kenlassblog

Live your life like a banana plant. We have one in our backyard. Actually we started with one, now we have several. Banana plants, sometimes called banana trees, are incredibly hardy and resilient. They grow incredibly fast, giving your yard a tropical look, with their huge, green, rectangular leaves and tall stalks. They may or may not yield bananas, but they bring a jungle feel to the most urban setting.

What I admire most about them is their relentlessness. You can cut them down, dig them up, burn them, or try to poison them. They never give up. If you eliminate the main stem, days later tiny babies pop up all around it. Our plants have made it through drought and flood. When the upper leaves turn brown and die, the plant just sprouts new, deep green ones to take their place. They take a licking but keep on ticking.

So be a banana plant. Don’t let life turn you brown. When troubles threaten to cut you down, just sprout new ideas and new hope and enthusiasm. As long as you keep trying, you’ll keep growing. And you may just yield some wonderful fruit along the way.

Have you ever heard the term “lip service”? It means an expression of support for something without any action to back it up. The origins go back to the 17th century, when kings and monarchs would give verbal support for military help to their neighboring countries, but wouldn’t back it up with actual soldiers.

Nothing will hurt your credibility and your reputation more than to give lip service to your friends and acquaintances. Once you prove insincere, they will never take you seriously again. If you tell someone you will call them, make sure you call them. If you sign up for something, show up to do it. If you express your love for someone, treat them with love.

Talk is cheap. Anyone can say stuff. Most people will take you at your word. Until your word is no good.

Set a goal for today. Don’t let life just happen randomly for you. Think of something positive and worthwhile that you want to get done today. Maybe it’s something you’ve been meaning to do for a long time and just never got around to. Or maybe it’s a spur of the moment idea. Doesn’t matter. Just be intentional.

So many of our days are wasted by just going through our routine and accepting whatever circumstances happen to occur around us. We forget we can control our time. We can take charge of our frame of mind. Accomplishing a goal that you’ve set will improve your mood, make you feel you haven’t wasted precious heartbeats.

It doesn’t have to be earth shattering or life changing, just something worth doing. You’ll go to sleep tonight feeling the day was a success. We all need more success in our lives.

Our young grandkids take turns spending the night with us on weekends. One of the boys has always been terrified to sleep by himself in the guest room. The only way he can relax is to be in our room when it’s bedtime.

But on his most recent visit, without any urging from us, he decided to face his fears and try spending the night in the guest room. He got up a few times and came into our room to make a few requests, but ultimately he settled in and fell asleep. The next morning he got up with a huge smile, he was so proud of himself, he conquered his challenge and you could see the self-confidence welling up in him.

I couldn’t help thinking I should take a lesson from this. Face your fears. Tackle them head on. Don’t waste time worrying and cowering from them. When you come out on the other side you’ll feel more in control, which should help you achieve real peace.

My grandson took a big step in his life. Maybe it’s time for you to do the same.

I was invited to speak to a series of media classes at our local high school the other day. It’s easy for those of us who haven’t had a teenager in the house for many years to stereotype today’s teens as superficial, lacking in social skills and celebrity crazed.

I did not find that to be true. These kids paid attention, were respectful, asked meaningful questions and seemed to have their heads in the right place. They started the school day with a moment of silence, then recited the pledge of allegiance, which included the phrase “one nation, under God.” Contrary to some perceptions, they are serious about their futures and understand the difference between fraud and sincerity. They are willing to work and thirsty for advice and knowledge.

I left the school feeling much more encouraged about the future. I believe these young people are going to make good decisions. I think our country’s going to be all right.

I know this is too much information, but I was sitting on the commode staring down at my feet, and wondering what in the world toes are for. What really is their purpose? They just get stubbed on, or blistered or ingrown, or itchy or sore.

Well, because I have no life, I went on the internet to ask the purpose and function of toes. I learned they are actually extremely important. They help us distribute our weight equally when we stand-up. They flex and grip the floor or the bottom of our shoes to provide the push off when we want to move forward or backward. They also flex to keep us from falling forward when going downhill. People who lose their toes for surgical reasons have much trouble with balance and movement.

I learned we need to take care of our toes. Don’t abuse them. Isn’t the human body amazing? Everything has a purpose. Fascinating what you can ponder when sitting on the potty.

I’ve always been fascinated at how wearing glasses and contact lenses can correct your vision. The glass is structured in such a way that it bends the light that enters your eye, recentering it properly on the retina. Voila! Fuzzy objects become clear. Depth perception is restored. Amazing.

Life gets out of focus as well. The line between right and wrong gets very blurry and decisions become worrisome and scary. Going back to God’s word is always a good way to correct the way you see life. The bible will bend the light of your conscience so that it is properly recentered in your heart.

Let the word of God be your spiritual glasses and you’ll always see a very clear path.

This morning I was reading the third chapter of the book of James in the bible. It basically says if you can control your speech, you can control your entire body. That makes sense. Speech is such a quick process. We think it, we say it. Often we say too much, or say the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong people. Lies are told, feelings are hurt, anger develops, friendships are shattered, jealousy, envy and resentment can fester. All because of a handful of inappropriate words.

Maybe if we just slowed down the speaking process. When you think of something you’d like to say, pause for just a second and ask yourself: Does this really need to be said? Will this be helpful?

Speech has incredible power. Use it to build people up. And keep in mind sometimes it’s wiser not to use it at all.

Our group tour visit to Washington DC included a stop at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Most of my fellow tourists seemed drawn to the simulated reconstructions of dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and various other fossils. I guess I’m kind of weird, because I was most entranced by ……. pottery. Yes, pottery.

There was just something awe-inspiring to me about looking at a water jug that is 3,000 years old. Just imagine, this beautifully striped container in front of me was probably spun on a pottery wheel by an Assyrian woman around 700 BC, then used to draw water for cooking and bathing. It somehow survived the empires of Babylonia, Greece, Persia, the Holy Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Age, and here it was in a glass display.

If only it could talk. If only it could describe the rulers, the wars, the people and the ways of life that it went through. Next to it was a crude knife and fork used by a working class ancient Greek family. What was life like for them? A weathered table and chair where a Roman woman once sat and sewed her family’s garments. Life must have been so basic, so simple, yet so labor-intensive for these common folks.

You can have all your dinosaurs and mammoths. I am more enchanted by these basic little links to the history of man. Helps me realize that despite all of our differences, we all have so much of life in common, and its been true for millenia.