I don’t know that I was planning on writing to you today, but I am inspired!
Not in a good way.
Here I am at this coffee shop enjoying another day’s worth of Kansas weather suffering from an identity disorder: Should be 85 degrees or so this afternoon, get ready for snow Saturday night, but right now, just enjoy the wind.
As I sit here in the corner all nestled in for a good study session, another customer left the store and without looking back failed to notice that the door they used blew wide open and stayed open. In fact, if you listened carefully, you could hear the small whimpers of brackets and hydraulic arms being pushed too far in a direction they were never intended to swing.
It only took a few seconds to recognize this door would stay propped open by the wind until… Mayish? Maybe June?
That’s when my eyes flittered about the room filled with other customers.
- I saw a dissatisfied glance leading to a frown fueled by an unwanted breeze. Or, in all honesty, by a gale force wind.
- I saw another customer never break eye contact with her book, but reached up to zip her jacket a little higher.
- There were a couple of others, locked in position and unmoved like a still painting reflecting a tableau of modern life I’d like to call “Hipsters in Repose.”
Though I was not the closest, I got up and walked across the room to grab the handle and close the door.
As I walked back across the room, I enjoyed the many thanks of those who were now escaping the harshness of our semi-rural, micropolitan environment.
Er, I mean no one said anything (or even glanced my way).
Ok, no one get offended thinking I was offended because I thought it was offensive that I had to do that.
Calm down.
That’s not my point at all. Closing the door on a windy day is no great sacrifice
Maybe that’s my point.
Why don’t we get up to close the door when we see it’s stuck wide open?
I mean, when we know something needs to be done, why don’t we just do it!
I made a statement at CrossPoint this past weekend that “You don’t need counseling, you just need to start doing what God’s word has already told you to do.”
In other words, close the door!
This is no argument against counseling. There are all kinds of moments and circumstances significantly advanced through Christian counsel. Lot’s of healing can be found in counseling and therapy.
But, what if your problem wasn’t others, circumstances, or something super deep-seated? What if you just need to get up and close the door?
You don’t need a circular saw to cut a piece of paper… the answer is easier than that.
For instance, we taught that the instructions of Ephesians 4:25-32 advise us in several 'closings of the door':
Honesty is the only policy. Maybe we should just start telling the truth?
There’s a right way to be angry. Could it be that it’s time to deal with the hurt
Do something for someone else. How about we look around and do something for someone else, just because?
Use your words for good and not evil. Perhaps we think about filtering those comments before hitting ‘post’?
Your attitude sets the scene. Don’t get me started, just change the attitude.
Let’s trying this, a test if you will. When we know what God’s word instructs, let's do that. Start what we should, stop what we need to, take what you already know and use common sense.
Well, I feel better. Thanks for letting me vent. I had a couple more thoughts, but this is getting a little long, and the door is open again.
“No, no everyone. I got it.”