Pressed down, shaken together, running over

S

lurpees! One of life’s simple, but wonderful, pleasures. I remember walking to the 7-11 from our house in New York on hot summer days and relishing the cold pleasure that only a Slurpee can be.

There’s an interesting tradition with Slurpees. If you stand back in a 7-11 on a hot summer day and just watch the people, you’ll be sure to notice it. When people fill their Slurpee cup, they tap the cup on the counter a few times to remove any excess air in the Slurpee. Then they fill it a bit more and tap it on the counter again. Sometimes they’ll shake the cup from side to side in between taps. When they have compressed as much as they possibly can into the cup, they get one of those domed caps, put it onto the Slurpee cup and fill the entire dome with the delightful icy treat. It’s a great tradition.

Wouldn’t it be great when things are going well in life if you could do that? If you could shake life a bit, tap it on the counter, put a dome on it and let that good stuff just keep filling up until it’s running over the top of the dome and you have to lick it off the side of the cup and the back of your hand before you go to the counter?

Today, as I walked to get some exercise I noticed my thoughts heading toward some of the unpleasant things in my life. I immediately attacked those thoughts. I have noticed that my mental attitude is like a screw. If I dwell on thoughts about myself and how other people aren’t treating me the way I want, my mental attitude spirals down. If I think about others and how I should be treating them, my attitude spirals up. It’s a sort of rightie-tightie, lefty-loosey equation. It happens every time.

So by the end of my walk I was focusing on those things God has blessed me with. And God gave me a spiritual Slurpee.

Luke 6:37 –38
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be put into your lap. That sounds like the Slurpee tradition to me. So if I focus on how others are treating me—if I judge them—I will get a measly little tall mug of blessing (in Starbucks speak). If I focus on how I can benefit those around me—how I can be a good husband, how I can be a good father, how I can be a good friend—I don’t just get a venti mug, I get a Big Gulp Slurpee cup, filled well, pressed down, shaken together, tapped on the counter, domed lid attached, running over the sides and down over my hand so much that I can’t lick it off. It actually ends up in my lap.

And then with a huge grin I head to the counter to pay for it, but Jesus has already covered it and is out in the truck yelling, “Come on, Richard! It’s time to head to the beach!

Wow!! It’s overwhelming. I gotta get me some more of that!