May you learn, laugh and be inspired!
A collection of Richard Lombard’s thoughts and
attempts at humor for your enjoyment and enrichment
NOMO FOMO
“Fear of missing out (FOMO) is the feeling of apprehension that one is either not in the know about or missing out on information, events, experiences, or life decisions that could make one's life better.”1
Are you fearful of missing out on something that other people may be experiencing or enjoying? Do you long to have an experience that is post worthy on Instagram so the world can see what a great life you have? Or do you just feel as if your life is missing something? If so, you may have FOMO – the fear of missing out. Maybe you really are missing out on something and don’t even know it.
What are you living for? What do you long for? Do you seek fulfillment from one experience to the next, chasing an elusive dream? Or are you dealing with the realities of life by dulling its pain and emptiness getting a good buzz on or endlessly and mindlessly streaming?
Do you think it’s possible to find contentment, joy, peace, and love? If it is possible to find them, how far would you go to get them? Would you search the world over? Would you give up all you have? Would you pay whatever it takes to buy them?
This type of life is closer than you might think. However, it may require more than you’re willing to give. That’s because it involves vulnerability, humility, honesty with yourself, confession, and letting go. It involves surrendering your life. However, the benefits are priceless. These benefits include: a new way of seeing life (seeing yourself, others, and the world from a different perspective), peace with God, joy, contentment, hope, forgiveness, wisdom, power, freedom, and love. You don’t get only one. You get them all because it’s a package deal.
So how do you get these things? It is through having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You may be tempted to stop reading because those two words can be supercharged with emotion or may be anathema to your beliefs. But I encourage you to read on with an open mind and an open heart.
For many years I was a miserable wretch. I was empty and aching (to borrow a phrase from Simon and Garfunkel). I was insecure, lost, and even suicidal. Nothing I pursued – relationships, jobs, sports, or drinking – filled the void in my life. I longed for a different life and to be a different person.
In my mid-twenties I was invited by some friends to a Bible study. For the first time I heard the Bible taught in a such a way that made sense and appealed to my intellect and my heart. I learned of a promise in the Bible that Jesus could change my life. The promise says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Since I desperately wanted to change, I decided to acknowledge that Jesus Christ offered something I needed, that I needed him in my life and that I was willing to give him a try. I chose to believe in him and put my trust in him as my Savior and Lord. I prayed for him to change me.
That decision set me on a new path – a lifelong journey of faith, in which there have been many significant changes. For example, the emptiness I once had is long gone. I no longer fear death and life after death. I am more outgoing and compassionate and less self-absorbed. Since then, I’ve made mistakes and bad decisions. However, I know I’m forgiven by God, will always be loved by him and that he continues to help me grow.
You can have and experience these same things. Your experience, however, will be tailored to your needs and situation, because God is intimately acquainted with you. You don’t have to miss out. NOMO FOMO!
1 Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out, accessed May 26, 2024.
A new perspective: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6
Peace with God: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
Joy: “But the fruit of the Spirt is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
Contentment: “I know what it is be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12
Hope: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7
Forgiveness: “In him [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Ephesians 1:7-8
Wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5
Power: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Philippians 3:20
Freedom: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
Love: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
All Bible quotations are from the New International Version, 1984, Zondervan Bible Publishers.
5/31/24
Letter from Prison
I write this letter from my jail cell. The furnishings aren’t too bad - I’m in a comfortable chair and I can see outside. I can walk around as I please.
I’ve been here for only the past week. However, I’ve been here many times before for varying lengths of time.
The name of this place is Performance Prison and I put myself in here. Even though I have the key to get out, it’s very hard to unlock the door by myself.
I’ve been put in here by the expectations I think other people have of me. You see, I don’t measure up. I can’t measure up. I’ll never do enough to please others and meet their expectations.
My sentence is my to-do list - all of the things others have asked me to get done and all of the things I want to do. This list hangs on the wall of my cell, always in view.
Although I cross things off the list every day, more things get added to it. It never gets shorter. I will never be able to fulfill my sentence in this life or in a hundred life times.
My prison is made even harder by all of the people outside my cell who are looking in at me. All I see through the bars are the faces of the people my to-do list is for - clients, managers, church leaders, family members, and friends. There are even some I don’t know. They all want my time. They all want my help. I am theirs.
12/13/23
Cardinals Rule!
I love spring. Plants are growing, grass is greening and flowers are blooming. There’s a flurry of animal activity in the yard. Birds herald the warmer weather and longer days. To my delight, a pair of cardinals has built a nest in a bush outside my kitchen window. As I watch their progress on a daily basis, it amazes me how smart these cardinals are.
I first noticed the male cardinal sitting in the crotch of several branches before the nest was built. At first I thought he was injured or ill, because he sat motionless for quite a while. I later concluded it was his way of attending an open house to see if the residence was ideal for a growing family. Or, he was a squatter that lives by the maxim that the early bird gets the best nesting location.
Within a few days the female started building a nest. Nest-building is an intricate, time-consuming process. Hundreds of twigs are gathered and appropriately positioned so they don’t fall out of the bush and so the nest forms a sturdy and large enough resting area. What intellect and skill these birds have to construct a stable and properly-fitted dwelling.
After the nest was built the female cardinal began camping out in it, despite the fact that the bush still has very few leaves. Until the bush puts on its full spring apparel, the female is vulnerable to rain, wind and other feathery neighbors. The couple somehow knows that the growing bush will soon hide their future prized possession from nosy onlookers.
As a former project manager, I learned the necessity of planning ahead and knowing the steps in the project’s lifecycle. The expectant parents have demonstrated what good project managers they are. Long before the hatching of their little one, they anticipated their need to scope out potential nest locations, test the preferred option and build the nest according to their specifications, all in plenty of time before delivery. These are additional examples of their bright intellect.
The cardinals’ nest-building project would, of course, be immaterial without first going through their mating ritual, which must have been done when they knew I wasn’t looking. So I wondered – How does a cardinal know to mate with another cardinal and not with that robin with the red breast?
And then there’s the singing. Although they have a limited repertoire, cardinals have a beautiful song. This song, which all cardinals know by heart, is passed down from one generation to the next. Through their song, cardinals inform us of their presence. Could it be that they’re trying to tell us something in the only way they know how?
As I’ve watched this nesting process, I’ve wondered how our feathered friends became so smart. Where did this intellect come from? And how did their smarts get packed into such a tiny brain? It’s hard to fathom how the unguided, naturalistic process of evolution can result in the intangibles of knowledge and singing. I understand that their behavior is genetically based, but from where does this knowledge originate? To my knowledge, knowledge is passed on from a source that already has the knowledge and the means to convey it. It seems to me that there must be a Mind behind these marvels of nature - a Designer and Composer that uses cardinals as just one of many means to speak of His existence.
I’ll be regularly watching from my window as I anxiously await the arrival of the new baby girl or boy. Cardinals rule!
Tags: nature, evolution, design
It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
An estimated 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, according to the United Nations in 2018 (1). That figure is expected to grow to 68% by 2050. The move to large cities results in a major change in a person's environment. Instead of being surrounded by modest homes and nature, the environment of the city is dominated by concrete, tall buildings, noise, and hustle and bustle. With the pervasiveness of smartphones, the Internet, social media, television, and streaming services, our exposure to the natural world is further diminished.
These have the effect of losing our sense of awe and wonder of the natural world around us. Instead of looking up at the skies to marvel at the multitude of stars, we cast our gaze down at our small, electronic, man-made canvases. Is it any wonder that we've lost our grasp of the grandeur of God and the beauty and majesty of His creation? Is it any wonder that we've lost our sense of His presence and even His existence?
As I stand on the shore of Lake Huron and look up at the night sky, I immediately see the vastness of the universe and God, its creator. I also am reminded of my smallness and my relatively insignificant place in this world. It is a humbling experience.
However, I'm also reminded of the fact that, even in this immenseness, I am known by God and loved by Him. I am not insignificant to Him. He cared so much for me that He sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins so I could be restored to the creator of heaven and Earth and live eternally with Him.
Therefore, I encourage you to periodically get away from the city, go outside at night, look up, and be challenged by what you see. The marvel of God's creation, which includes you, will be evident.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Psalm 19:1-6, NIV (2)
1 From United Nations - https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/ news/population/ 2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html
2 From Biblegateway.com - <https://www.biblegateway.com/ passage/?search=psalm+19&version=NIV>
The Loss of Awe and Wonder
The Remnant
All the steeples have been toppled.
All the crosses have been burned down.
The light of love has gone out.
And darkness covers the land.
But there is a glimmer.
A remnant like the mighty ones of old.
They are holding onto the rock.
The solid rock from long ago.
What was thought to be destroyed.
What was thought to be erased.
Never lost hope, never lost faith.
In the One who forever remains.
A Grandfather’s Conversation with His Grandson
Grandfather: What is this book called?
Grandson: The Bible.
Grandfather: Very good. And what is the Bible?
Grandson: A book about God.
Grandfather: That’s right. And what else is it?
Grandson: I don’t know.
Grandfather: Well, it is a book filled with treasures and many wonders. It reveals mysteries and secrets and answers the most important questions in life.
Grandson: Really?
Grandfather: Really. It is a book that starts with how everything came to be and ends with a vision of what is to come - a grand and glorious new kingdom.
Grandson: Wow. I didn’t know that.
Grandfather: Would you like to know more?
Grandson: Yes!
Grandfather: It’s a book about battles won and lost, deception by a crafty devil, kings and kingdoms, a lost world, and God’s plan to save it - through a baby of all things. It even is about romance and love. And, by reading it you will learn the keys to a life with purpose, hope, joy, and contentment.
Grandson: That’s really amazing.
Grandfather: Yes! So, I encourage you to drink deep of its wisdom. Read and dig into it for your entire life. You will not be disappointed.