Lessons From a Chinese Finger Trap

Have you ever seen a Chinese finger trap? They are tubes (usually made out of braided strips of paper) where you put a finger in each end and, the harder you try to pull your fingers out, the tighter it latches on.

The brilliance of the trap is that escaping requires you do exactly the opposite of what your brain tells you to. The only way to get free is to stop pulling, push in, and twist.

I haven't played with a Chinese finger trap in years, but I have certainly seen its concept play out in my life. Maybe you have, too. It often comes in the form of a habit, a tendency, or an action - clearly detrimental - that gets harder and harder to change the longer you live with it. You feel trapped. And the more you run away from dealing with it, the tighter the trap becomes.

Maybe it's a lie you've been living.
Maybe it's your refusal to walk away from a toxic friendship.
Maybe it's resigning yourself to a job that forces you to sacrifice your values.
Maybe it's years worth of dishing out verbal or emotional abuse.
Maybe it's an addiction you've been unwilling to admit...even to yourself.

The irony is that the solution to these "trappings of life" comes in doing the exact opposite of what our humanness tells us to. Instinct tells us to hide. To run. To ignore. To rationalize. To settle. To get comfortable with compromise. But Jesus tells us otherwise. In Matthew 11:28 he says, "Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."  (And I can tell you from experience that there is nothing more tiring or burdensome than a guilty conscience.)

Freedom is found not in running away from our sins, but in taking them to Christ and letting him mold and shape us into more-recognizable reflections of himself. It's counter-intuitive, it's counter-cultural, and it's scary...but it's true.

If you're feeling stuck in your own humanity today, remember the two principles of the Chinese finger trap:

1. The harder you pull away, the tighter the trap gets.

And...

2. The only way to get free is to stop pulling, push in, and twist.

I Wanted You to Know

After I returned from Peru last summer, I was challenged. Not just to return (which I will in July), but to make a difference for others around the world who are in need. That process started the day I got home, as I helped raise the money necessary to start a jewelry-making business for a group of transition home girls in Lima. (For those of you who gave, I'm told jewelry will start being made in the next few weeks!)

Well, now, I want to tell you about an organization I've just started called THREESIXTEES. Our goal is to connect people who have a passion to turn the world around with charities that already are. Every t-shirt sold helps change people's lives...providing water, food, immunizations, shoes, trees, or textbooks to the areas they are needed the most.With a wide variety of creative, fun, and attention-getting shirts, THREESIXTEES allows you to - literally - wear your heart on your sleeve. Plus, when you do, you'll be helping fund relief efforts in your need area of choice.

You can check out the website here, or go directly to the web store.

The official launch of THREESIXTEES is this Sunday, April 29th (which happens to be my 34th birthday). However, I hope you'll visit now. Check out the site. Look at the shirts. Navigate through the pages. Find the typos. And, if you so desire, go ahead and order a shirt. It will make a huge difference in at least one person's life...and it will help spread the word as you wear it.

Also, would you mind either liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter? That would be a huge help.

Thanks so much for helping spread the word...I appreciate it.

I Want to Live Like Chris Died

On Monday I attended the "Celebration of Life" service for a 35-year-old guy I have known for the last 20 years. His name was Chris, and his funeral was different from most. Rather than spending an hour or two regretting what wasn't, Chris' family and friends rejoiced in what was. And they had good reason to.

Chris had five and a half months between his cancer diagnosis and his death, and Chris made much of that time. He met with many of his best friends, even though they lived in different states. He started a friendship with his pastor. He spent one-on-one time with both his immediate and extended family, telling them regularly that he loved them. And, perhaps most importantly, he specifically focused on leaving a legacy of faith for his children.

In fact, several days before he died, Chris asked his wife to promise him that she would keep their three young kids in church and make sure that they were introduced to Jesus. He knew he was going to heaven and wanted to be able to see his family again...and she agreed.

At the funeral, rather than speeches full of regret, person after person took the stage and spoke about conversations that did happen. They shared words that were said. They relayed moments that were had. While there was plenty of sadness, you could tell there was still joy. Remarkable joy. Chris had made it pretty easy.

I'm certainly not asking for a terminal diagnosis (far from it), but I do wish that I could live as if I had one. I want the sense of urgency that Chris had. I want my priorities to reflect the brevity of life rather than the vanity of it. I want to be able to wholeheartedly focus on my faith and my family and my friends, without letting the temporal crowd out the eternal.

Life, in and of itself, is terminal. And while I am saddened by Chris' death, I am rejoicing that (in the process) he helped me (and many, many others) learn how to truly live.

Shortcuts

I once heard temptation defined as, "taking a short cut in order to get what could rightfully be yours if you were only willing to work for it."

 For example:

You're tempted to call in sick because you don't want to work to save up enough comp time for a vacation day.
You're tempted to cave in to your kids because you don't want to work to set boundaries and stick to them.
You're tempted to look at pornography because you don't want to work to truly engage with your spouse.
You're tempted to cheat on your taxes because you don't want to work to pay what you really owe.

They're shortcuts.  All of them.  Each trying to speed up satisfaction and slow down suffering.

We live in a culture where the easy way out is often synonymous with the best way out...and yet we serve a God who says otherwise.  Every day our human-ness conflicts with our holiness, and we're forced to chose who (and what) we're really living for.

Being Easter week, I can't help but think of Jesus and how tempted He was to call the whole crucifixion thing off.  He was fully human, yet fully God, and (like you and me) Jesus' human-ness and holiness collided.  In Matthew 26:39 He said, "“My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Jesus was tempted to take the easy way out.  To speed up His own personal satisfaction and to slow down the suffering that awaited Him.  But, of course, He didn't.  Jesus did what was right as opposed to what was easy.  He was willing to put up with short-term suffering, for long-term satisfaction.

Two thousand years ago Jesus didn't take a shortcut because He had you in mind.  Perhaps, the next time you and I are tempted to take the easy way out, we'll have Him in mind too.