‘Milk-carton’ issues spur personal awareness

A couple of weeks ago, while driving to pick up my kids from school, I came across an unusual scene. Lost in my thoughts, enjoying the music on the radio, I saw something out of the corner of my eye.

About four lanes of traffic over, waiting on a light to turn green, was a man in a car. What caught my attention was the gallon of milk on his roof. My instinct was to laugh and say, “What an idiot.” Then I noticed people in cars on all four sides of the intersection trying to get this guy’s attention. They were motioning with their hands, rolling down windows and yelling.

I chuckled to myself. Then I realized I was in the man’s view and may be able to get his attention. I began motioning by pointing at my roof. He saw me; I pointed up, and he looked up. He wasn’t getting it. Finally, the man in the car behind him jumped out of his car, grabbed the gallon of milk and handed it through a window to the puzzled man.

We all felt good. We drove on smiling, as if we had solved a major crisis. Then I started thinking about it. How many of us have “milk cartons” on the roofs of our lives?

Lent is a season of personal reflection for me. I like to focus on spiritual disciplines, find time to sit with my struggles, and reflect on the things I need to change. This past Lent, I used “Lectio Divina” (an ancient practice of “holy reading”) with the words of Christ from the cross. It was Jesus’ words, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” that caught my attention. Anthony De Mello translated this passage simply, “They are not aware of what they do.”

As I read it, I asked myself, what am I doing of which I am unaware? Do I have a “milk carton” on the roof of my life?

To help us examine our lives, I developed some questions that I encourage you to seek answers to. I believe these questions help us become more aware of the “milk cartons” in our lives.

• What have I assumed this year?

• What have I kept to myself that I should have let others know?

• What did I nurture and coddle this year, a bit too much, that I should have let die?

• How often did I let laziness or procrastination win the day?

• How often was I selfish, more concerned about my looks, my successes, my abilities/skills, and neglected others?

• When did I have to be right, but found myself all alone?

• When should I have sought out counsel or a mentor, but instead tried to figure it out for myself?

• Was there something that I thought was great, but it ended up hurting me?

• Is there anything that I need to deal with immediately?

• What may I need to change, do or begin working on so I don’t have the same milk-carton issues next year?

After spending time examining your awareness, it’s time to take that milk carton off your roof. While seeking help for my issues, I found solace in Romans 12:5-8 (from Eugene Peterson’s “The Message”).

“So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. If you preach, just preach God’s message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.”

Is someone trying to get your attention about an issue of which you are unaware? Let’s have the summer months bring awareness to the milk-carton issues of our lives, and we will find ourselves with smiles on our faces.

by Bob Henry
First Appeared in the June 2010 FWLutheran