Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Great Expectations at Tinney Chapel OASIS
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To meet the Christmas expectations of disadvantaged children in Wood County, a collection of games and game pieces, including an authentic basketball and packaged parlor pastimes such as Monopoly and Battleship, were donated last month by Tinney Chapel’s OASIS group, an organizational acronym for Older Adults Still In Service.
Carolyn Beavers, one of the founders of the group, also led a devotional on “Expectations” at the OASIS meeting of January 15, 2008. She compared dictionary definitions of this fascinating word, expectations: Some of which include references to “prospects, especially of success or gain,” with our own expectations of ourselves, our careers, our health, our wealth, often unrealistic and unrealized.
“Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.” Such was the opinion of novelist Charlotte Bronte, quoted by Carolyn, who paraphrased: “In other words, Bronte implies that perhaps we should not set our sights too high, because of life’s unpredictable twists and turns.”
Indeed, a dramatic variation of that lesson underpins Charles Dickens’ novel of the mid-1800s, Great Expectations, in which the main character actually exceeds his own social and economic expectations, but loses his moral compass in the process. Still, Dickens’ novel emphasizes the value of charting our course in life, just as does Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and his epigrams in Poor Richard’s Almanac.
But, Carolyn’s primary emphasis dealt with the expectations that God has for each of us: “Do we meet them?” she asked, rhetorically. And what does the Lord require of us? Carolyn pointed to Micah 6:8: “To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” This is a favorite Scripture for many of us, and for good reason: It’s the short version of God’s blueprint for our lives, the essence of His expectations for a relationship with each of us. Again, Carolyn asked: “Do we meet God’s expectations?
For New Testament parallels, Carolyn emphasized the Gospel of John, where Jesus tells us that we remain in His love if we obey His commands, and we are to love each other as He loves us! Jesus at once raises, encourages and empowers expectations!
