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Walking in the Valley
A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley
by Barbara Dahlgren
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It's A New Year, Play On!
Column for the week of Jan 13-19, 2002 |
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, that great American physician, lecturer, poet
and novelist, wrote much and is quoted often. From his first published
poem, Old Ironsides, which was a tribute to the magnificent frigate,
Constitution, to my personal favorite, The Deacon's Masterpiece
or as some call it The Wonderful One Hoss Shay, Mr. Holmes' literary
life has left us with some memorable quotes. Such as:
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"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where
we stand, as in what direction we are moving."
"People can be divided into two classes: those who go ahead
and do something, and those who sit still and inquire, why wasn't
it done the other way?"
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And one I often ponder about:
| "Many of us die with the music still in us." |
I wonder what he meant when he wrote that? Was it that man allows the
shattered hopes, disillusionments, unfulfilled expectations, hurts, rejections,
and unkept promises of life to beat him down so much that the "music"
that lies within him will never be played? Was it that we die with so
much more to do because we didn't have time to accomplish it all? Or was
it that the "music" lays within us because we were too timid
to sing? We were afraid.
Man is a fearful being. In many ways he is his own worst enemy. He talks
himself out of happiness and success. And usually what he anticipates
is far worse than what actually happens.
A few years ago I had a tooth pulled. It was what they call a "dry
socket" which is supposed to give much pain in the healing process.
Now I was deathly afraid of dentists. It took every bit of courage I had
to just go get the tooth pulled. So when the dentist said, "If this
gives you any pain, come back to me and I'll take care of it for you,"
I thought, "Yeah, right!" I conjured up visions of Steve Martin
as the sadistic dentist in "Little Shop of Horrors." The first
couple of days I had excruciating pain. I called and got a prescription
for some high-powered painkillers but even they didn't do the trick. About
the fourth day I became "painfully" aware that I would have
to go back to "Steve" for some relief. I tentatively came in
and told him my problem. He put me in "the chair," looked me
over, smiled wryly, and said, "I'll fix you right up." Then
he took a piece of gauze, dipped it in a solution, tucked it in the cavern
where my tooth once was, and presto, change-o, NO PAIN. So for four days
I had suffered unnecessarily because of what I feared would be done to
me.
I wonder if man doesn't fear pursuing a relationship with Jesus Christ
for the same reasons. Man fears that he is unworthy. Yes, we all are.
That's why we need Jesus in our lives. Man fears Christ will force him
to make changes in his life that he doesn't want to make. Actually, Christ's
way isn't generally one of forcing. If we come closer to Him, we may choose
to make changes, but those are our choices. You see, there is nothing
to fear because of John
3:16, 17. God loves us. He loves with all our problems, with our unworthiness,
with all our imperfections. Sometimes man fears being loved.
Whatever your fears are, don't let them hold you back this year. It's
a New Year, filled with new hopes and new dreams. Oliver Wendell Holmes
also said, "Beware how you take hope from another human being."
Don't let your fears rob YOU of that hope. It's a New Year, and you're
alive and you have music in YOU! "And if music be the food of life,
play on!"
©January 2002
Be sure to visit this page every week to read the
next edition of Walking in the Valley.
You can write to the author at bydahlgren@aol.com.
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