"We do not see things as they are but as we are."

I heard this on the radio recently as I was driving to work. The thought has stuck with me because it provided an easy answer to so many of the mysteries in my life.

I know that people and circumstances that really haven’t changed seem different to me when my attitude about them changes. Some days everything is absolutely great; other days, a little less so. It seems reasonable to assume that if I decide to have a good attitude, then things will be just perfect or at least manageable.

As much as I like to be in control, (a shocking thought, I know) there was something wrong with this thought. It isn’t about me, and it’s so easy to fall into that trap. The feeling that when I feel good, all is well. When I’m a little out of sorts, the world veers off course. Where is God in all of this?It seems funny to me that when I have contorted thoughts such as these, that God lets me go down rabbit holes for just so long, and then he sends me a lifeline. These lifelines appear in so many different ways…as one did last night.

I read a passage out of one of my favorite author’s books, When the Game is Over It All Goes Back into the Box, by John Ortberg. In it he said, “Salt's calling is to lose itself in something much bigger and more glorious; and then it fulfills its destiny. We were made to count. We were made to be salt. But the quest for significance is a delicate dance. If I do it by myself for myself, it's death. If I do it with God for others, it's life.”

I would only change one thing. That would be if I do it with God and with you, its life. Join with me now not to find the easy answers, not to set ourselves up as kings and queens of the universe, but, as John Ortberg suggests, to fulfill our destiny, that destiny that God has planned for you and for me, in our community of faith, our neighborhoods, our country and our world. It’s a big job, but with God we can do it. Ready to start?