Lessons Learned from Downton Abbey

Diane Mayfield –

I’m obsessed with Downton Abbey. I cannot get my mind off it. While I was sick, I watched Seasons I, II, and even III, non-stop. I love the clothes, the glamour, and the big house. I love the downstairs drama and the upstairs drama. I think about the characters constantly. I’m even having conversations with them in my dreams.

For those who are not familiar with the English drama presented by Masterpiece theatre, here’s a short summary. Downton Abbey, located just outside London, is the inherited estate of Lord and Lady Grantham and their three adult daughters. It has been in the family for generations. The story revolves around the lives of the upstairs aristocratic Grantham’s and the downstairs family of servants that care for them and the home. I hate to admit it, but I long to be part of the aristocracy.

Finally, I had to confess to Jesus my obsession. It was actually interfering with my conversations with Him. I just had to get it all out on the table. It seems so wrong to be focused on such worldly, temporary concerns, and to want a life of elitism. This is what He showed me.

After my confession, in His forever-gentle way, He helped me to see what eternal value I could glean from my obsession with this show.

In Jesus, I am an aristocrat. I am the daughter of a king and not just any king, the King of Kings. He has built a place for me, a mansion, just like Downton Abbey is a mansion. Lord Grantham didn’t gain Downton Abbey by his own hard work. He was born into it and inherited it. I too will inherit my eternal home not by works but by faith in the blood of my Lord.

My pastor even drove this home yesterday when speaking about who we were created to be in the beginning. According to him, we were created “kings of the earth, to rule over all God’s creation” until Adam made a wrong choice, ate from the apple and sin entered the world. Now we live on this earth as tillers of the soil and not kings and queens, not yet anyway.

At one point in the show, Lord Grantham says how he views his responsibilities as the Lord of the Manor. He is the custodian of Downton Abbey. His job is to care for it and provide for those who depend upon it for their livelihood. I too am a custodian of all I have been given, which includes spiritual gifts and talents as well as material blessings. Most importantly, I am a vessel of God’s love and grace, a reflection of His image on earth. I have a responsibility to pass all this on to those God has entrusted to my care and whomever He brings into my life.

So, there’s no need for lusting or obsessing about this show. Instead, it is a vision of who I am in Jesus and a picture of where I will be for all eternity, serving my King in the place He prepares for me.

There is one aspect of the show that I am ashamed I don’t long for. I’m not lusting for the downstairs life of the servants. Their clothes are simple, their rooms are sparse, and their lives are not their own. They live to serve the upstairs family. They show deep respect for the aristocracy and acceptance of their position in life. I can certainly learn from such devotion.

The next time I sit down to watch this masterful production, hopefully my focus won’t just be on the promise of the Downton Abbey to come, but also on the servant’s heart demonstrated by the downstairs people. After all, my Lord did come to serve and not be served.

God, help me to be as you are, to focus on serving others while hoping for the promise of what’s to come.

Grabbing Hold of God

By Jennifer Slattery –

A while back, after one particularly crabby day, my daughter looked at me and said, “You forgot to pray today, didn’t you?”

Standing in our kitchen, schooled by a child, I realized how much truth she packed in that statement. Amidst the hustle and bustle of my day, I’d left God out of the equation and it showed. The peace that surpassed understanding? Forgot to grab hold of it. The strength made perfect in weakness? Missed that one, too. By neglecting to connect with my Power-source, I’d trudged through my day ill equipped and overwhelmed.

The 19th century theologian, E.M. Bounds, said, “The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day.”

Fritters away the morning. When I neglect my prayer time, that’s what I do. Run around, expending a large amount of energy, accomplishing little. And yet, when I take the time to pause and connect with God, He stills my heart, fills me with truth and clarity, and helps me navigate through the chaos of my day.

In the Bible, we are told to pray continuously. Obviously, no one can live in a prayer closet. But I suspect we all have snippets of time throughout our day when we can connect with God. Continuous prayer, I believe, is a mind-set, a realization that God’s there, ever-present. It’s about inviting God to do life with me, whether I’m cleaning toilets or singing praises. Because I’m easily distracted by the here and now, I often use little reminders to help me pause and focus on God.

God loves it when we carve out time in our busy day to rest at His feet, but He longs for more. He wants to be a part of our entire day. He’s already there, watching us, loving us. The goal, then, is to recognize His presence, grab hold of it, and cherish it.

What about you? How do you find–make–time for God amidst your busy day? Notice a difference when you do?

And Do Good

By Cynthia Ruchti –

“Stronger” is my word-of-the-year, whispered to my spirit when I asked the Lord what I should specifically focus on for 2013. A few years ago, the thought was Brave and Bold. Last year, it was Enjoy. And I did. So this year? Stronger.

For me, that means stronger in spirit. Stronger in my relationships. Stronger in a business sense. And…cough, choke, gasp…stronger physically. My knee replacement is healed. Time to move more.

When I decided—rather than just continue to toy with the idea—that it was time to get serious about getting stronger, which in my case can’t help but get my weight in better alignment, I considered the kinds of things that make up my normal diet, and what was going to have to be jettisoned.

I eat gluten-free of necessity. So cake, donuts, cookies, pies, breaded and deep-fried foods have long been absent from my table, except for the occasional yummy gluten-free variety that passes the taste test…which means very few.

What does that leave, Lord? I distinctly heard him say, in a holy, resounding voice, “Potato chips.”

Ouch. Really? I mean, I have so few legitimate indulgences. Even I recognize the ridiculousness of that statement in light of world-wide poverty and hunger.

What I’m realizing is that I can’t just eliminate a bad thing—too many potato chips—without filling in that gap with a good thing—like cucumbers and carrot sticks. If I eliminate without replacing, all the sensations like crunch and chew and “full” start to rebel.

Jesus talked about it when he cast out a demon. In essence, He said, “Plug the hole or nine worse ones will come in to take its place.”

I read it in the Psalms just today. “Turn away from evil and do good” (emphasis mine). God did not merely tell us to turn away from the wrong things, but to replace them with good. Turn away AND…

PRAYER: Father God, in every area of life, help me grasp how the harmful or worthless things I turn from need a counterpart of something good to take their place. Watch less TV? Spend more time in Your Word? Eliminate potato chips? Ex-er-cise.

“Turn away from evil and do good,” (Psalm 34:14a NLT).

Just Visiting

By Kim Stokely –

On a recent business trip, my husband and two co-workers wandered the streets of Old Town Albuquerque looking for a place to eat. The guide book had said this was an eclectic section of the city filled with delightful shops and restaurants, but on this Monday night, things looked dead.

An old car rattled up beside them. Like something out of a movie, the driver rolled down his window and asked, “You want to buy some turquoise?”

My husband and his friends looked at each other, shook their heads and the guy drove off. For the rest of their visit they wondered whether the dude was really selling precious stones out of his car or was “turquoise” local slang for crack?

Some behaviors, like wandering a deserted part of town, instantly point you out as a tourist. Staring up at the skyscrapers in New York City or bringing a case of bottled water with you to anywhere in South America are other examples. Here in Omaha, visitors always seem surprised that cows don’t roam the streets and every house doesn’t have a cornfield in the backyard.

Sometimes, however, it appears that just our attitude can single us out as different.

I’ll never forget visiting relatives in England when I was a teenager. My aunt brought me down to her pub for dinner one night and before I’d even spoken a word, the cook asked if I was American.

“How’d you know?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Americans have a certain way they walk.”

I thought about that a lot. How someone could tell I didn’t belong somewhere because of the way I walked.

Did I swagger obnoxiously? Or maybe I slouched in like a thief? When I asked my cousin about it later, she told me Americans walk with a certain confidence that most others don’t.

I’d like my walk with God to single me out in the same way. Not that I want people to think I’m overly confident, but I want them to sense that I don’t fit in. After all, this isn’t my home. That’s not to say I shouldn’t walk in it and help out where I can, but people shouldn’t think I belong here. If I become too comfortable with the world around me, it means I’ve stopped focusing on God. I need to be like the tourists in New York City, my eyes looking up. Not on skyscrapers, but on my heavenly home.

Letting the Light of Christ Shine

By Judy Davis –

Jesus Christ came as light, joy, and peace. Exactly what the human race needs. How can people receive this light, joy, and peace? They get it only through a disciplined life transformed daily by the Holy Spirit.

When people lose the light of Christ in their lives, depression, pain, and misery come in. When they are filled up with his Spirit and dwell on him, the love He has for them will pour out onto others ultimately helping them with their own troubles.

We have no idea what people are going through. We should be ready to help and console those in need. Recently, one of our neighbors shared about the pain and suffering they had experienced through the years. His wife was killed by a dump truck slamming into her car. His son committed suicide. He married later on and his new wife’s daughter was murdered by her ex-husband. God places people in our path for us to pray for them, encourage, and comfort them.

Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit, but it must be cultivated. We must learn to resist the enemy. If he can get Christians’ joy, he will have their strength. Christians should SMILE and let joy be a part of their lives so others may see and believe. They know in their heart as long as there is life there will be difficulties.

If Christians carry the burdens of others, they will lose their own. Everywhere they look there are others worse off than they are. When they pray for them, love them, and help them, they will get their minds off themselves.

Learn to live above the every day circumstances. So what if things are not going smoothly? Accept them and move forward. Go to the library, go to the gym, go bowling, write in a journal, but most of all, spend quality time in prayer and the Bible.

PRAYER: Father, please help me today to better understand Your Word as this will produce the light of Christ in my life. Letting Your light shine in our lives is the key to turning others toward You.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 NIV).

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