Tell Yourself No

 

It is just about noon here, Saturday, of a quiet week. All week long I have been looking for an idea to develop into a blog post, without much luck. 

Most weeks I get an idea from something that comes out of my Bible reading, or a book I am reading, or something connected to my sermon prep, or perhaps something that I ran across online. Or a thought may come to mind while I am out running or doing something with the family. But this week? Nothing really, at least not like most weeks.

What has my mind been up to this week? Well, high on the priority list every week is sermon prep. Tomorrow’s sermon is from Galatians 4:21-31. You can watch it, or any of the other sermons I’ve preached since mid-March at our church YouTube channel. You’ll find sermons from Zechariah 5:1-11 to the end of his book, all of James, and as of tomorrow the first four chapters of Galatians. When I finish Galatians I’m going to begin Psalms. I plan to preach about 30 of the 150 Psalms in the Bible. Anyhow, there was nothing from my sermon prep that I wanted to blog about.

I’ve kept up with my other Bible reading. I follow the M’Cheyne plan, which gets me through the New Testament and Psalms twice a year, and the remainder of the Old Testament once. It usually calls for reading a chapter from four different books of the Bible each day. I modify it so that I read four chapters from one book each day. That helps me to better follow the flow of a particular book. This week I read all of Ezra and sections of Genesis, Nehemiah, Matthew and Acts. I read lots of really good things, but nothing to turn into a blog post.

In my other work-related reading I am working my way through three different books. I began an outstanding book on the Apostle’s Creed, read some chapters in an outstanding book on pastoral theology, and began a pretty good book on prayer. Good stuff? You bet. Blog post ideas? Not this week. I did some other reading for fun, but nothing that I found I should think over and then write my own thoughts about.

This week I made my first trip out of town in two months, going to the very same places as I did then. My dentist, in Pagosa Springs, and then over to Wal Mart in Durango, to pick up the groceries we ordered online. It was a good day to travel through the mountains. Sunny and clear roads. The highlight was when I saw an eagle and a group of ravens feeding on an elk carcass. Eagles are always exciting to see but it wasn’t blog-worthy.

I’ve done some pastoral care over the phone and by text. Occasionally pastoral care can spark a thought to share with a wider audience, but not this week.

There have also been a lot things in the news this week, and as I am sure you know, lots of people commentaries on those events. I don’t think that I really have anything to add to those conversations.

But now, after writing all of this, I find that I’m changing the conclusion because perhaps I do have something to say.

I took the picture above just as a view of the countryside from our window this morning. I took two of them, one from the upper pane, where there is no screen, and one from the lower pane, looking through the screen. You’ll notice that in this picture, the one from the lower pane, that there is a little, blurry, rectangle on the upper right. That is where Robin and one of the boys patched the screen this week. They actually patched a number of screens this week. Curious boys, their fingers and window screens are not always the best combination.

The lesson we are trying to teach the boys from this is “Tell yourself “no”. You don’t need to act on every idea or impulse that comes through your head. Tell yourself “no.”” And right now, this week, that strikes me as a good thing for us all to keep in mind. We don’t have to act, or respond, or react, to everything that comes along. Sometimes the best choice is just to "tell yourself "no.""