Do What You Can Do

I had a beautiful, albeit short sail last Sunday night. Instead of gloves and windbreakers it was T-shirts and shorts. I had a new sail I traded with a marina mate: one he couldn't use for one I didn't use. The dominant high pressure makes for pretty weather, but not much wind. That made the conditions perfect for my new light air sail. Halfway back across the bay on my second tack the light wind diminished to virtually no wind. Making a sailboat move in those conditions is a challenge I relish. I made it to the marina channel at a peaceful one foot per second -- at the fastest.

I used to dream of circling the globe in my own sailboat. Due to mechanical problems, I didn't even get out of Muskegon Lake this season. But it was a beautiful season even so. There were few days when I wanted to sail but could not due to bad weather. My wife and I enjoyed hours of peaceful relaxation tacking up and down the best sailing lake in Michigan. Each time I sail in October I realize it may be the last of the season. I try not to pre-mourn the lifting of the boat onto the hard. Winter is tough on Michigan sailors.

I have friends who feel similarly about golf. I have tried that, but those who have seen me know that I play not golf, but something between polo and self-flagilation. Then there are my biker friends. We love the (too short) riding season in Michigan. A recent Saturday trip to the Lelanau peninsula on my ancient Gold Wing provided so much eye music it began to hurt. Soon the bikes will sit idle, packed away from the ice and snow.

I could wish for a bigger boat, better golf skills, a newer bike or a longer season. Or I can just enjoy what I have. From the Apostle Paul to Howard Gardner (multiple intelligences) we are encouraged to make the best use of what we are given. Our time, talents and opportunities are gifts to be used as only we can. Failure to take advantage of what we have says to the Giver of all good and perfect gifts that we are not grateful and it reveals implicit disobedience.

I have longed to see one of my works on the best seller list. I have wished I could teach at some popular liberal arts university. I have come to regret many things I did (or didn't do) raising my kids. My wife will testify that I have only recently begun to be anything like the husband she dreamed of decades ago. I have just about come to grips with the idea that the past is past, the future is not promised, and all I have is today. And happiness is wanting what I have, not having what I want.

Jesus looked up the road to Jerusalem on his last trip there and sighed about what he could not do for the people because they wouldn't let him. But he didn't sit down and wallow in depression or self-pity; he walked into the city where his cross awaited. Don't complain about what you can't do with what you don't have. Get up and do what you can with what you have. That is all anyone can ask. That is all God requires.