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Thoughts on Life

Many years ago I was teaching at a local community college. They had recently changed their administration and the politics of the school became almost unbearable. Students learned that they could make accusations against the teachers and extort grades. I was written up for such an accusation even though there was no evidence.

At that time, the city of Santa Clara had a program where anyone could meet with a lawyer for 30 minutes for $30. I wrote up my situation and my wife and I met with a lawyer. I gave him the write-up and he spent about 10 minutes reading it. He then handed the paper back to me and looked me in my eyes and said, “quit.”

That is a profound statement and amazing advice and well worth the $30. Too often it is easy to get so involved in the injustice of a situation that fighting against the situation, righting the wrong, fixing the injustice seems the holy war that must be fought. But do all injustices need to be made right? Do all wrongs need to be corrected? Perhaps, but it is impossible for one person to fix the brokenness of the world. Even Superman or Ironman or one of the other superheroes, even when they are in teams, they cannot and do not fix everything. No human or super human can fix everything. And it is not anyone’s job to fix everything. God has not called anyone to do that, and God had not called me to fix that school.

I have been in various work situations where bosses were mean, politics reigned, anti-God sentiments were public and other toxic situations ruled. One boss moved my desk into a public hallway hoping that I would get upset and quit. I did not. I had a “I’ll show you” type attitude and it was a contest of wills. I also liked the money I was making. Finally, HR was tired of walking by my desk so they moved me into a different department. I had won that battle, but nothing had changed. My old boss was still mean. I had just saved myself.

I truly believe God is very involved in the life of every Christian, so determining the godly response to events is always encouraged. God will guide, teach, correct, and discipline through events and situations, so keeping a focus on God will always be desired.

Back to my teaching job: My wife and I talked about the lawyers advice to simply quit. We felt that our mortgage and other expenses meant I needed to stay employed in some capacity. So we prayed about it and I worked hard teaching. I ignored the politics. I showed up, taught my classes and left, never going into the teacher’s lounge and never socializing with anyone. That allowed me to do my job without getting involved in the politics of the school. Three months after meeting with the lawyer, I was offered a job as the pastor of the a church. I was offered the job with three weeks left in the quarter, so I gave the school a three week notice. On my last day I gave the head of the school the paper I had given the lawyer and left. I have never looked back.




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