Emmett Kelly Sr. was born in Sedan, Kansas on December 9, 1898. His father worked the railroad, and his mother ran the family-owned boarding house. He grew up, not in Sedan, but on a farm in rural Missouri. He worked at various jobs, finally seeming to settle down working as a cartoonist for a silent film company in Kansas City. It was there that Emmett Kelly first drew the tramp clown character that he would later portray, Weary Willy.
Although gainfully employed, Emmett had dreamed of joining the circus since he was a young boy, as many of us did. Emmett, however, worked to make that dream a reality by purchasing a trapeze, and learning how to become a circus ... aerialist. His first performing circus job (he had previously worked painting circus wagons) was as a trapeze artist with Howe's Great London Circus -- with Emmett doubling as a clown. Emmett agreed, and began performing, not as Weary Willie, but as a white-face clown.
With the Great Depression, work became harder to come by -- Emmett worked at Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, later joining the Cole Brothers & Clyde Beatty Circus in 1935, and joining the Mills Circus in England in the late 1930's. While performing in Europe, he performed for the Queen of Spain and Winston Churchill, among other notables. It was in London that he came to the attention of John Ringling North, who eventually signed Emmett in 1942 for the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus -- after Kelly had turned The Big Show down twice.
Emmett remained with the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus for fourteen seasons, taking the 1956 season off to perform as the 'mascot' for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Emmett was active on Broadway ("Please Keep off the Grass") and movies (notably the circus classic The Greatest Show on Earth and Fellini's classic The Clowns). Beginning in 1957, he worked with the Shrine Circus and made personal appearances worldwide. Emmett Kelly Sr. died of a heart attack on March 28, 1979, at his home in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
Why am I telling you all this? Years ago I had a friend who made no plans, set no goals, aimed at nothing. His reason? He wanted always to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Before he decided anything, he prayed. He asked the Lord whether he should go to work that day, brush his teeth, and use deodorant. (I wish he had asked me!) Needless to say, he didn't keep a job very long. Many believe that life is for just clowning around and to have a good time (if it feels good, doesn't hurt anyone, just do it!). If a clown can develop a goal for life, so why are we not setting our goals?
My friend made three faulty assumptions in determining God's will:
- He thought that his feelings were an infallible guide for sensing the leading of the Spirit and wanted to be open and unencumbered as to not miss the Holy Spirit’s direction.
- He believed that the Holy Spirit leads people only in a spontaneous way. That is, he does not move them to make plans.
- He subconsciously rejected the idea that he could hear the Spirit's voice through the Scriptures. But by abandoning the Word of God as his normative guide, he was assuming that the Holy Spirit usually circumvents the Word when he speaks to men.
James calls such rigidity arrogance ( v. 16). But he does not say that we should not set goals. Rather, we should make plans, but submit them to the Lord: "Instead, you ought to to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that'" (v. 15). I n reality, James 4:15 balances out both extremes. We should use our minds and set goals, but we must do so in humility, recognizing that God alone controls our destiny.
Setting goals is serious business. We ought not to be so anxious about life that we make rigid plans which are beyond our capacity to keep, nor should we be so lazy as to make no plans at all. Rather, with all humility, let us submit our plans to the Lord, and work for his glory.
Working in full time ministry doesn’t exclude us from the need to set goals. Just because we have accepted God’s calling, doesn’t stop the forward progress for each life within that calling. God is not through with any of us; in fact, as Christians, we should be really seeking and setting goals that further the kingdom. “Men are to dream dreams” I believe that is within Scripture. Just because we serve full time, we are not retired for the business of moving our life forward in Him.
As a personal note - many of us at Mercy Ships are in transition; with the laying up of the Caribbean Mercy and the Anastsis, allowing Mercy Ships to focus on the launching of the Africa Mercy in 2006, full time staff have been force to move around. If we focus on what God called us to do, it doesn't matter where we do it. We still can set goals and dream dreams, as long as God and our service to Him is in the center of each task. I not saying that Emmitt Kelly was a Godly man, but we can all learn from him...he knew in his heart that he was to be a clown and when for it. When it comes right down to it...The question then is – how are you setting your goals?
If our Lord is not in the very center of each agenda, maybe we need to think about why/how they where set to begin with. I think it is about time to get moving for Him! So, what are you waiting for?
