outcome

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Knowing The Outcome, I Was Surprised At My Engagement

When you know the outcome, your engagement with the subject changes drastically.

knowing the outcome

You may watch a program on television that you’ve seen before. You may not have seen it for a while, and may not remember all the details, but what you do remember enables you to watch the program differently.

You might watch it while you are doing something else so that you are not fully engaged with the program. After all, you know the story line. 

Then there are times when we might try to avoid knowing the outcome so that we can watch it after the fact but as if we were taking it all in live.

There are some movies, however, that you may have never seen but their outcome is so predictable that you know in advance how they will end. 

I’m thinking specifically of some of the Hallmark romance movies my wife watched over Christmas. I’d watch them for less than five minutes and know what guy was going to marry the girl in the story. 

In those cases I just turned around and found something else to do. 

But the other day I watched the last three minutes of a hockey game I had seen the day before.

It was a close game, a game that mattered to me. I remembered how tense I was as the other team pulled their goalie and had a man advantage. They hemmed my team in their own end and, with each shot, there was a fear that it would weave its way through the crowd of players on the ice into the back of the net. 

At any moment I feared the game would be tied up and sent into overtime. 

When I watched the game I couldn’t turn away; I couldn’t do something else. I was all in, fully engaged in the play.

In the end, my team kept the puck out and with about 4 or 5 seconds left to go in the game they got an empty-netter to seal their victory.

The next day when I watched that last part of the game for the second time, of course I didn’t watch with the same emotion. I knew how things turned out so I wasn’t as tense. 

When the Leafs couldn’t get the puck out of their end, I knew that it didn’t end badly for them. But surprisingly, there was still some emotion and engagement with those last few moments of the game.

I noticed the times when they could have cleared the puck and reduced the pressure, but for whatever reason it didn’t happen. 

I found I analyzed the play more than when I watched it the first time. I even had a few suggestions for the team watching them play the second time around. 

What surprised me was that I was as interested in watching the game the second time around as I was seeing it the first time. … I just had a different perspective. 

Here’s the thing: When you place your faith in Jesus Christ you know what is going to happen at the end of your life on earth. There is nothing up in the air, no fear of a sudden change. But you still live your life to the full, engaged in every moment and detail you experience. It’s just that the outcome is certain.

That’s Life!

Paul 

Question: Do you have the outcome of your life settled? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It Was A Different Story, But The Same Outcome

I read a story last night … something I haven’t done in years.

Let me explain: it was a children’s story and I read it to a couple of kids.

It’s been years since I’ve read a children’s story to kids, because it’s been years since our kids were little.

The story was new but some things were familiar, like my tendency to change things when I read them or add things to the story that aren’t there.

I actually have the reverse effect on kids that I’m supposed to have.

When our kids were little and I would read them stories, they would end up giggling and laughing and ready for a party to break out.

Lily would have to come along and settle them down for bedtime all over again.

Last night I found myself in that old, familiar situation. It was bedtime for a couple of kids Lily and I were babysitting for the night. … It was actually Lily doing the babysitting; I just came in at story time to give a hand … or maybe disrupt the flow.

Lil handed me the books, so I went into the living room and slumped on the couch. Two little creatures followed me and sat beside me, one on each side.

There were two stories, and they picked which one I would read first. So I began to read.

I was a little uncertain of how it would go; it had been so long and I felt out of practice. I also didn’t know what it would be like reading to someone else’s kids, but I got into the rhythm fairly quickly.

Back when our kids were little, I would stop on certain pages – the same pages every time, in fact – and make comments about the pictures. … A number of years later, our son was reading a story to younger kids at his school. When he got to the page I used to make comments on, he was shocked to find that those comments weren’t actually part of the story.

I’d also read things in the first person, or sometimes change the story just a little. That usually stirred the kids up.

Well, last night the reading was going on without a hitch … nothing to change, only a few comments to be made about the pictures.

Then I came across a word that triggered a song in my head.

Now I don’t know how many times these kids have had that story read to them, but I bet it was the first time that the reader broke out in a rendition of “May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.”

I think they made me sing it three or four times after that! I just hope those little guys’ parents will know what to do when those kids get home, hand them that story book and say, “sing the song”!

Well, it’s nice to know I haven’t lost my touch!

Lil had to do her magic once again. I walked by their room a few minutes after they left me, and she was telling them one of her calming, soothing stories to put them to sleep.

Here’s the thing: If you find that things have been strained with God, that maybe your time with Him has been non-existent recently, or that through disobedience you’ve felt far away, just come back to Him. When you do draw close to Him, you will find that familiar relationship you once had is back again. God never changes.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What memories of your time with God do you want to rekindle? Leave your comments below.

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Waiting For An Outcome That’s Worth It

Sometimes the outcome is worth the wait … and sometimes it’s not.

Mario-+Queen+of+the+Circus

That’s what I found last night when we went to the buskers festival downtown.

I’ve been to them before and seen all kinds of acts. It truly is remarkable what some people can do with their bodies and a few props.

On this trip to watch the street performers, Lily and I mostly witnessed juggling in various forms.

There was the guy who could juggle and eat an apple. There were the guys who juggled between each other, one on a unicycle and the other on a ladder, completely unsupported.

We also saw a guy who juggled two fire sticks and a sledge hammer – that was pretty remarkable.

Being a juggler myself, I found that fascinating. I can only juggle three objects and Lily still won’t let me attempt to juggle eggs from the fridge. … I guess I’m not quite ready to join the cast of performers making a living off the street.

As we moved from one busker to another, we noticed that many of them used similar jokes and lines. I personally found there was way too much similarity between the acts. It would have been nice to see more variety.

All the acts work on the same premise. They have one big trick, feat or demonstration that they are going to show the crowd.

That one thing probably only takes about two or three minutes to perform. They make their living off people donating to their act so, to get people to pay up, they need to build some rapport, and give people something more than a two minute reason to spend $5 or more.

What the buskers do is develop a whole act that takes about thirty minutes, leading up to this one main trick everyone is waiting to see. By then you’ve expended a significant amount of time with them and and they have been able to charm you into being generous with your money.

What I found, however, is that most acts really left you thinking, “Please, get on with it”. I didn’t say it because I’m Canadian, but I had thought of shouting out, “Okay, let’s get to the big trick!”

With most of the acts, I thought they were putting in time. But there was one act Lily and I both agreed kept everyone entertained. I never felt like I wished they’d get to the finale.

I found it to be a lot like preaching. You have a point that you want to make, and then you inform the congregation, illustrate the point to emphasize it, draw some conclusions to it, and hopefully are able to do it in a way that keeps the congregation engaged throughout, and not just hoping you’d get to the end.

Maybe I do have some street performer in me.

Here’s the thing: Following Jesus shouldn’t be like most of those busker acts where you are all focussed on the final feat (heaven). It should be more like that one act we saw, where you are engaged with Jesus and interacting with Him all through life. Christ doesn’t call us to an ending; He calls us to come along with Him in relationship.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of relationship with Jesus do you have? Leave your comments below.