LOOP DREAMS
Have you ever felt like the lone soul on the outside of the loop? I certainly have! I realize this confession must come as a big shock to you. I mean, Grant on the outside of the loop? Nah, it can't be! But, it's true, even though you think I am just too groovy. Trust me, I'm not totally up on everything hot and happening!
My outer loopiness started early in life, certainly before I was ten years old. Back then in Canada, we had a holiday on July 1 which was called "Dominion Day". The holiday is now called "Canada Day". Catchy, eh? Well, unfortunately in Ontario, there was also a large grocery chain called, "Dominion Food Stores". Yep, you guessed it. For a few years, I thought our national holiday had something to do with a grocery stores' birthday. Hey, it made sense to me. After all, the grocery stores were closed on Dominion Day, so what would YOU think! Eventually, I did figure things out, but not before realizing that I was one of the few, if not the only Canadian unaware of the true meaning of "Dominion Day."
Thankfully, since then I've learned to how to ask questions. Simply aying something like, "Excuse me, I'm not sure I understand what that means. Would you explain it to me?" opens up a lot of doors. You wouldn't believe how encouraging it is to someone when they have a chance to be an "expert"! Particularly when you're talking to a guy! Guys love to think they're experts, especially when they're not!. After you've asked for an explanation, you'd be surprised how open people become to hearing a thing or two from you!
Here's another insight that I've gleaned from asking questions — I've learned over the years that being afraid to ask a question, is being afraid of looking stupid (pride). But, if I am afraid of looking stupid, and thus refuse to ask a question, then I remain in the dark. But, if I don't mind looking stupid I can learn something! So, my choice is either to look stupid, and be smart, or look smart, and be stupid. Looking at it this way, I decided I couldn't really pull off the looking smart thing anyway! Now I am much smarter than I look!!
I bet you're wondering what has sparked all this question asking stuff in the first place. Well, for the past little while I've notices a few Christians ending their e-mail signatures with the acronym "P.U.S.H". I tried a few times to figure it out myself and got things like: "Please Use Shapely Hogs", or "Pile Up Sweet Herseys" but something told me that I wasn't quite on the mark.
Finally I pleaded ignorance and asked. What a wonderful lesson I learned as a result! P.U.S.H. stands for "Pray Until Something Happens"! I am now on the inside of a wonderful loop of people who believe that prayer really makes a difference. Pray until something happens. I can't think of anything more simply put, or more profound. If the church could just start "PUSHing", the hearts and minds and souls of our churches and communities would be entirely different places! Go ahead, get pushy; go ahead, ask!
“You do not have, because you do not ask God.” (Jam 4:2b)
If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me by clicking on my name at the bottom of this page. I promise to write back.
