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Sacrifice is Giving Up Something You Love

Mom's the Word

Ozzie Gives Back to His Parents

Many youth consider only what they can get out of their parents, never what they can give back to them. Shame them into action with this Ozzie incident:

Ozzie Osborne is the wild and crazy guy who defines the rebellious side of rock and shares his profanity with the world each week on MTV's "The Osbornes." He?s the guy who bit the head off a bat in concert. His first successful band was called Black Sabbath. Given the amount of drugs he?s consumed, it?s a miracle that he?s still alive. Ozzie?s such a wild man that it would be hard to startle me with any of his bizarre behavior. But one thing did.

Ozzie lived on (and over) the edge from his childhood on. He even had to serve time in prison as a teen for theft. His parents were poor and although they worked hard, they could hardly make ends meet. Ozzie's shoes wore out and he often went to band practices barefoot. He didn't even have money for underwear. Ozzie wanted more out of life and saw music as his chance to get a life.

After playing with a couple of bands that went nowhere, he joined with the band that became "Black Sabbath." His take home money for cutting the first album was a mere $72.50. Now think with me for a minute. Imagine that you're Ozzie Osborne, wild and crazy guy, hot on the track to make it big. What would you do with that money? Buy drugs? Upgrade some equipment? Buy an outrageous outfit? Buy some underwear?

Here's what he did with his $72.50, which in 1970 would have gone a lot further than today.  He bought for himself a decent pair of shoes and his first bottle of aftershave lotion. Then, he went home and "proudly handed the rest of the money over to his tearful and proud mother." You see, for all Ozzie's bad qualities, he really cared for his parents and wanted to help them. Although they were far from perfect parents, he honored them and wanted to please them.

My point? If Black Sabbath lead man Ozzie Osborne cared for his parents and wanted practically to show his love for them, how much more should we who have come to know Christ? What have you done this week to honor your parents (Ephesians 6:1-3)? Since a part of the Great Commandment is to love our neighbors, shouldn't our Christianity be most evident to our closest neighbors, the members of our own family? Since children are to "make some return to their parents" (I Timothy 5:4) for all they have invested in us, have you ever offered to help them with a portion of your paycheck? Do you ever ask them about how their day went or how you could make their lives easier by helping more around the house?   Don't let Ozzie outdo you with your parents! (Facts taken from Ozzy Unauthorized, by Sue Crawford, Michael O-Mara Books Limited, 2002, London, p. 44. Written by Steve Miller, copyright August 15, 2002. All rights reserved.)

Howard Hughes Loved Things, Used People

Love to be Loved

Einstein Reads to Sister

Social Life Revolutionized

If you want to be liked, like others. If you want to be interesting, be interested. If you want to be loved, love. Alan Loy McGinnis, codirector of Valley Counseling Center in Glandale, California, shares of a woman who hated parties. Before she'd go to a social, she'd tell herself, "Now try hard. Be lively. Say bright things. Talk." But for all her trying, she simply didn't seem to fit in.

Then she decided to take an entirely different approach. It changed her into a person that others wanted to be with. You see, her previous approach was all focused on herself - how she came across, how witty she was, trying hard to impress people with herself.  Everything changed when she started focusing on others.  This is her new approach:

"?Now before going to a party, I just tell myself to listen with affection to anyone who talks to me, to be in their shoes when they talk, to try to know them without my mind pressing against theirs, or arguing or changing the subject. My attitude is: "Tell me more." This person is showing me his soul. It is a little dry and meager and full of small talk just now, but presently he will begin to show his true self. Then he will be wonderfully alive." (The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979, pp. 109-110.)

Scholar Works Among Retarded

So many people spend their lives seeking recognition, the respect and applause of people. Here's one guy who had it all, but gave it up to minister to those our society generally ignores.

Henri Nouwen was born in The Netherlands.  During his youngest years he remembers a mother who always praised and affirmed him as a person, calling him to always love Jesus.  Henri's father challenged him to make something of his life and pushed him to do more with his talents.  His father wanted Henri to be a "success."

"I lived the first part of my life listening more to the voice of my father," said Henri.  "The second part of my life I listened more to the voice of my mother."

This explains why a successful author, lecturer, and professor of Psychology at three top universities: Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, gave up academic life to live in a community of mentally challenged adults.   During his journey from the hallowed halls of academia to the nitty gritty of a life spent caring for adults who cannot care for themselves, Henri spent countless hours learning what it means to truly accept and love someone unconditionally.

Henri learned of the work of Jean Vanier, a Canadian who created communities where adults with developmental disabilities lived with "friends." Henri moved into L'Arche Daybreak such community in Toronto, Canada to become a "friend."

When Henri arrived at Daybreak, he gained notoriety more for his inability to make a sandwich than the 30 books he'd written.  His heavy Dutch accent caused many to misunderstand his conversations about "faith." The residents thought this gangly man who couldn't speak very well was awfully concerned with "face." Henri spent his early years teaching the academically elite and writing 30 books on spiritual life. His last ten years were spent serving people who couldn't even read.

The people of Daybreak didn't really care that Henri's name was known across the world.  They just cared that he loved them.  The lessons learned at Daybreak were profound for Henri the scholar.  He developed a deep friendship with Adam Arnett.  Adam never spoke a word in his life, yet he taught Henri his greatest lessons about slowing down, being physically present with people, and that love between two people can grow without words.  Henri tells the story in his book "Adam: God's Beloved."

God had been teaching Henri for several years that every person is "Beloved" to God, regardless of what we do, have, or how we look--but this was made most evident for him through his relationship with Adam. This was Henri's last book before he died of a heart attack in his homeland of The Netherlands in route to Russia to film a documentary on Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son.

Just a few years before, Henri wrote, "Our death may be the end of our success, our productivity, our fame or our importance among people, but it is not the end of our fruitfulness. In fact, the opposite it true....."

If you looked at your daily schedule, is your time spent seeking success, or seeking lasting fruit? Will the things you're living for outlast this life, or will they die when you die?

Love As Looking Outward

Kindness to the Unkind

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