It’s Not About the Garden Yet, It’s About the Path

When people are asked to stop the rush of life, to look around and consider what they want out of life, or where they want to go that they are working so hard to get to I think you will find many different answers. However, I think at the heart of those answers would be the kernel of a better life. People want a better life or a more comfortable life. With parents I think it is safe to say that this desire extends even more to their children than to themselves. They want things that make life easier or to make life changing choices that enhance their lives instead of making them more difficult. The people that are good at these kinds of choices are known to “have it together” while the rest of us struggle to find out how they did it.


This is not just an American thing, though I think we as a country have perfected this mind set, this is a human thing. A desire to always be improving the quality of our living. If you are a Christian you could say a desire to return to the Garden of Eden and the peace and ease of life that is portrayed as normal before Adam and Eve were banished and told to struggle with the earth and fight against the animals. Before Cain introduced killing and human warfare.

I doubt that much of what I have said is surprising, and Paul said that all should “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die (“If there is not God”).” Herein, however, lies the rub, I do believe there is a God and I think that he also desires a return to the Garden, but I think he knows that to do so more is required than just for each individual to pursue as much of the good life as they can get a hold of. God, in the form of Jesus, even said that “to be first we must be last, and to be greatest you have to be a servant of all.” The path that is already paved and heading to the Garden is not one of ease and pursuit of happiness; it is one of service to others and the realization that personal ease does not lead to peace. On this Palm Sunday with Easter only a week away lets remember that Jesus was killed for the political and religious statement of loving people who society said should not be loved. This is not an easy gig, but it is gig many have claimed, though fewer have actually followed.

As Liz and I have explored our vocation in the context of living in Africa we feel there is much service to be done and hopefully even some peace to be found. As we have announced to family and friends that we plan on coming back to the states for a short time (May – August), but then returning for a year the responses have been mixed. Some happy, some amazed, and some concerned for our plans and future. We are returning not for the fun, the enjoyment, or the ease of life, though there are times of all of that here. We are returning because of what we feel like we can do for others and because of the great amount our creator did for us.

Please do not worry for us and even strive yourself to find the path to the Garden. It is not an easy path, but the glimpses of the end are all the more sweet because of what you do on the hike there.

The Unnoticeable Gifts

As Eric and I continue with our conversation about what each of us will be doing upon our return here, I have become very discouraged. Eric’s gifts are quite obvious: he is gifted in spiritual formation, connecting the church as a whole, preaching, leadership, character development, and now…construction! Holly is very gifted in teaching, loving others, remaining calm in tough situations, languages, and many other things. Mine however do not stand out. There are many things that I have done while we have been here and yet I look back and often think, “what was the importance of that?” or “what do I have to contribute to this team?”

Eric reminded me the other day of Mother Theresa. She invested in one life at a time and yet she made such a remarkable impact on the world. First Corinthians tells us that there are different gifts and that each is important. I may not be gifted in teaching or construction or have a passion to connect everything to the local church, but I do have my own gifts. I have a passion for health care. I cringe when a child is sick and I have to take them to a hospital. I long for the day that all of them are cured of the unknown diseases. I have a gift for organization. I have put together a short term team packet for when people or churches want to bring teams over. I keep track of the monthly expenditures, staff meeting notes, all the necessary paperwork that MAHOHTT needs to stay open. I ensure that the daily operations are taken care of and not forgotten in the hustle and bustle.

Gifts are given to us by our Heavenly Father. He decides in which contexts we are to use them and how. We are not to judge one another as to how important each gift is but to accept the fact that all are needed. Some gifts are noticeable and some are unnoticeable…they are all still gifts.

The Pleasure Center

I started thinking about this blog post when I asked one of our kids at Angel House what he was going to do over Easter Break (the equivalent of our spring break). His reply was obviously obvious to him, but it caught me slightly off guard. He is planning on studying. That is it. There are no plans for lounging around or playing soccer (though I am sure some of that will happen). Easter Break is not a time to have fun or go on great trips, it is a time to work around Angel House and study for examinations. This got me thinking about our overwhelming focus on pleasure and entertainment in America.

In Tanzania there are very few things designed solely for pleasure, and most of them are populated by American and European tourists, not Tanzanians. In America I can’t think of a city of any size without thinking of a dozen things in it that are meant to be purely enjoyed. There are things for kids, things for adults who think they are kids, things for teenagers, and even things for adults who have so largely forgotten how to have fun they have to go to extremes to find it. There are so many things designed for pleasure and entertainment that kids no longer find fun in entertaining themselves, unless it involves a TV screen. They certainly would not get as much pleasure out of an old tire and a stick as the kids here in Tanzania do. We in America seem to have risen so far above a true daily struggle for life that we have had to invent hobbies, passions, and interests in order to entertain and occupy our time that is no longer spent on labor or survival.

I count much of our ability to spend time just having fun as a blessing, especially after watching how hard people work here. However, I have also noticed an honesty about life that does not always exist in America. We as Americans spend time having fun for the pleasure of it, but we also spend time distracting ourselves from life problems that much of the time we don’t even really have to endure. Someone once said that life in America is easy but complicated while life in Tanzania is hard but simple. I think this is true and that this simple truth goes a long way toward explaining America’s overwhelming desire for entertainment.

We are hoping to take our kids to a small beach for a day over their Easter Break. Hopefully this will not be a time for distraction, but for the pure joy that comes from spending time with friends in play instead of work. May you take some time this coming summer to play with a stick and old tire, to find the simplicity of living honestly (being honest with yourself and others). What may be going on that you need a distraction so badly, what might you be able to change in your life so that life itself, instead of your entertainment, is what brings you pleasure.