A Little Each Day vs. A Lot Each Week

I was a kid in a congregation in Joelton, TN, that kept track of daily Bible readers. Each Sunday someone counted how many read a chapter a day during the week. Anyone who read seven chapters a week counted.

I remember forgetting to read the whole week and then right before going to the meeting, speed reading seven chapters. I hated feeling bad about not raising my hand. Hey, it counted. But did it?

Today I take daily vitamins that are supposed to boost my immune system, keep my cholesterol down, and make me healthier. I keep them in a dispenser with seven compartments for the seven days of the week.

Last week, I forgot a day. What do I do? Do I double up the intake the following day? Vitamin overdose! No, that day passed without the extra nutrition that my body could have used. It's gone for good. Sure, one day isn't going to make a difference, but the point is: a small daily practice will go a lot further than a catching up once a week.

Which is better, to pray 15 minutes a day or 1 hour and 15 minutes on Saturday? The same amount of time, God may answer the same, but the effect in me will be greater with the daily practice.

Which is better, to read a Bible chapter a day, or 7 chapters on Sunday? Same amount of time, the same message from God, but the effect in me will be greater with the daily practice.

A missed day of doing that which I know is important is a missed day, never again to be recuperated. Each day is a building block. In the building up of my life, there are several blocks missing.

Manners Matter

I became exasperated raising my kids, trying to get them to say please and thank you. I reminded them thousands of times to say the magic word, I tried ignoring them until they said it, I made up a little song to irritate them until they said it, but it seemed like all my efforts were in vain. They liked ordering each other around too much.

Whenever I came across a kid who used manners well – yes, sir, thank you, sir, may I, sir? – that kid would shine like a light in the midst of a generation that prides itself in saying awful things about people’s mothers, using slang and back talk to be cool. My kids at least didn’t take up the trash talk, but they also didn’t seem inclined to take the next step towards courtesy.

Then one day someone came up to me said, “You did a great job with your kids. They have such good manners.” And after several more comments like that, I came to the conclusion that they in fact did learn courtesy; they just pretended not to have it when they were with me. Or maybe they felt so at home with me that adding nice words didn’t really add much in their minds.

Anyways, whether it is pleasantries, or table manners, or gentlemanly behavior, or walking the elderly across the street, manners matter because they make you stand out like a diamond in the dirt.

Supermarket Mindfulness

I stopped at the Carrefour supermarket to use the restroom. Then I called Edda in case she needed something - she did. I got the items and went to the checkout line, a little long possibly because of the September 7th holiday.

While I waited, I had an urge to get my cell out and answer texts or look up something or read the news. But I didn't.

Instead I breathed deeply and observed the people around me, the guy with the weird haircut, the kid playing hide and seek with his father, the three young ladies, excited and talkative, each holding a six pack, the tired cashier, who smiled when I asked her how she was doing, the guy with a cart full of groceries who got bumped out of the fast lane - I quietly drinking in the busy humanity in this tiny corner of a speck of dust hurtling through the immensity of space.

Never Do This!

Social media, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, etc., are useful, but one should tread upon these minefields with great care, making personal rules of usage for safety purposes.

One thing social media is NOT good for is dealing with conflict. Someone posts something you don't like, don't complain, don't shoot back your response full of feeling, don't get vindictive, don't try to correct people publicly on social media. It doesn't work!

If you are trying to make someone feel bad, you might get what you want, but it proves you are not a good person, or at least you are not being kind and wise.

If people are important to you, if your relationships are important to you, don't try to solve problems using social media. The loving thing to do is to talk in person with whom you have a problem. It's easy to shoot out a criticism online, it's harder to confront someone to their face. The first is ineffective and a lot of time cowardly, the latter is valuing the relationship, caring enough to fight for it.

Tone of voice and gestures communicate so much more than just the words, and text is so easily misunderstood. Edda and I have counseled a couple who didn't talk anymore; they "talked" through Whatsapp. And they almost destroyed their marriage.

If there is any chance of misunderstanding, call the person, talk face to face, and let them know their friendship means so much to you, that it deserves more than hasty words blurted out for all the world to see.

Coffee

My wife loves it; my kids hate it, and I learned something important from coffee.

I learned that your tastes are trainable.

I was not a coffee drinker when I got married. Didn't crave the stuff, didn't care for it. But Edda grew up drinking two cups in the morning, a cup in the afternoon and one at night. And she continued her custom into our marriage, and after a while, looking for things to do and have in common with her, I started drinking coffee with her.

At first it doesn't taste great, but sugar makes anything easy to get used to. But then she started using sweetener so I had to sugar up my own coffee. And I was horrified... I couldn't believe how many spoons of sugar went into my own cup to get it to the sweetness I was used to.

Sugar is bad for my health, so I decided to eliminate it from my coffee. For one week I used two spoons instead of three. Second week, I cut it down to one spoon. Third week, half a spoon, then down to zero sugar. After a few days I started liking it.

Coffee is bitter, especially the strong type we drink in Brazil, but today sugary coffee tastes awful to me. I like it black.

If something is good for me, I decide to consume it even if I don't like it. After a few days eating it everyday - viola, I start to like it. Radishes, olives, the awful, smell-like-something-died fruit, noni,

My taste buds don't rule me! I rule them, bending their fickleness to good nutrition and health.

Singing the Bible

Memorizing Bible verses was always a hard goal to attain for me. I was bored with the endless copying verses, and reciting. But that changed 23 years ago.

In 1996 my daughter Lydia was born. She had a hard time nursing so for two months she was always crying, possibly from hunger. I spent endless hours day and night trying to comfort her. I sang lullabies, but those quickly got old. Then I started making up my own melodies and rhythms. Some of them sounded pretty good to my ears.

One day I had the idea of trying to fit a Bible verse in the melodies so I could sing it. Since I live in Brazil, I used my Almeida Revista and Atualizada Bible in Portuguese. The first one I did was 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks."

Since then I have made melodies for hundreds of Bible passages. It's like a musical puzzle to me; something to do while I am driving. I have taught several to people, who also sing the Word of God.

Making Bible music is my pastime. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord"  Psalm 98:4

Simplicity

How to live the simple life?

Everything we allow into our lives has a price. The latest gadget may give a thrilling buying experience, but the cost goes way past the dollar factor; time, space, knowledge, and care - all are necessary to take full advantage of the new purchase. And then there is the house clutter and the mind clutter of so many years of gadgets accumulated.

It is my lifelong goal to simplify my life, my space, and my mind. It has been a longing not much acted on except in spurts every once in a while. The secret I believe it to limit inflow and increase outflow. Make a habit of daily letting go of things.

Example: when I receive a book as a gift, choose two books to give away.

If this becomes my habit, then when I leave this world, my kids won't have to shovel my junk into a trash bin, and feel bad about it. And the best of all, I don't have to wade through my junk every day, wasting my life trying to find something I need.

The simple life - I'm in!

Water

I love drinking water. Edda, my wife, doesn't like the taste of just plain water, so she has to remind herself to drink because she is able to go all day without remembering to hydrate. Not me. I drink water even when I am not thirsty. There is probably a point of drinking too much water, and on occasion I may have hit it.

Anyway, who cares, right? The thing is I believe that we can change our lives a lot if we incorporate daily habits that in small ways constantly add up.

Drinking water first thing in the morning is one of those habits I have created. I probably got it when I was researching juicing, and then later saw it popping up on Lifehacks.

This is what I do: as soon as I get up, I squeeze a lemon or lime in a glass, add water (no sugar - you get used to it) and drink it up. I'll drink two more glasses, totaling around 700 or 800 ml.

What is the result: it circulates, cleaning out my system, be it blood flow, kidneys, or even intestines. They say you should wait 45 minutes before eating, but I don't get neurotic about clocking it.

Just talking about it, makes me thirsty. Got to go get a drink.

Personal Blog

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Yesterday I heard an interview with Seth Godin. He suggested that everybody should write a daily blog. Since I am looking for habits to increase value in my life, I decided to try his recommendation out. 

My name is Joseph, and I am a follower of Christ. Though I have spent my life trying to live for Him, I am in no way perfect, nor do I judge myself better than anyone else. I am around 50 years old - whoo - that sounds old. But instead of having the sense of having arrived, of being wise, I still feel like I have a long road to achievement, to fulfillment, to bettering myself. This passage to a life worth living is a journey we all have to travel.

Let this blog be a record that my kids and grand-kids may look at, maybe laugh at granddad's antiquated views or may take an idea and live a little stronger, little richer, making their short passage on this planet a little brighter.