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“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

• Proverbs 11:25 

The alternate route proved to be a narrow one lane dirt road along a rugged hillside on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  The quick decision to detour resulted from the tragic accident up ahead that shut down the main highway.  As other drivers from both directions diverted to this tiny path, it too became gridlocked.

Time was scarce.  It was the last day of our mission trip, and even under the best of circumstances we had precious few hours to complete the projects we had begun a week earlier.  Yet, here we were in the middle of a primitive hillside barrio jammed with busses and trucks unable to pass by one another.  Imagine an LBJ Freeway traffic jam, or a Times Square gridlock with horns blaring and tempers flaring!

Suddenly the driver of the oncoming truck stepped out of his cab and meticulously guided our yellow school bus between the deep bar ditch on the right and his own vehicle.  Once passed, our own driver stepped out and did the same for the next oncoming vehicle.  Driver after driver calmly and patiently stopped to help one another in what had appeared to be a hopeless situation, until we miraculously reached the open road leading to our destination.  Although we arrived at our rural worksite an hour and a half late, our projects were completed with time to spare.

There was a sense of calm in observing our Honduran friends working together.  It was a great lesson for our small group of fourteen results-driven, type-A North Americans.  We saw a narrow road with room too scarce for two vehicles to pass.  Our Honduran friends, on the other hand, saw a road with abundant space when shared generously.

“A generous man will prosper;” the wise proverb reminds us, for when there is a spirit of generosity, there is always abundance.

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”  – Jeremiah 6:16 

While hiking up a heavily wooded mountainside in northern Yellowstone Park several summers ago, Tee and I were about to double back on the same trail when we noticed a steep, narrow path veering off in another direction.  Feeling adventurous we decided to see where it would lead.  As we climbed higher and the woods became denser apprehension set in, again tempting us to turn back.  Exhausted we were starting to question the wisdom of our decision when suddenly there was a clearing up ahead.  Within a few steps we emerged onto the most glorious mountain meadow one could ever imagine, with breath-taking views in all directions – as picturesque as Julie Andrew’s opening scene in The Sound of Music.  

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” wrote Robert Frost in that familiar poem.  But not all “less traveled” paths lead to such beautiful sights.  In fact, many do not.  Some get us lost; others are dead ends, while many turn out to be long disappointing detours.  One thing is for certain, though; if we keep driving the same busy freeways and never venture to exit onto unfamiliar roads from time to time our lives will remain mundane and routine.  Only when we try things new and different will we ever discover things new and different.

Try getting up at 3 a.m. – on purpose! – just to experience what the world is like in that wee hour.  Drive a different route to work.  Turn on a street that you’ve always wondered where it goes.  Try a new recipe for dinner.  For your next vacation plan a trip someplace you’ve never been.  Do something you’ve never done but always wanted to try.  You may be surprised what you discover – about yourself and the world around you. 

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it . . .”  And don’t be surprised if it is the road less traveled by.  It happened to us on that summer day in Yellowstone . . . and it made all the difference.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  – Psalm 27:14 

No one can teach a lesson like Dr. Seuss, such as this one from Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

“The Waiting Place . . . for people just waiting.  Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or No, or waiting for their hair to grow.  Everyone is just waiting. . . Waiting for the fish to bite, or waiting for wind to fly a kite, or waiting around for Friday night, or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake, or a pot to boil, or a Better Break, or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants, or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.  Everyone is just waiting. . . NO!  That’s not for you!  Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.  You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.  With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high!  Ready for anything under the sky.  Ready because you’re that kind of a guy! . . . Oh, the places you’ll go!” 

Like it or not we all enter The Waiting Place from time to time; although we’re not patient about it, especially in this fast paced internet age where we’ve come to expect instantaneous everything.  Plus, we are doers who have been taught to believe that doing is a virtue and idleness is not, and waiting feels like idleness.

Waiting is one of those experiences St. John of the Cross might describe as “the dark night of the soul.”  Except, the “dark night” of which he speaks is not bad or destructive as we might believe, nor is its purpose to punish or afflict us in any way.  Rather, it is a time that is meant to set us free to anticipate, dream about, and prepare for what is to come even when it feels as if it will never be.  It is simply The Waiting Place as Dr. Seuss calls it, a place to get ready for when the perfect job opportunity comes along, or the right person enters our lives; the proper treatment for healing, or relief after a long struggle; acceptance of an application, or money to make a purchase; the birth of a child, or an answer to prayer.  Yes, sooner or later you’ll escape all that waiting and staying and find yourself in bright places where Boom Bands are playing.  So, “be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  Then – “Oh, the places you’ll go!”

“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  – Joshua 1:9 

Did you succumb to the temptation to play the Power Ball lottery last week?  I did – to the extravagant sum of two dollars, which is one measly ticket that contained not a single winning number.  Oh well!  But who could resist the chance to win a billion and a half dollars, regardless that odds were like ten g-zillion to one?  Okay, so what does such a silly act as wasting a couple of bucks on a lottery ticket have to do with being strong and courageous?  Very little actually, except for this one pronouncement from my wife:  “The one sure way to lose,” she reminded me, “is to not be in the game.”

If you have not yet read Brené Brown’s brilliant bestselling book, Daring Greatly, you’re missing a great lesson on the importance of putting ourselves out there, taking a risk, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable.  “We must walk into the arena, whatever it be,” she says, “a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation – with courage and the willingness to engage.  Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen.  This is vulnerability.  This is daring greatly.”  In other words, the one sure way to lose, is to not be in the game.

Following the death of Moses, Joshua was charged with the responsibility of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land.  This required guiding the people across the flood-swollen Jordan River and into battle against the fortified cities of Canaan, not an assignment for the fainthearted.  Be strong and courageous, God reminded Joshua over and over, who in turn encouraged the Israelites; for in order to gain possession of the Promised Land, sitting on the sidelines was not an option.

The same goes for us in our world today.  In order to live abundantly, sitting on the sidelines is not an option.  Rather we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, to dare greatly.  This requires that we be strong and courageous; for the one sure way to lose, is to not be in the game.

“The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.  So also, the one with the two talents gained two more.  But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”  – Matthew 25:16-18 

My wife’s paternal grandfather Durwood Rose once worked in the same office side by side with the late H. L. Hunt, both young men at the time.  One morning Hunt walked in and announced to Durwood that he was leaving to go over to East Texas. “Come go with me,” he said.  But my wife’s grandfather was busy working on another project so he responded as any responsible person would, “I don’t have time today.  I’ve got too much work to do.  Maybe tomorrow.”  “Oh, I’m not coming back,” Hunt replied, “I’m going there to stay until I strike oil,” then walked out the door. . . The rest as they say is history, as H. L. Hunt did in fact strike oil and become one of the wealthiest oil tycoons in the world.  Durwood, though also successful, became so in a much more modest way.

If only my wife’s grandfather had played his cards differently!  Then I would have married into one of the richest families in the world, right?  Except, of course, if she had been born into such wealth and prominence it’s unlikely our paths would have ever crossed in the first place.  Thank goodness old Durwood played his cards the way he did.

Life is not about the hand we’re dealt, but how we play the one we got.  I love country singer Kenny Rogers’ description in his famous ballad, “The Gambler”.  “Now ev’ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep, cause ev’ry hand’s a winner and ev’ry hand’s a loser . . .”  So it is in Jesus’ parable about the talents.  The servants were each dealt different hands – as happens in real life – any one of which had the potential of being a winner, or a loser.  Two, in fact, doubled what they had received – winners.  The third chose instead to bury his in the ground – loser.  It wasn’t about the hand they were dealt, but how they played the one we got. . . . How are you playing yours?