Anyway, I have been anxiously following the situation with our Government and the impending shut down. Not following it like any normal American who needs to be informed about the world around him so that he is caught up for discussions by the coffee pot in the break room, but like a man whose wife works for the Federal government and who, if the shut down were to happen, would be without a big chunk of the family income.
So, as you can imagine, I was elated this evening at around 10:55 when the program I had been watching was interrupted by a special report that an agreement had been reached and a shut down avoided. I quickly switched over to the news to get the information and hear how each party was going to try to spin this as their victory.
After the President stood, window behind him and the Washington monument over his shoulder, and made his speech invoking the spirit of compromise and letters from a parent of an elementary school aged child that was carefully constructed and on the teleprompter, we switched over to the much less eloquent Senators. I was getting ready to change the channel out of boredom when U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said something that woke me up and got my mind racing. He said:
We had an opportunity tonight to decide whether we wanted to repeat history or make history, Had we chosen to repeat history, we would have allowed a government shutdown. Instead we decided to make history by implementing in the middle of this fiscal year as the Majority Leader has indicated substantial reductions in spending.
The opportunity to decide whether we wanted to repeat history or make history. What a powerful statement. It made me think about my life, and how many times I accept mediocrity or worse because it is comfortable, because it is what I am used to or because it is safe.
Stop and think for a minute about the things we put up with, the things we accept, because it is how we were taught to live, to think or because it was what we were taught to expect.
I went to a Middle School for the gifted and talented. It was a public middle school that required one pass a test to get in. Interestingly enough, this middle school used a scripture as it's motto. Luke 12:48 "For everyone to whom much is given, of him much shall be required." And boy did they expect a lot from us. Rigorous courses, high standards, and ultimately the best high schools and colleges. We were ALL going to college. That was a given for us.
I had a friend at that school that I will never forget. His name was Robert. Robert wore a tie every day to school. It wasn't required, but he did. And while the rest of us had our backpacks with our books, I kid you not, Robert carried a briefcase. He was going to be somebody. As the 8th grade came to a close and we were all finding out which of the big 3 specialized High Schools we were going to (or 4 if you counted music and art...I made M and H, but ultimately decided to go to Brooklyn Technical High School for Engineering and Science... Shout out to my Technite peeps).
Robert found out that he had gotten accepted to Stuyvesant. Now as a Technite, I have an intense rivalry with Stuy kids, just as any Yale grad would have rivalry with a Harvard grad... and I will admit, just this once, that Stuyvesant was the Harvard of High Schools, and Robert had gotten in... but his world came to a grinding halt, when his mother refused to let him go and told him that Bushwick High School was good enough for his brothers and sisters and it would be good enough for him. He wasn't going to some big deal school aaaaalll the way in Manhattan, when there was a perfectly good high school right up the block.
Let me put this in perspective for you. No offense to graduates of Bushwick High School, but imagine getting accepted to Harvard on a full scholarship and having your parent tell you that you had to go to the local community college... and I don't mean Valencia "98 percent of our AA grads go on to four year universities" community college. I mean hardly funded, if you have a diploma you get in, I am going here for a piece of paper so that I can get a dollar more an hour at my job diploma mill community college.
That is what happened to Robert. Bushwick wasn't just a neighborhood school in a bad neighborhood. It was kind of a battle ground and a place where I wondered even then, if Robert would survive... I certainly couldn't imagine him coming out unscathed. I felt bad for him. I wish I could give you a great report and make this an inspiring story of his triumph, but I lost track of him pretty quickly after middle school. He didn't come to the reunion that we held and, to be honest, I haven't thought about him much before tonight.
But his future was hampered by a mother's decision to repeat history. "If it is good enough for your brothers and sisters..." Wow...
It's time that many of us decided that we are tired of good enough. Good enough grades, good enough ministries, good enough relationships, good enough work habits, good enough mental, emotional and spiritual health, good enough finances... the list goes on and on. It's time to take risks, to be bold and intentional, the time has come to look for opportunities to MAKE HISTORY in your life.
Stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Stop doing things JUST because that's the way it's always been done, the way my Mom or Dad do it. Stop accepting second hand treatment because you don't think you deserve any better... YOU DO! Aren't you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Break the humdrum monotony that is suffocating your creativity and joy and passion and GO FOR IT! Whatever IT is in your life.
I know, I know, I sound like a motivational speaker vying for a talk show, but the truth is I believe it. I believe that I am uniquely designed and have a passion and a calling and strengths and talents and it's okay to recognize that; to look in the mirror and say "Man, when God made you, he broke the mold. There are things He gave you when He made you and you are going to face every day looking for an opportunity to use those things to make a difference; to make your world, your day, the very best world and day that it can possibly be."
Making history for you might not mean agreeing to a budget that keeps a government running. It might mean choosing to get up a half hour earlier to pray or meditate, it might mean choosing to turn off the television and go for a walk, it may involve choosing to drink water today instead of a coke, a diet coke or a beer, maybe it means actually listening to your spouse and having a real conversation like the ones you used to have when you were young and in love, or getting a sitter and going on a date, or leading someone to Christ, or writing that song, or that poem. Maybe it's bigger. Maybe it involves stepping out on faith and listening to His voice and instead of doing what is comfortable or what is safe, following your passion to your dream. I believe HE gives us dreams, but we need to be bold and trust Him enough to follow Him to their completion. Maybe it means taking calculated risks and diving without a net.
Abraham did it when he put Issac on the sacrificial altar. David did it when he stood before a giant that had an entire army quivering in their shoes. Peter did it when he left the 11 sitting in the boat and chose to do the impossible and walk on water. Abraham Lincoln did it when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Our forefathers did it when they signed the Declaration of Independence. Rosa Parks did it when she refused to give up her seat on the bus. People do it every day... MAKE HISTORY... some in big ways that are noticed by many and others in small ways that might not be noticed by anyone but themselves. History making moments from which nothing can go back to being the same.
You can do it.
I believe in you.
How will you MAKE HISTORY today?
