Musings from the Ozone

 Looking for a special place to fill?  You can find it…at home, at work, at church, at school or anywhere you find people!  Right off the bat, I am going to suggest that you study the art of becoming an encourager!  The dictionary gives us a few good meanings to the word 'encourager' and generally it involves others.  1., to give somebody hope, confidence, or courage 2., to motivate somebody to take a course of action or continue doing something 3., to foster something such as: to assist something to occur or increase.

We usually like to be encouraged when we are feeling tired and burnt out.  It is sad to hear people say they are 'burnt out'  for it reminds one of a light bulb that cannot be used again.  It is simply not true that we become unusable or without use! As long as we have our sanity, we can be there for others!

It seems that people are getting 'tired' earlier and earlier in life!  I will never forget the day a young woman of 35 told me she was burnt out from working with the youth in the church.  I am nearly 20 years her senior, and I replied, "if you are burnt out at this age, can you imagine how you will feel when you get to be my age? You just need to rest yourself a little and give things that you are doing a rest, too!  How sad to feel 'over the hill' at 35.  In my youth, I always heard people say that life begins at 40!  That used to floor me as a kid, because I thought 40 was so old!  Some people think that if they do not have their education finished, their first million dollars socked away somewhere, and other goals met; they are finished. Nonsense! Life is a process and it is never finished, until the last breath has been drawn. We must learn to pace ourselves, and that takes some introspection. When we think of pacing ourselves, we normally think of rhythm or patterns, but maybe we should just think instead about concentrating on our best abilities, quit the bemoaning over areas of poor achievements and just shine where we can.

An encourager is a very special person. First, they have already overcome their own self-centeredness, and self-interests in order to look onto other people. They do not need the limelight; they have reached a plateau of maturity where they see the needs of other people quickly and clearly. They become like a spotlight themselves; they shine brightness onto others who need to be brightened up. They warm the person who is so shriveled up from their community until they are depressed. The encourager doesn't have to wait until there is a special time to show the bright smile, nor do they have to wait for a holiday such as Christmas or a birthday to send out some cheer.

To be a true encourager, one must be sincere in a love for people! They must sense the moods of individuals. They will know when it is proper to mourn with someone; laugh with someone; cry with someone and rejoice with someone. They will not only rejoice with a person who has a new baby, a new job or a new car, but they will empathize with a person who has just lost a job, a new baby or wrecked a new car. Encouragement can never come from a heart that has been 'trained' to hand out flattery like sweets, nor can it come from a 'plastic,' stylized personality, that is totally insincere. People are not dumb; in fact during periods of crisis, we usually feel more emotional and sensitive than at any other time. An ill-framed remark can hurt feelings more quickly than one can imagine! Many terrible family feuds have been started during funerals, weddings, childbirth, new job starts, moving or any other stressful time, simply because someone lacked sensitivity. A carefully crafted word of encouragement and love can also heal a sore and cranky soul quicker than one can imagine!

One doesn't train to be an encourager, but perhaps a study of the art may be advisable! Observation of a person's actions often give one a hint of what's happening. Someone may not be crying at all, but the look of despondency and misery can be unmistakable. Being familiar with a person does make the way easier, should you wish to be their encourager. If you do not know the person well, it would be better to just smile nicely at them and pat their shoulder, rather than say something wrong.

Sometimes words are not even the encouragement a person needs; an arm thrown simply around their shoulder, a hand squeeze, a sympathetic look of understanding or a listening ear may prove to be more helpful than any spoken word.

Why do people suppose that there are some people that are above encouragement? I say that, because it appears that there are people who are so supposedly full of wisdom, and knowledge, that one might think they would resent a person thinking they were ever 'down' or 'discouraged!' Many ministers exude those kind of vibes and the aura of wisdom and utmost confidence; they never appear 'under the weather' like many of us mere mortals do. This is simply not the case. Every speaker, whether he feels he did a tremendous job, or a very poor performance, does not draw all of his confidence from having his own self-approval. He needs feed-back. Perhaps his wife or children will give him feedback, but it could possibly be of a negative nature, rather than the real encouragement he needed? Family members do not always use great tact with so-called famous members of their families.  Perhaps, the members of the congregation have shown him their indifference by leaving quickly after an average sermon. He looks around to see what effect, if any, his sermon had on anyone. The great time to encourage your pastor is usually after he has bared his soul to his flock.  He wonders if he was too harsh, or too weak, or too abstract, or whatever.  It is just not true that he gets so many compliments on his sermon, that yours won't make any difference to him.  Even a child can encourage a pastor! 

One such event happened at our church lately.  A young boy, of about 4 years of age,  had it in his mind that the pastor was 'Jesus!'  He had been praying with his family at home that they could get a new house.  One Sunday, after church, the little boy waited and waited around for the pastor to quit talking to everyone.  Finally, the pastor looked down at the little boy, and asked him what he wanted?  The little boy replied "A HOUSE!"  He had such faith that the pastor was Jesus, surely he would supply his every need!  It was a far out stretch of an encouragement example here, but it tickled the pastor so much, he felt cheery the rest of the day.  Encouragement is light hearted!  People in our local assembly who are cheerful and pleasant to be with, do not lack for friends. Their beaming personality is one of sweetness and light!

Who else do we admire, yet don't realize that person may appreciate a word of encouragement? What about the workers around the church? There are many helpers and workers behind the scenes who do not get any acknowledgements for their labor. Everyone feels good when they are appreciated for a job well-done! If one begins to look for the good in everyone, they will begin to feel uplifted and encouraged themselves; a positive disposition has a way of shining back love and joy from others!