When a difficult circumstance comes our way, we instinctively reach out to do everything we can, while we can with what we have to bring resolution to the trial.
Sometimes, however, the best thing to do is to do nothing (especially when you don't know what to do). Sometimes the old adage, "doing something is better than nothing," doesn't hold true.
Henri Nouwen has written:
The Flying Rodleighs are trapeze artist who perform in the German circus Simoneit-Barum. When the circus came to Freiburg two years ago, my friends, Frank and Reny invited me and my father to see the show. I will never forget how enraptured I became when I first saw the Rodleighs move through the air, flying and catching as elegant dancers (Gradually, the Rodleighs and I) became good friends.
One day, I was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, in his caravan, talking about flying. He said, "As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump"
"How does it work?" I asked.
"The secret," Rodliegh said, "is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar."
"you do nothing!" I said, surprised.
"Nothing," Rodleigh repeated. "The worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. I am not supposed to catch Joe. It's Joe's task to catch me. If I grabbed Joe's writes, I might break them, or he might break mine, and that would be the end for both of us. A flyer must fly and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust with outstretched arms, that this catcher will be there for him."
Are you in a difficult situation today?
Sometimes the best thing to do in a difficult situation is to do nothing - and to trust in God.
The old man decided to sue the driver of the truck, seeking to recoup the cost of the damages. While the old man was on the stand, the counsel for the defense cross-examined the man by asking a simple question: "I want you to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the following question: Did you or did you not say at the time of the accident that you were 'perfectly fine'"?
And the man said, "Well, me and my dog and my mule were walking along the road … " And the counsel for defense said, "Stop, stop, I asked you, tell me 'yes' or 'no', did you say you were 'perfectly fine' at the time of the accident?"
"Well, me and my dog and my mule were walking along the road and … " The defense attorney appealed to the judge. "Your honor," he said, "the man is not answering the question. Would you please insist that he answer the question?" The judge said, "Well, he obviously wants to tell us something. Let him speak."
So the man said, "Well, me and my dog and my mule were walking along the road and this truck came around the corner far too fast, knocked us into the ditch. The driver stopped, got out of his truck, saw my dog was badly injured, went back to his truck, got his rifle, and he shot it. Then he saw that my mule had broken his leg so he shot it.
Then he said, 'How are you?' And I said, 'I'm perfectly fine.'"
Sometimes what you have heard about a situation or even seen does not dictate the perception that you have - or whether or not your perception is correct.
It all depends upon the context.
Put things into context today, my friends. Get all the facts. Realize that there are two sides to every story.
Just a thought for a Tuesday.
