LIVING Outside the Box

MOST OF US WOULD like to learn to think “outside the box” of our own understanding, but not Joshua. He knew how to LIVE outside the box. He knew first hand how creative God is.

OVER AND OVER AGAIN THE WORDS “be strong and courageous” are repeated in the Book of Joshua. It seems living in the presence of God is not for the timid.

IF DOING WHAT WE DON’T UNDERSTAND is at the heart of living creatively, I think Joshua, a warrior-leader, was one of the most creative men in the Bible. I admire his absolute faith, but more than that, I admire his obedience.

CONSIDER FOR A MOMENT how the battle against Jericho was fought. What general would instruct an army to lay siege to a walled city by simply having the soldiers and priests bearing rams horns silently circle it carrying the Ark of the Covenant once a day for six days? And how about this? On the seventh day have those same soldiers and priests march around the city seven times—this time to the sound of the rams horns and shouting? And all with the belief that the wall would fall flat . . .

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE my own response to such a suggestion. Uh oh. Lord, I don’t think even a sonic boom, much less a bunch of shouting, would put a crack in that wall. Lord, have you noticed that wall’s fortified? An easy fifteen feet thick in places. And, Lord, I’ll bet the men of Jericho are armed. We could lose a lot of men out there. Begging your pardon, Lord, have you thought about that?

BUT NONE OF THAT FOR JOSHUA. This battle plan bore all the signs of a solution from God—even without the appearance of a man with a drawn sword delivering it. It was something Joshua would NEVER have thought of by himself. It seemed doomed to failure. And finally, Joshua knew he couldn’t do it by himself—and it was obvious he wouldn’t have to.

SO, JOSHUA GAVE A GREAT EXAMPLE of what a creative person does—he opened himself to possibility and just did it. Like a sculpture or an artist might.

DID JOSHUA STOP at Jericho? Nope. He asked for other even more improbable solutions—like stopping the sun and moon. He needed a little more sun light to whip those pesky Amorites. Oh, yes! Joshua is proof that there’s no limit to LIVING outside the box.

AND THAT GIVES ME HOPE that my seemingly insolvable problems will be dealt with—in this life or the next—by the One from whom all solutions come.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing.

Out of My Inbox

WHEN I FIRST ENTERED the workforce my various employers’ chief complaint was always, “Tamara, you must learn to think outside the box.” Well, frankly, I hadn’t a clue what they meant.

TWENTY YEARS LATER, after I had enough experience to know that, in my line of work, there were many means to accomplish an end, I thought I’d moved outside the box in my thinking. I hadn’t. I’d only learned to be flexible.

A FEW YEARS AFTER THAT I realized what most people are talking about when they say “outside the box” is creativity, which is something that can’t be learned. It comes from the Great Creator and must be heard and obeyed.

IF I REMAIN RECEPTIVE to God’s instruction, creative approaches and solutions rain down on me. How do I know I’m not listening, not learning? When I’m absolutely sure I’m right.

SADLY, THIS IS A SIGNAL THAT ONCE AGAIN, I am confused. Being sure I’m right is not the same as really being right.

WHEN I KNOW I’M RIGHT, I remind myself of Jonah. The militant Assyrians at Nineveh were Jonah’s worst enemy, and he found God’s willingness to forgive them repulsive. God was wrong, Jonah was right—and off Jonah went in the opposite direction.

JONAH TOOK A FISHY SIDE TRIP before he finally proceeded to Nineveh, did exactly as he was told (not one iota more), and waited for God to see things his way. Jonah said he’d rather die than serve a God who would not change to suit him. Oh, Jonah. I’m with you. I’ve been there.

MOST OF MY LIFE I’ve said, “This is where I am, Lord. There’s room for you in this inbox, come on in.” Rarely have I been brave enough to say, “You choose the path, Lord, and I’ll follow.”

BUT OFTEN THE ANSWERS I need aren’t in any box, much less my inbox. And when one of those problems without a solution comes up, like illness or pain, I need to be ready to climb out of that inbox as fast as I can, to run down the path yelling for God to wait up. Or like Jonah I may end my story angry with God and preferring to die rather than give up knowing I’m right.

Your blessed! Be a blessing.

A Laughing Matter?

CANCER IS NO LAUGHING MATTER . . . or is it?

IN MY FAMILY OF ORIGIN a sense of humor was the best trait to have. Anyone could be smart or pretty, but the ability to tell or appreciate a good joke was prized. I never mastered the timing of a good punch line, but my sister and I are always the first to get one. We’ve been conditioned to laugh.

YEARS AFTER MY SISTER graduated, I met her band instructor. “Oh,” he said. “I remember her. She was always laughing.” I thought that was best compliment that could be given anyone.

I BELIEVE THAT THE WILLINGNESS to laugh is learned. It’s a muscle, like faith, that needs to be exercised. Comics will tell you an audience has to be made ready to laugh. Once they’ve warmed up, anything is funny. I think that’s true of all of us. Once we’ve warmed ourselves up, anything is funny.

IT’S NOT JUST THAT LAUGHTER beats the thunder out of crying, it’s also good for us—especially when illness rears its ugly head. When I’m laughing, I can’t worry. When I’m laughing, I don’t hurt. When I’m laughing, I’m a child again. And when I’m laughing, I’m never lonely.

IN HIS BOOK, Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins wrote that he discovered one hour of laughing gave him two hours of pain-free sleep. He promptly scheduled daily time for the Marx Brothers. He believed he conquered a rare paralyzing illness through laughter. Later, he laughed his way through debilitating heart disease. My hero, he literally died laughing.

AND HOW ABOUT ABRAHAM AND SARAH? They thought it a huge joke that in her nineties, God promised Abraham that Sarah would become pregnant. In fact, although she denied it, she laughed out loud when she overheard Him. As a result, the blessings of the covenant God made with Abraham passed down to us through this child whose birth made his mother, and everyone who heard of it, laugh.

AND WHAT DID GOD tell Abraham to name this son? Isaac. A name that means “he laughs.”

MAKE TIME FOR WHAT you find funny. Condition yourself to laugh. You’ll always be in good company--and you'll have to struggle to be unhappy.

You’re blessed! Be a blessing.

Getting It Together?

IN HER BOOK, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says if you want to know about living, hang around the dying. Well, she didn’t have me in mind. My life is no more together than it was before I was diagnosed. Very frustrating—having survived this long, I assumed by now, I’d have a wealth of knowledge about how to live that I could pass on to others.

NOT SO. I struggle as much with the same plethora of faults as I ever did: character flaws, leaving undone what I meant to do, the thoughtless comment, the unpolished shoes, the belief that I could do better if only I tried harder. And I must not forget a hardheadedness of epic proportions.

HAVE I CONQUERED my desire to control what can’t be controlled? Don’t ask my children.

CAN I PASS Bible-study-champion Beth Moore’s litmus test for pride? Can I be happy that a job is done well—even if someone else did it? Can I resist leaving my own mark on it? Believe me, when it comes to some things—like moving furniture—I’m not there yet.

WELL . . . maybe one thing has changed. I once believed in making a plan and thundering toward its accomplishment. Now thunder of any sort doesn’t seem to apply to me. I’ve become more of a flexibility-junky.

I FIND I STILL MAKE PLANS, but many of them don’t make it past the thrill of possibility. These days I often find myself helping others achieve their goals, while my own get hung up in the Disciplined Order of Christ request I always put to God: “If this is what You want me to do, increase my desire for it . . . but, if it isn’t, please take away my desire.”

I TRY NOT TO TORMENT MYSELF while I wait for the answer. It isn’t always forthcoming. Did I mention I find staying-in-the-moment challenging?

IT’S PRETTY DISAPPOINTING. Dealing with cancer hasn’t lead me to a greater knowledge of life . . . but it has led me to faith. And for me, I have to say if it were mine to make, I’d make the same choice again.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

Happiness Is?

BY MY KITCHEN SINK I keep a tile on a little easel. On it is painted: “Happiness is wanting what you have.” There is no author attribution. I wish there were, because I’d like to shake the hand of the person who first penned it.

NOW, NEARLY FOUR YEARS after my diagnosis, I have entered that treacherous place in my treatment where taking a breather seems possible. My condition, even to me, has become too much like that most boring of subjects—someone else’s divorce.

I KNOW I MUST FIND my fullness in a life bordered by a restless and dangerous disease, but I want that life to be as normal as it can be. And I’m not alone in wanting to forget about my circumstances. Many of my friends no longer ask how I am with any reference to the “C” word that used to dominate their inquiries. And I want that for them. But I must never relax the discipline that has helped me so much.

WE ALL DO IT. We celebrate the loss of five pounds with a dish of ice cream. Our blood pressure moves into normal range; we stop taking the medication . . . and the diastolic starts creeping back up. So, I must remain cautious of my cancer foe. I don’t dare turn my back on the beast that seems to be asleep for the moment.

WISHFUL THINKING is more my enemy than cancer. Contemplating what-might-have-been will only make me unhappy with what is. And being dissatisfied with a quiet moment in a journey with this pesky companion might lead me to foolishly run after the life I still miss.

INSTEAD, I NEED the reminder of that wise little tile by my sink. I need to turn my entire attention to gratitude. For, at least in my case, wanting what I have is even more than happiness. It’s life itself.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!

All or Nothing

AFTER A SEVERAL-YEAR HIATUS, my friend’s cancer has come raging back into his life. What has worked to control it in the past no longer seems effective. The doctor who has treated him for years, and who my friend trusts and respects, suggests a more aggressive form of the same treatment.

MY FRIEND, weakened by the disease, and profoundly unhappy with his situation, hears the words, “This will be rough.”

HE LOOKS NEITHER TO THE RIGHT nor to the left. He seems to accept the plan with the same courage that got him through the early battles of Viet Nam. “When can we begin?” he asks, and makes the appointment.

I WANT TO SHAKE HIM. The government estimates more than one hundred American cancer patients die each day needlessly—-simply because they failed to receive state-of-the-art treatment. And the treatment can easily be researched at http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/ or by calling 800-4-CANCER.

WHEN I WAS STRUGGLING to make the changes in my life that I believe have since led to greater health, I hit a wall of self-pity one rainy winter day in New Orleans. Crossing Loyola Avenue near Poydras Street, my eye was drawn to the Cancer Survivors Plaza. Annette and R. A. “Dick” Block (he was co-founder of H&R Block) have erected these in most large cities across the U. S., and that day I found out these monuments are worth a close inspection.

ONE OF THE PLAQUES said, “You must, on your own, make the commitment that you will do everything in your power to fight your disease. No exceptions. Nothing halfway. Nothing for the sake of ease or convenience. Everything! Nothing short of it.”

THE NEXT ONE SAID, “To give up requires no commitment. You can stay in the comfort of your own lifestyle. Fighting means a complete change of lifestyle, absolutely leaving your comfort zone . . . You must decide that the end is worth the means . . . No one else can do it for you. There is no half way . . . Go for it with no second thoughts or regrets.”

ONE OF THE LAST PLAQUES said, “Fighting cancer is not a simple matter of thinking positively, wishing it away and saying, ‘Hey, doc, cure me.’ It is a matter of knowledge. It is a matter of educating yourself about every detail and mustering all your resources. Use every drop of energy in an organized fashion to constructively concentrate on getting rid of cancer . . . if you don’t do everything in your power, often there is no second chance. This is why no cancer patient can afford the luxury of looking back and saying, ‘I wish I would have . . .’ Never look back. Concentrate on this movement forward and do everything in your power.”

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVES HAS CANCER, read Dick Bloch’s letter at www.blochcancer.org. I wish my friend would.

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!