CYBERCOLUMN:
Stand-down
___By Berry D. Simpson
___In his book, "Mid-Course Correction," Gordon MacDonald wrote: "Not long ago, the secretary of the Navy ordered what he called a two-day stand-down for the entire United States Navy. There had been too many accidents at naval installations and ships in a short period of time. His instructions were that officers and enlisted personnel spend two days reviewing all procedures and safety policies. An entire military service stopped what it ordinarily did, turned inward, and took a hard look at itself as a system. …
___"It would not be a bad idea for the entire Christian movement to do the same thing."
___ I think he's right. We don't stand-down often enough as Christians, as individual believers or as corporate church bodies. We are so busy doing stuff; we don't do enough reflection to observe our Christian lives.
___One reason we don't do it might be that we want instant results. If we plan a weekend retreat to withdraw from our busy lives, a weekend st

Berry D. Simpson

and-down, we have high expectations to come back on Monday with a pocketful of answers and plans and goals. We don't want to invest the time unless we think we will have something to show for it.
___For example, just this past fall, Cyndi and I tried to schedule a weekend retreat at Christ the King Retreat Center in San Angelo. We did this last year, and it was one of the most important events of our spiritual lives. However, this year it was harder to accomplish. No matter which weekend we picked, we ran into huge obstacles. Either we had plans or obligations we couldn't avoid, or the retreat center where we wanted to go could not accommodate us. Finally, I decided to book an inexpensive hotel room so we could go anyway, but in the end we went instead to Dallas to see our son, Byron, for parents' day at college. Don't get me wrong: We did the right thing; we needed to see Byron.
___In fact, for each weekend we tried to schedule and failed, the conflicts were real and legitimate. In each case, we made the correct choice not to go. Still, as I look back over the fall, I am sorry we couldn't make it work. I can't help but wonder if one reason we couldn't pull it off was that we didn't have a specific reason this year.
___ Last year, we made our weekend pilgrimage to help decide whether I should run for higher political office. That was such an important decision, we wouldn't let anything get in the way of our plans. This year, we didn't have such a specific question, and I think it kept us from finding a weekend.
___We'll work harder next time. Stand-down times are more important than just answering questions. They are most valuable as relationship builders.
___Just like Cyndi and I enjoy going on dates together just to build our relationship—not necessarily to discuss some deep topic or make goals and plans—we need to do the same with Jesus. We need to schedule relationship-building time whether or not we have a burning issue to settle. Married couples get into trouble when they presume their relationship is bulletproof and invulnerable to the sorts of attacks that break up other couples; if we take the relationship for granted and think it can't happen to us, well, our own arrogance will be our downfall.
___ As with God: If we think our relationship with him is so strong we don't need any quite time, retreats, spiritual stand-down and evaluations, our own arrogance will be our downfall. Rather than being poor in spirit, as Jesus wants, we'd be arrogant in spirit, or worse, indifferent in spirit.
___Jesus said he would rather us oppose him than be indifferent. Taking time away from our busy self-important days to grow relationship with Jesus is the antidote to indifference.
___Stand-downs can be more than big retreats. Being poor in spirit also means taking daily quiet times to listen to God, read from the Bible or devotional, and think about Jesus and what he might have to say. I know it is hard to carve those minutes out of our busy days. I know it is hard to find a time or place to be alone and quiet. People, families, co-workers or unruly school kids surround most of us all day every day, and when can we possibly get alone with God?
___I don't know. I just know it is important. Finding time and spending time with God on a daily basis is recognition that we need him, that we don't have all the answers, that we know the source of our blessings.

___ Berry Simpson, a Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland.





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