Take the "Im" Out of Your Impossible

 

IMPOSSIBLE

by Harry Baker

I'm finding it too easy to tell myself things are too hard,
When facing the end that it's too late to even make a start.
But if we take impossible to mean that we don't have a chance,
We have lost sight of how unlikely it was we would get this far.

The way the single fish outwits the shark by sticking with its school.
The way the crescent moon outspins its dark to once again be full.
Even winter, given long enough, begins to lose its cool.

That which was once exceptional now barely registers at all.
To think the earth exists at this specific distance from the sun
Down to the angle of the axis on which everything is spun
The fact that trees happen to breathe that which we need inside our lungs
It would all seem impossible if it had not already been done

We are impossible to everyone who's ever come before
And everyone who's yet to come will push impossible some more
Just as, indeed, the do's we did outdo the don'ts we didn't.
So everything's impossible until it isn't.

The thought of rivers changing course before somebody gave a dam,
Or that the tide might turn from shore before a line's drawn in the sand.
We cannot know how far our actions go, the impact they might have.
Sometimes, the only thing that we can do is to do what we can.

And I am tired of that doom and gloom and self-fulfilling prophecy.
I am trying to find room to bloom and self-fulfill the opposite
When it's an act of revolution to try to stay remotely positive
There's nothing wishy-washy about opting to be optimists

Whether a brighter future's possible we may not truly know
But the first step toward that future is imagining it so
So as, indeed, the do's we did outdo the don'ts we didn't.
So it remains impossible until it isn't.

And when it's over, and we're no more than old bones within the ground.
Still the soil knows to sow its seed from what is broken down,
What is lost, is always lost, until the moment it is found.
And these things only ever go one way, unless we turn them round.

We are so constantly surrounded that it's easy to forget.
This world was built upon impossible. That has not stopped us yet.
So yes, indeed, the do's we did outdo the don'ts we didn't.
It only stays impossible until it isn't.

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Truth is...Every once in a while, I come across something that just needs to be shared with as wide an audience as possible. So pass this along, won't you?

Charlie Chaplin Speaks!

 

I read somewhere that...

Charlie Chaplin once stepped onto a stage, told a simple joke, and had the audience roaring with laughter.

He paused, then told the same joke again. This time, only a few chuckles.

He tried a third time. Silence. No one laughed.

Then, with a gentle smile, he said something more profound than any punchline:

“If you can’t laugh at the same joke over and over, why keep crying over the same pain?”

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Truth is...I don't know if this story is true, but the lesson it teaches sure is. I also read "somewhere" (2 Corinthians 5:17) that if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

The Parable of the Swift

 

With thanks to the David Attenborough Fans Facebook page for the inspiration

Consider the swift.

I'm not talking about people who can run quickly. I'm referring to the bird.

The swift is a superb flyer; sleeping, eating, bathing, and even mating on the wing. They are the fastest birds in level flight, with an impressive top speed of 69mph. Late April to mid-August, they live in the UK, but spend their winters in Africa, migrating 3,400 miles twice a year.

If you ever see a swift lying on the ground, wings spread as if ready to fly...don’t be anxious. It isn't necessarily injured or dying.

It’s a creature of the sky that has accidentally found itself in a place where it’s challenging for it to take off on its own.

Its short legs and long, slender wings make it extremely hard to lift off from a flat surface.

All it needs is for you to gently lift it; just a little, in an open palm...

And it will fly...on its own.

Sometimes, people are like that.

We aren't deathly ill or fatally depressed. We don't need anyone to "fix" us. We just need someone to express some faith in our abilities. We just need someone’s hand to lift us up to where we can get our bearings.

A quiet “I’m here” to encourage us for a moment — until we feel the wind beneath our wings again.

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Truth is...This is just one more reason I'm happy to hear Jesus say, "I am with you always."

I'd Like to Register a Complaint

 

Do you know anyone whose Mother Tongue is the language of complaints and negativity? Someone who just can't be happy if they didn't have something to complain about?

You know, like the New Yorker cartoon of a doctor telling his patient, "I can cure your back problem, but there's a risk that you'll be left with nothing to talk about."

Apparently, Solomon knew someone like that. It seems he even married someone like that:

It’s better to live alone in the desert
than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.
Proverbs 21:19 (NLT)

A quarrelsome wife is as annoying
as constant dripping on a rainy day.
Proverbs 27:15 (NLT)

While King Solomon's Henny Youngman routine is kind of funny, the Apostle Paul tells us that the habit of complaining and pointing out the negative is harmful to our spiritual health.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault
in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them
like stars in the sky.
Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV)

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Truth is...Yes, it's kind of funny that I'm complaining about people complaining.

The Price of Freedom

 

I have the honor of preaching for my church this coming Sunday. Because it's part of Independence Day Weekend, I'm talking about the price Jesus paid for our freedom from sin, and basing it on Psalm 22 — an amazingly accurate description of Jesus' perspective during his crucifixion. So much so, that Jesus even quoted the first verse for all the crowd to hear.

Here's a creative rendition of that psalm, from Eugene Peterson's translation/paraphrase, The Message:

God, God . . . my God!
    Why did you dump me
    miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God
    all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
    leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
    they cried for your help and you gave it;
    they trusted and lived a good life.

And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm,
    something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me;
    they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
“Let’s see how God handles this one;
    since God likes him so much, let him help him!”

And to think you were midwife at my birth,
    setting me at my mother’s breasts!
When I left the womb you cradled me;
    since the moment of birth you’ve been my God.
Then you moved far away
    and trouble moved in next door.
I need a neighbor.

Herds of bulls come at me,
    the raging bulls stampede,
Horns lowered, nostrils flaring,
    like a herd of buffalo on the move.

I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled,
    every joint in my body has been pulled apart.
My heart is a blob
    of melted wax in my gut.
I’m dry as a bone,
    my tongue black and swollen.
They have laid me out for burial
    in the dirt.

Now packs of wild dogs come at me;
    thugs gang up on me.
They pin me down hand and foot,
    and lock me in a cage—a bag
Of bones in a cage, stared at
    by every passerby.
They take my wallet and the shirt off my back,
    and then throw dice for my clothes.

You, God—don’t put off my rescue!
    Hurry and help me!
Don’t let them cut my throat;
    don’t let those mongrels devour me.
If you don’t show up soon,
    I’m done for—gored by the bulls,
    meat for the lions.

Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
    and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
    give glory, you sons of Jacob;
    adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
    never looked the other way
    when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
    he has been right there, listening.

Here in this great gathering for worship
    I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
    in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
    and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
    is here, praising him.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
    Don’t ever quit!”

From the four corners of the earth
    people are coming to their senses,
    are running back to God.
Long-lost families
    are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
    from now on he has the last word.

All the power-mongers are before him
    —worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
    —worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
    —worshiping!

Our children and their children
    will get in on this
As the word is passed along
    from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived
    will hear the good news—
    that God does what he says.

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Truth is...There's more to think about than just being grateful for Christ's sacrifice and how it purchased a glorious future for me. Let this quote from Rich Mullins remind you of what Jesus said about taking up a cross in order to follow him: "Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours."