The Therapy of a Happy Heart

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones
(Proverbs 17:22, NIV). For those who have eyes to see it the heavens are aglow with God's shining face.

Praising God anyhow, anytime or anywhere. Dr Praise would like to recommend to you the medicine of a merry heart.

A distinguished looking man was walking by a park bench when he overheard a boy praising God with enthusiasm. He stopped and asked, “What are you so excited about young man?” The boy replied: “O mister our God is so great, it says here in my Bible that God delivered his people from bondage and opened up a way through the Red Sea so they could cross over on dry ground!” Having a background in Bible knowledge, he sat down by the boy in order to enlighten him. “Scholars tell us that the Hebrew word translated ‘Red’ should be translated ‘Reed’ Sea. It was a marshy area of reeds adjacent to the Red Sea that often had only 6 inches of water in it. The people could have easily waded through it. It may not have been a miracle but a natural event.” The boy looked down at his open Bible with confusion on his face as the man stood up and started to walk away. He had only taken a few steps when the boy began to praise God even with more gusto. The man stopped and asked: “What are you so enthused about now?” The boy replied: “O mister, our God is even greater than I thought. He not only delivered his people but he drowned the army of Pharaoh in only six inches of water!”

Life is often not fair. Bad things can and do happen to good people. A sanctified sense of humor can help us transform tragedy into triumph, pain into praise. The greatest disappointments can become divine appointments and the most difficult circumstances can be a call to praise. Even if one could explain away every miracle and attribute them all to natural causes and coincidence, it would not quench my spirit of rejoicing.

Love in Four Dimensions

Dr Praise #3

DIAGNOSIS: As one who has provided pastoral care for over half a century, I have observed that people are often constricted by the smallness of their self centered world. They need to break out of their boxes of me, myself and mine and be stretched by a grander more glorious vision of God. There is nothing more expansive than contemplating the dimensions of divine love.

PRESCRIPTION: Ephesians 3:18-19 is by no means a bitter pill. Rather it is a mind altering medication. “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

PROGNOSIS: Our containers are too small. In order to be filled with the fullness of God we need larger vessels. Our borders of bias and our parameters of prejudice need to be transcended by something as expansive as the universe. That something is the very essence of God which is love: a selfless, sacrificial love that Jesus brought into this world from beyond time and space.

PRACTICE: Let me suggest this exercise. Bring alongside Ephesians 3:18 the most familiar verse in the entire Bible, John 3:16. Notice how they so beautifully dove-tail. What is the breadth of divine love? “God so loved the world….” We often draw circles to shut people out who are different from us. God draws circles which are inclusive of the whole world and everyone in it. What is the length of love? The answer is again in John 3:16-“that he gave his only begotten son.” God went to great lengths to demonstrate his love for us-he cared enough to send the best. His love reaches as far as the cross. What about the depths of love? “That we should not perish….” God sent his son into a perishing world. Truly there is no bottom to the heart of God. Corry Ten Boom (who survived the holocaust) was fond of saying: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” Let’s practice on the heights of divine love: “…but have everlasting life.” The goal of love is to find us in the depths of despair and lift us to the heights of life eternal.

CHALLENGE: Spend some quality time meditating on the down reach, the up reach, the outreach and the in reach of divine love and let it stretch you out to your full potential. Don’t allow yourself to be limited by the smallness of a time bound, three dimensional world which shuts you in on every side.

Happy Chappy's 2nd hat-Dr. Praise #2

MY SECOND DIAGNOSIS

DIAGNOSIS: We often think of body, soul, and spirit as we proceed from the external to the internal. The Bible reverses that order and speaks of spirit (the core of our being) the soul (the functions of mind, emotion, and will) and the body. We need a therapy that starts in our spirit and proceeds outwardly. Outward therapies often do not penetrate deeply enough to reach the problem of pessimism. I would like to recommend the Holy Spirit who releases into the inner depths of our human spirit the joy of Jesus which radiates out in a more positive attitude and which ministers emotional and physical health.

PRESCRIPTION: Today, I would like to write you a script from Hebrews 1:9. It describes our Savior in these terms: “God anointed him with the oil of gladness beyond his contemporaries.” When you close your eyes and think of God do you see a frowning face? Do you visualize an angry deity, who can’t wait for the slightest reason to rain wrath on your head? It’s time to replace that with the smiling face of Jesus. He did not come to take the wind out of our sails, the spring out of our step, or the blue out of our skies. He came that “we might have life and have it more abundantly.” To have just a fraction of his cheerful disposition, his positive personality, rub off on us, would turn our mourning into gladness. “He that has seen me has seen the Father,” our Savior said. To see the Christ through the eyes of faith is to get a whole new vision of the depths of divine love.

PROGNOSIS: As we turn our eyes upon Jesus, we see that our Creator is everything an ideal Father ought to be. We are welcome to climb up on His lap, throw our arms around Him and call him “Daddy.” We can look up to a star-studded sky and affirm, “My Heavenly Father did that!” We can feel warmed by Papa’s love and sheltered in His care.

PRACTICE: Through the week let your heart-sing with joy: “This is my Father’s world and to my listening ear, all nature sings and ‘round me rings the music of the spheres.” Our God is not an impersonal force; a first cause; an unmoved mover; the eternal ground of all being. That works well for the philosophical, the rational level of our minds. But deep within us is a crying need for personal relationship. The God Jesus revealed to us can meet this need. “His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.” Jesus told us that not one sparrow can fall to the ground without the Father knowing it and we are worth more than many sparrows.

CHALLENGE: Why should any believer get stuck in the slough of despondency and be mired in the mud of murmuring. With renewed spiritual resources, we can turn our pessimism into praise and glory in the gladness of God’s Son. Let us determine to be loyal to the royal that is within us.

Happy Chappy's 2nd hat-Dr. Praise

MY FIRST DIAGNOSIS

DIAGNOSIS: You have a body but you are a spirit. As you must exercise your body to maintain physical fitness; you must exercise your spirit to maintain a healthy spirituality. One of the best ways to activate and energize your innermost being is with the daily practice of praise.

PRESCRIPTION: Take a big dose of John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Notice, this prescription is for any and every believer. It’s not limited to super-star Christians who are gifted with special enlightenment. This promise is for you. You have locked up within yourself, not just tiny trickles but rivers. Living a life-style of praise is not a matter of getting more of God into your life. Rather, a vital spirituality is a matter of opening the flood gates of your soul and letting out what you already have flowing within you.

PROGNOSIS: Think of a garden hose lying in the sun. When you first turn on the faucet, the water is warm and tastes like plastic. As it flows, it gets cooler and sweeter, loosing that artificial flavor. That’s my prognosis for you fellow traveler. As you become a practitioner of praise so much of the superficiality and staleness in your life will be washed away, bringing refreshment to yourself and others.

PRACTICE: As a general practitioner I subscribe to the therapeutic principle that love will find its way into an open heart. But as a praise specialist, I like to emphasize a reverse therapy. Love will find its way out of an open heart. As love flows out, the stream becomes a river, which carries us along on the current of caring. So find someone that you discern is gifted in some area. Perhaps they don’t recognize their gift but you have observed it in action. Without flattery (which is manipulative) affirm that person in a simple and direct way. You don’t want to spread it on too thickly causing them embarrassment. Just let them know that you appreciate their attitude of kindness which has lifted your spirit.

CHALLENGE: Why should any believer stand on the bank and just observe, while others are splashing and frolicking in a river of living water, which cleanses the soul and inspires praise in the heart? We can find ways to release the indwelling spiritual resources which are flowing just below our level of consciousness.

A Grasshopper Mentality

It's sound advice that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. On the other hand the pendulum can easily swing to the other extreme when we think too lowly of ourselves. To find that delicate balance between haughtiness and humiliation is true humility.

A case in point: when the people of God first entered the Promised Land to possess their possessions, their task seemed daunting. The walls were high and the cities well fortified. They seemed like impregnable fortresses whose inhabitants were gigantic. In stark contrast they saw themselves as grasshoppers. "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them" (Numbers 13:33, New Revised Standard Version). In reality these "giants" were cowering behind their walls having heard of the miracles God did in liberating his people from their bondage in Egypt. They were fearful that what had happened to the Egyptians would happen to them.

The people of God couldn't see their position of strength because they were demoralized by the negativism of a grasshopper mentality.

After they got a few victories under their belts, their problems didn't look so formidable and they began to have a more healthy respect for their own resources. I think something similar will happen to us, after we get some experience traveling the world. Something of the can do attitude of Caleb will deliver us from grasshopperitis. "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it" (Numbers 13:30). Now that's the spirit we need.

Trying is Winning

We live in a culture which is profoundly influenced by the professional sports mentality that winning is all important; nothing else matters. If you’re not a winner you can’t attract the fans in sufficient numbers to pay the bills. This philosophy, I believe, prevents many people who are not world class athletes from competing.

Happy Chappy subscribes to a different value system. I believe that the only ultimate failure is to give up on trying. All those who try are winners in my book even if they come in dead last. That’s how I feel about Space-A travel; or anything else for that matter. I may not have the strength to do it at my age. I’m not sure I can motivate myself to face the uncertainties of not having a confirmed reservation. But that should not keep me from trying. So, here I am a few days later, with a wireless lap top computer to make reservations ahead and stay in contact with family and friends. That way, they will know where I am and what I’m doing.

My workouts at the Fitness Center are building my strength and my confidence. I’m giving it the good old college try. That makes me a winner regardless of the outcome. Are you with me?

Here goes an easy one to get me started. I have a reservation to fly to my son’s house and spend time with the grandchildren. Then what? a cruise, bus trip, train ride learning as I go? When I run out of money, I’ll have to come up with another plan.

I have a senior friend who goes from cruise to cruise. She claims it’s less expensive than a rest home and they do it all for you and provide plenty of entertainment when you get board with the ocean. Now that lady has some spunk!

What about timid little me? Can I strap on the back pack and the money belt and with passport in hand face the world? Time will tell. Whatever the outcome, I consider myself a winner. Just keep trying to fulfill your dreams and you will be a winner in your eyes, regardless of how the world sees you. Amen, that will preach!

Confidence Rising

In my first blog, I talked about the fear factor. That’s not very relevant to young people, who somehow feel, they are immortal and indestructible. As we grow older we can more clearly see that thin line between faith and foolishness. Am I being foolish to think that at my age, I could throw caution to the wind and succumb to the thrill of a new adventure? How nice it is to have this platform where I can think out loud. Maybe no one else is listening, but I can throw it out into the blogosphere, like a boomerang, and see if it returns for another cast.

I am happy to report today that my confidence is rising. For one I went to the Fitness Center and had a workout for a change. The endorphins are activated and I am feeling better about recovering 100 % from my stroke and shedding some extra pounds in the process. I feel that I’m on a roll and who knows where it will lead.

Also I have been doing some research and it is amazing how many places in the world a military ID card can take you. It’s truly mind blowing. I should have started years ago, but better late than never. With a debit card, a money belt, going light with a back pack, and a small air mattress to use when spending the night in an air port, one is well on the way.

I hope this will not sound too weird. The last thing I told my wife of 57 wonderful years as she was passing over was: “Where ever I go and whatever I do in the time I have left, I will take you with me in my mind and heart. You can see through my eyes and hear with my ears.” Does that sound spooky? The good book says: “All things are possible only believe.”

It may have been General Douglas MacArthur who coined the phrase: “Old soldiers never die they just fade away.” I would rather say it this way: “Old chaplains never die they just praise away.” I’ve been wallowing in the slough of despondency long enough. It’s time for me to propel myself out of this pit of pessimism on the wings of praise. We need not be mired in the mud of negativism. I believe our God is waiting to turn our mourning into melodies and gird us with garments of gladness.

I’ll keep you posted on how my metamorphosis goes, as I struggle to escape the cocoon of a comfortable environment.

The Fear Factor

Does it irk you to have a valuable benefit and not utilize it? I retired in 1992 with 25 years of military service. For the last 17 years, I have had the privilege of traveling space available and have not used it once! My friends tell me; “you better do what you can do while you can do it.” True but I get cold feet: I’m 76 years old. Don’t I need the comfort of a confirmed flight? Could I take the frustration of being bumped off and having to wait around for a later flight? What if I ran out of medicine? What if I had another stroke? What if I got stuck somewhere and couldn’t get back? If I needed medical help where could I go and what insurance would I need? Could I learn enough about the Space-A system of travel to use it effectively?

100 different questions gnaw at my confidence and point invitingly to the rocking chair or the rest home. I can see that I need to build up my courage in little steps by starting with simple trips. So I’m going to take the first baby step. I’m reaching up and taking down a 1993 edition of Worldwide Space-A Travel from my book shelf. It’s outdated but it will get me started learning the system. As an old Chinese proverb says; “The distance of 1,000 miles begins with the first step.

Let’s see, what might be further steps? A lap top would be essential to e-mail ahead and make reservations etc. Can I work that into my budget? Can I get a camcorder, in addition to my digital camera, to record my adventures? My mind is spinning with things to do in preparation for this radical change in life style.

The cautious side of my nature is inclined to think about less adventurous trips like flying commercial to visit my kids and grandkids. How about using those frequent flyer miles (before I loose them) to take a trip to the east coast? How about a cruise where one can just kick back and be pampered? That could be followed by a train trip and then a bus trip. Am I chickening out? I would like to think that I am trying to build up my travel muscles so I can launch out and just fly off into the sun set with the 600 lb. gorilla in the room, military Space-A. Stay tuned as Happy Chappy keeps you updated on a military vet with a 40% disability, stretching out to tramp the world. If I can do it (which is not yet determined) anybody can do it that has a military ID card.

I’ll keep you posted.