Overcoming Obstacles

By James E. Kifer

No one, and especially God has ever seriously contended that life is easy. Life's paths are strewn with obstacles, boulders, pitfalls and even mountains that challenge the ability to survive, much less overcome and prevail. No person has ever escaped walking through a dense, at times overwhelming landscape of obstacles. Fortunately, though, the truths of the Scriptures reflect that most of our obstacles may be overcome, or at least their effects moderated. Remaining, though, is the one true problem which makes all humanity kin, a problem which we have no ability to solve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Harbor Press
• Release date: Oct 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223175803

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Overcoming Obstacles

James Kifer

New Harbor Press

RAPID CITY, SD

Copyright © 2023 by James Kifer.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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Overcoming Obstacles / James Kifer. -- 1st ed.

Contents

PREFACE

FAMILY

RACIAL AND NATIONAL PREJUDICE

SELF-DOUBT

STATION IN LIFE

LACK OF CREDENTIALS

HAVING TOO MUCH

SELF-ESTEEM

FEAR OF EMBARRASSMENT

YOUTH

BEAUTY

INTELLECTUAL ARROGANCE

DEPRESSION OF THE ODDEST COUPLE

YOUR PAST (AND PRESENT)

CONCLUSION

PREFACE

Is it a problem or is it an obstacle, or is it both? We will spare the reader the tedium of dictionary definitions at the outset, and instead direct the focus upon the common usage of the terms and also the common response which each evokes. So often we speak of solving a problem but instead we overcome an obstacle, and therein lies a difference which is more than the nitpicking of semantics. The common response to these two difficulties suggests two contrasting approaches, seemingly subtle but in point of fact starkly different.

Almost from infancy a child is taught by parents, teachers and the daily storms of life that existence in this world is not perfect but is fraught with problems. Much education and training, at least traditionally, has been pointed towards making the child, the youth or the neophyte aware that the road will not always be easy, that problems are an everyday occurrence and should be confronted and solved. The inherent implication in our customary approach to a problem is that given time, resources, work, diligence and intelligence the problem can be solved, or in an even more desirable turn of words eliminated or eradicated. An obstacle, though, for whatever its etymology and employment has a more permanent or semi-permanent tone to its essence. It almost invites our thinking of how to deal with it, normalize it, minimize it or even avoid it, at least temporarily. Overcoming obstacles beckons problem solving for certain, but it possesses an inherent recognition that all problems in this life, for an abundance of reasons, are not solvable, but still must be confronted.

It requires no particular sagacity that in life more problems are overcome, mollified, modified or reduced rather than have them submit to a pure, perfect solution. An attitude, traditionally disproportionately represented among youthful idealists, is that every problem has a solution. No man or woman with even a few of the bruises and scrapes which life invariably administers will easily accede to such thinking. The attitude and aspiration that all problems can be solved itself gives rise to a multiplicity of problems. The young idealist, with all the world’s best intentions, may become the hardened cynic, a self-proclaimed skeptic who may seek to psychologically atone for his earlier idealism. Further, the overly committed problem solver may possess such a purity of procedure and/or substance that the ideal solution may be counterproductive. Most seriously, though, a horrendous abundance of the world’s catastrophes and calamities have their birth or at least their impetus in many self-proclaimed theorists and idealists, usually in the guise of politicians, who are committed to solving all of society’s problems.

Few have ever denied that modern mankind has a plethora of problems, yet more attention, media coverage and that old fashioned word ink naturally has been applied to the problem-solving process rather than a definition of modern man himself. For western man and woman, and though this be ethnocentric it is of them that we write, the size and shape of problems and obstacles has altered somewhat through the ages. From antiquity through medieval times and well into the modern age much of humanity’s time and efforts were necessarily directed along the most primary paths, such as basic safety and the acquisition and maintenance of food, clothing and shelter. For that most primitive of reasons, basic survival, such concerns were in the forefront and the veritable mainstay of the thinking of men and women. The simple reason, at least in most cases, was that they had to be. With the coming of vast movements, many of well-nigh apocalyptic proportions, matters began to change, often radically. The successive ages of Enlightenment, Industrialization and Technology have in the main softened the environs for much of humanity, and thus have changed the concerns of men and women perceptibly, even radically. The basics of physical survival have been presumably assured for so many for so long that men and women increasingly devote their time and their thoughts and resources to the problems which they now confront. These include on the high end such glamorous difficulties as climate change, gender equality, social justice, and the general mental, emotional, and psychological well-being of the person engaged in the contemplation and the pursuit of solution. These, though, are problems which cannot be solved by killing the wolf menacing the shepherd’s herd, sowing more seed for more crops, a greater harvest for more plentiful food or working harder, longer and wiser. They require, or so it seems, intense and lengthy mental agony and soul contemplation, but most of all much of the population now believes it requires that curious but idolized being known as the expert to open all doors for the solution of problems.

The experts, the professional problem solvers, are ubiquitous and with the advance of the media’s tentacles into every nook and cranny of daily life they are unavoidable. The upscale sector of the expert problem solvers includes such as psychiatrists, licensed psychologists and trained counselors, all of whom are not bereft of benefit and legitimacy. They are necessary for the seemingly intractable problems which advanced modern life leaves in its wide wake, from physical deficiencies so often prevalent with alcohol, drug and other substance abuse to the endless variety of problems which seem to attach to every aspect of modern existence. The legitimacy and efficacy of the legitimate hopefully is nowhere questioned or doubted in this work. A mark of the legitimate practitioner in this (or any other) endeavor is that its practitioners do not claim to have an unchallengeable solution to every problem.

Of greater, even marked, questionability of value, is a group, while more downscale in the prestige and professional ladder, is far better known and often remarkably affluent by their public and media counseling and platitudinous advice offered for mass consumption. For the moment our test will omit names, but some, of both sexes, all ages and every race, become as rich as the proverbial Midas and as famous as any movie star or president. They generally offer up to date political and moral advice in copious quantities designed to increase fame and fortune (their own). They are creatures of the modern media monstrosity, and their numbers and influence show no signs of soon abating.

Still lower, though, is an astonishingly large, diverse and omnipresent strata of problem solvers that are not merely modern media creations. It is that strange omnivorous creature which has oozed from the primordial depths of modern technology, the internet, or whatever nomenclature of description may be employed. It is the modern, young and a beast borne of modern technological advancements, and it is known by the appellation of social media. The quickness and thoroughness of its worldwide spread is beyond the ordinary adjective powers of the English language. For a medium which is by design and often self-deprecating and descriptive as transitory and shallow, its reach and surprisingly tenacious root system is amazing. No person of however deep and widespread the claimed expertise could ever be familiar with more than a small fraction of the worldwide network. It is a rare person who has not heard and even partaken of the services of such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, YouTube, ad infinitum, and these are but a fraction of the major sources. Such a catalogue, though, takes no notice of the infinite number of websites, blogs and other services through which information and opinion is transmitted. Even with the technical apparatus of the modern age no real systematic appraisal of the amount of information and opinion could be organized. The observer, though, is on solid ground when he/she observes that much of social media is distorted and false opinion posing as hard fact. The authors of pithy, often profane and even pornographic opinions pose these as established fact. Much is offered in the guise of its author’s opinions masquerading as solutions to problems, whether real or imagined. The entire social media milieu is certainly not inherently and irredeemably evil, but to-date much of has proven not to be the World Wide Web but rather the Worldwide Sewer.

All the allurements and mechanisms of technology comprise but a recent flash across the cultural firmament. Their influences, promises and entrapments may by powerful, even apparently unstoppable, but their greatest impact will eventually pass. Their potency and ultimately their run upon the world’s cultural stage have yet to be determined, but if as was once stated heaven and earth shall pass away so shall they. In the meantime, though, the world’s media outlets profess such problem-solving capability whereas their talents really lie in problem creation.

What is the serious-minded man and woman, they too beset with problems to make of all this and to where and/or whom shall they turn? An old traditional adage expresses the tenet that for every problem, there is a solution. This is unjustly promising, and in any event many temporal problems have no real solutions. Perhaps it is here expected that this Preface will posit the belief that the Holy Bible is the repository of all humanity’s solutions to all its problems. Sorrowfully, our work does not align with such a belief, wonderful as it may sound. In actuality the Bible discloses the solution to only one of mankind’s problems, and a discussion of such will be deferred to a later point in this book. What then does this work, the Book of Books, to the believing disciple the literal God Breathed inspired Word have to say of problem solving in its text of teaching, stories and examples. More succinctly the Bible directs so much of its textural substance to fill a guide to solving problems, but rather to overcoming obstacles, which, as we view it, is an integral portion of human existence. While problems may be solved, and alas only in a minority of situations, obstacles are a challenge to the emotions, moral fiber and determination of each man and woman.

The Bible, itself compiled over a period of two millennia, is packed thick with the obstacles with which individuals in those ancient times were confronted. The stories of men and women, from kings, queens and prophets to those in the most modest of worldly stations are a running and narrative river which runs through both Testaments. They are usually tales though of ordinary (how often is this term misapplied?) persons who are confronting obstacles in life which demand their attention, resources, thoughts and in extremis their lives. The names, times, geography, language and the prevailing circumstances are at times hardly recognizable to the modern eye, but the obstacles and the options of action to those who are burdened remain unaltered. Many, if not most of the Bible stories so long familiar to the Biblically literate, are tales exciting, dreadful but just as often inspirational, of how Biblical personages, famed but still normal and remarkably similar to we moderns, coped with and often overcame the obstacles which had befallen them.

Not every person can be expected to give wholehearted agreement to the entirety of the topics and persons which have been chosen as the lessons for overcoming obstacles. Even a cursory review of the Table of Contents will be an impetus to questioning of why such topics as Family, Youth and to a large degree Self-Doubt have been selected as source material for life’s obstacles. Superficially most see these as valued assets to be both enjoyed and employed for those special life purposes which most of possess and hope to continually advance. So how can they be obstacles that demand overcoming? Hopefully, our narrative will provide some answers.

An especially difficult albeit popular obstacle open for discussion will be Chapter One’s Family. Our text will devote much discussion on Family as both asset and liability, a terminology with which a majority of humanity will agree. The Bible is the greatest Family story book ever written, but to perfect our intent of providing both adequacy of discussion and brevity we have devoted Chapter One to the discussion of three pairs of women, the sisters Leah and Rachel, the young widow Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi, the Galilean carpenter from the no-account village of Nazareth and an unnamed generic father discussed by the apostle Paul.

Chapter Nine will present that prized quality of youth. Youth is so short, but our embrace of its sweetness is of unsurpassed length. Without doubt this brief, ephemeral period of life is the subject of more poetic tribute novelization, study, regret and likely most significant of all, memory. While we live it the thought that it is fleeting, and transient has little chance of penetrating the oxymoronic density of our shallowness. Few of us survive youth with all our ideals and even hopes fully intact, and many emerge from its brief span bitter and even broken. To the likely majority, though, it is a remembered time of some regret but also of happiness in the experiencing of the freshness and newness of life, of which in the moment we are often oblivious. If God’s Word remains of value to us, though, we shall observe that the Almighty was never hesitant to employ youth for the most gargantuan of tasks. The roster of the young is of (excuse the pun) Biblical length, and includes luminaries such as Joseph, Abigail, David, Mary, and her husband, Joseph, and Timothy. This chapter focuses with special intensity upon the lives of young King Josiah, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and the beautiful Esther, all of whom found that their rapid advancement partially because of youth was mortgaged to a huge obstacle, which also went by the name youth.

A term that has a distinctively modern patina but in reality, is as old as humanity is Self-Doubt, the subject of Chapter Three. All but the most hubristic self-absorbed egotist will have moments of self-doubt, be it doubt in ability, morality, competence or whatever. The Bible is replete with egotists, but also with humble men and women who had to overcome this enormous obstacle to fully serve God. Two of the most noted and successful are here profiled, and their subsequent fame belies the self-doubts which gnawed at both the mature Moses and the young Mary. The results of their strength of character in shoving aside this obstacle has become eternally significant, and each was essential in God’s plan of redemption. The obstacles each overcome were largely (not entirely) within themselves, and both Moses and Mary are well deserving of the esteem in which disciples hold them yet today.

Although it may be shocking to the vanguard of the current woke populace which seemingly believes that all decency (as they so define) began at the moment of their own births the burden and wrong of National and Radical Prejudice began to torment mankind almost from the outset The modern formulae for correcting this wrong is to cancel, eradicate and erase from memory any person(s) who are even thought to have had improper thoughts. Cancellations, destruction, eradication, and their like are not the primary tools offered by God. Chapter Two offers three fascinating stories on what now we could call prejudice, a word of little currency in either Testament. The story of Jonah, most famous as the tale of a whale will also be understood as a Divine success whereby God is able to overcome the obstacle of His own prophet’s prejudices. The titanic clash of civilizations and values between Rome and Judea which began in the first century B.C. will be momentarily crystallized in the meeting between two great men, the Roman Cornelius and the Jewish Peter. Finally, the story of the target of history’s greatest prejudices will be magnified in the story of a Galilean carpenter.

One of man’s natural foibles and frailties is to assume that because of circumstances over which he has no control or influence his neighbor enjoys an easier and more pleasant life than he. The poor envy the rich, the rich perhaps the presumed simplicity of a less complicated life. The wise woman or man, though, does not become psychologically entrapped by circumstances which may have little bearing on the importance of his or her character. This will provide grist for a brief examination in Chapter Four where powerful and greatly influential men were themselves overcome by the chimeral might of their own power. It will also be the source of the story of an unnamed servant girl, the lowest of the low, whose knowledge, faith and courage overcame the obstacle of her humble status or as the chapter is entitled her Station in Life.

The close alliance of credentials with Station in Life is opened for examination in Chapter Five. Modernity has imbibed freely of the elixir of credentials, certifications, diplomas, awards, degrees and outright gaudy status symbols, some of which have relevance to the smooth and orderly function of an efficient society. More than occasionally, though, they are employed as just that, symbols or credentials, elements that are often enlisted to elevate one and humiliate others, even, perhaps even especially, in the field of religion. An obscure story of a very minor prophet named Amos provides a superb Old Testament illustration of this phenomenon. It attains its zenith (or perhaps a better term, nadir) in the first century Judean religious establishments dismissal of a young, uncredentialed rabbi from a despised village.

Although the basic underlying narrative of the human story remains unchanged, different ages and generations present different degrees of emphasis and at times, a special abundance of particular obstacles. Our current twenty-first century is demonstrative of more widespread wealth, not just in the form of necessary goods and services, but in outright luxuries than ever before. Doubts, some whimsically based but many with more than a modicum of reality currently exist as to whether this can continue indefinitely. We will defer discussion of this issue until a more convenient season and for now concentrate in Chapter Seven of the common obstacle of Having Too Much. This brief foray into the subject will discuss two men, a father and son, each of immense and extraordinary talents, who became Kings of Israel. Each lived many days which almost literally radiated glory and splendor, but each was almost fully destroyed by having too much of almost everything. Later it was, as always, the Master Himself who identified most acutely the distinctions between