Thanks, John Parks

My friend's obituary is in today's Lexington paper, i.e., John Parks, M.D. John was a psychiatrist, who prior to coming to Lexington, worked among the people of central and southwestern Arizona. Judy and I met John and his wife in the marriage enrichment efforts in central Kentucky. Later, he asked me to be in his peer learning group as he was training in spirituality with the Shalem Institute. We met in our home for several years. He introduced me to Psycho-synthesis and involved me in their work. Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, he began a dialogue group between Christians and Muslims. He involved me and later our group included Jews, Hindus, and all "religions", even a couple of "agnostics." We met monthly in his home. In 1995, I diagnosed myself (not a wise thing to do) with depression and burnout. I went to John. After a couple of sessions, he discerned that I wasn't depressed or even burned-out. I thought that being Pastor of the same church for 21 years qualified me for both depression and burned-out. John suggested that the Lord had "dried me up" because there was another direction to which I was being "called." That sounded like both a relief and a cop-out. My Spiritual Director, a Jesuit Priest, said this was a time of acting on faith and I probably wouldn't know the new direction until I resigned and trusted the Lord. I could have puked. Nevertheless after a period of time, I resigned the Church that summer. I had nothing to do. No church ever contacted me to do anything, not even to fill a pulpit. I painted the windows in our house and became a fan, via the radio, of the Cincinnati Reds. I was certain that I'd made the dumbest mistake that could ever be made. In December of my "nothing to do" period which by now was in its 6th month, I was contacted by Lexington's Calvary Baptist Church to see if I might have any interest in helping them begin a faith-based counseling center. Why not, I had nothing to do. It is now 23 years since that period and the Interfaith Counseling Center is a significant ministry (check out our website, i.e., Interfaithcounselingcenter.org). I will always appreciate John Parks and his awareness of the Lord's presence and moving in the lives of others.

4 Suggestions for Using an Opportunity

It seems that there are four suggestions which will help any of us make good use of our opportunities. Opportunities may come at any time so, first, be ready. Be attentive to situations that can be an opportunity for a better relationship, health, work, etc. Opportunities may come as a surprise, so be attentive and ready. Readiness also means to be aware of possible resources. Second, get organized or have some type of a plan. Third, be willing to ask for assistance or help. Share the opportunity, dream, plan, etc. Get others involved with you. Fourth, get busy with the plan. Be attentive to opportunities; have a plan; involve others and get with it. It seems to me that this is what Jesus did when He and the disciples fed 5,000. Thank about it.

The Beginning of Wisdom

A group of boys had become good friends. They have played together all summer. All was well until the day they suggested it would be exciting to try and steal a piece of fruit from the neighborhood market. One of the young men said that he would not go along with the plan. "What's the matter, are you afraid?" asked the others. "Yes," he replied, "I'm concerned about my Dad." They quickly reminded him that his Dad wasn't present and would never know. "I guess you are right," replied the young man, "but Dad and I are good friends and I don't want to do anything that would disappoint him." The Bible says that the fear [respect] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

One Tick at a Time

The story is told about a clock who went to see a Psychiatrist. The clock's concern was that it had such great responsibilities that they were causing great worry. The Psychiatrist asked for a further explanation. The clock said that it had to tick two ticks each second which meant 120 ticks per minute as well as 7,200 ticks per hour or 172,800 per day all of which meant 1,209,600 ticks each week. That amounted to 62,899,200 for a year. The clock thought that with all that responsibility, it was about ready for a nervous breakdown. The clock just couldn't see how it could keep up with the expectations and responsibilities. The Psychiatrist asked how many ticks the clock had to tick at a time? Only one was the reply. Like that clock we would probably do better if we worried about ticking one tick at a time.

Patience

Patience is a tough behavior to practice. My head knows the value of patience and that things are to be done properly and orderly. My heart, however, wants to hurry up. Recently we were refinishing our deck. The task of sanding so the new finish would properly adhere is time consuming. I know--be patient--do the task properly. However, I want to hurry up and finish. I'm eager to see the finished product. Patience, the word actually means to stay under the task. Patience isn't as easy as we think, is it?

Truth and Bondage

Too frequently we keep ourselves in bondage to harmful attitudes, habits, thoughts, emotions, etc. Perhaps it is because we fail to acknowledge the truth about our situation. Our broken relationships, for example, may be due to our temper more than we care to admit. The lack of close friends might be the result of arrogance that we fail to recognize. Our failure to admit to the truth of a drinking problem may have strained our relationships. We long to be free but too often keep ourselves in bondage because we refuse to acknowledge the truth. Jesus said, "...and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32.