Doing My Homework

So, if you attend Hope Church or watch the livestream you will understand what follows. If not, hopefully it will still be meaningful and encouraging. For the past two Sunday’s our Pastor, David Dwight, has us examining the longings of the soul. As sermons go, these past two have gotten pretty thick into the theological weeds, but sometimes that’s exactly what I need. Not all the time, but sometimes. Anyway, this past Sunday he was talking about why humans are so prone to worry, why we are so anxious about everything. After examining some of the reasons for our perpetual angst, he read the following verse from the 4th chapter of Philippians and offered it to us as a possible remedy…

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”

I was never great at doing my homework back in the day. There was always much more fun alternatives for my time back then. As a fully grown man I’m not much better at homework. But for some reason last night I sat down in my library, took out a yellow pad and listed all the highlighted words from the above verse down the left side of the page. Then I cleared all the frustrations and resentments of the day out of my head as best I could. Then I sat out to actually do what the Apostle Paul asked us to do…I started to think about these eight things. Whatever popped in my head I wrote down on the right side of the page. Here’s what it looked at after thirty minutes or so…

True…..The reliable laws of physics, a reminder of a reliable creator.

Noble…The soldier who throws himself on a live grenade to save his platoon.

Just…..Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Pure….The devotion and loyalty of a dog.

Lovely..The window boxes full of flowers that adorn every business on the streets of Camden, Maine.

Admirable…The homeless man who found a wallet with $600 inside, then tracked down the owner and returned it.

Excellent…Ted Williams’ 1941 season.

Praiseworthy…The steadfast, undying love of Jesus.

This morning, my list was different in a couple places. The entire exercise has been a huge encouragement to me because it has reminded me just how many things in my life qualify to be included on this list. It has calmed my spirit, eased my anxiety a little. I hope this doesn’t end up being one of those things that works so well I stop doing it! I’m kinda famous for that.

Give this a try tonight or first thing in the morning.