Showing Up

"80% of success is showing up"

--Woody Allen

I drove my daughter and some friends to a dance in Frederick Saturday night, which is about 100 miles away. Afterwards, while driving the friends home, I was stopped by police not once, but twice. The first time was for failing to dim my brights soon enough (I actually didn't know that was a ticketable offense), the second time for failing to slow on a curve. I was let go both times with a warning

It reminded me of something that happened last May - while driving my son to a concert, I got a ticket. The Trooper that pulled us over said he saw him riding as a passenger without his seatbelt on The trooper was wrong; he said he saw my son putting on his seatbelt, but what he saw (I think) was my son putting his mp3-player earphones in. Well, it was only a $25 fine, but I opted to take it to "trial". Sometimes, showing up is the only necessary part to succeed. I got to court, and after listening to a dozen or more people fumble through explanations about why they were speeding, I got called up. The State Trooper failed to appear, so the judge just said, “Not guilty!” as soon as I stood up. I was on my way.

Here’s another example; there was a costume contest last Halloween at work with an interesting twist; the costume had to be made from recycled materials. It struck me, made me feel like it was something I could do to be supportive of the office. So I mentioned it to Jennilyn, she grabbed a cape made from fabric and an old dress. When the announcement for the contest starting came over the intercom, I took a deep breath and put it on. And I won. Not only did I win, I won ALL three places, because NO ONE else wore a costume! Sometimes you just have to show up.

You think I'm joking? All three prizes really were this much candy.
And they each had a $25 Target Gift Card included!

Sometimes, you have to do more than just show up; you have to show up on *time*. A friend from church left me a voicemail message asking if I could drop him off at the train station, I called him back and left a message that “Sure I can!” Then he called me again and told me he needed to be picked up for the early train; at *4:30* in the morning! I told him it would be no problem. If I’d been late, he would have missed his train.

But sometimes, you have to show up on time and be ready to work hard. Sometimes harder than anyone else who shows up. The parable of the workers in the vineyard tells me that there is not a scale of reward that allows us to slack because we see other slacking. The gospel demands that we be free with our time, even when others are not working as hard as they might. Jesus didn’t suffer through the atonement because we deserve to be saved, but because he loved us.

So show up on time, and be ready to work hard. I'm pretty sure that's moer than 80% of success.