouthful of lemonade and yawned. “This isn’t a break,” he said, “I’m done for the day.”
His friend, a young executive, was confused. “What do you mean it’s too early to stop working? You could produce more. You could carve more figures. You could even hire an assistant to help you with your business. You could buy new tools. You could buy a shop and you wouldn’t have to carve at your house.” “Why would I want to do all that?” the carver asked. “So you could make more money,” his friend replied. “And what would I do with all that extra money?” the wood carver asked. “Why, enjoy life, of course.” The wood carver took another sip of lemonade, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He then mumbled, “What do you think I’m doing?”
We find happiness by living in the moment and focusing on what is important.. Being anxious gets us nowhere. The past is over and the future has not yet arrived. All we can do is live in the now.
* * *
Thankfulness in the Midst of Crisis
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 126
This is a song of joy and of thanks to God by the faith community. "The Lord has done great things for us," they proclaimed. The psalm was written to express their gratitude during a time of captivity. As they looked back they reflected on how God had delivered them and set them free. Consequently they were truly grateful.
This week we will celebrate Thanksgiving. Families and friends will gather around the table, sharing things they are thankful for. It is an American tradition, one that has been practiced since the year 1621. What is extraordinary to me is how the pilgrims could be thankful since their situation was so tragic and hopeless. Half of the colony had perished. Only 5 of 18 wives survived. Only one family was left intact. To make things worse they were not experienced in farming and their governor, John Carver, died of sun stroke. In spite of their difficulties they made peace with the Indians. And with their help they put together a great feast.
I doubt if any of us could have survived that first Thanksgiving in 1621. Half of the pilgrims died from scurvy. The Wampanoag Indians too lost many of their tribe due to a plague. And yet they managed to get together, share their harvest and give thanks.
Historian Richard Pickering, deputy director of Massachusetts’ Plymouth Plantation, says that the real miracle of Thanksgiving was that the Pilgrims and Indians actually had some fun together. Amazingly, their gratitude came after a very harsh winter and a great loss of life. In the midst of great suffering and loss they acknowledged the presence of God.
I believe people continue to experience liberation and those stories usually happen on a smaller scale. Nevertheless they are still relevant especially when genuine gratitude is expressed.
In the book, Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul, there is a story entitled The Pillow. Casey Crandall belonged to a church that participated in the Appalachia Service Project. One week each summer, a group traveled in Appalachia to build homes for families there. One summer their client family lived in a trailer. It was in very poor condition and badly in need of repairs. They built a new home for the family and they were overwhelmed with their new home. It contained three bedrooms, a bath and kitchen and family room.
The group asked the three boys in the family what they wanted for their new bedroom. They anticipated the boys to say, posters, toys or games. Jose, the oldest said, “I just want a bed.” Casey was stunned. The boys had never slept in a bed. They had only slept on foam pads. The group went to a nearby city and purchased three beds, complete with linens. Later they returned and set up the beds while the boys were at school. When the boys saw their new beds they were enthusiastic. While they were gleaming over their new beds, one of the workers slipped a pillow case on one of the pillows. “What is that?” Eric asked. “A pillow,” Meggan, one of the volunteers, replied. “What do you do with it?” he inquired. “When you lay down to go to sleep you put your head on it.” The boys had never seen pillows before.
When we are grateful we are gracious. The faith community could be grateful because they looked back. They remembered those times in captivity. All of us can look back and recall a time we were liberated. Since God delivered usin the past God will continue to deliver us the present.
One time an anonymous caller called a radio talk show in Chicago and told the story of six year old Susie. She wondered why her mother was baking a casserole for their neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Her mother explained that the woman was very sad since her daughter died and she had a broken heart. Her mother said, "Since we are part of a community and Mrs. Smith is our neighbor, we need to do some things to help her." She then challenged Susie to do something for her too. Susie went to Mrs. Smith’s house and said, "My mommy says that you lost your daughter and you’re very, very sad with a broken heart. This is for your broken heart." At that moment she gave Mrs. Smith a Band Aid. Mrs. Smith accepted Susie’s act of kindness and took it one step further. She put the Band Aid in a key- ring picture frame to remind herself to heal a little every time she looked at it.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He has served churches in Southwest Ohio for over three decades. He is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and has an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School, Delaware, Ohio, and a D.Min. from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He has also been an adjunct professor at Edison Community College, Piqua, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, November 26, 2015, issue.
Copyright 2015 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
