Gary Lauenstein: The Lesson of the Local and the Tourist

“There is a story about a vacationer to Mexico who chided a local about what the tourist perceived as laziness. The local was sitting under a tree on a hot summer day drinking an iced tea.

“Why aren’t you working and earning money?” the tourist asked. He went on: “Take me as an example. At your age, I worked two jobs. I saved money and invested it. By now, I have accumulated enough to come here to Mexico to take my vacation.”

“And how are you going to spend your day here?” asked the local.

“Why, I’m going to sit under that tree there and drink iced tea,” said the tourist.

“I rest my case,” said the local.

The old adage deserves consideration: you can’t take it with you. Use money to become a more generous individual.”

Gary Lauenstein in The Redemptorists of the Denver Province email on 21 June 2013.

“Generosity…is humble, quiet, and persevering. It is patient and unobtrusive…it bears with everything gladly and without complaint because it no longer stops to reflect that there is anything to bear.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) Monastic Observances (Collegeville: Liturgical, 2010) 90.

“In our century, we think God is making us rich as a testimony to the world of how great God is blessing us. In reality, God blesses us so we will grow as givers, and be generous. We should be the most caring, sensitive, giving, most sacrificial and abundantly willing to respond to needy people in the world. We are to lovingly transfer the title of all we have back to God, the rightful Owner, and say to Him, “Lord, the more you bless me, the more I want to be generous and give to your kingdom.”

John S. Barnett in Discipline Yourself for Godliness (Tulsa: Müllerhaus Publishing, 2007) 143.

“There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us…”

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) in My Utmost for His Highest (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 2008) reading for September 23.

Three things drew me to read from my Scottish roots in my daily office this morning. Incidentally, Oswald Chambers was a Scottish evangelist and the lines of both my parents trace our ancestry to Scotland.

First, I arrived safely home from the UK at about 1:30am this morning. To welcome me home Jenni had put up many balloons, one really made me smile. It reads: “There is a Doctor in the house!”

Second, I got a thoughtful email from my brother, David, which brought me to tears. His words recollected specific sacrifices our parents made for our Christian education. Nothing diverted them. His note dripped with gratitude.

Third, many are asking: What next? In reply, please know that I have no agenda. The PhD was not a stepping stone to something else. I remain committed to encouraging Christian generosity. Just like I had no idea where the research journey would take me, I have no idea what’s next. I leave that to God to sort.

What I do know is that now the real work begins.

My task is to continue to apply what I learned in my own life and simply share it with the world. That in and of itself may consume the remaining days God grants me. May nothing divert me, for my work does not end until the Lord Jesus says: “Well done!”

And may neither fame nor difficulty, triumph or trial, divert you as well!

“We are sent to war. We are not sent to minister to a congregation and be content if we keep things going. We are sent to make war…and to stop short of nothing but the subjugation of the world to the sway of the Lord Jesus.”

William Booth, 1829-1912 (founder of the Salvation Army in the slums of London, England), quote from 1878 as recounted by Trevor Yaxley in William & Catherine: The Legacy of the Booths (Bethany House Publishers, 2003).

Bilbo Baggins: Good morning!

Gandalf: What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it to be or not or that you feel good this morning or that it is a morning to be good on?

Bilbo Baggins: All of them at once.

This whimsical scene that opens, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, provides the context for today’s meditation for all four reasons mentioned above:

I wish you all a good morning! Thanks for reading the daily mediations that I share from my study.

It is a good morning whether I want it to be or not. Why? Because God is so good. He is good beyond our wildest dreams.

I feel incredibly good this morning. I PASSED my final PhD viva with the best anticipated outcome! I need to fix some typos this afternoon and resubmit it electronically and then send it on to the university for printing. Furthermore, the examiners urged me to have it published and to “aim high” because in the words of one of my advisors, “it has the potential to shape how all people read 1 Timothy today and in the future.” For this very favorable outcome, I give all the thanks and praise to God and the list of people I could thank from my advisors to my family and friends are too numerous to list. I must thank you for your prayers, as I felt God’s peace all throughout the rigorous and extensive examination.

It is a morning to be good on. The whole purpose of doing a PhD on riches in 1 Timothy was to understand what generosity in God’s economy is all about as a basis for training the leaders of God’s church and His people. It was quite the unexpected journey. While I don’t have all knowledge as a result, the process has changed me. I have learned a lot that will take me a lifetime to apply and share. So my exhortation to you today comes from this last quip of Gandalf: It is a morning to be good on. Each time you get the gift of another day to live, live it to the fullest! Enjoy and share God’s blessings with all you touch for His glory!

The other reason I chose this quote for today’s meditation is this (and like yesterday, I actually did not think of this until walking to my room just now):

When I crossed the pond, I watched the movie: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. As I have the soundtrack on my iPhone, upon arrival at the college, I played it continuously in my room the last three days.

The movie soundtrack by Howard Shore contains a wide variety of the most peaceful and powerful tunes. It filled my room with a sense of anticipation and adventure that depicted these last seven years. Enjoy.

So with that, Good morning from the UK! Although it’s already a good afternoon here. Cheers!

I awoke this morning and said to myself: “One day more.” Of course, I was thinking about my PhD viva tomorrow, but my mind raced to the captivating song “One Day More” in Les Miserables. Seriously, I had not planned to go there this morning.

What does Les Miserables have to do with encouraging Christian generosity?

Victor Hugo portrays the dramatic irony of God’s grace and generosity to undeserving humanity through a brief scene between Valjean and Bishop Charles-François-Bienvenu Myriel, known most commonly as “Monseigneur Bienvenu,” meaning, of course, “Lord Welcome.”

After years of prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving child, no one would extend aid to Valjean in this harsh world. None that is, except the kind bishop who warmly welcomes the lost soul, allows him to take refuge in the church, and provides him food and shelter.

When Valjean awakens, he proceeds to steal the silver articles of the church and flees only to be caught by local authorities. With irony that is only surpassed by the love of God for sinful mankind, rather than condemning Valjean, the bishop…watch the scene!

What amazing grace! Matchless generosity! The bishop’s words echo the Apostle Paul’s charge to the Corinthian Church (and to us) in 1 Corinthians 6:20.

“Remember this, my brother. See in this some higher plan.
You must use this precious silver to become an honest man.
By the witness of the martyrs, by the passion and the blood,
God has brought you out of darkness. I have bought your soul for God.”
Bishop Bienvenu in Les Miserables

You were bought with a price.
Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:20

And since all good movies have bonus material, I give you a bonus today. Here is the YouTube movie clip of the famous song, “One Day More,” and the lyrics below (the last lines in italics are especially dear to me today). Enjoy!

ONE DAY MORE

VALJEAN
One day more!
Another day, another destiny.
This never-ending road to Calvary;
These men who seem to know my crime
Will surely come a second time.
One day more!

MARIUS
I did not live until today.
How can I live when we are parted?

VALJEAN
One day more.

MARIUS & COSETTE
Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away
And yet with you, my world has started!

EPONINE
One more day all on my own.

MARIUS & COSETTE
Will we ever meet again?

EPONINE
One more day with him not caring.

MARIUS & COSETTE
I was born to be with you.

EPONINE
What a life I might have known.

MARIUS & COSETTE
And I swear I will be true!

EPONINE
But he never saw me there!

ENJOLRAS
One more day before the storm!

MARIUS
Do I follow where she goes?

ENJOLRAS
At the barricades of freedom.

MARIUS
Shall I join my brothers there?

ENJOLRAS
When our ranks begin to form

MARIUS
Do I stay; and do I dare?

ENJOLRAS
Will you take your place with me?

ALL
The time is now, the day is here

VALJEAN
One day more!

JAVERT
One more day to revolution,
We will nip it in the bud!
We’ll be ready for these schoolboys,
They will wet themselves with blood!

VALJEAN
One day more!

M. & MME. THENARDIER
Watch ’em run amuck,
Catch ’em as they fall,
Never know your luck
When there’s a free for all,
Here a little `dip’
There a little `touch’
Most of them are goners
So they won’t miss much!

STUDENTS (2 Groups)
1: One day to a new beginning
2: Raise the flag of freedom high!

1: Every man will be a king
2: Every man will be a king

1: There’s a new world for the winning
2: There’s a new world to be won

ALL
Do you hear the people sing?

MARIUS
My place is here, I fight with you!

VALJEAN
One day more!

MARIUS & COSETTE
I did not live until today.

EPONINE
One more day all on my own!

MARIUS & COSETTE
How can I live when we are parted?

JAVERT (overlapping)
I will join these people’s heros
I will follow where they go
I will learn their little Secrets,
I will know the things they know.

VALJEAN
One day more!

MARIUS & COSETTE
Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away

EPONINE
What a life I might have known!

MARIUS & COSETTE
And yet with you my world has started

JAVERT (overlapping)
One more day to revolution
We will nip it in the bud
We’ll be ready for these

Schoolboys

THENARDIERS (overlapping)
Watch ’em run amok
Catch ’em as they fall
Never know your luck
When there’s a free-for-all!

VALJEAN
Tomorrow we’ll be far away,
Tomorrow is the judgment day

ALL
Tomorrow we’ll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

“Charity—giving to the poor—is an essential part of Christian morality: in the frightening parable of the sheep and the goats it seems to the be point on which everything turns. Some people nowadays say that charity ought to be unnecessary and that instead of giving to the poor we ought to be producing a society in which there were no poor to give to. They may be quite right in saying that we ought to produce this kind of society. But if anyone thinks that, as a consequence, you can stop giving in the meantime, then he has parted company with all Christian morality…

I am speaking now of “charities” in the common way. Particular cases of distress among your own relatives, friends, neighbours or employees, which God, as it were, forces upon your notice, may demand much more: even to the crippling and endangering of your own position. For many of us the great obstacle to charity lies not in our luxurious living or desire for more money, but in our fear—fear of insecurity. This must often be recognised as a temptation. Sometimes our pride also hinders our charity; we are tempted to spend more than we ought on the showy forms of generosity (tipping, hospitality) and less than we ought on those who really need our help.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Gift Edition (New York: HarperCollins, 2001) 116-117.

“Fear and desperation grip the hearts of many people, even in the so-called rich countries; the joy of life is diminishing; indecency and violence are on the rise; poverty is becoming more and more evident.

People have to struggle to live and, frequently, to live in an undignified way. One cause of this situation, in my opinion, is in our relationship with money and our acceptance of its power over ourselves and our society…

We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy that is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal…

Money has to serve, not to rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but the Pope has the duty, in Christ’s name, to remind the rich to help the poor, to respect them, to promote them.”

Pope Francis in Vatican Information Service 16 May 2013 Bulletin: “Pope to New Ambassadors: Financial Crisis Rooted in Rejection of Ethics.”

For more info, visit www.visnews.org or www.vatican.va. I read this article en route to Trinity College in Bristol, England where I have safely arrived in anticipation of my PhD final viva slated for 18 June 2013.

“People who are in danger of perishing for lack of knowledge, still are very numerous. The much which has been done, is little compared with what the Society [for Promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poor] might yet do, were the resources equal to the wishes. I trust my request, that you will strengthen their hands at this time, will not be in vain; and that the brief account I have given you of their design and progress, will render further solicitation needless.”

John Newton (1725-1807), author of Amazing Grace, said these words in his sermon preached in the Parish Church of St. Mary Woolnoth on Wednesday, November 21, 1787, on the day of the annual meeting of the Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poor. Taken from The Works of Rev. John Newton (London: Nelson and Paternoster, 1853) 849.