Intentions and the Ever-Elusive ‘Round Tuit’

Have you ever seen a “round tuit”? Years ago a friend gave me one, a round, wooden coin displaying a circle around the word, “TUIT.” It’s ideal for people who are always saying, “I’ll get around to it.” When they say that, just hand them the little coin and say, “Now you have one.”

If you ever get your hands on one of these, you can
never claim being unable to "get around to it."

As silly as that seems, too often our lives seem to be plagued by failure to get a “round tuit.” We know we need to make that phone call to an old friend or a family member, but have a hard time getting around to it. We should start that weight-loss program, or a consistent exercise program – we just can’t seem to get around to it.

Saturday arrives and your spouse asks you to do some undesirable chore. You promise to “get around to it,” but don’t. (My hand is raised – guilty as charged.) Or someone recommends an excellent book to read, and you know it would be helpful, but never get around to it.

Thousands of Baby Boomers now contemplating retirement realize they’re not close to being ready financially. They intended to get with a financial advisor, or embark on a consistent savings program for the time when they’d no longer be drawing a regular paycheck, but didn’t get around to it. Now it’s too late.

Maybe at a worship service or conference we’re inspired to take steps to strengthen our spiritual life. “I’m going to start reading my Bible and pray. I want to do it every day.” But somehow, we never get around to it.

It’s all about good intentions. Someone said a long time ago, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Too harsh? Well, Aldous Huxley, author of the classic novel, Brave New World, expanded on that idea. He said, “Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it’s walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.” Clever – and true, in many cases.

Margaret Thatcher, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, made this observation: “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he'd only had good intentions; he had money as well.” She was right. After spotting the victim of highway robbers and thinking, “Someone ought to do something!” the Good Samaritan decided he needed to be that “someone” and took action to help (Luke 10:25-37). 

Good intentions aren’t bad – as long as they’re accompanied by good implementations. I know the difference. As a professional writer, all of my work to date has been with non-fiction. I’ve always wondered if I have it in me to write a novel, and my intention has been to give it a try. But aside from some halting attempts, I haven’t yet given this a wholehearted effort. Until I move my good intentions into action, I’ll always wonder, “What if…?”

The same applies to the concern and compassion many of us feel toward the downtrodden, people in need. Like the Good Samaritan we realize someone should do something. Rather than waiting for the government or some charitable agency to do all the work, maybe we could be that someone. But we need to stir our good intentions into productive activity.

Playwright, novelist, poet and critic Oscar Wilde commented, “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”

The Bible offers a stern warning. Failure to act upon good intentions is more serious than simply missing out on opportunities. It actually defines this as sinful behavior: “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

So if you ever encounter someone who argues, “I’m not a sinner” – perhaps even yourself – ask the simple question: “Have you ever failed to act on your good intentions?” If they confess that they have, then you can respond, “Busted!”

A Successful, Satisfying Day

How do you measure what a successful day
looks like to you?

Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Great Britain, died recently after suffering a stroke. Serving from 1975 to 1990 as the leader of the nation’s Conservative Party, she earned the nickname, “Iron Lady,” for her personal and political toughness.

After her passing, some of her best-known quotations circulated, but this one caught my eye: “Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.”

There’s great wisdom in that simple statement. Certainly there’s a time for relaxing, for what some people call “chilling,” but satisfaction is most often derived from a sense of having done something – and having done it well.

Mrs. Thatcher’s quote reminded me of a time when my friend, Ed Thompson, asked a group of men he was meeting with, “How do you measure what a successful day looks like to you?”

How would you answer that question?

Each of us likely would have a very different response, given our unique interests, abilities, passions and opportunities available to us. But in light of the reality that we share one thing in common – every day consists of 24 hours, no more and no less – our challenge is how we intend to use those hours.

Psalm 118:24 states, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Understanding God is the author of each day, offering it to us as a gift, how we spend – or invest – the time is a matter of stewardship. Are we going to devote the entire time to reclining on the couch, saturating our minds with inane TV programming, or mastering a video game, or are we going to dedicate the time to something of enduring value?

Again, “something of value” means different things to us all. It could mean working in the yard, painting a room, playing golf or tennis with a friend, visiting a relative, taking a day trip to a place of interest, or even reading a book. (Does anyone still do that?)

Being a writer, for me a successful day often involves one or more writing projects – an article, a blog post, or a chapter in a book I’ve been working on. But even though I’m not a real outdoorsy-type of guy, sometimes mowing the lawn, trimming some bushes or sprucing up the yard in some way also feels “successful.”

For Type-A personalities, checking items off the day’s to-do list can be very fulfilling. But perhaps the most successful days occur in the context of relationships, investing time and energy in the lives of others. The late Ted DeMoss, a man I worked with for years and greatly admired, often observed when it’s all said and done, "all that remain will be the Word of God and people."

It’s been said that no one on his or her deathbed has declared, “I wished I’d spent more time at work.” We can achieve satisfaction from completing projects. But the process of developing and nurturing relationships – with spouses, children, grandchildren, friends, people God has brought into our lives – provides benefits that surpass a daily checklist.

If we can help to make a person’s day better, by offering a listening ear, engaging in stimulating conversation, or simply being there with them, this can pay long-term dividends. And the benefits can be mutual. As Proverbs 27:17 states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”