Parking
Today I am at the state Solo & Ensemble contest in Indianapolis with Christopher. I'm a very proud parent...proud of Christopher in particular and his whole ensemble for making it here. Whatever ranking they get, just in getting here they've already achieved much more than I ever did.
Getting here from Portage was easy, except for the early wake-up time...but once we got here, parking was another story. There is lots of it...and most of it is filled. We drove around for nearly 30 minutes before we found a spot that was being vacated. Then we had to walk back to the site of the contest...a rather long, cold walk.
Everywhere, there are police officers. Most of them are standing in place, blocking places where there are empty parking spots (I assume they are reserved for someone), and all of them are busy telling you where you can't park. All of them are busy blocking the way. Not one of them offered any guidance as to where I could park--they were just making sure I didn't park where they were.
That's fine, as I assume they are doing what they've been told to do. But it got me to thinking about how often that's the way we act as Christians. We spend our time blocking the way, telling people where they can't find Jesus and hope and salvation, rather than offering to help them to a place where they can. We spend so much time telling people the negatives (what's wrong in their lives) that they can't hear our message of hope. And we wonder why they've stopped listening.
I remember a poem from several years ago, something about standing by the door helping people find the way in. The author talked about pointing people toward the place where the door to Jesus is rather than spending our time telling others where the door isn't. What, in your life today, helps people find "the door"? What, in the way you live your life, helps people see where Jesus is rather than where he isn't?
Something to ponder...but if you'll excuse me, I need to go listen to an excellent orchestra ensemble play in their state contest...then try to find where I parked my car!
Getting here from Portage was easy, except for the early wake-up time...but once we got here, parking was another story. There is lots of it...and most of it is filled. We drove around for nearly 30 minutes before we found a spot that was being vacated. Then we had to walk back to the site of the contest...a rather long, cold walk.
Everywhere, there are police officers. Most of them are standing in place, blocking places where there are empty parking spots (I assume they are reserved for someone), and all of them are busy telling you where you can't park. All of them are busy blocking the way. Not one of them offered any guidance as to where I could park--they were just making sure I didn't park where they were.
That's fine, as I assume they are doing what they've been told to do. But it got me to thinking about how often that's the way we act as Christians. We spend our time blocking the way, telling people where they can't find Jesus and hope and salvation, rather than offering to help them to a place where they can. We spend so much time telling people the negatives (what's wrong in their lives) that they can't hear our message of hope. And we wonder why they've stopped listening.
I remember a poem from several years ago, something about standing by the door helping people find the way in. The author talked about pointing people toward the place where the door to Jesus is rather than spending our time telling others where the door isn't. What, in your life today, helps people find "the door"? What, in the way you live your life, helps people see where Jesus is rather than where he isn't?
Something to ponder...but if you'll excuse me, I need to go listen to an excellent orchestra ensemble play in their state contest...then try to find where I parked my car!
We had the same issue! Thank you for redeeming that situation with this entry! :)
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