He finished a pack and declared he was finished with smoking. Dad was medically trained and believed the reports that were starting to circulate: smoking was a danger to health. Even though many in the medical field disagreed with the results of those early studies, Dad thought they had validity. So he quit.
He lasted about a month.
I also remember the second time Dad quit smoking. He learned lessons the first time, lessons about how a person needs a new habit to replace an old one. Previously, Dad had quit "cold turkey," but this time, he had a plan. Each time he found himself wanting a cigarette, Dad worked on the house. He scraped old paint off. He swiped new paint on. He sealed widows against the cold (and the loss of air conditioning). He crawled under the house to check the plumbing and electrical connections, and he re-wrapped all of it, appropriately. When the house was as good as it was going to get, he moved on to the houses of our elderly relatives. He replaced roof tiles, re-hung screen doors, poured concrete where needed, scraped, painted, sealed. Next up: the car.
Each new urge to smoke was met with a new project. It was fast and furious for a time. But then one day, Dad's home-care activities began to slow down. Oh, he still did whatever repairs were called for, but he no longer needed to replace smoking with a new habit. He had beaten it.
Dad never smoked, again.
It's this kind of "replacement" therapy God requires of us in the way we treat (or mistreat) each other. He never asked us to just stop "cold turkey." Rather, as it says in this week's selection from Isaiah "Cease to do evil, learn to do good." (Isaiah 1:16d-17a NRSV). See how that works? It's not "stop doing evil and start doing good." It's "stop the bad and learn the good." Who knows us better than God? He knows we need new habits to replace our old, bad ones; so He directs us to start the process by learning how to do good.
This makes me think of what Jesus says in Matthew 9 after he is criticized for having dinner at the home of Matthew with Tax Collectors and sinners. Quoting the prophet Hosea, he says, "Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Yes, He expects them to change, but He doesn't expect them to change "cold turkey."
Assuming we're all on board with the requirement to cease doing evil, what should we replace it with? It would be so great if God could provide us with a little "starter kit" of replacement activities, just a few things to help us get on the road to successfully replacing the bad in our lives with good. Luckily for us, God did just that in the Isaiah passage: "...seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 17b-e, NRSV).
In fact, if you want to start this process, the Bible is chock full of replacement activities, brand new habits we can practice until they are second nature to us. And we can keep on practicing them until we no longer feel that tug of the old, life-threatening habit.
No need to try too quit cold turkey. God is with us and wants us to succeed.
"Cease to do evil, learn to do good."
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 26 (31) (October 30, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 119:137-144
Isaiah 1:10-18
Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10
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Can you be with us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast? We're learning to do good as we peruse God's word, discuss it among ourselves, and continue replacing bad habits with good ones. Join us at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant for food, fellowship, and fun ... all squeezed into an hour like no other.
Blessings,
Steve
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