Man Up and Shake Hands

People will remember who you are longer than they will remember what you do.  This is bad news for France's World Cup team and coach.  A year from now most people may not remember that the team was knocked out of the tournament in the first round.  More people will remember that the team revolted against the coach and walked off of the practice field and that the coach refused to shake the hand of his opposite number for South Africa after the final game.  Really?  Wouldn't even shake hands?  Wouldn't even congratulate the host country's coach on a game well-played?  I wonder if he will get fired before or after he gets back to France.

Adversity is a better reflection of our soul's condition than prosperity.  Prosperity masks the defects in our character.  Adversity shines a bright light on our weaknesses.  In prosperity we can keep our defects hidden.  In adversity, our weaknesses rise to the surface where they cannot be kept from view.  If we are in the game of managing our image, then keeping our weaknesses and defects hidden becomes our primary endeavor.  The greatest challenge to managing our image is that we have very little control over whether we are living in prosperity or adversity.  To manage our image, we either need to make sure that we are living most of th time in prosperity, or else we have to deal with our shortcomings.  Most of us will try to manage our circumstances rather than to develop healthy souls.

So if we cannot generally control our circumstances, how do we develop healthy souls?  This post is not long enough for a thorough answer in one sitting.  Nor am I silly enough to believe that I have THE answer to that issue.  But I have given this a lot of thought and attention and have some ideas.  One thing I know is that soul health does not happen overnight.  Instead, like long running, it requires focused attention over a long period of time.  As Eugene Peterson put it, a healthy soul requires "a long obedience in the same direction."  While it is not easy, it is pretty simple.  Mostly it just takes time and persistence--things in short supply in our contemporary American culture.  But, it is worth the effort if you want to be remembered for the right thing--who you are.

Pressing on!
-Ken