Life, in so many ways, can be full of surprises.
One way I’m often surprised is by meeting new friends, especially out of — as the saying goes — the blue.
In the middle of this week, for instance, I was invited by a good friend to play in a one day member/guest golf event. Lunch, 18 holes, and dinner. Just golf with my friend would have been more than enough, so I accepted. But there were food bonuses, and I did not decline those either.
As it turns out, there was also a friend bonus.
I knew I would meet people I’d never met. I was a guest, after all. But it turned out that the new friendship from the day was not with a member of that club, but with another guest. He and I met briefly at the lunch buffet, and then found that “coincidentally” we were in the same foursome.
Thomas, as it happens, is the Senior Pastor at the church where Do Good U is going to hold Do Good Talks in early May. And it also happened that he and I had a lot of things in common other than our love for God and our love for golf. We also had people we respect and an understanding of each other’s work and challenges. Who knows where all of that will go? Only God, who clearly orchestrated it.
On that same night I met a man who is in Arizona on a mission of mercy. I have not met him in person, but recently a friend from Tennessee called and said, “My friend will be in Scottsdale, which I know is close to you, and he’s going to need some help. Anything you can do, I’d appreciate.”
A little help
Dennis is here with his son-in-law, Dave. Dave is fighting a very tough case of cancer, and his doctors in Tennessee told him they’d done all they could.
Except for one, who said, “I know a doctor in Scottsdale who might be able to help.” And so it was that the two of them flew to Arizona. They couldn’t really afford it, and insurance is only helping some, but it was time to pull out all the stops.
I called him when I got home from the golf event, at about 8 p.m. And now I had discovered another friend. This one needed some practical and financial help for the short term, although his many other friends back home had already helped a lot.
On the next morning I met with several of my long-time friends, and the bottom line is that we are joining together to help Dennis and Dave while they’re here. Some of that will be encouragement and support and prayer. Some of it will be financial. It’s what friends do, but when I told him about our plan, it was his turn to be surprised.
I’d like you to meet…
A couple of days ago I got a message from a friend named Tim who I’ve known for several months. My friend Hugh and I met Tim on a public golf course back in the summer, and it was also completely unexpected.
It turns out that Tim is in the golf business, having invented a very cool kind of putter that is good for a lot of people, but especially for hockey players who also play golf. Golly!
So my new friend Tim sent me a note and said he’d met a fellow named Jonathan, and he was recommending that Jonathan and I should meet. When a friend like Tim suggests something like that, I’m in.
This morning (as I write) I found some time and called Jonathan, and now I have another new friend!
If you’re keeping score, that is three new friends in less than 24 hours, and not a single one of them was made on social media.
I can only imagine all the blessings those friendships will bring, not just to us, but to the world. True friendships, after all, make everyone in them better than they could ever be on their own.
The Bible famously says, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
And yet for many, making new friends IRL (in real life, as opposed to online) is scary.
Good is greater than safe
Which brings me to Jonathan (Jonny), the newest of my new friends. It is from him and his business partners that I “borrowed” my title, good is greater than safe. Or, as they put it, Good > Safe.
That came from a few lines written by C. S. Lewis in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Susan, a human girl, finds herself in Narnia and is being guided through that magical land by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Specifically, they are taking her to meet Aslan, who Mr. Beaver eventually explains is a lion.
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.
Great writing by C. S. Lewis, and a great application by the partners at Good Lion Golf. They don’t make “safe” golf clothing, but they do good.
Is it safe to chat by phone with a new friend you’ve never met in person, and in less than 12 hours commit funds to him not just from you, but from other friends? No. But it is good.
New friendships, new companies, new ways of teaching the truth: all unsafe. All good.
The next time you think doing good might be misunderstood at work, on line, or by the media, do good anyway. Because good really is greater than safe.
Do good. It’s in you.
Good is Greater than Safe
Life, in so many ways, can be full of surprises.
One way I’m often surprised is by meeting new friends, especially out of — as the saying goes — the blue.
In the middle of this week, for instance, I was invited by a good friend to play in a one day member/guest golf event. Lunch, 18 holes, and dinner. Just golf with my friend would have been more than enough, so I accepted. But there were food bonuses, and I did not decline those either.
As it turns out, there was also a friend bonus.
I knew I would meet people I’d never met. I was a guest, after all. But it turned out that the new friendship from the day was not with a member of that club, but with another guest. He and I met briefly at the lunch buffet, and then found that “coincidentally” we were in the same foursome.
Thomas, as it happens, is the Senior Pastor at the church where Do Good U is going to hold Do Good Talks in early May. And it also happened that he and I had a lot of things in common other than our love for God and our love for golf. We also had people we respect and an understanding of each other’s work and challenges. Who knows where all of that will go? Only God, who clearly orchestrated it.
On that same night I met a man who is in Arizona on a mission of mercy. I have not met him in person, but recently a friend from Tennessee called and said, “My friend will be in Scottsdale, which I know is close to you, and he’s going to need some help. Anything you can do, I’d appreciate.”
A little help
Dennis is here with his son-in-law, Dave. Dave is fighting a very tough case of cancer, and his doctors in Tennessee told him they’d done all they could.
Except for one, who said, “I know a doctor in Scottsdale who might be able to help.” And so it was that the two of them flew to Arizona. They couldn’t really afford it, and insurance is only helping some, but it was time to pull out all the stops.
I called him when I got home from the golf event, at about 8 p.m. And now I had discovered another friend. This one needed some practical and financial help for the short term, although his many other friends back home had already helped a lot.
On the next morning I met with several of my long-time friends, and the bottom line is that we are joining together to help Dennis and Dave while they’re here. Some of that will be encouragement and support and prayer. Some of it will be financial. It’s what friends do, but when I told him about our plan, it was his turn to be surprised.
I’d like you to meet…
A couple of days ago I got a message from a friend named Tim who I’ve known for several months. My friend Hugh and I met Tim on a public golf course back in the summer, and it was also completely unexpected.
It turns out that Tim is in the golf business, having invented a very cool kind of putter that is good for a lot of people, but especially for hockey players who also play golf. Golly!
So my new friend Tim sent me a note and said he’d met a fellow named Jonathan, and he was recommending that Jonathan and I should meet. When a friend like Tim suggests something like that, I’m in.
This morning (as I write) I found some time and called Jonathan, and now I have another new friend!
If you’re keeping score, that is three new friends in less than 24 hours, and not a single one of them was made on social media.
I can only imagine all the blessings those friendships will bring, not just to us, but to the world. True friendships, after all, make everyone in them better than they could ever be on their own.
The Bible famously says, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
And yet for many, making new friends IRL (in real life, as opposed to online) is scary.
Good is greater than safe
Which brings me to Jonathan (Jonny), the newest of my new friends. It is from him and his business partners that I “borrowed” my title, good is greater than safe. Or, as they put it, Good > Safe.
That came from a few lines written by C. S. Lewis in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Susan, a human girl, finds herself in Narnia and is being guided through that magical land by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Specifically, they are taking her to meet Aslan, who Mr. Beaver eventually explains is a lion.
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.
Great writing by C. S. Lewis, and a great application by the partners at Good Lion Golf. They don’t make “safe” golf clothing, but they do good.
Is it safe to chat by phone with a new friend you’ve never met in person, and in less than 12 hours commit funds to him not just from you, but from other friends? No. But it is good.
New friendships, new companies, new ways of teaching the truth: all unsafe. All good.
The next time you think doing good might be misunderstood at work, on line, or by the media, do good anyway. Because good really is greater than safe.
Do good. It’s in you.
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