Prescriptions for Life

September 1, 2002

Brian Mallett, Lay Speaker

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Dear friends, good morning!

I am very humbled to be the one to speak with you this morning. As many of you know, our pastor Tony is away on vacation, and I hope if you are a visitor today you will come again next week, at 10:30 AM!, to hear his powerful and positive message.

Several years ago, my family and I visited the Gerald Ford presidential library in Grand Rapids, Michigan. If you have the opportunity, it is a good museum of the 1970's, as well as of the history surrounding Ford's presidency. Our most lasting memory of this visit was the prescription for success given by President Ford's mother. She insisted that her children - "work hard, tell the truth, and get to dinner on time". We were all impressed with the clarity of Mrs. Ford's direction, and the success it brought to her son.

Now, as I considered what I might share with you today, I thought of my own family and some of the lessons they have taught me. Today I want to offer you just three.

The first comes from my sons, who have grown into young men, and as we have experienced their development, we are reminded that - Learning is a life-long process.

It seems easy for us to accept that learning is part of being a child, but we often accept it less as adults. When Jesus said we must become like a child, in part he meant that we must continually grow and learn, not just until we graduate from high school or college, but all our lives. As Christians, we live on an eternal time scale, our faith journey is always learning and growing and creating, never fully complete.

Life-long learning is a hallmark of the Methodist tradition, which started with people meeting in their homes and small groups to study the Bible. If you are looking for a special learning experience, please consider teaching Sunday School! The students will teach you something, even as you are teaching them.

Just one example of the insight of our young people comes from this story:

A teacher was testing her class and asked them what two days of the week begin with the letter "t". A student raised his hand and answered "today and tomorrow". Now, that was not exactly the response expected, but it did show great thought.

Next the teacher quizzed the class with a math question. "How many seconds are there in a year?" A hand shot up, too quickly to make that calculation, and so the teacher was quite surprised to hear the answer, "12". "Jan 2nd, Feb 2nd, Mar 2nd, etc..."

Finally the teacher asked them what God's name is. Immediately a student offered the name "Andy". The teacher was now very baffled until the student explained, "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am his own."

We can learn a lot from our children, and we can learn a lot from our life experience, even from the hard times. Often, the things that are the most difficult bring the most growth.

The scripture from Proverbs tells us that we must continue to learn or we will lose what we already know. The great golfers, like Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, still practice. The most successful organizations are said to be the ones that continue to grow and learn from mistakes. We never exhaust our possibilities for growth because . . . learning is a life-long process.

My second bit of family wisdom comes from my wife, , who is the most positive and joyful person I have ever met, and who tells me that - Happiness is a choice.

Of all the choices we get to make in life, what we think about is perhaps the most important one. In the scripture we read today, we are directed to "think on these things", "whatever is true, whatever is . . .", the good things. What we think about is who we are, we get to control that. We get to choose what that will be.

Happiness is not a function of our circumstances. It is a choice we make of how to respond. There are stories of POW's during WWII and Vietnam, and how they survived, and there is one common element - - that their captors could take everything away from them but their thoughts. They were determined to be in control of their own thinking, and their conscious choice over that was what made the difference to their survival.

Nelson Mandela was in prison for over 17 years, deprived of his freedom because of the color of his skin. Imagine the state of mind of someone toward his captors after such an in-justice. But Mandela came out with a positive, non-violent and healing message, and that was responsible for changing a nation.

It is said that great golfers visualize themselves succeeding before they hit. They picture a great shot, with exactly the direction and distance they intend, and their positive attitude has an effect on the outcome. Can you imagine them thinking the shot will be lousy and then hitting? Yogi Berra used to say "the game is 90% half mental".

Pastor Tony has given us a picture of the cross as a "plus" sign. In nature, it is the positive energies that are the most powerful. We have a lot of blessings, and we have the knowledge that there is a God who created us and all the universe, and that we matter. Now that is something to be happy about!

When we are happy, there is a positive physiological change in our bodies. Great healing power is available when we are positive, and it is infectious. Other people are positively affected when we are positive.

Do you know the difference between a thermometer and thermostat? A thermometer reacts to its surroundings and reflects exactly what it is immersed in. Many people are like thermometers and follow the crowd or reflect anger. But a thermostat is different, a thermostat sets the temperature, it acts on the conviction of its heart and creates the atmosphere around it. Christians are not thermometers. Christians are thermostats!

We are more capable, more powerful, more loving and more Christ-like when we are positive. It does not derive from what others say or do, it is our choice. Happiness is a choice.

My final thought comes from Jesus Christ, who tells us that - "The Kingdom of God is within you". Wow! The very same power that created all the universe is in you, and you cannot be separated from it.

I was watching a program on PBS, and the lecturer asked the audience to point to themselves. Try this exercise with me and point to yourself. Look around, and you will see that people are not pointing at their head, they are pointing at their heart. What we think and do are driven by something deeper inside us, a recognition that God is in us, and that God is in all of us.

As Christians, our actions should reflect that understanding. My father called that "integrity", it meant more than just telling the truth (as in Mrs. Ford's prescription), it meant living in accordance with ones values. When we "think on these things" we are also to act on these things and live that way.

Ralph Waldo Emmerson had a similar phrase - "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are small things compared to what lies within us". The point here is that we have something inside us that guides our actions, and that is God.

The past is important, that is what prepared us for today, that is how we learned. The future is important, that is where our hopes and dreams lie. But the engine for all that, the power we have to do all that is in us today, and that is the love of God.

There is something in you that is over you, and it will inspire you and those around you, and it is God! You know the word "inspire" comes from the two words "in" and "spirit". You are inspiring because you have the spirit of God inside you. You are thermostats!

Now, I am sure you can think of many inspiring words of wisdom from your families. Perhaps you have even distilled them into a crisp formula, like the one by Mrs. Ford.

Today I have shared with you these three from my family . . .

Learning is a life-long process,

Happiness is a choice, and

The Kingdom of God is within you.

So this is our challenge - - to keep learning and growing in faith; to choose happiness and the positive thoughts that give us hope; and to remember that we have an internal and eternal set-point, a power that is the love of God, inside each of us.

Have a great week. Amen.