We're Stronger Than We Think

A little boy went to the fair with his dad and saw an inflatable clown sporting a sign that read, “Try to knock me down.” He hit it, he slapped it, he pushed it – he struck it again and again, and the harder he hit, the quicker it seemed to bounce back up. No matter how hard he tried, it just would not stay down. His father watched as the boy punched the clown until he finally interrupted and asked, "How is it possible for the clown to keep standing back up, no matter how hard you hit it?"
 
The child scratched his head and said, "Dad, I think this clown is standing up on the inside."

Did you know that each of us has the ability to stand up on the inside? Let me explain.
 
A magazine article told about a woman in rural Florida who was recuperating from a lengthy illness. She enjoyed sitting on her front porch in her wheelchair and, on this day, she watched her son repair his automobile. He raised it on blocks of wood, removed the tires and slid on his back underneath the vehicle.
 
Suddenly there was a loud crack and the automobile lurched to one side, pinning the young man underneath. She screamed for her husband who ran to assist, but he couldn’t budge the car or the young man. He climbed into his own vehicle and sped off for help.
 
The mother, who hadn’t walked in months, realized that her son’s groans were growing fainter and she knew that it would be up to her to save the boy. She sensed he was dying and that she had to act immediately.

She rose to her feet and walked on shaky legs to the car. Bracing herself, she lifted. The car rose a few inches – just enough to let the boy scramble free. Then she collapsed.
 
After a thorough examination, she was found only to have suffered strained muscles. And the incredulous doctor’s words were most telling: “I will always wonder,” he said, “how far she might have lifted that car if she had been well and strong.”
 
We’ve read similar stories about persons exhibiting almost superhuman strength in times of crises. Call it a miracle. Call it providence. Or call it a physiological response to an adrenaline surge – this mother, and others like her, found the strength she needed, when she needed it, to face the crisis at hand.
 
And so it is with all of us. When life knocks us down and it seems impossible to get back up, when life demands more from us than we are able to give, then more than ever, we need to find a way to do what needs to be done. It is at just these times that we come face to face with a reserve of strength we never knew we had.
 
We are stronger than we think. Like the clown, we, too, have the ability to bounce back. We have emotional, spiritual and even physical resources at our disposal. We may get knocked down, but we don’t have to stay down.
 
It’s like standing up on the inside. And when we find strength to do that, we will be able to stand up to most anything life throws our way.
 
-- Steve Goodier


Image courtesy of Stacia Garlach

Just in Time

Novelist Vicki Baum once said, "You don't get ulcers from what you eat. You get them from what's eating you." And what's eating us much of the time is worry. It eats us from the inside out.

I wish I could always be like former baseball player Mickey Rivers. He philosophized, "Ain't no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain't no sense worrying. And there ain't no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control them, ain't no sense worrying."

Maybe that makes sense, I’m just not sure. But even if it does, I’ll likely wind up worried anyway. Which is why I like this story related by inspirational Dutch author and holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom.

Corrie learned a powerful lesson as a little girl. Having encountered the lifeless body of a baby, she realized that people she loved would someday die, too. She thought about the fact that her father and mother and sister Betsie could quite possibly pass on before she does. The thought frightened and worried her.

One night her father came in to tuck her into bed. Corrie burst into tears and sobbed, “I need you. You can’t die. You can’t!”

Her father sat on the edge of the narrow bed and spoke tenderly to his daughter. “Corrie,” he said gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?”

She sniffed a few times and considered the question. “Why, just before I get on the train,” she answered.

“Exactly,” he continued. Then he gave her assurance that was to last a lifetime. “When the time comes that some of us have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

Some years later Corrie and her family, arrested for sheltering Jews and members of the Dutch resistance, were sent to Nazi concentration camps. She, indeed, experienced the deaths of her parents and sister, as well as numerous friends. She endured hardships that she could never have imagined as a young child. But the words of her father stayed with her and proved to be true. “You will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.” She always did. Regardless of the suffering or hardship she encountered, when she looked inside her heart she found the strength she needed – just in time.

If you worry and fret, or if you feel anxious about your future, you may find Corrie’s experience helpful. And if that thing you dread should ever arrive, then you need only look inside your heart. The strength you need can be found there – just in time.

-- Steve Goodier

Image: freeimages.com/Ruben Martinez

The Magical Effect

American President John Quincy Adams once said, “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” Have you ever witnessed the magical effect of patience and perseverance?

One North Carolina church wanted to purchase some property. The church regularly suffered from high tide flooding. But when the church was originally built, they couldn't afford better property.

As the story is told, they finally decided to relocate to higher ground. An ideal lot was empty - actually the highest ground in town. It belonged to a man named Sam Sadler. Officials from the church went to see Mr. Sadler about selling the property. He politely told them it wasn't for sale; that he had other plans for the land. They persisted, but still he refused.

The congregants were disappointed. Mr. Sadler's land seemed the perfect location. Eventually, they decided on another piece of property and began building.

But a strange thing happened on September 16, 1876, the eve of the dedication of the new church. One of the worst coastal floods in memory struck the town. As water rose, so did the church building. It left its temporary home and floated down main street, turned a corner and eventually settled on the highest spot in town - the empty lot owned by Sam Sadler.

Mr. Sadler gave in. He allowed the building to stay and, because of the remarkable turn of events, they chose a new name: Providence. Today, if you were to ask how Providence United Methodist Church of Swanquarter, North Carolina came to acquire its land, someone may relate to you what Sam Sadler said about the transaction: “I guess if the good Lord couldn't move me to give the land to the church, he would move the church to the land.”

Even John Quincy Adams might have been amazed at the “magical effect” before which the church’s obstacles disappeared.

I believe it was basketball great Michael Jordan who said, “If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work your way around it.”

It’s about patience and perseverance. (And it can’t hurt to have a little faith.)

-- Steve Goodier


Image: flickr.com/Jimmy Emerson