You Might Stinketh

I noticed this little sign a few days ago and I started thinking; there are a lot of people who saw this sign and took it to heart! A brief explanation: I was at a big horse show and, by necessity, there are designated areas for such things.

Do you ever catch yourself noticing only life's manure? Unfortunately, I do. It's everywhere, and sometimes it seems to demand our attention. The problem is when we come to believe that we are somehow superior in our observations of life. Then, by focusing our attention on negative things, we slip into a bitter and jaded mentality, or a very crappy way of thinking.

John Calhoun was my pastor at The Lamb's Church of the Nazarene when I lived in New York City several years ago. He once preached a sermon on this topic that stuck with me until now. He said that it doesn't take a genius to point out the problems in a situation. They are easy to spot. That sounds simple, but if you actually begin to try to shift your focus away from the negativity as a habit, it starts to seem more and more profound.

What you choose to notice makes all the difference.


At that same horse show, we looked up one evening and the sky was like that beautiful scene from "Gone With the Wind" where Scarlett's dad, Gerald O'Hara, explains the importance of Tara. Now if Scarlett had been paying attention to some poop on the ground instead of listening to her father in that moment, she would have had nothing to say after Rhett delivered his most famous "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" line. That's when she remembers "I know what I'll do, I'll go back to Tara!"

Pay attention to what you notice, and make sure it is not only manure. Think about it. You become what you focus on. As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.

Maybe if you are not happy with the direction of your life right now, you need to consider what you thinketh, because you might just stinketh.