I ran into a neighbor yesterday as I walked out the door to my apartment building, and we ended up riding together on the subway for 20 minutes.
We chatted about this and that, and at one point I commented, “The way I look at it, by the time you get to middle age you need to know four things: how to shrug your shoulders, how to laugh at yourself, how to shift from Plan A to Plan B without missing a beat, and how to rebound.”
She laughed, though I could see she was a bit startled. I thought later about what I’d said, since it kind of popped out of my mouth before I realized I thought it. And it’s actually a very Christian list.
1. We need to know how to shrug our shoulders, because we can’t take our earthly desires that seriously. It’s not all about us.
2. We need to laugh at ourselves, because we will make mistakes, and if we take ourselves too seriously it’s a kind of pride.
3. We need to be able to shift from Plan A to Plan B, because it’s not our personal plan that matters, but serving God, and His plan might be different.
4. And we need to be able to rebound, because everyone stumbles and falls, and to lie on the ground in discouragement and despair is like saying to God, “Your mercy isn’t as big as my sin.”
That said, I’m sure there are more than four things I ought to know by now. But hey–it’s a start! Got more to add?
