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    Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet: Others Just Get Wet
    Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet: Others Just Get Wet
    Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet: Others Just Get Wet
    Ebook185 pages3 hours

    Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet: Others Just Get Wet

    By Rev. James W. Moore

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    About this ebook

    This is another way of saying that some people smell the roses, while others just complain about the thorns. In his warm, conversational style, popular author James W. Moore explores the reasons why some people are able to see our time on earth as a gracious gift from God rather than as an agonizing endurance test; and, simply put, why some people have the ability to celebrate life with an abundance of gratitude. Each chapter in this book includes a reference to an important passage of Scripture, powerful stories and examples from the lives of others, and practical suggestions for better daily living. A study guide is also included. Chapter Titles: Can You Feel the Strength to Keep on Believing When It's Hard? Can You Feel the Zest of Life? Can You Feel the Power of Commitment? Can You Feel the Joy of Freedom? Can You Feel the Power of Love? Can You Feel the Strength to Persevere? Can You Feel the Attitude of Gratitude? Can You Feel the Call to Discipleship? Can You Feel the Quality of Childlikeness? Can You Feel the Firm Foundation? Can You Feel the Good Side of Worry? Can You Feel the New Way of Looking at Things? Can You Feel the Miracle of Encouragement? Can You Feel the Sense of What's Valuable? Can You Feel the Beauty of Inclusiveness? Can You Feel God Hugging You to Life?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDimensions for Living
    Release dateOct 1, 1999
    ISBN9781426724459
    Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet: Others Just Get Wet
    Author

    Rev. James W. Moore

    James W. Moore (1938–2019) was an acclaimed pastor and ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. He led congregations in Jackson, TN; Shreveport, LA; and Houston, TX. The best-selling author of over 40 books, including Yes, Lord, I Have Sinned, But I Have Several Excellent Excuses, he also served as minister-in-residence at Highland Park United Methodist Church.

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      Book preview

      Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet - Rev. James W. Moore

      SOME FOLKS FEEL THE RAIN

      Image1

      JAMES W. MOORE

      Image2

      SOME

      FOLKS FEEL

      the RAIN

      Others Just GetWet

      Image2Image3

      N A S H V I L L E

      SOME FOLKS FEEL THE RAIN

      OTHERS JUST GET WET

      Copyright © 1999 by Dimensions for Living

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Dimensions for Living, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801.

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Moore, James W. (fames Wendell), 1938-

      Some folks feel the rain : others just get wet / James W. Moore.

      p. cm.

      ISBN 0-687-07754-0 (alk. paper)

      1. Christian life. I. Title.

      BV4501.2.M58154 1999

      248.4—dc21 99-32837

      99-32837

      ISBN 978-0-687-07754-0

      CIP

      Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

      Scripture quotations noted RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.

      The prayer on page 16 is from Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, trans., Auden/Sjoberg. Translation Copyright © 1964 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and Faber & Faber, Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

      The poem on page 129 is from the book Full Esteem Ahead © 1994 by Diane Loomans with Julia Loomans. Reprinted by permission of HJ Kramer, P.O. Box 1082, Tiburon, CA. All rights reserved.

      To become a steward of the dream, a blue ribbon on every person in America by the year 2000 and the globe by 2004 [story on p. 42-43], creating respect and dignity among all people, call 1-800-887-8422, email ablueribbon@aol.com or www. blueribbons.com.

      1011-18 17 16

      MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

      For

      James Dawson Moore

      Contents

      Introduction: Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet

      1. Can You Feel the Strength to Keep on Believing

      When It's Hard?

      When the Wind Is Taken Out of Our Sails

      2 . Can You Feel the Zest of Life?

      The Prison Shuffle

      3. Can You Feel the Power of Commitment?

      Limping Along When We Don't Have To

      4. Can You Feel the Joy of Freedom?

      Don't Turn Away

      5. Can You Feel the Power of Love?

      The Miracle of Love

      6. Can You Feel the Strength to Persevere?

      We Don't Have to Reinvent the Wheel

      7. Can You Feel the Attitude of Gratitude?

      Grit, Grace, and Gratitude

      8. Can You Feel the Call to Discipleship?

      When You Are Tired of Clapping with One Hand

      9. Can You Feel the Quality of Childlikeness?

      What Our Children Are Teaching Us

      10. Can You Feel the Firm Foundation?

      Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church

      11. Can You Feel the Good Side of Worry?

      Is It Wrong to Worry?

      12. Can You Feel the New Way of Looking at Things?

      Are You Looking the Wrong Way?

      13. Can You Feel the Miracle of Encouragement?

      Encourage Means to Put the Heart In

      14. Can You Feel the Sense of What's Valuable?

      Be Careful What You Throw Away

      15. Can You Feel the Beauty of Inclusiveness?

      Breaking Down the Dividing Walls of Hostility

      Epilogue: Can You Feel God Hugging You to Life?

      Study Guide (John D. Schroeder)

      Introduction

      Some Folks Feel the Rain Others Just Get Wet

      Image4

      On September 23, 1930, early in the morning a baby boy was born in Albany, Georgia. At that moment, of course, his family had no way of knowing that this bouncing baby boy would grow up to become one of the most beloved and respected entertainers of all time. He had to triumph over numerous hardships and tragedies along the way, but he did it with style and grace.

      When the boy was five years old, he became gravely ill and gradually began to lose his eyesight. By the age of seven he was completely blind. Undaunted, the boy soon learned Braille, and a few years later he began to develop his musical talent by learning to play the piano. When he was fifteen, he became an orphan. Think of that: He was blind, he was orphaned, and he was only fifteen years old. But despite all of that, he refused to give up and give in. He kept working with his music and developing his talent.

      At age seventeen, he moved to Seattle where he organized at musical trio, and he began performing. In 1952, at the age of twenty-two, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, and ultimately became a world-famous recording artist and performer. This man's name (of course] is Ray Charles. If you have ever seen Ray Charles perform, I'm sure you've noticed immediately his creative genius, his soulful energy, his heartfelt sensitivity, his joy in performing the music. He and the music become one. The music seems to flow freely out of him, and it seems to come from deep, deep, within.

      Once, Ray Charles was being interviewed on television by Bob Costas. Bob Costas said to him, Ray, not too long ago I watched you perform two different concerts on successive nights, and in both concerts you sang your classic hit 'Georgia/ but each time you sang it, you did it differently.

      Ray Charles replied, That's right! Every time, I do it differently, because, you see, I don't learn music by notes. I just let it bubble out of my soul!

      Now, when I heard Ray Charles say that, my mind darted back to a conversation I had participated in a few years ago. A group of people were sitting around one evening after dinner, talking about the great music entertainers of our time, when someone said, What is it about Ray Charles that makes him so special? A man in the group gave an answer that I loved. He said, Some folks feel the rain; others just get wet. Ray Charles feels the rain!

      Some folks feel the rain; others just get wet. What does that mean? It means that some folks are vividly aware of what's going on around them; they are tuned in, they are sensitive, receptive, responsive, they lead with their hearts, they feel the joy, and they triumph over the pain. But, sadly, many people today don't! They don't celebrate; they just cope. They don't enjoy; they just endure. They don't feel gratitude; they just gripe and grumble. They don't embrace life; they just stonewall through it.

      Some folks feel the rain-, others just get wet. In other words, some folks smell the roses; others complain about the thorns. Some folks bask in the glow of a beautiful sunset; others dread the darkness that will follow it. Some folks see our time on this earth as a gracious gift from God; others see it as an agonizing endurance test. Some folks seize the day and celebrate life; others just cope.

      I remember the precise moment when I learned the difference between these two approaches, the difference between celebrating life and coping with life. I was in my middle year of seminary. It was the start of the fall semester. I had heard lots of horror stories about this new professor who had come to campus to teach us philosophy of religion. Dr. Williams was his name. He had come from the philosophy department at Ohio State, and he was known far and wide as an excellent teacher but also a stern, tough, unbending taskmaster.

      When Dr. Williams handed out the syllabus outlining the course requirements, I couldn't believe my eyes. It called for an incredible amount of reading, a midterm and a final exam, four quizzes, a research project and six (count them) term papers. After class, I followed Dr. Williams to his office. (Seminary middlers are a lot like college sophomores: I thought I knew everything!) I planned to question Dr. Williams about his syllabus and all of those requirements, and to give him a piece of my mind.

      I strode into his office. He could tell I was upset. In the most sarcastic tone I could muster, I said to him, "Dr. Williams, you do realize that we have other courses besides yours, don't you?"

      He looked over the top of his glasses and said to me, Mr. Moore, sit down! Now, when a professor looks sternly over his glasses at you and says, Mr. Moore, sit down, you know right away that you are in big trouble! Humbly I sat down and waited for the onslaught.

      "Mr. Moore, are you concerned about these six papers

      that you have to write?" he asked.

      Yes, sir.

      Mr. Moore, are you going to be a pastor?

      Yes, sir.

      "Mr. Moore, are you aware of the fact that you are going

      to have to write a paper every week for the rest of your life?"

      Sir?

      "Well, out there in the parish they call it a sermon, and you've got to write one every week for the rest of your life, and I'm going to let you practice on me."

      Then came the part that changed my life. Dr. Williams came around from behind his big desk. He took off those ominous-looking glasses and tossed them aside. He sat down beside me, and his tone softened: "You know, Jim [notice he didn't call me Mr. Moore this time], you may be going about this all wrong. Don't see these papers and tests as a chore to be done. See them as an opportunity to speak out... to say what's on your mind... to stand tall for what you believe. Every day, I talk to you; here's your chance to talk to me. Every day, I teach you; look at those papers and tests not as a burden or chore, but as your chance to teach me. It's really very simple, he said. You can celebrate life or cope with life. You can live or vegetate. You can see everything that comes your way as an opportunity or as a burden. And then Dr. Williams said this: When you get out of school and get in the pastorate, you have a crucial choice to make. Each week you can say, 'Oh God, I have to write a sermon!' Or you can say, 'Thank God, I get to write a sermon!'"

      You know what Dr. Williams was saying to me? He was saying something that changed my life forever. He was saying, Some folks feel the rain; others just get wet. Some folks smell the roses; others gripe about the thorns. Some folks embrace life; others just see it as an endurance test. But as for you, Jim, I want you to feel the rain, smell the roses, embrace and celebrate life!

      Dr. Williams was right because he was underscoring what the psalmist was trying to teach us long ago when he said, This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). These magnificent words have been used for centuries as an appropriate call to worship, but they are so much more. They are also practical and dynamic words for daily living.

      If you and I could repeat that verse at the beginning of each day (and really mean it), it would change our lives. This is the day that the Lord has made and given to me, as a gracious and precious gift; I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be thankful for it. To resent the day—or to waste the day or to corrupt the day or to curse the day—is sinful and destructive.

      How is it with you right now? How are you doing? Are you feeling the rain or just getting wet? If we want to feel the rain and smell the roses and seize the day, there are three things we need. Let me outline them. Here's number one.

      First of All, We Need a Sense of Gratitude

      The difference between just making the best of life and making the most of life is a sense of gratitude. The difference between coping with life and celebrating life is a sense of gratitude. The difference between enduring life and embracing life is a sense of gratitude.

      Not long ago, I received a beautiful letter from a good friend that says it all. Listen closely to these touching words:

      Dear Jim: Something happened to my sister, my mother, and me that I think you'd like to know about. Last Monday afternoon, my precious four-year-old nephew became terribly ill and had to be rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Needless to say, we were all hysterical.

      The doctors and nurses stabilized him and began running tests. They put us in a room to wait for the results with all the anxiety and dread you feel when something could be terribly wrong with someone you love.

      We were all wringing our hands, thinking the worst, when an elderly woman, a maintenance worker, peeped in the door to see if the room needed cleaning. We said, Hello! How are you? Her response touched me deep down in my soul. She smiled and said, I'm blessed, thank you. How are you? We all said, Fine, and as she backed out of the room, we all burst into tears realizing the lovely thing this lady had said.

      It made us think and talk about how blessed we all are and how blessed our family has always been, and that God is with us and we can face anything. Talking like that together gave us all such comfort. Later, the doctors came in and told us that the baby would be fine, that there was nothing seriously wrong with him. You can only imagine how relieved and how thankful we were.

      Jim, can you think of a more wonderful response to the question How are you? than I'm blessed, thank you? Hearing that sweet, radiant woman say that changed

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