After deciding to blog, I wasn’t too intimidated by the demand to find weekly topics or create content. But I dreaded the challenge of naming this thing. So much pressure to be cute and clever. So important to project some cultural awareness while avoiding offending anyone’s sensibilities. How hard could it be? To be honest, my brainstorming only produced a light shower, and most of the brain drops barely produced a splash.
Thankfully, my expert panel lives with me, so I took my short list of nominees to my family who are never short on opinions. You can thank them for preventing Greg’s Guidings, Minding Your Business, Life to the Lees (Tennyson), and Blogorific (would have looked great on a T-shirt) from ever seeing the light of a computer or phone screen. But after rounds and rounds of frustration and futility, I settled on a title: Likewise (I feel your admiration and awe from here). Thankfully, no one resisted the idea, mostly because I did not ask for the board’s input. I think I will keep it.
Why “likewise?” The word reminds me of a conversation Jesus has with a religious expert. The scholar asks Jesus, “How can I inherit eternal life?” In response to this “meaning of life” question, Jesus takes him seriously and dives in with clarifying questions, invites follow up questions and illustrates his answer with one of his most famous stories, The Good Samaritan. Jesus provides a heartfelt and memorable reply to a good question. You wouldn’t think there is much more to say other than, “Thanks for participating in today’s Bible Study,” but Jesus has one final thing to say. He says, “Go and do likewise.” Does inheriting eternal life require more than a deep, theological answer? Jesus thinks so. He knows that experiencing life’s best requires doing likewise.
In other words, to tap into God’s best, we take what He tells us and we ACT on it. We must do…likewise. “Doing likewise” is leaping from answer to action. Likewise puts wisdom into practice, so that it becomes life-giving experience and habit. Likewise means moving from “thinking it over” to seeing for ourselves.
So, we will be aiming for more than answers in this blog. We are setting our sights on Likewise. We will look high and low for wisdom to meaningful, real-world issues. That is the Wise part of the work we will do. We will pursue spiritual wisdom that has stood the test of time; solutions experienced by others and concrete counsel found in sacred Scriptures. But after fresh insights and good information, I hope you will be inspired to Go and Do. Doing so will make your spiritual engine roar to life.
What are your big questions these days? What are the things blocking you from your best? Week by week, we will look at our common struggles: spiritual questions and life struggles such as anxiety, forgiveness, and relationship concerns. We will also cover growth topics such as personal development and leadership matters. I also want to hear from you, so please pass along the things that are at the top of your mind and the bottom of your barrel these days.
In doing likewise, Jesus knew that words are not enough. We must act, but we never have to act alone. As you Go and Do, I would be honored to encourage, coach and counsel in ways that will make your journey to likewise much smoother and simpler. Please click on the Hope Works link and schedule a time where we can visit in person or online. Let me know how I may be of help.