On our way home from our weekend in Griffin today I had to stop by the local Starbucks to help me make it all the way to Cleveland. I had just fed the kids their lunch but since I wasn't hungry enough to eat I thought a small Cup O Joe might just do the trick. I ordered the usual, waited longer than normal and got a cup half full of liquid and half full of frothy milk. Not exactly the usual. As I sipped the mostly warm indulgence I noticed an advertisement of some sort printed on the cup. "The Way I See It #247" It sparked my interest, so I tried to read it as I drove up the not-so-busy roads of Fayetteville. It started, "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a"... that's where my cardboard cup holder (hand saver) blocked the rest of the writings. I thought "Starbucks is finally getting smart and printing something about God". Amazing! Now Starbucks is usually the ones I think of as tree huggers, earth lovers, granola people. Not the ones who normally talk freely about God. So, I sipped a little more and watched the road, cars, and kids. Then I thought I needed to read the rest of #247. I was wrong! See, this is how it ended. "As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure." It made me really sad that people actually think that way. It's true. There are lots of people who don't believe in God. There are lots who will never believe no matter what I do or what Starbucks prints on their cups. It made me want to throw away my coffee and never go back to Starbucks again. I saved the cup so I could read it again while I wasn't driving and managing the kids. At the end of #247 it also says "--Bill Scheel, Starbucks customer from London, Ontario. He describes himself as a 'modern day nobody'." That made me feel a little better since 'ole Bill is just a customer. One of those tree hugging, earth loving granola kids. It also says that this is just the author's opinion and not necessarily that of Starbucks. So, I may not have to give up the good stuff after all. But then Curtis tells me so nicely at home this evening that if it wasn't their opinion they wouldn't have printed it on their cups. True. If I had written my opinion as a Starbucks customer do you think they would have printed it on thousands of the cups? Probably not. Most assuredly not!
Why do we ask God for help in moments of crisis? When your car is sinking in the pond and you're stuck inside do you cry out "please save me pizza guy"? Well, only if the pizza guy is in the seat next to you. You cry out to God instinctively. We KNOW in our gut there is a greater Being. All of us do. There are just those of us who are chosen that know the greater Being in a personal relationship and know His name. We call on His name in moments of crisis for strength and help. Curtis also informed me that if we searched inside ourselves for the power to overcome and it worked, we would have no more issues or crisises, or crisees, or however you spell the plural of crisis. Wonder why ole Bill didn't think of that. I also wonder if he ever has a crisis anymore since he can search inside his modern day nobody self and find the answers. Maybe we should Google him and see if he's solving the world's troubles. He is Canadian! That's gotta mean something. :) BTW, the google link above is also pretty interesting reading on this #247. I'm not reading it before I post this for fear of plagiarism or altering my thoughts first.
OK, back to my thoughts. The whole call on a higher being in moments of crisis thing... yes, some people do restrict their callings for just those moments. We, however know that we are to call upon Him daily, without ceasing and not just in the moments of crisis. We are NOT strong enough to overcome on our own. That's why there is death, war, famine, floods, earthquakes... need I go on? That's why there's still cancer. That's why we call upon HIM to help us get through Leslie's latest news. For we know in our heads that all things work together for the good and we know in our heads that His grace is sufficient for me but we must actually believe in our hearts and act upon that belief daily, no not just daily, but minutely (I know... it's not a word) in order to get through the crisis. In order to be a living testimony to His strength and help.
I thank God for Leslie's cancer. James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
May we persevere and be a living testimony to all (including Bill Scheel) of what God has done and can do for us, with us, and through us.
...and yes, I also know that I am not Jack Handy and my deep thoughts in no way represent him or his deep thoughts. :) Peace out!
Why do we ask God for help in moments of crisis? When your car is sinking in the pond and you're stuck inside do you cry out "please save me pizza guy"? Well, only if the pizza guy is in the seat next to you. You cry out to God instinctively. We KNOW in our gut there is a greater Being. All of us do. There are just those of us who are chosen that know the greater Being in a personal relationship and know His name. We call on His name in moments of crisis for strength and help. Curtis also informed me that if we searched inside ourselves for the power to overcome and it worked, we would have no more issues or crisises, or crisees, or however you spell the plural of crisis. Wonder why ole Bill didn't think of that. I also wonder if he ever has a crisis anymore since he can search inside his modern day nobody self and find the answers. Maybe we should Google him and see if he's solving the world's troubles. He is Canadian! That's gotta mean something. :) BTW, the google link above is also pretty interesting reading on this #247. I'm not reading it before I post this for fear of plagiarism or altering my thoughts first.
OK, back to my thoughts. The whole call on a higher being in moments of crisis thing... yes, some people do restrict their callings for just those moments. We, however know that we are to call upon Him daily, without ceasing and not just in the moments of crisis. We are NOT strong enough to overcome on our own. That's why there is death, war, famine, floods, earthquakes... need I go on? That's why there's still cancer. That's why we call upon HIM to help us get through Leslie's latest news. For we know in our heads that all things work together for the good and we know in our heads that His grace is sufficient for me but we must actually believe in our hearts and act upon that belief daily, no not just daily, but minutely (I know... it's not a word) in order to get through the crisis. In order to be a living testimony to His strength and help.
I thank God for Leslie's cancer. James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
May we persevere and be a living testimony to all (including Bill Scheel) of what God has done and can do for us, with us, and through us.
...and yes, I also know that I am not Jack Handy and my deep thoughts in no way represent him or his deep thoughts. :) Peace out!
1 comment:
I never intended on having almost 560 people read this post on the Starbucks issue # 247. I am not sure I have solved the world's problems. I am only giving my thoughts on the statement as you are. Thanks for linking my site. I hope we can continue a great conversation regarding each other's posts in the future.
beingekklesia,
- Tim
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