Pastor's Corner by Rev. Dr. Dan Robinson   (Monthly article)

The late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale relates that once, while traveling on a train, he went into the diner car for breakfast.  The waiter seated Dr. Peale across the table from a man and his wife who were complete strangers to Dr. Peale.  But as the husband and Dr. Peale were quietly talking, the man’s wife suddenly blurted out, “This grapefruit is bitter and isn’t fit to eat!”  A few moments passed and the wife interrupted the conversation between Dr. Peale and the man again.  She said in a loud voice, “There’s a terrible draft in here!”

It wasn’t long after that until she interrupted their conversation a third time, complaining about something else.  “Please don’t let my wife’s outbursts disturb you,” the husband said to Peale, “for she’s actually very clever.  She’s a manufacturer!”

Peale was rather astonished to learn that this impolite, constantly complaining abrasive woman was a manufacturer, so he politely asked, “And what does she manufacture?"

Pleasantly, with a smile on his face, the husband replied, “Why she manufacturers her own unhappiness.”

Someone once observed that most people are about as happy as they want to be.  It all sort of depends on what we choose to emphasize in life.  Heaven sends rain on the happy and the eternally unhappy.  We can emphasize either its gloom or its gladness.

But all of this causes me to wonder – when Jesus invites us to live the abundant life, if that invitation doesn’t have something to do with the way we approach and live our lives?  Do we view our lives as wanting or as being fulfilling?  Do we live life complaining about the scarcity, or celebrating its abundance?

Dan