Skadoosh!

Recently I went and saw the new Kung Fu Panda movie with a bunch of Jr. High students, the only group of people I fit in with. If you have not seen it yet, don't worry this blog does not contain any spoilers. I'm not that kind of guy, plus the plot of the movie is not that important to the content of this blog.

Being an avid Kung Fu Panda fan, I noticed a common theme present in both movies. In both movies the characters struggle with skewed perspective on time. In the first film several characters were obsessed with what happened in the past. Shifu (the tiny mouse) always thought about a mistake he made with his first student several years prior. He thought about that mistake so much, that he was unable to be the kind of sensei he needed to be for his current students. Tai Lung (the villain of the movie) was also caught up in the past. He could not think about anything else except how he was wronged in the past and how his life was horrible because of it. He was blinded by his mistreatment in the past so much, that he could not effectively evaluate or effectively function in his current circumstances. In the second film Po (the main character) is the one who is thinking about the past. His concentration on trying to figure out his past keeps him from concentrating on the present and fulfilling his Dragon Warrior destiny. The villain in the second film did not focus on the past, he focused on the future. He was completely wrapped up in what he wanted for his future as well as what other people said he was supposed to be and do. He was so focused on creating his ideal future, that he was blinded to what his actions were doing to others and himself. The characters that succeed in the movies are the ones who are not distracted by the past or the future, but the ones who are fully aware and active in the present moment. In the first film the wise old turtle says, "You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." The message in the movies is clear: do not worry about things beyond your control, focus on the opportunities in your life now, focus on today.

But we don't need a sensai to tell us this. We have heard this message from a teacher already. This message echoes the one found in scripture.

In Matthew 6 Jesus is addressing a large crowd of people about living in the kingdom of God. He says "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Jesus is revealing a secret to living in God's Kingdom. Jesus is reminding us of God's sovereignty, how God is in control of everything, even the future. But God is not only in control, he is also constantly providing. In God's Kingdom we do not have to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow, because God has it under control and he has already given us today. Jesus is calling us to look around and seek out what God has for us right now, instead of focusing on what we could have had or what could be. I believe this is about what we need as people.

I tend to have a problem with this. I don't disagree, I just have trouble doing it. I tend to focus on the future. I'm always thinking about what could be, or what I would like to happen. I like to picture the possibilities of what could be. Not saying this is a bad thing, but it does create a problem. I spend so much time thinking about what life could be like or what I want to try and do, that sometimes I miss the opportunities in my life right now. I usually get annoyed with people that seem to live in the past. I get annoyed when people talk about the "glory days". I think to myself, "what about your life right now? Is your life over? Is there nothing for you to live for now?" But when I think about it, am I any different? When I spend so much time thinking about what my future looks like, my present suffers. If I am not thinking about now--the relationships I'm in now, the work I'm doing now, or whatever I'm involved in--then all those things suffer due to neglect.

When we always look back on the life that has already happened, or always focus on what could happen, we are not living in reality. Living in the Kingdom means just that: living. Living is hard to do in a fantasy world. Focusing on the past creates regret, and focusing on the future creates worry, two things not included in Jesus' description of the Kingdom of God. These things are barriers to experiencing all that God has for us, and barriers to fulfilling our purpose in life. God is calling us to seek him out and trust him to provide a life worth living now. Maybe I'm on to something, or maybe this is just another musing of a modern-day sasquatch

Night-Night

I thought after I graduated college I would be a grown-up. Seeing as I am living with my mom right now and watching cartoons while I write this, I guess I have not quite reached the grown-up stage. Living at home has reminded me of when I was a child, and I share some of those stories now

When I was little I had a security blanket. It was not a quilt made by my grandmother, or anyone else dear to me. It didn't have a cartoon character on it. In fact it was not a blanket at all. My security blanket was a diaper rag. I didn't even call it blankey, or anything that resembles blanket. My security blanket (rag) went by the affectionate name of Night-Night and we went everywhere together. Watching TV, sitting in the cart at the grocery store, sleeping in the crib, going to day-care, you know all the normal places a two year old might go. One evening my mother and father went out to dinner and I went with them, so obviously Night-Night came with. I'm sure it was a lovely evening. I don't really remember it, I was two. Anyway, after dinner we all loaded up in the car and started for home. It wasn't long before I noticed something was wrong: my Night-Night was missing! In the next few moments my very short life flashed before my eyes and my entire world seemed to shatter around me as everything I knew to be true and right was slipping away. My incessant crying, and my mother, forced my father to turn the car around and retrieve that diaper rag. The restaurant staff may have thought it was a dish rag and used it to clean off the table, but I was never happier than when I held that filthy tattered cloth in my arms again.

A few years later my security blanket changed. Actually it was many years later, and I was 11 or 12. My new security blanket was once again not a blanket, it was a monkey. I wish I could tell you that it was a real live pet monkey, but it wasn't. It was a small stuffed animal that usually resided in my pocket for most of the fifth grade. Like the Night-Night, Monkey went everywhere with me. I do mean everywhere. Church, school, to a friend's house, everywhere. There is a picture of the Mawhirter children in the blue bonnets and monkey is right there with me. Embarrassing I know. It gets better. One horrible day the family was at my aunt's house and I had to use the restroom; of course monkey was along for the ride. I set monkey down on the top of the toilet while I did my business, because obviously that is the best place to put a stuffed animal you take to the bathroom with you. When I flushed the toilet I reached for my dear pall Monkey and knocked him into the toilet. With a faint gurgle, monkey was sucked down the pipes, and I never saw him again.

Some parts of those story may be a little over the top and slightly exaggerated, but hold truth none-the-less. I think everyone has a security blanket. It may not be an old smelly rag, or a small monkey, but we have them all the same. My Night-Night, and my monkey, made me feel safe, made me feel comfortable. No matter where I was, or what was going on, I felt secure. As a child so many things lie beyond our control, and we desperately need to know that we are safe. I think we all long for that feeling of safety and security, to know that no matter what things will be ok. But the problem is we settle for just the feeling of security instead of the real thing. How often do we surround ourselves with things that make us feel important or powerful; things that as long as we have them we will be secure? Have you ever thought: As long as I have money things will be ok; As long as I have my friends around, I'll be fine; As long as we stay together, things will be ok; As long as I have my family, I'm ok; As long as I have this job I'm golden; If this, as long as that, yada yada yada. Like my Night-Night and Monkey, we cling to so many things, and those things never really last all that long. We lose the job, people move, relationships break up, our money is stolen or lost. Our security ends up getting left in a restaurant or sucked down the toilet and we never see it again.

So why do we have this desire, this longing for security? It seems wrong to have such a desire that always ends unfulfilled. The desire starts out good, but is twisted when we try to become the source of our own security. Thats when it fails. This desire is within us to lead us to something greater, lead us to true security.

Where to find true security is revealed to us in scripture. Psalm 91 says: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Then the writer goes on to explain what happens after putting our security in God: no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

According to these verses security is found, once we surrender it, when we give it up to something greater than ourselves. True security is found when we call on God, not on our own resources. What if we lived like this was true? Our desire to find security is not wrong, embrace it and let it lead you to the one who lifts you up in the hands of angels.