Robert Taylor

Aileen Cynthia Maggay-Amarao knew she had a treasure. It was a gift from a relative who was a fisherman. While helping him move, he gave Maggay-Amarao the gift. It was a 75-pound pearl. The man had kept it under his bed for 10 years. He said it was “his good luck charm.” It measured two feet long and one foot wide. It is possibly the most significant natural pearl found. Today, it is on display at the local city hall. Who knew that this modest home of a fisherman, held a treasure beneath a mattress? Jesus told a story about someone who found a pearl. He was a merchant whose trade was pearls. When he found one of immeasurable value, it says: When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. (Matt 13:46) Most want a treasure, but they never believe it is in plain sight. The pearl of the gospel is not hidden under a bed or locked away in a vault.  Instead, God’s grace is open for anyone who will obey. If you had that kind of a pearl, wouldn’t you do all you could to keep it? Why not sometime more precious? -Robert G. Taylor-

In the Pixar movie Up, Doug the dog, has a problem. A squirrel crosses his path, and his attention flies to it. We are all like Doug today, easily distracted. Distracted driving causes 64% of car accidents The average student can focus on a given task for only 2 minutes. The typical Internet user’s online screen focus lasts for an average of 40 seconds. The average 25 to 34-year-old checks his or her phone 50 times per day. The average 25 to 34-year-old spends 2.5 hours per day on social media, while the average 8 to 18-year-old child spends 9 hours on social media per day. Excessive device usage is leading to decreases in marital and relational satisfaction. Loneliness is an epidemic, with 54% of people saying they always or sometimes feel that no one knows them well. On average, we spend 650 hours per year reading and responding to emails. We touch, swipe, and tap our screens an average of 2617 times per day. Those are the obvious distractions. They have their own dangers. But spiritual distraction is more subtle and for more dangerous. Jesus told a story of different kinds of soils in Matthew 13. In it, he described a soil woven with thorns. It doesn’t repel the seed. It only keeps it from growing. Listen to our distractions. “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22) When our focus is on the latest and loudest, the most immediate needs, we block out eternity. The things we own then owns us. We can lose our future by chasing our present. Look around and pay attention to what has your attention. If it distracts you from serving God wholeheartedly, it may choke the life from you. -Robert G. Taylor-

Everyone wants to be “special.” It has become an especially common theme in the lives of many young people. Joseph Davis tells of the growing sense of anxiety, especially among college students. Meghan, a 19-year-old scholarship student at a first-rate university, is frustrated and despairing of herself. She explains that she is attending her “safety school” and wants to “show that I should be somewhere better by acing all my classes and being president of 40 organizations.” But, she adds, “that is really not happening. I am, if anything, a mediocre student … and that just makes me so angry at the world and then me for not being the best person.” Although she wants “to impress someone,” she says, “I end up being impressively unimpressive,” and that “crushes me.” In short, Meghan, like everyone is seeking to stand out as special. Being special is not found in great achievement or outward status. Instead, it comes from unique relationships that recognize a person for who they are. Paul would tell us that God gives high status to those who come to him in faith and obedience. “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” (Galatians 4:7) When someone is adopted, they are chosen. God takes the worst, the downtrodden, the outsider, and the average and elevates them. They become a son of God, heir of all things. No higher sense of “specialness” exists. When you start feeling unappreciated, remember that in Christ, you are special. And he cares only that you are faithful. He gives the status. -Robert G. Taylor-

As the world moves on from “shelter-at-home” to “try out a new normal,” the conversation turns to change. How has the COVID-19 crisis changed your life? We altered shopping, made friends with face coverings, and experienced more of the online life than wanted. We think we have changed. But have we? Dr. Noam Shpancer, who studies human behavior, is skeptical. Most of the lessons of coronavirus—the clarified priorities; the acute awareness of life’s fragility and worth; the new appreciation of simple social pleasures; those grand promises we make to ourselves when our taken-for-granted assumptions are temporarily violated—will fade with time, becoming mere tales of contexts past. And we will go back to being short-sighted, self-focused, conflicted, and as mired in trivial preoccupations as ever. Only by becoming aware of this default mode in our system do we gain the possibility of subverting it. The problem with most change is its source. We change the outside without any change on the inside. When change is about behavior rather than the heart, it will revert back to what was. That’s why Jesus emphasized a different kind of change. When Jesus worked miracles in the town of Galilee, the works amazed them but did not change them. Matthew tells us, Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed because they did not repent.” (Mt 11.20) Jesus was looking for a deep down, below the skin kind of change. They would not change that much. If you are relying on COVID experience to change you, you will find yourself disappointed. But if you bring your heart to God’s will, you change not only actions but your reason for living. Don’t depend on circumstances to change you. Take your life to God and let him do the changing. -Robert G. Taylor-

When February 4, 2018, came to a close, Nick Foles was on top of the world. He wasn’t supposed to be here, standing before a worldwide audience accepting the Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl. Foles led his Philadelphia Eagles to what most believed was an upset over the powerhouse New England Patriots. Foles was the backup to a hurt Carson Wentz. The next year, Foles went back to the bench and watched Wentz take the snaps. Some believed life cheated Foles. He performed at a high level, and some expected him to be the starter the next year. He wasn’t. How did he see it? In a book written that year, Foles explained. Some people might think I deserve a better deal, but it’s not about what I deserve. It’s never been about that. The truth is, I’ve already been given far more than I deserve--a wonderful family; a job I love; grace and forgiveness; great friends, coaches and teammates. Everything I have is a gift from God, and I’m thankful for all of it. I am where I am now because of God’s grace, and I’ll continue to follow wherever he leads. Jesus has different values from the world. The culture cherishes top dogs but overlooks the second fiddles. Jesus doesn’t. He elevates them. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16) In the Master’s sight, it is not the name at the top of the letterhead but the one serving on his knees. Do not grow discouraged, thinking no one cares when you serve without recognition. Jesus does. Play a backup role and let the Master reward you. -Robert G. Taylor-

Florencia knocked a glass off the counter of a cafe that shattered. The sound brought a visit from the police, instructing her to “keep the sound down.” It caused her to blush. She was one of the residents of Cremona, Italy, the home to the workshop founded by Antonio Stradivari. His violins and cellos have filled the world with great music. Fearing that the sound would be lost one day, the city started a project to digitally record the sounds of the Stradivarius instruments so they would never be lost. The town had to be quiet. Noise-free. Their first attempt sounded successful until engineers listened to the playback. In the background were distant sounds of car engines and a woman’s clicking high heels. On the appointed day, everything in Cremona shut down. Bulbs went off, lest their faint buzz might be noticeable. The auditorium’s ventilation came to a silent hush. A violinist put the bow to the string and placed the C-major scale. It was then, the glass, several blocks away shattered. God calls Christians to hear the His clear voice, As the psalmist put it, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”” (Psalm 46:10) The voice of God whispers. It is only heard by those who still their desires and the voices of the times to hear him. If the engineers in Cremona heard a glass fall half-a-town away, God can hear when you are not listening. So, quiet, please.   -Robert G. Taylor-  

Harold Storelee was doing what he had always done. He was mowing his yard. It was his pride and joy. But somewhere in the weekly chore, he required more help. Storelee fell in front of his home and broke a hip. Emergency responders came to his aid and did what their required job. They took vitals, got him stabilized, and transported him to the hospital. But then they did more. They called their supervisor and asked for an extra hour. When he agreed, the techs returned to Storelee’s home and finished his yard. As one of them said: There was no hesitation from anybody. We talked to our lieutenant and captain, and they were 100 percent behind it. We knew he’d be down for a while, (so) we figured the least we could do was go back and help out. We’ve done similar things before. We look at it as a family community. I’ve seen people with broken porches and replaced a couple of boards. If we see someone in need, we can go help and buy them groceries, and the department will refund us our money. The measure of Christianity is not “enough” but “more.” No, it’s no more things, money, status, or privilege. It is more service. Jesus reminded his audience to do what no one would do. “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” (Matthew 5:41) For Jesus, following him means going beyond the begrudging rule. It is doing more than that. We find many instances where we could do “enough.” But when it comes to showing the face of Jesus to a world which knows little of him, you need to do more. -Robert G. Taylor-

Someone asked Mark Buchanan the question many ask. “What’s your biggest regret in life?”His answer…being in a hurry. He explained, “Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all that rushing.” “Through all that haste, I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away. The Chinese join two characters to form a single pictograph for busyness: heart and killing. That is stunningly incisive. The heart is the place the busy life exacts its steepest toll.” We have turned into adrenaline junkies, pushing from one thing to another. Red lights and slow cars irritate us. Who has not wondered why they are waiting in a Walmart line when 10 checkout counters are vacant? The 21st century’s mascot is the white rabbit from Louis Carroll’s allegory, Alice in Wonderland. He hurries through life, saying, “I’m late.” Hurry gains nothing, except pain. Even Jesus refused to hurry. Upon hearing the news of the illness of his friend Lazarus, Jesus refused to hurry. He knew life lived in God’s rhythms and was content to follow the ebb and flow of life. Solomon observed, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) God gives us time for what we need to do. Hurry stems from not believing that. Trim schedules. Set priorities. There is time for the essential but never enough time for the trivial.Slow down and don’t have “hurry” as your regret. -Robert G. Taylor-