MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

 I love cafeterias--so many choices, so small a tray! They don't expect you to pick one of everything obviously, but they try to make every item displayed to tempt you with something new, to try something exciting. But our goal should be to choose something wholesome and affordable, rather than being influenced by their goal of profits from fattening, empty calories. And everything on the menu probably won't be something you would enjoy, so you're free to ignore those items.

Some folks like to worship the same way: If the preacher says something they find threatening to their lifestyle choices, they are apt to say (on their way out the church door) "I couldn't worship a God who....."  or "He meant that rule for those heathens who lived back then, not for civilized people today."  These people read some rules for living  and may decide the writer is being too harsh and put away their Bible because it causes them to be uncomfortable, to enjoy a little less their night out on the town. That's probably a good thing, but they don't agree!

Some turn away from its words because they refuse to believe something they don't understand.

Some of these folks who seldom dip into their Bible find ne subject matter elsewhere more sophisticated, modern. These new ideas promise exclusive access to secret knowledge unavailable to less intelligent folks, less discerning than themselves. Lured away from Truth by cotton candy. Truth is not palatable to some people.

Warning: The Bible doesn't need--or permit--us to treat it like a cafeteria, throwing out an uncomfortable truth and, like the cafeteria, it doesn't permit us to bring a sack lunch to add to our meal, changing its meaning to suit our personal taste.

Really now, would you go to a bookstore and bring home a novel by a famous author and start making notes to mail to him to improve his book? His agent liked it, as is. His publisher liked it--he paid good money for the privilege of publishing it, as is. By whose authority do you believe you have the right to change his creation? Your right consists of accepting the book, as is, or rejecting it, as it was written,

Those men chosen by God to write down His words exactly did just that. Many prophecies within these pages have since been fulfilled, proving its truth. Generations have based their lives, trusting and proving the validity of this Book. It will stand above any other book, philosophy or religion--as long as Eternity stands.

Security from Your Shepherd

Sometimes I feel like a sheep--when I'm alone in the darkness of my thoughts, when no friends or family are nearby, when I'm wondering  what to do next, helpless against the wolf at my door, growling. I wonder how other folks handle their fears in the gloom of night?   

Do sheep know their shepherd? Do they know just how dumb they really are? Their shepherd knows them very well. He knows the name of each one of his flock and understands they need the right food, good water and safety to survive and thrive.

How do the white, woolly four-legged sheep handle their fears? They know their Master's voice! When he calls out, they rush to His side for safety. When He warns them to stay away from the rushing river lest they get swept away, they turn away from danger or He plucks them out of the deep water, their wool heavily sodden. When they wander, he calls out to remind them to go no further. He even anoints their noses to keep fiery little insects from biting, stinging, making them so miserable they might not hear His call. At night, He lies down at the gate of their pen so any wolf or lion lurking nearby cannot get inside and kill. If one is lost, He will search for His lost lamb, and He sings praise songs under the night sky to calm them and settle them for a peaceful night of rest.

Isn't that what our Good Shepherd does for us? We love to wander off on our own; we love to stroll beside the thrilling but slippery edge of danger like a rushing river, even though  the treacherous banks  try to hold our feet, drawing us into deeper water. The crook of His staff pulls us away from temptation, the fiery thoughts from Hell that threaten to distract us from our Master's call. When we wander away and get lost, doesn't He leave the rest of the flock in a safe place and search for us  and lead us back to safety? He stands between us and danger, even though we each want to decide our own exciting (and risky) path--after all, the grass across the river definitely looks so-o-o green and lush--and all night He rests in the gateway of our safe place, preventing attack from enemies, His dumb sheep who insist on getting to the edge of trouble all day, trusting Him to reach out just in time to save us. He sings praise songs to His Father, the King, calming us, His fearful flock, reminding us to be thankful for His watchful eye, His ever-present care, day and night.

I marvel at the great love my Good Shepherd has always shown and still continues daily without flinching, despite my petty whining over things I can't and should not have---but wait! All I could ever need or want is waiting for me in the home He is preparing for me, along with the privilege of Eternity in which to praise Him. (Is even Eternity long enough to praise Him?)

Lord, teach me always to recognize and listen or your voice and follow Your guidance and instruction.

             I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them                                        out of my hand.                          John 10:28

Powers of Perspective

 

My life is a masterpiece, drawn by the hand of my Creator, the Master of the art Principle of Perspective, which is by definition is the difference in appearance of an object, depending on its distance and direction from the viewer. Small things appear larger as you approach closer until they are all you can see. When you are very close, the object will fill your vision, excluding anything else. 

When you are looking at God up close, that’s a good thing; providing clarity of right from wrong. When you’re looking at a problem, not so good. I’ve learned after observing the work of this Master that I can’t look at both at the same time! If I’m fixed on the problem close at hand, I can’t see over it or around it to find God for help—He seems so distant I feel alone, a victim of this mountain between me and anything else. And the scriptures telling me He will never leave me to manage on my own become a faint echo in my ears. "

 Yet from habit and a remnant of faith, I cry out "This isn’t the way I’m supposed to live! I’m a Child of the King!  Forgive that my eyes wandered away from Your face for a moment, Lord. As my Great Physician, please examine my eyes for their poor vision and restore my clear sight which agrees with what you see, even when I can’t see it. And now I clearly see You standing between me and the problem, which already begins to look smaller, receding and already seems so insignificant. Thank you, Lord for giving m a brief glimpse of my life from your point of view.

God, the Great Gardener

 

Ever want to grow a garden?  Have you ever tended one--digging, mulching, planting and follow-up care? It’s not too complicated but plants do need certain care to survive and thrive. 

You must first find a suitable place for the garden—rich dark soil, good drainage so plants won’t suffer from mildew, a reliable source of water, and sunshine—away from the shade and roots of a tree. Get seeds from a trusted source—a farm and garden store, or a supply saved from a previous healthy, strong garden. And you’re ready to go! Bear in mind it takes commitment and regular care for success. Bring out the shovel and spade. 

Dig up the plot, removing any weeds or rocks that the sun could heat up and kill your plants’ tender shoots. Break up any big clots, raking the plot smooth and plant those precious seeds and water them well. Done!  

The next morning do you rush out to see all the green shoots coming up? No, because you realize the plants need to rest in their cool bed until they mature into fledgling plants and still longer before they provide produce for your table. You know you must keep them safe from harm: tiny bugs could eat their tender leaves, leaving no buds for fruit to grow. You protect them from excessive heat cooking them, small animals digging them up, sudden hard rains washing them away, until finally your work is rewarded when you gather your crop months later. 

Reading this so far, you probably think, of course! I already know this, why waste your breath here? 

My answer is this question: Knowing an instant garden is impossible, why do you pray at bedtime and rush out the next morning to see if the answer is here? You’re not dealing with Santa Claus, you understand, who seems to grant our wishes overnight throughout the world.

Growing a person is like growing a garden seed. God prepares parents to nourish, teach, nurture us and then He plants us beneath our mother’s heart for safekeeping until we have grown enough to come into the sunshine.  He has taught our earthly parents how to help us mature until we grow in judgment to plot our own course, with God’s guidance. Or do you choose to make your own decisions based on your latest whim or desires?  

If God cares for blossoms that are here only for a day to share their beauty, how much more will He nurture you, teaching you, changing you little by little, never failing. You have seen He is trustworthy in arranging for the sun to come up every day; what do you need that He is unable or unwilling to do for you? Feelings are a trap, sent by the devil to get you off track, Trust does not depend on feelings.

My Memory Book

 

            Most of us survivors of a pre-electronic era have an old photo album that we enjoy occasionally leafing through, remembering many past experiences—some of which seem much sweeter now than while we were in the midst of that uncomfortable or even painful time.

            What do we see about our lives in those pages?

            Some may remember resentment, reliving the pain felt long ago when someone we loved betrayed us. Others may feel sorrow at their own long-ago failure or lost opportunity. A few might reject the album totally, choosing to forget any past day of pain.

            I choose to see a series of “detention days” in my schooling, or bumps in the road of my voyage toward Heaven, days of heightened stress, brought through each one a little stronger than I had been before, by the precious Holy Spirit, who has gone with me step by step. Each time I look back at what I thought was a dark day, it now shines with a glow of eternal love from my Heavenly Father who brought me through many such days, each time with a little less self-pity or resentment or feelings of helplessness, with a stronger faith than the time before.

            There are two choices in life: either go it alone however you want, holding onto old wrongs and repaying all the enemies around you—and there will be many, because you collect and carry them with you as though they were pennies you stuffed in a piggy bank. You can never actually get even with someone who hurt you; you can’t ever get back all the time and energy you wasted hating them. Or maybe you can find something to be learned from that long ago unhappy situation; put ego aside and admit you may have somehow partially created it. Refuse to accept that you are helpless to change. Like Jacob, keep climbing that ladder into Heaven.

             Be joyful when you look back and see His footsteps alongside your own, gently nudging you toward His perfection. You are not yet what you will become, but you have learned and grown stronger and wiser from what you once were. Keep your eyes on Him, Yes! but also remember all the dark days which helped shape who you are today. Remember not the pain, but the sweetness of God’s arm lifting you over the deepest potholes of life, replacing any bitterness from these precious (yes!) memories.

                                           

God's Day Off

 

            When you pray, do you ever feel like God took a holiday? Do you wonder as you pray whether He’s listening? Why do you suppose it sometimes feels like there’s nobody home upstairs? Why do you doubt Him? Who moved; you or God? Maybe you should check your connection.

            When I go into a room and reach for the light switch, I don’t hold my breath in suspense before entering—I walk right in, trusting the light will turn on. That’s what faith is. It’s not as though I were consulting a Ouija Board or rubbing a magic lamp. Or crossing my fingers,  hoping to get lucky. I don’t even pause at the door, working up my nerve to wonder if the light will turn on.

            No, I don’t even slow down! I breeze right through the doorway! That’s faith, Based on prior experience, I’ve learned I can expect consistent response as promised by the electrical engineer ( its creator). Rarely it happens that the light fails to illuminate the room, and I must run through a short list of possible reasons for its failure. Is the lamp plugged in? Is the light bulb burned out? But it could be something not readily defined—a mouse or squirrel chewing wires in the attic or even my forgetting to pay the electric bill—a few times. Ooops! All fixable.

            When you get into your car, do you wonder if it will start? If you have maintained its care following the guidebook written by its manufacturer, you expect it to start. Occasionally, it doesn’t. (Life comes with a guidebook too: the Bible.) Do you assume its life is done or go down a lit of possible problems that could temporarily interfere: Out of gas? Exposure to dirt and dust as it travels the messy road of life can cause battery problems due to corrosion. Is Satan chewing on your connection to your Father in Heaven? All fixable.

            Whenever I feel like my prayer doesn’t get past the ceiling of my room, I have learned that sin has corroded our connection, but with the Holy Spirit who indwells me, that is quickly repaired. All fixable.

            Bear in mind, sometimes we’re not ready for what we’re asking for, so there’s a delay while He prepares us and arranges our circumstances. Sometimes His answer comes through, reminding us of our childhood, when we begged for more candy than is healthy and our earthly parent hugged us and said “I love you, but no.”

            God’s loving reply always comes; it may be: yes, no, not now, or you’ve got to be kidding.

 

             So I say to you,: Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock                                                                        And the door will be opened to you.                    Luke 11:9 

               Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.        Colossians 4:2 

You still don’t find that connection to your Creator? Be sure you own that connection.

 

               For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

              

               For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever

               Believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life/ John 3:16

 

 

Do You Have a Story?

 Of course you do. Your life has not been ordinary—it’s unique. You’re not skilled with a computer and handwriting it is too slow? Get a cheap recorder and tell your story to someone you love and maybe someone you haven’t yet met; someone not yet born into your family.

Your memories were preserved to guide anyone watching you survive what life has thrown at you, to hopefully avoid the same pitfalls you made it through, however painful those days were for you. After all, why not let someone you care about benefit from the trail you blazed? 

I learned so-o-o much about myself and my Lord, my Teacher who taught me great lessons long before I was mature enough to understand the wealth waiting in my memory’s Savings Bank for me to become wise enough to withdraw wisdom for today and tomorrow. Seems like I just gradually became aware I wasn’t just wandering thru my days, I began to realize I was being pointed down a particular path. 

I began collecting family stories because I was amazed at the horrific impact of a broken home and faithless father, poured out to shape, each in somewhat different ways, the five surviving children: my mother and four siblings (twins had previously died at ages 2 and 4). The stories grew to become a book, written with love for family long gone, to share with beloved family here now and those yet to come. 

As I wrote my own portion of this saga, I could clearly see things I had been learning, though unaware at the time. Looking ahead to be sure your path leads where you want to go is important, but looking back to take stock of what experience has taught you how you became who you are as you move toward your ultimate goal. So much insight, so much wealth I had been withdrawing bit by bit from that savings bank! 

I’m not yet who I want to be, but I have traveled for over 8 decades now, so there has certainly been much progress, despite the occasional stumble. The only reason I am still here for others to take care of must be for me to share whatever wisdom has accrued during those years. The answer I was given? My blog. Yes! Despite numb fingers and failing eyesight I cannot ignore the call. Parables, Proverbs and Pearls shares many stories, the value of which I only learned when I looked back and studied them.  I pray they will bless any reader who reads and/or shares them.

 

 

Good News

  

At 8 years of age, I was just becoming aware of exciting changes in my family’s daily life: we rented a nice house in a good neighborhood, I loved my new school, Daddy had the same job for several years,  he was getting his pilot’s license and there was a nice beef roast ever Sunday. I remembered days when none of those things were true, but mostly I remember Mama and Grandmother talking about how bad things had been during the depression—no jobs, no money, no hope.

The only uneasy note was that my uncle J.C. had joined the army right after his 18^th birthday and was sent straight to the Philippines.  His oldest brother joined too, but he lived far off – in Dallas. But life without J. C.—I couldn’t cope with the thought.  I counted forward to his return in 6 years: he would be 24 and I would be—14! I couldn’t imagine life without him for so long. Fast forward six months: December 7, 1941 and the world suddenly turned upside down. 

Normal life gone! Shortages, price-fixing, housewives taking civilian jobs, replacing all the men gone to war. Standing in line hoping to buy gasoline if you had a car, laundry soap, anything metal or paper, canned goods, meat, leather shoes--now that my family had tasted freedom to have a few luxuries like Sunday roast beef and Sunday afternoon drives? Not only did we now need cash but also ration stamps (government permission to buy limited amounts of goods now available to civilians after the armed forces received their necessary weapons and supplies). 

This was a simpler time when people pulled together for common goals: winning the war and sharing fairly what goods were available; they gathered at church to pray for their nation and for each other. There were a few opportunists who made their fortune selling goods they hoarded to the needy at exorbitant prices, but they were widely considered criminals. If shoes wore out before new ration stamps were available, you wore the old ones, hoping the shoe repair shop could keep your feet dry. Daily newspapers were eagerly devoured for hopeful war news and carefully recycled in some manner (such as creating temporary inner soles for your leaky shoes). School children were ordered to use both sides of a sheet of paper before discarding it. My life continued, but with a hole in my heart for my beloved J.C., who didn't survive.

And normal life didn’t begin to return for four years! 

As many years as I had been alive when it began. In another decade or two, we faced the polio epidemic, financial booms and busts, new diseases and cures, lesser wars with less involvement or personal sacrifice. But our nation stood strong and together we survived.

Do some of these things sound familiar today, as our world faces another crisis? 

Many lives were lost during World War II, and due to famine and disease through the ages, just as many are now victims of the current epidemic. Today’s crisis is not the only one nor the worst in history and as always, many will die but most will live.  During your lifetime, you will (unless the Lord calls His children Home) face other fires, floods, earthquakes, pandemics, just like the Bible warns us. 

Your older relatives remember how deeply that world war changed our daily lives and our future, just as covid-19 is changing yours. Most of you will survive but may face a different, less cohesive nation. The aftermath of divisive, selfish interest groups, political strife now unchecked by any moral healing—unless and until we remember to look up and seek guidance from our forgotten Creator, Healer, Teacher, Savior, Judge, who is waiting but whose longsuffering patience will soon end.

Whether or not you know God personally, you will go through these dark days—either alone and fearful, or with His companionship, guidance and support, knowing He will carry you during the worst; He will be beside you now and for eternity, beginning the moment you call Him.  He offers eternal life (beginning NOW!) if you simply ask. 

        Joshua 1:9  Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be 

        dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

 

 

 

 

A Parable

Bobby and Billy lived next door to each other. Beginning in elementary school, every morning they walked to school together. One day (all too soon, according to their mothers) they reached high school.  Eagerly they looked forward to fun, freedom, football. When they both made the team, they reveled in the attention.

Sadly their celebrations were halted when Bobby failed a couple of crucial tests and was dropped from the team. Billy was shocked. He had barely passed those tests and thinking of college ahead, resolved to study more to be sure he kept his grades up. Bobby was offended at his teacher who caused him to be kicked off the team—probably jealous that her son failed to make the team. He became bitter and dropped out of school. He found solace in the company of guys he used to think of as losers, hanging around the soda shop during school hours and on a dark street corner after dark.

Dark thoughts led to dark place, and dark deeds followed for Bobby with the inevitable outcome of brushes with the law. By the time Billy left for college with a sports scholarship, Bobby had run out of friends willing to finance his appetite for thrills and booze and half-heartedly looked for a job—even fast-food stores were reluctant to hire someone uneducated, with a tendency to show up late or high. No sweat. His good buddy who supplied him with drugs said he could always use his help—now he was solvent, dressed better, if a little flashy, and found he was suddenly attractive to the girls who followed his new group of friends—until he was arrested and jailed.

It wasn’t fair! Billy had all the luck, with a brand new college degree, employers called him—Bobby (or should we say Booby?) couldn’t get one to answer his call when he was paroled. Nobody befriended him now, and while on parole he was warned to avoid his former friend or else return to finish his complete sentence. No job, no friends, not much future to look forward to. Even if by some fluke, he were offered a job like Billy's, he was ill-prepared to perform. And now even Bobby had no time for him--he had a great new job with a big corporation, was engaged to be married and was buying a house. Good luck seemed to follow him around.

Good and bad things surround each of us as we travel our path. Both offer opportunities for growth and character development. When we are children, discipline is meted out by parents and teachers. As adults, we must exercise self-discipline, accept and learn from those uncomfortable “teaching moments” from God. (Have you noticed that you tend to spend more time with God when you're neck-deep in dilemma than when life is a happy tune?) If we accept the discipline, we profit and grow; if we rebel at the experience, we still go through the same discipline but choked by resentment, we get no wisdom, benefit or growth.

The ABCs of Planning Ahead

Remember back in elementary school when you discovered geography? You probably picked out a favorite place that appealed to you far more than all the other parts of the world, a place of daydreams, one perfect place you dreamed of visiting. As you grew, you read all you could find about it and yearned to someday go there.

And the more you read about it, the stronger your desire grew. Maybe it was the African jungle filled with mighty elephants and dangerous carnivores, or tiny Holland, carved out of land stolen from its surrounding sea and planted with tulips of many colors, riding a camel to see the great pyramids or the Holy Land where Jesus once walked. How thrilling if you should happen to be there to greet Him on the very day of His return?

Once your destination is decided, it will take planning and preparation, of course, to make the most of your travels. Perhaps you already have lists of sites you want to see, marked them on maps, studied tourist brochures and learned it takes lots of dollars to travel! If your trip of a lifetime will someday happen, you must start early and work for years to save funds for the trip.

A summer job  when school is out will cut back on days at the pool with friends. Some weeks  temptation will win and savings will suffer. It is depressing to see savings grow so slowly; it takes determination; to go to work while friends enjoy their holidays.

Diligence pays off! Now reservations are made, ticket purchased, passport in hand you finally set off in your car for the airport. After a couple of wrong turns and a detour or two, you're hopelessly lost. If only you had checked a roadmap--You go home disappointed, rebook your flight, Set your alarm to be sure you have ample time in case you hit a delay; all is well--except the flight is overbooked and someone  isn't flying today! This time you've done everything right, so far as you know,  but will it be enough? Random disasters happen ;;all the time through no one's fault.

Have you noticed your plans being diverted like this in other areas of your life? Reaching your ultimate desired destination demands discipline, careful, constant effort or you may be deceived by the devil who daily builds roadblocks in your path. Developing discipline will direct you to your divine domicile. Consult your Official  Tour Guide--your Bible--regularly to avoid being doomed to a deadly destination.  That would be devastating.  
                                                       And that's no joke!

Don't be a Birdbrain

                                            

A bird awakens one spring morning and is led to collect twigs and leaves and discarded downy bits of feathers and weave them into a nest. Soft, it must be, with high sides to keep her little ones safe. And soon her babes are cuddled together in their little shells, waiting for their time in the warmth of summer sun. Early every morning she flies out to find her breakfast. She will need her strength for her hatchlings, who will soon fill the air with their hungry cries. She knows her days will be spent bringing food to her tiny ones. They will need nourishment to grow strong little wings when their time to fly arrives.

One day she saw a larger bird circling the tree where her little ones slept, waiting for their day to leave their shells. Perhaps she cried out, warning the strange bird to stay away as she left. While she was searching for her breakfast, the strange bird approached the nest and saw it was a fine nest, and decided it would do nicely for her own family.  But her babes would be larger than those who now slept here. There was not enough room for both little families. So one by one, she rolled the tiny eggs to the rim of the nest, up and over the side, to fall to the ground, smashed. Then she deposited her larger eggs in the nest and flew away for her own breakfast, leaving her babes to be cared for by the smaller bird, who perhaps wondered why her hatchlings were larger, hungrier, and more demanding than those she had raised last year.

This may explain the saying, “You can’t stop a bird from flying overhead, but you don’t have to let him nest in your hair.”

Perhaps you were raised in the church but your faith hasn’t developed deeper roots as you grew up, with new, larger problems to solve. Along comes a new idea which seems to have developed into a new, deeper understanding of secret things, exciting things entrusted only to a few very special souls  It seems to add something new and exciting to the Bible, but wait! If the Bible is what it says it is, it contains all we need to know spiritually, so what entity invented these new, thrilling "truths"?

Many years ago I briefly flirted with this mind control experience, which briefly made me feel powerful but which I learned came from my enemy Satan. This new spiritual knowledge is so appealing, it draws you to spend more time and energy learning how to harness your spiritual “powers”, really for your own personal profit. I have seen in others that little by little, it replaced their prayer time.  Anyone deeply  involved may notice they have "matured" beyond the scope of their former church, which they no longer have time for. Their view turns inward, trying to develop control over their consciousness to leave and return to their physical body or commune with spirits of departed souls. But what happened to the bird who left her nest unguarded? The bird who took over in her absence enslaved her to a life of caring for strange babes.

Dear Ones, I pray you awake from your enchantment and instead hunger for the presence of God which may have been “tossed out of your nest” to make room for self centered growth of mental control over your life. Like cotton candy, it looks appealing, tastes sweet momentarily but will leave you starving. This avenue of study doesn’t nourish your spirit. It will push your relationship with your Heavenly Father out of your nest, your heart.

Like the baby birds who were pushed to their death, these false teachings bring death to your spirit. Before you open your heart’s door to a strangely different idea, check its source.

What's His Problem?

Was it something I said--whether carelessly venting because of something someone said to me earlier? Before I growl right back, I’d better hit Rewind to review my last few minutes. Maybe I was a little sharp-tongued after that almost-auto-crash scared me so—and maybe that was partially my fault. I did back out without looking first. But she should have been watching anyway; I was still rattled from that spat when my 8^th grade daughter tried to blame her detention on her boy friend. Who wouldn’t be irritable after the day I’ve had?     Ohhhhhhh! Yeah.

Okay. My bad. I’ll overlook his rude remarks this time. Guess I’m not perfect either.

Really? Do you leave home with your boxing gloves on, ready to fight anyone who rubs you the wrong way? Do you expect others to handle you with kid gloves? For way too long, I expected undeserved animosity everywhere I went. 

Maybe a spiritual chiropractic session can help you. (It sure “straightened me out” ) Or a trip to your inner eye specialist to see yourself and others more clearly. Is there something so special about your life that other people should tread lightly in dealing with you because your problems should be considered more egregious than their own?  Oh, you didn’t realize they had problems requiring their attention?

Remember the old saying that, if given the option of trading your bag of troubles with anyone else, you would very quickly beg to have your own again? Maybe if you had someone to share your problems with, it would be easier to suppress angry words, enabling you to think about others without losing patience with them. And who knows what problems your companion is dealing with?

There’s a new thing to consider and it might shock you: maybe instead of his purposely goaded you into ange, he barely noticed you; maybe you and your misery are far from his mind. Maybe you are so much less important to his day that you are just a blur he passes by. But whether others barely notice you or whatever they think or don’t think about you shouldn’t wound your ego too much. You have a Heavenly Father who always has time to listen and wants you to share your concerns with Him.

Understanding Our God

Day after day we rush out of our homes, head down, memorizing the long to-do list we never seem to complete before coming home to crash at sundown, mentally updating our list of tomorrow’s chores. As our heads hit our pillow and  our eyes begin to close, perhaps we remember to direct our thoughts upward to God, either to breathe a brief prayer as we begin to doze or to feel a momentary frustration or feeling of hopelessness. Where's the joy? There's more to life than this. The Bible says so.

I wrote the above paragraph weeks ago and waited for God's comment before continuing. I believe He is making it clear that He also has been frustrated at our daily schedule taking far too much of our attention. 

He is now providing time and incentive for us to look to Him for the answers we need,  reminding us that our lives are more than the schedule which stole more of our attention than it deserved or needed. Now many of us have a surplus of time to spend with Him, and many of us (first responders) have found our attention to the routine rush usurped by weariness and stress from extra hours of work caring for others, leaving them too weary to think or pray.

His ways are not our ways. We seldom fully understand why He allows severe disruptions in our lives, We sometimes wonder whether we complained once too often how hard our lives had become.  Yet we have been told this world is not our home, and for now we are subject to all it offers, good, bad or horrid. so, no! Fires, floods, storms, diseases happen.  Now we can plainly see we are not His favorites, right after His chosen Hebrew nation.  Complacent because for so long we called ourselves a Christian land, we're shocked to see ourselves as He sees us, no more deserving than all the others around the world where declaring their faith may be a death sentence. In the midst of crisis, He can call out to all His children, remind us not to look at trouble all around us, but instead to ask Him to hold us close and to fill our hearts with gratitude for His loving care. 

Pray for each other. Pray He heals this world and pray we use any opportunity to share what we have learned about His great love, lest any soul should miss one last chance to meet our Savior. 

Losing Weight

Me—tethered to the ground

I remember years of stress, trauma and tears, long working hours. losing my marriage and mother whom I had clung to, depending on her too long, then bit by bit my life became simpler, more streamlined as bits of sadness, resentment and fears floated away, left behind without the pain of loss I would have expected. My girls married and left home the same year and I survived both double blows.

 My job, which I had thought held my identity before retiring, Whoosh! Left behind all too soon it seemed. I noticed I had begun leaving behind a few things no longer useful; surprisingly without feeling deprived—I was expecting stress but only noticed an occasional twinge of regret, soon forgotten, surprised at how easy it was to let things slip away.

By my 80th year I see life is simpler now, in my final chapter. Looking back, I see so clearly how He has guided my desires, shaping them slowly but surely, closer to His own. I remember my first awareness that I had reached my peak earning years, so put aside my briefcase and career ambitions and was relieved and pleased there was no twinge of loss; I was free to concentrate now on more important concerns. As I freed myself from those earthly tethers, I felt lighter, ready to float freely.

My physical world shrank as my best (busier) days were left behind. Without a whimper I sold my car and used the cash to outfit my bathroom to more comfortably accommodate my new physical circumstances. In His wise council, God had led me to buy long term care insurance, which financed three years at Horizon Bay assisted living (and is still available for the next time it’s needed) which prepared me for a bigger step. God’s blessed home, my perfect nest, after 40 years of serving me and providing my comfort and temporary haven for others—sold, gone? No, its price is there in my bank statement, so it’s still caring for me.

              

Going from ambitions to responsibilities to freedom from the usual expectations is a gradual procedure. Other bits of life no longer needed I have left in a scattered trail as I go forward mentally unencumbered, including freedom to come and go at will, walking confidently without stumbling, sleeping peacefully the night through, the liberty of making independent decisions, and the newest, asking Sandy to handle my bills and checkbook, confessing to a little whining about my fading vision which made her help necessary. I must admit successfully paddling my financial canoe had privately been a source of pride/,  

me, weightless, ready for take-off

 Less time spent on this world’s needs allows more time to contemplate my extended future!  I’m reminded by frequent aches and complaints that I will encounter a few bumps in the road ahead but it’s thrilling to imagine my next chapter, just beyond the horizon. So leaving the weight of these various bits of life left behind is easy---and a loss, just exchanged for glimpses of my next Home, waiting for me. My Father has so generously given me plenty of time for my faith to grow, to learn how to love Him more, how to find and follow His path through this broken world, ready and happy to lose the weight of bits left behind. These days I sense God’s presence close by and I’m listening for His call.

Creator, Creation

Recently Dr. Jeffress used the illustration of a sculptor and a marble slab from which he carved a handsome lion. Someone asked how he had managed to transform a slab of stone into the likeness if a beautiful, powerful animal. His reply ? “I just used my tools to remove everything that didn’t look like a lion.”

I wonder, though, what if we asked the stone slab its opinion of the process? Might it have rebelled, complained, shrunk away from the sharp blows of the hammer and chisel? Certainly it wouldn’t have been comfortable or pleasant. And when work was complete, might the stone lion have preened a little, just a bit proud of his newfound beauty, forgetting the artist’s technique and physical labor responsible for his transformation?  Don't we sometimes forget the source of our own daily successes  and forget whose Hand was on the tools shaping us?

Today a commonplace description of a successful, well-known corporate leader is a "self-made man". Hearing that often, the man thus described can get puffed up in pride over his success in this world. I sometimes wonder about God's opinion  on this subject. I guess it just depends on which world where you seek to excel and your (and His) definition of success.

A favorite old hymn came to my mind, not commonly heard in this new century:

                Have thine own way, Lord.

                Have thine own way.

                Thou art the Potter;

                 I am the clay.

                 Mold me and make me 

                 After thy will.

                 Here I am, waiting, Lord,

                 Yielded and still.

 I believe I can safely agree to God's definition of success. 

Hugging a Cactus

A member of my family is legally blind, which aside from the expected life’s difficulties, caused him a few memorable embarrassing moments. One in particular represents to me a common human response to some hurtful occurrence they can’t seem to forgive or forget.

While in high school, the boy had a first-date companion at a banquet (his mother had driven and dropped off the couple for their evening together). While mentally searching for something to say to his date, he idly reached out to pick up the small floral centerpiece of their table to get a closer look at it and admire it. As soon as he touched it, he realized his mistake—it was a cactus plant, an unfriendly one he found difficult to put down.

Embarrassed, he ignored the pain in his fingers and somehow got through the rest of the evening without his date realizing what had occurred, although conversation became even more stilted with this distraction.

In the many years since, I have encountered many bitter, sad people who can’t let go the pain they felt; even years later they seem crippled by some wrong, experienced long ago. It seemed to me similar to an untreated wound from a cactus needle left to cause a life-threatening infection.

Seemingly, they are still limping years after having their toes stepped on; hugging the pain is like hugging a cactus. Who wants to go through life with your arms wrapped around a cactus? And yet the hurt is so powerful in our mind sometimes we don’t know how to lay it aside. We all know we’re supposed to forgive, and many try unsuccessfully. I was shocked when a woman told me that she refused to forgive the monster she hated--she would rather go to hell than to forgive the monster who had abused her child. Both she and her villain were in effect chained together. She was allowing him to ruin the rest of her life rather than release the hurt and thus obtain her freedom from this bondage.

When I searched my heart for ways to release this kind of crippling pain, I remembered who my heart and soul belongs to: Jesus. I was created by Him, alive because of Him and my future is in His care. He says He wants to give me His best, if I allow Him complete access to remodel my emotions, strengthen my faith. After a while I began to notice I could remember formerly distressing memories with no heat, no anger. I even began to forgive myself of past mistakes. Now looking back to those early days without emotional baggage, it occurs to me now that I had in fact been changed by those unhappy days. Jesus had used them to begin my growth to what He prepared me to be.

Accepting these as teaching moments instead of obstacles in my path, opens my heart in gratitude. And humans being what they are, there are still people who would be my enemy, yet I realize I have no need nor the right to be offended, if Jesus truly lives in me. Jesus is the One offended, and I must release the offender to Him.

... Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place              unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,              saith the Lord. ...    Romans 12:19

Do You Know Him?

There was a man who went to his doctor for his annual check-up—to pacify his wife, who was a worrier. Waiting for test results, he fidgeted, bored, and was eager to get back to his desk for more important matters. Then he was called in to the doctor’s office for his report and be on his way. However, to his surprise, the doctor handed him a referral slip to a specialist in a huge hospital in a town some miles away.

Grumbling at further intrusion on his day -- indeed his week, he insisted he felt fine and refused to follow up. Huffing irritably, he went on his way. If he hurried, he’d have time to pick up coffee and a couple of Danish and still make his next appointment. Enough time wasted pleasing his wife. He’d risk a little heartburn, just a little snack to celebrate. Maybe his wife would relent on her health campaign and stop hovering, now that he’d seen the doctor.

A voicemail arrived from the doctor. He deleted it.  A couple of days later a note arrived in the mail. He discarded it. He was fine; he’d know if he had a problem. He didn’t need someone telling him how to live. He was capable of taking care of himself; he wasn’t one of those weaklings who leaned on someone else. He preferred to look out for himself, period.

Perhaps you’ve heard this story or can guess his outcome.

Or perhaps it sounds familiar because someone in your life has been placing church bulletins under your nose, leaving you telephone messages from some friend in her church, hinting about some destructive habit, something that could endanger your life, a bad example they say could lead your children astray or land you in trouble if you don’t seek help.

What if they are right?