The Dream Factory

Reporting for Duty

 

Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash

Father, I am reporting for duty.

It is a joy to do so. Just the idea of being chosen for anything thrills and humbles me. Unworthy as I am, you see something in me that you can use because you put it there.

Ignite it, God. Fan the flame and let it burn ... that it ... that something ... that investment you made in me by your grace.

I am here. I have some things to do, but that is all I know about the agenda for the day ... dates, times, places, tasks. These are important, I know, but they are not the real agenda. You know that. You know why I got up this morning and why I am praying this prayer.

Frankly, I wear a bit of confusion and uncertainty about today and tomorrow and the next day. Sometimes that feels like adventure. Sometimes that feels like being a bit unfocused or vulnerable. But that is OK. I have learned by faith and experience that you are guiding me in ways that I can only perceive through reflection and observation in the moment. I trust you.

I want to truly love you today and serve you and I sense that I must do that by loving the ones you love so much.

Love them through me. I expect to encounter some difficult people, some folks for whom love will not flow naturally for and from me. It will just have to come from you through me and, for that, I am available. In that process, change my heart. Make me more loving in a spontaneous way.

I want to follow Jesus today.

I want to keep in step with Him and see things the way He does. I have opinions, preconceptions, biases, and more than a couple pet peeves. But I sense that He walks right through these leading me in unexpected ways. When I follow Him ... when I follow you, I end up in some very strange situations, sometime caught off-guard, surprising places where I discover that He is already working and I am at home. I can't explain this life, but I embrace it.

Enter into my tasks, dear God. Enter and transform so that everything mundane job becomes worship of you.

Take my mood swings, my crusty gruffness, my irritability, my selfish desires, and my quirky quips and nail them to the cross. One they and I have died, re-resurrect them and me into something usable for you.

Thank you for forgiving me at my worst and loving me there,.

Thank you for this new life and for all the precious companions you have brought my way to share my journey. Bless them. Some of them are going through very hard times, times and challenges that I cannot even sort out, pain I cannot imagine. Love them, Lord. I know you do. Love them through me. Meet them in their trials and lead them through.

Bless your church and your churches, those that I am honored to serve and those that my friends serve. As we serve them, may we and I see your bride, Jesus, a people for who you gave all of yourself in sacrifice.

May I discern your body, flawed on earth and perfected in eternity. May I learn to love your bride here especially in light of what she is becoming in you.

It is a great mystery and I only perceive it in small doses.

But I am praying that the body of Christ will somehow recenter, refocus, and realign itself with you and your purposes. In any way that I may be an influence in that direction, make me available to you.

I also am flawed, very flawed, very vulnerable, imperfect, and needy. I limp to your altar. I am unkempt, unshaven, a bit battered, and joyfully expectant. Clean me up, Lord and send me out. Grace - I drink it and it rolls down my lips. I take it from your well and pour it all over me. Grace!!!!

Gracious God! Thank you.

What a mighty, awesome, fearful God you are. You are like the lion Aslan to me.

Something says "stay away" as you roar. My natural man fears your power and worships you in your glory. But you draw me in mercy and love and I cannot stay away. What I fear calls me to come.

What I dread compels me. What shocks me, creates in me a wondrous curiosity to love you and know you and the more I know, the more I love and the less I know and the more I know and the more I want to know and the more I know that I do not want to spend one second away from you or outside of this glorious calling.

I don't have to figure it all out. If I follow, I will get it little by little and I will be where you want me to be because I will be with you and find you in the oddest places and circumstances.

Keep my eyes open today for that sort of thing.

There are many I desire to bring along on this journey and I have named there names before you.

Others are in my heart and I bring them to you. Some are broken on the wheel of life and need mending. Some are deeply troubled and need peace. Some need healing in their bodies. Some are right here on Facebook, reading this prayer, praying it with me, and are included in the circle of love that is ever-expanding,.

This prayer is for them as while ... my beloved .... Your beloved.

Abba, Father, Dad. I did not really know how to pray today.

You know me. You know I have days like that. Far from being a spiritual giant, I am a spiritual child, but you accept me and allow me to pray as I will and you meet me there and teach me there. This is private prayer in a quasi-public "place and there is much more within that is very private that I expose to you and you know and you meet me there.

It is a Romans 8 sort of thing. But I sense that I am ready now, readier than I was a few moments ago. You have a word for me and I am going to read it, digest it, and get going.

Please go with me as I go with you.

In Your Son, Jesus' Name, my Lord, I pray.

Amen.

 

 

Above My Pay Grade

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Sometimes we avoid controversy and sometimes we seize it as an opportunistic and teachable moment.

"When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.'"

Paul had nothing to lose and a great opportunity to gain by stepping into the middle of a great debate and offering a third alternative.

His was an alternative of hope and it took him far above his personal competency, able scholar and debater that he was.

Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

While Paul was looking intently at the council he said, "Brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God."

Then the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. At this Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?" Those standing nearby said, "Do you dare to insult God's high priest?"

And Paul said, "I did not realize, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a leader of your people.'"

When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead."

When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.)

Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees' group stood up and contended, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"

When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks. That night the Lord stood near him and said, "Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome." - Acts 22:30-23:11

Perhaps, I sometimes get into life, meaning, and theological/philosophical thinking way above my "pay grade."

Do you ever over-agonize the bigger, deeper, loftier issues in the land of awe and wonder? It is not a call the shallow thinking or disengagement of our intellect, but a reminder of the limits of our consciousness.

We come to the end of our capacity where we integrate, frustrate, of meditate. It is there where we can emancipate ourselves from a world of care by becoming children again, resting as with our mother, not quite an infant, but not yet big kids either, just little children.

There, we are hopeful.

There, the resurrection is our one, viable, living, breathing, sustaining, and certain reality. Then, of that, we speak.

In a disturbing, confusing, complex, and deeply divided world, we are not going to figure it all out.

We are set in a far more chaotic universe where the order of things does not always readily appear. But we must live daily and daily, we must make little decisions.

How do we calm and quiet our souls when we want to take charge and fix everything and issues vie for our attention and everyone is shouting their own opinions at each other and we somehow long for non-synthetic synthesis and quiet?

How?

We keep ascending and we consciously, keep resting and hoping in God.

And we keep reminding ourselves that some fixes will always be above our pay grades.

" A Song of Ascents. Of David.

O LORD, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore." -Psalm 131 (ESV)

Whether above or below our pay grade, we have one great message. It is a simple message and it is a message of great hope.

 

 

Everybody Is a Somebody

 

Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash

I wrote this seven years ago:

Everybody is somebody.

Yesterday, I was visited by four homeless men at our church.

Two just came to hang out. They are my friends. They updated me on their lives. One had a cup of coffee, told me I looked tired, and advised me to go home and get some rest.

That was Rodney - a really good guy, but a clear SSI candidate who has somehow become severed from his check by a glitch in the system.

Rodney hung out and advised several people who came by with his insights into life. Mostly, he was right.

He did ask one favor. He borrowed my phone to try and call his elderly mother.

Another friend just asked for some water and we talked. While we were talking, two guys about to be on the street came by and we tried to coach and advise them. This guy has a short frustration fuse, but a really good mind and a desire to work.

He does work. Survival is very, very hard work.

This was yesterday. These were just people ... valuable people ... God's people .... our people.

 

 

 

We Become Like the Idols We Create

 

Moses Indignant at the Golden Calfby William Blake, 1799–1800

How do we become like the idols we create?

What are the characteristics and limitations on the objects we worship that shape us into their own image?

We make them in our images and find ourselves sucked into that place where we were when we made them and from there, we descend.

But these are the the psalms that follow after the Songs of Ascent. We have arrived at the holy hill and we must decide what we will worship.

We can still go higher, but not as long as we impose our own ideas, desires, motives, and biases upon our own worship. We cannot build our truth around our lifestyles.

We must conform our lifestyles to truth.

Not only our lifestyles, but our thoughts, our theological constructs, our worship, and our devotion must conform to truth.

What we worship will always shape us.

We will become more and more like what we worship or who we worship.

If we worship what we ourselves create, then we are worshiping something less then ourselves (much more -- far less than God who created us). We will be worshiping that which, by nature, disintegrates and we shall disintegrate as well.

It is not that we are not made in the image of God nor than our creations are made in our images. It is that, We are not God and they are not us. With each degree of separation, there is disintegration. We must aim for what is authentic and true ... and above us.

If we worship that which infinite and eternal ... the potential for growth is eternally expansive.

It is our choice.

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
they have ears, but do not hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them become like them,
so do all who trust in them. "-Psalm 135:15-18 (ESV)

 

 

 

 

What is remarkable about the story and the reason for its retelling by the gospel compiler, Matthew, is the person being addressed.

1. First, she was a foreigner who was (a) the object of hostility and (b) outside the scope of Jesus' immediate (but not ultimate) mission focus.

2). Second, she was astute to Jesus' humor and saw beneath the words being spoken by Jesus to set up a teachable moment. He might have seemed to be putting her off or putting her down, but he could tell she would not be deterred.

3) Third, she was not easily detracted. She had a real need for her daughter's well-being and she was not going to take "no" for an answer. So, she got in touch with her sassy, witty side and responded in kind.

Jesus interpreted that as faith.

Matthew does not record the smiles and winks, but if you read between the lines, they are embedded in the dialogue.

Matthew 15:28 :Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Poison Power

 

We've been resisting the same sucking vacuum since the first century. It is shaping the gospel of the kingdom into the framework of our old thinking and commercial/political/cultural (whatever) interests rather than allowing it to shape us into a new way of thinking, living, and relating.

We are predisposed through our old nature to accumulate and celebrate our own power and wield it over others. It may be the power of position, money, influence, or control. It may be spiritual power that we want for our own purposes.

But power exists as an outflow of God's nature and for His purposes and He entrusts it to us freely to serve Him and to serve people.

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you."

"For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

And Simon answered, 'Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.'"

- Acts 8:14-24 (ESV)

Simeon's money was doomed to perish with his thinking and his very life if not transformed. He needed and, after rebuke, sought a new way of thinking that started with humility.

We are not safe people with power short of humility and an understanding that the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity are wicked and signs of a heart condition.

Gall poisons us. Iniquity binds us. When we want, want, want what we want and lust for power over people, we poison and enslave ourselves.

Like so many bad examples, Simeon provides a very useful mirror to our own souls about what we need to ask God to forgive and to change in us.

 

Because No One Knew He Was There

 

Find your own personal power, centers of influence, and spheres where your voice is heard, and exercise them for justice, truth, righteousness, love, and peace.

God has given them to you to use for what is right.

It is up to you to find and use them.

Here is that whole text:

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night."

"Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, 'We don't serve colored people here.' I said, 'That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken.'"

Then these three white boys came up to me and said, 'Boy, we're giving you fair warning. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you.' So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, 'Line up, boys!'"

"Once I accept injustice, I become injustice. For example, paper mills give off a terrible stench. But the people who work there don't smell it. Remember, Dr. King was assassinated when he went to work for garbage collectors. To help them as workers to enforce their rights. They couldn't smell the stench of the garbage all around them anymore. They were used to it. They would eat their lunch out of a brown bag sitting on the garbage truck. One day, a worker was sitting inside the back of the truck on top of the garbage, and got crushed to death because no one knew he was there." - Dick Gregory

Here is my take-away today:

The man  on the back of the garbage truck, making the best of his situation and environment, died because no one knew he was there.

To borrow the title of Ralph Ellison's 1952 classic, he was an invisible man.

His contribution to society was invisible and unseen. So was the injustice that shaped his invisible world. His pain was unseen. His body blended in with the garbage around him and he was swept up in the indiscriminate sweep of all that seemed disposable.

Yet, in death, he became visible.

And Dr. King saw him so vividly and clearly that, in his light, he saw the hundreds of people in the same situation and he went to Memphis to help make them visible.

In his visibility, he became a target and there,in Memphis, he died a martyr's death.

Once I accept injustice, I become injustice.

We cannot accept injustice or let it remain invisible. Nor can we accept the fact that any of our brothers and sisters can sit in the garbage without anyone knowing they are there.

We cannot allow people to be swept away in the daily removal of waster and refuse.

I say it again:

Find your own personal power, centers of influence, and spheres where your voice is heard, and exercise them for justice, truth, righteousness, love, and peace.

Pernicious Unbelief

Kiss o Judas

Giotto di Bondone - Original: http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/giojud.html Archived: https://www.webcitation.org/6V8lU8tfc

I heard about pernicious unbelief and assumed the definition until I was diagnosed with pernicious anemia ... then I wanted a more accurate definition. Pernicious means deadly.

Thankfully, there is a cure for pernicious anemia, an injection of B12.

The cure for pernicious unbelief is a decision to seek and be open to the truth that becomes clear to our hearts.

"You have seen me, but do not believe."

In John 6, Jesus has been asked for big signs, bigger than the mass feedings, bigger than walking on water, bigger than calming the sea, more like daily food for the rest of everyone's life.

"Lord, always give us this bread,"

they say after asking,

"What sign will you perform then, that we may see it and believe?"

Without exasperation, but with some penetrating insight, Jesus declares in verse 36,

"But I said to you that you also have seen me and do not believe"

The indictment here is not on those who have not seen. It is not on those who are seeking truth with all their hearts. It is not on those who are struggling. Folks who struggle with faith issues get a lot of slack from Jesus. Remember the guys who said,

"Lord I believe, help me with my unbelief?"

Jesus had no problem with that man.

Jesus is slamming the guys with an agenda who have to work hard not to believe.

You won't catch me maligning, ridiculing, or stereotyping you as evil if you are an honest atheist or agnostic.

That is not what Jesus is doing either.

Imagine someone being presented with all the evidence anyone would ever need to receive a truth as truth. Imagine that the truth was clearly embodied in a person and that person was standing before you. Imagine that you know that he is true, but you refuse to believe.

The most common case is the conversation in John 6.

Perhaps the most egregious is seen in Judas who, knowing what he knows, and believing what he believes with his mind, chooses unbelief of the heart - his own personal agenda.

That is what Jesus is criticizing.

When the psalmist says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God, he is referring the the decision making capacity of a person.

The heart is the control room of ones life in ancient usage of the word. It is where we decide and commit. We know things with our minds and then, in an experiential way. We can even start the process of believing with our minds. However, if it does not reach our hearts where we commit to it and begin to internalize it, it is the kind of faith without works that James says is dead.

There are many who profess belief in God, even in Jesus, who are "fools" by this definition. They are not honest intellectual atheists. They are practical atheists. The men who were grilling Jesus for more proof already believed more than they were willing to commit to in faith.

They were just resisting.

I am not advocating for atheism or agnosticism. Whatever journey you are on, I pray that you are seeking through the possibilities that there is something greater than you or the universe that gives the universe and your own life, meaning and purpose. God is very patient with seekers and we should be as well.

I am talking about the hard of heart whose motives for not receiving truth have more to do with their own self-interests and prejudice than with their doubts.

When not believing starts to take more effort than believing, then it becomes stubbornness. That, then, is what Jesus means when He says,

"You have seen and do not believe."

The cure for pernicious unbelief is a decision to seek and be open to the truth that becomes clear to our hearts.

 

Just too lighten things up a bit, here is a song about joy ... or not.

 

 

The Conversation

 

 

Concerning our current level of national discourse ...

I am discouraged, but not hopeless.

I am skeptical, but not cynical.

I am weary, but not worn out.

I will continue to advocate for better conversation, dialogue, and discourse ... and that will involve naming some behaviors that hinder it.

It was Thomas Fuller who penned,

"'They say so' is half a lie."

Fuller was still a relatively young man when he died in 1661, but he lived long enough to grasp this reality.

Those who say, "they say," are really saying, "I think, but I don't want to say that I say.'

In the first place, "they say" is deceptive because it implies that there is a large body of agreement among the masses. If that were true, THEY would have spoken with a louder voice.

In the second place, "they say" is deceptive because it insinuates that "they" have appointed "you" as "their" spokesperson. That is seldom the case.

In the third place, it is deceptive because the speaker is masking his or her own opinion as that of others and taking no responsibility for it or ownership of it. There is a suggestion of neutrality that does not exist.

"They say" is essentially dishonest, divisive, disruptive, and intentionally discouraging to the person being addressed. It is manipulative and passive aggressive in its content and delivery.

So, how does one respond to the "theysayers" and "naysayers?"

One response would be, and courtesy is recommended, "Thank you alerting me to this, but I would like them to tell me what they think. What I am interested in now is what do you think?"

Another would be, "Before you tell me more, can you tell me who they are? It is only fair that I speak with them personally about this since this is their opinion and I cannot ask you to convey my answer to them. I am sure you would agree that would not be an honest way for me to deal with them."

What we must never do is give prolonged audience to this form of gossip and thinly disguised criticism.

Fuller lived with controversy and was, himself, controversial.

Controversy is not a bad thing. It can be very beneficial. Neither is conflict negative. But dishonest communication, murmuring, negative whispers, and third party communication are never productive and never solve problems.

Just as authentic theology is about meeting face to face, so is all human communication.

"They say," is, in fact, a very big lie.

And furthermore ...

"A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." - Proverbs 18:2

Am I in monologue or dialogue?

"An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment. " - Proverbs 18:1

Unfriendly and "unfriended!"

To employ graceless conversation, strategies, and methodologies to simply win at political debate is a foreign concept to the Jesus ethic.

To malign ones opponents in pursuit of gaining advantage is sinful.

" Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!"
- Psalm 120:6-7 (ESV)

When We Mourn Together

 

We have private and public grief as well as cultural grief.

Cultural grief sometimes finds expression in the death of high profile people whose lives, work, or reputations have touched, informed, and enlightened our own lives.

We tend to mourn them in public comments, statements, and rituals and those movements of our lives teach us how to better deal with our grief in our personal lives, families, and communities ...

It is best if we do not do so alone.

When We Mourn Together ...

... we heal and grow.

There is always more to any of us than meets the eye.

May we all take time to look into the eyes and hearts of our neighbors, ask questions, stop and listen, and listen some more and sometimes just sit and stare and the sky together.

Life is a vapor, but a very wonderful vapor. With all the pain and sorrow, may joy envelop your days for in joy, there are moments of grace.

It is good for a people to mourn together.

 

Jewish tradition has given us an example of a formal ritual prayer of mourning called the Mourners' Kaddish.

Mourner’s Kaddish in English Translation

Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world
which He has created according to His will.

May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days,
and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon;
and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that
are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights,
may He create peace for us and for all Israel;
and say, Amen.

Source

 

 

 

Faith and Faithquakes

William Jeffrey (1826-1877) - http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw04113/George-MacDonald

 

"Where there are no doubts, no questions, no perplexities, there can be no growth into the regions where He would have us walk. Doubts are the only means through which He can enlarge our spiritual selves." -George MacDonald

Doubts giving birth to deeper faith.

This is the ministry of perplexity.

This is the simplicity of complexity and the complexity of simplicity.

This is the resolution of struggle in the quest for that rest that will not rest in easy answers or shallow understanding.

Gravity is drawn toward the pebbles on the surface, but truth calls to the deeper rocks hidden beneath that surface.

Faithquakes come and that which is anchored endures, but that anchoring has come through some Peniel nights where we wrestle for the blessing.

Salvation is free, by grace, through faith, but growth in faith is a pricey proposition.

It stretches us and then, settles us till the next quake and opportunity to dig deeper.

Aerial photo of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, northwest of Los Angeles

 

Within the Limits

There was a fun game on Twitter a couple of years ago, before the character limit changed from 140 to 280.

How much could you say and how close could you get to the limit?

I kept a few of mine:

It is a fun game to see how close you can come to 0 characters left without actually going over. This will not be a winning entry.

When we run out of spaces for our lofty and exorbitant processions of verbiage, we can always link to a blog or put our words in a graphic.

Twitter forces us to chip away at needless words and simmer the stew of thought down to the most fragrant and nutrient rich essence: truth.

The soul is quieted for sleep, but awakened for what may be next -a great idea, a sweet and profound chord, a moment of truth, inspiration.

What I have to say is hard to say in 140 characters, but if that is all I have, I should make what little I can say as truthful as possible.

Words matter.
Ideas matter more.
It's always nice when they connect.
Better still, when truth grounds them
And they are allowed to soar.

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness- ideas that can't be contained within a race, class, or even nation - dynamic stumbling blocks of truth.

Our founders had flawed motives, but latched onto an idea that was bigger than them, had a life of its own, and must be fleshed out by us.

 

Let's Grow Old Together

.

U.S. Post Office; Smithsonian National Postal Museum; Image enlarged and rendered for tone, clarity by Gwillhickers

 

"At twenty a man is full of fight and hope. He wants to reform the world.
When he's seventy he still wants to reform the world, but he knows he can't."
- Clarence S. Darrow

I guess I'll have to wait a few short years to find out, but I do not believe that is true in all cases.

I know people who have truly awakened for the first time at 70.

Nelson Mandela was nearly 72 when he was released from prison and began to reshape South Africa.  In his 90s, he was still reforming the world.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, best known as Grandma Moses, did not start painting seriously until she was 78. In 2006, one of her folk art paintings sold for 1.2 million dollars.

In their obituary, when she died, The New York Times said,

"The simple realism, nostalgic atmosphere and luminous color with which Grandma Moses portrayed simple farm life and rural countryside won her a wide following. She was able to capture the excitement of winter's first snow, Thanksgiving preparations and the new, young green of oncoming spring... In person, Grandma Moses charmed wherever she went. A tiny, lively woman with mischievous gray eyes and a quick wit, she could be sharp-tongued with a sycophant and stern with an errant grandchild."

Harlan Sanders did not start Kentucky Fried Children until he was 65 and invested his Social Security check. Sanders allegedly had 1,009 rejections when trying to establish his franchise. Among them, was the grandfather of a friend who gave me a personal account of his story and regrets.

Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame, created iconic characters into his 90s, but did not start until he was 39.

Likewise, Julia Child did not publish her first cook book until she was 50.

Samuel L. Jackson got his acting break at 43.

Ray Kroc, who successfully franchised McDonald's, did not buy his first franchise until he was 53.

Astronaut and Senator John Glenn returned to space in his late 70s to study the dynamics of space travel related to aging.

It is a long list and gets even longer when it includes those who started young and  remained active well into their golden years.

Big dreamers never stop dreaming and hoping. They do so because they believe they can make a difference.

Darrow may have been right about a couple of things:

1. We learn we cannot change the world all by ourselves. It takes teamwork, community, and cooperation.

2. We learn that it can't be done overnight and we may not live to see all the changes we desire. The writer of Hebrews says that the heroes of old days died in faith embracing a promise that would only be fulfilled in later generations.

However, that is no reason for discouragement because real dreamers have visions that extend beyond themselves and their lifespans.

Growing old is and can be a wonderful thing.

In fact, I know a freedom today that I have never experienced at any other time in my life. I plan to use that to make a difference.

Growing old with others can also be loads of fun.

Let's keep changing the world as long as we are breathing.

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"
- Robert Browning

 

 

 

Courage and Beyond ... to Grace

Photo by x ) on Unsplash

 

Courage emerges
Valiantly
When you know what to do
And you know the cost
And you know that you must
And you face your fears
And do what must be done.

Faith raises its hand
To be recognized
When you know the reasons
Not to believe
And, not sure
That you believe
You breathe a prayer,
"Help my unbelief,"
And jump.

Love sings.
Present and melodious
When all the reasons
Not to love
Are obvious
And you set them aside
To do your best
For the one you choose
To love
In joy!

Joy bounces
To the forefront
When tears
Well up
And heartaches
Swell up
And you choose
To rely on God
And rejoice in God
And receive from God,
Shalom.

Peace manifests
When storms toss your boat,
And you've lost your way,
With no guarantees
And no visible way around the fear
And you trust.

Trust is always ...

Timely
Resting
Under a
Simple
Truth:

God loves me.
God is with me.
God will see me

And protect me.

My life is in God's hands.

Grace
Dances onto
The stage
Bows,
Grins,
Smiles,
Chuckles,
Roars with laughter,
And then,
Starts passing out presents
For no reason at all.

Courage,
Faith,
Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Trust,
All present ...

For God is present.

God is present
When ...

... Well ...

God is never absent.

 

 

 

Photo by kevin Tosh on Unsplash

John 6.

 ³⁰So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.""

 ³²Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

 ³⁴"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

 ³⁵Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in
me will never be thirsty. ³⁶But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

 ⁴¹At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

Jesus takes us further and deeper. He does this in answer to their very shallow questions. They ask for signs. Jesus points to Himself.

He is the source of satisfaction.

He is the source of purpose.

He is the source of soul nurture.

He gives eternal life.

Looking at both of these passages, and slightly ahead, the observation can be made as an acronym for BREAD.

B - Behavior flows from being and believing. It is Jesus' being and our believe in who He is that transforms who we are and how we behave/work.

R - Receiving the gift indicates that He has received us. Jesus is the Father's gift to us and we are the Father's gift to Jesus. When we receive Him, He receives us and never loses us. They asked for Him to give them the bread, but after He explained it, they were not so sure about receiving it.

E - Eating is what we do with bread. There will be more on this next week. However, today, the message is that we  taste eternity and are nourished by our relationship with Jesus to the extent to which we eat, which is to say, internalize His presence in our lives.

A - Agree with Him as to who He is. Attend to His words. Anticipate His promises. Announce them. In so doing, we will be involved with Him in His work. If we are what we eat, in this case, it means total alignment with Jesus Christ.

D - Decide that Jesus is the bread of life and that He is all the food you need for living life in the Spirit in the midst of time.

Those are some glimpses and thoughts to propel your own insights into Jesus, the Bread of Life

Stewardship of Power

 

Photo by Marisa Barrett on Unsplash

Why do we abuse power? I think it would be dangerous to oversimplify the answer, but we have some hints.

We do not understand power or appreciate its purpose.

Power is given to any of us for the purpose of service. We are entrusted with it, but it is not ours. It is a stewardship, but we grow possessive of it.

That is when we get into a danger zone. What we think we own, but suspect we do not, we grow to like too much and we start to defend it at all costs.

We divide the world into friends and enemies of our protected power and quest for more power. Our addiction to power, like any other addiction, causes us to act irrationally and even brutally.

We cannot handle power unless we work to maintain the attitude of a servant who is merely a steward of power that is not our own.

It can happen any time, to any people, anywhere that abuse of power becomes institutionalized, justified, and memorialized. Even if it grows out of a good cause or a noble endeavor, we must handle power as the powder keg of potential abuse that it is.

Power exists to serve.

Asking the Right Question

 

The Pool of Bethesda painting by Robert Bateman (1877)

Jesus asked the right question, "Do you want to be healed?"

The man heard it through his own filters and thought his answer was contingent on his preconceptions of getting in the water.

That was not the case.

Right question, wrong answer, but Jesus did not give up and the man was healed.

" Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked."

"Now that day was the Sabbath."

-John 5:2-9 (ESV)

The last statement brings up a whole different subject and yet, the main subject of the story

            - how we get locked in by our limited thinking and the boxes in which we try to fit God.

Do You Preach On ... ?

 

Photo by Nycholas Benaia on Unsplash

 

People ask if I preach ON sin, judgment, heaven, hell, this, or that.

No.

What do you preach on?

I don't preach ON anything.

What do you do then?

I preach FROM something and TO something and TO someones.

FROM the scriptures and TO people, the times, people living in the times, issues, and answers.

Preaching ON is grabbing topics out of the air. It is the wrong starting place. The Bible addresses all of the issues directly or indirectly.

If we take it seriously and let it penetrate our hearts, it will expose our racism, our self-centered ways, our idolatry for wicked oppressing systems, and everything else we so easily avoid by preaching ON them, ABOUT them, or AROUND them.

It brings eternal truth to bear upon temporal circumstances and choices.

We do not avoid the issues; we just start with what God says to them.

And the Holy Spirit can bring deep conviction and conversion ... and sometimes uses us to tighten the screws.

So, having said that, here is an application from a couple of years ago:

ALT-RIGHT is really ALTERED-RIGHT and is ALL-WRONG.

Bring Him Home - God in the Midst of Our Human Ugliness

 

A depiction of the woman of Tekoa before David, by Caspar Luiken.

 

Here is a story.

 

It is a story about a homecoming.

 

A wise woman of Tekoa tricks the king of Israel into bringing his son home from his flight.

 

Absalom had murdered his brother who had raped his sister. None of it is a pretty story.

 

David is conflicted between what he assumes to be the polar opposites of love and justice...

 

or love for one...

or the other.

 

It is a story of humanity, flawed and raw.

It is the story of people working it out, not always honorable.

Yet, there is a spark of openness, a yearning for truth,

... a glimmer of love.

It is very, very human.

It is very real.

We have experienced much of this.

And we ask, "How is this in the Bible?"

How is this the Word of God?"

 

The real question is , "Where do we find God in the midst?"

 

God is always in the midst, then and now ....

present in every flawed human interaction,

present in every space where ugliness prevails.

 

And God is ever present in the now,

in our own ugliness,

in the middle of our manipulative, decisive, and deceptive ways.

 

Ours is to seek and ask ...

"What is God saying?"

 

In the midst?

 

And it is not always simple.

It is sometimes a wrestling match where we get

exhausted,

wounded,

marked for life ...

 

... and that is a good thing ...

 

It shapes us."

 

Because the Word comes to do more than inform us or tell us an interesting story.

 

And...

 

It always involves a homecoming.

 

 

2 Samuel 14:1-20 (NRSV)

Now Joab son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's mind was on Absalom. Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman.

 

He said to her, "Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning garments, do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. Go to the king and speak to him as follows."

 

And Joab put the words into her mouth. When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, "Help, O king!"

 

The king asked her, "What is your trouble?"

 

She answered, "Alas, I am a widow; my husband is dead. Your servant had two sons, and they fought with one another in the field; there was no one to part them, and one struck the other and killed him. Now the whole family has risen against your servant. They say, 'Give up the man who struck his brother, so that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he murdered, even if we destroy the heir as well.'"

 

"Thus they would quench my one remaining ember, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth."

 

Then the king said to the woman, "Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you."

 

The woman of Tekoa said to the king, "On me be the guilt, my lord the king, and on my father's house; let the king and his throne be guiltless."

 

The king said, "If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall never touch you again."

 

Then she said, "Please, may the king keep the LORD your God in mind, so that the avenger of blood may kill no more, and my son not be destroyed."

 

He said, "As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground."

 

Then the woman said, "Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king."

 

He said, "Speak." The woman said, "Why then have you planned such a thing against the people of God? For in giving this decision the king convicts himself, inasmuch as the king does not bring his banished one home again. We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up."

 

"But God will not take away a life; he will devise plans so as not to keep an outcast banished forever from his presence. Now I have come to say this to my lord the king because the people have made me afraid; your servant thought, 'I will speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant. For the king will hear, and deliver his servant from the hand of the man who would cut both me and my son off from the heritage of God.'"

 

"Your servant thought, 'The word of my lord the king will set me at rest' for my lord the king is like the angel of God, discerning good and evil. The LORD your God be with you!"

 

Then the king answered the woman, "Do not withhold from me anything I ask you."

 

The woman said, "Let my lord the king speak."

 

The king said, "Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?"

 

The woman answered and said, "As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn right or left from anything that my lord the king has said. For it was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words into the mouth of your servant. In order to change the course of affairs your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth."

 

Crucial Questions

Before we can get the right answers, we need to ask the right questions.

Moral decisions are often made with knee-jerk reactions, through emotional filters, or with limited information. Sometimes, they conform to a predominant narrative we have always believed, but never fully or critically examined.

Yet, the decisions are  crucial and that makes the questions crucial.

The Apostle Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Corinthians.

“'I have the right to do anything,' you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others ... So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." - I Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33 (NIV)

It is laid out for us with three questions which are self-administered and asked in the light of scripture and the Spirit's scrutiny.

Is it beneficial? I I about to make a decision that will be of benefit or will it be harmful? Is this choice God’s best or just a concession to the moment? Will it help anything or anyone? Is this a the best choice for the moment? Is it beneficial?

Is it constructive? What are the positive results of this choice for the Kingdom? Does it build or destroy? Does it encourage or discourage? Does it lift or tear down? Does it lead on to more good choices or down a path of destruction? Is it constructive?

Is it good for others? How will my choice affect and effect other people? Will it better their lives or make their lives harder? Will it lift their spirits or cause them to feel defeated, berated, or marginalized? Is it good for others?

Then, there is finally, an over-riding issue that encompasses and informs all three questions. It is about God's will, God's purpose, and God's glory.

One Absolute Principle: So, whether you eat or drink, or what ever you do, do it for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble...

 

 

 

 

The Indefinable Something

Portrait of Speaker Reed by John Singer Sargent, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives.

"An indefinable something is to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what." - Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899

Known for his sharp-tongued wit and distaste for business as usual, Reed wanted to make the work of legislating more efficient and effective.

Time and distance have made most of the issues he addressed moot. That usually happens with the issues that fire us up. They fall through attrition.

I love the observation, however. We can use it as a template that transcends time and ideology.

Governments and most institutions are well skilled at spending a much time and effort to accomplish little.

That could  change, but Reed was never able to pull it off.

Perhaps, if Reed could have been clearer and more definitive.

Perhaps that might have been called leadership.

Yet, both of those statements are misleading.

Reed's words were descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact is, he was a man of clarity. He was sometimes successful, and sometimes not, but he was always a leader.

Reed was the son of Congregational minister, Rev. Samuel H. Merrill. He was born in Portland, Maine and died in Washington D.C.. He was a Republican who had defeated William McKinley for Speaker of the House.

With friends like Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, John Hay and Mark Twain, he stood out as a man of acerbic wit.

Once his name was floated as a candidate for President. His response was that they could do worse and probably would.

In fact, Reed sought the Republican nomination for President in 1896, but the convention nominated Ohio Governor William McKinley.

Mark Twain said of him, "He was transparently honest and honorable, there was no furtiveness about him, and whoever came to know him trusted him and was not disappointed. He was wise, he was shrewd and alert, he was a clear and capable thinker, a logical reasoner, and a strong and convincing speaker."

It is said of Reed that he exercised greater influence than any prior or future Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sometimes called, "Czar Reed."

He instituted "Reed Rules." This solidified the Speaker's power by limiting the ability of the minority party to prevent a quorum. He used Parliamentary procedure effectively to keep things moving, especially legislation that his party advocated. "Reed's Rules: A Manual of General Parliamentary Law" became a standard textbook for some legislatures.

He helped pass the Lodge Bill to protect African American voting rights but it failed in the Senate. It was not the first time that he was a champion of civil rights in the South.

The legacy did not end with him. His daughter, Katherine Reed Balentine, started a monthly magazine in San Francisco called The Yellow Ribbon, which promoted women's suffrage.

We have been and will be confronted with "an indefinable something ... to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what."

It will be up to some of us to step up and offer leadership that defines the indefinable, that offers a way, that suggests a deadline and timetable, and that paint a clear vision of what things will look like when the task is accomplished.

We need leaders like Speaker Reed who can do that.

 

 

"An indefinable something is to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what." - Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, 1889 to 1891 and 1895 to 1899

Known for his sharp-tongued wit and distaste for business as usual, Reed wanted to make the work of legislating more efficient and effective.

Time and distance have made most of the issues he addressed moot. That usually happens with the issues that fire us up. They fall through attrition.

I love the observation, however. We can use it as a template that transcends time and ideology.

Governments and most institutions are well skilled at spending a much time and effort to accomplish little.

That could  change, but Reed was never able to pull it off.

Perhaps, if Reed could have been clearer and more definitive.

Perhaps that might have been called leadership.

Yet, both of those statements are misleading.

Reed's words were descriptive, not prescriptive. The fact is, he was a man of clarity. He was sometimes successful, and sometimes not, but he was always a leader.

Reed was the son of Congregational minister, Rev. Samuel H. Merrill. He was born in Portland, Maine and died in Washington D.C.. He was a Republican who had defeated William McKinley for Speaker of the House.

With friends like Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, John Hay and Mark Twain, he stood out as a man of acerbic wit.

Once his name was floated as a candidate for President. His response was that they could do worse and probably would.

In fact, Reed sought the Republican nomination for President in 1896, but the convention nominated Ohio Governor William McKinley.

Mark Twain said of him, "He was transparently honest and honorable, there was no furtiveness about him, and whoever came to know him trusted him and was not disappointed. He was wise, he was shrewd and alert, he was a clear and capable thinker, a logical reasoner, and a strong and convincing speaker."

It is said of Reed that he exercised greater influence than any prior or future Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was sometimes called, "Czar Reed."

He instituted "Reed Rules." This solidified the Speaker's power by limiting the ability of the minority party to prevent a quorum. He used Parliamentary procedure effectively to keep things moving, especially legislation that his party advocated. "Reed's Rules: A Manual of General Parliamentary Law" became a standard textbook for some legislatures.

He helped pass the Lodge Bill to protect African American voting rights but it failed in the Senate. It was not the first time that he was a champion of civil rights in the South.

The legacy did not end with him. His daughter, Katherine Reed Balentine, started a monthly magazine in San Francisco called The Yellow Ribbon, which promoted women's suffrage.

We have been and will be confronted with "an indefinable something ... to be done, in a way nobody knows how , at a time nobody knows when, that will accomplish nobody knows what."

It will be up to some of us to step up and offer leadership that defines the indefinable, that offers a way, that suggests a deadline and timetable, and that paint a clear vision of what things will look like when the task is accomplished.

We need leaders like Speaker Reed who can do that.

 

 

Grace and Precision in a Computer Lab

 

Pete Birkinshaw from Manchester, UK - Used Punchcard

The date was some time in 1975.

The place was the Virginia Tech computer lab.

It was three in the morning and the small room was crowded with undergraduate and graduate students all the way to the PhD level.

A stack of punched cards 9 inches high or higher was in my hand, each with one statement of code. After waiting in line for my turn, I inserted them into the feeder for the giant computer. Within a few minutes the printer sends out pages and pages and pages of repeated text:

---- error --- error --- error ----

It would not even read my name.

Somewhere, along the line, early on, I had made a syntax mistake or some other kind of error.

One error cause a cascade of misinformation and a compounding error. The main frame computer just could not get past it.

The computer was unforgiving ... and even into the days of DOS and, to some extent, even today, requiring precise language

Thank goodness Google has become intuitive and often knows what I mean.

Truth and precision seem to matter in the mathematical realm.

It sure makes me appreciate grace.

There was no grace built into Fortran or Cobol.

However, it exits in abundance in the fabric of God's spiritual universe. 

At the same time, God loves and embodies truth and has also built in a passion for precision which the psalmist celebrated.

Whether art, science, ethics, morality, doctrine, or scholarship ... or driving a car, details and diligent attention to the fine print can make a very big difference.

It can deepen our worship or make all the difference in our success or failure.

The scripture commends it to our attention.

" You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently." - Psalm 119:4 (ESV)

It is not the devil who is in the details, but God. It is in the fine-tuning of God's perfection that we discover beauty and wonder along with God's best for our own lives.

A very good sermon on the topic:

 

Some interesting history on punch cards:

If You Can Believe

Statue of a monk and stone soup (sopa da pedra) in Almeirim, Portugal. - Adriao

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." -Mark 9:23

In ministry, we are in the business of helping people believe—first in God, then in the possibilities of God working in and through them to accomplish His purposes.

Belief is the most powerful attitude in the universe. It is absolutely essential for realizing God’s promises and our own potential under God.

It is the great missing component of people’s lives who are defeated, discouraged, and frustrated by the details of life. Belief precedes reality because it is rooted in faith:

“the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:1).

Faith is substantive.

Therefore we can build it on a shoestring. We don’t need any resources other than substantive belief to build belief. As we share our faith, we lend our confidence and hope to people who are operating on a deficit.

The wonderful story of Stone Soup illustrates the power of positive belief when it is shared and multiplied in the lives of people and in communities.

To recognize more fully the power of belief, observe the consequences of unbelief. Take note of the despair, hopelessness, and cynicism prevalent among those who have chosen the path of the skeptic. Observe the parade of dejected masses who travel along the highways of routine existence fearful of change and suspicious of any radical call to absolute discipleship.

Do you believe in God enough to believe in His potential for the people among whom He has called you to serve?

If so, start communicating that faith and instilling it in others. Then, step back and see what He can and will accomplish through you.

 

 

Keep on Believing

 

 

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

Either work is easy or belief is hard work ...

 Then said they unto him, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God" Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28-29

Again, I say: Either work is easy or belief is hard work.

I am going to presume that both are true.

Belief-work is what produces lasting satisfaction in our lives. This is the preface to Jesus' teachings on the bread of life. Because people are hungering for more, Jesus is addressing that hunger and providing Himself as the source of "food that endures to eternal life."

So far, they have labored with frustration and only temporary satisfaction. There is a need in every human to produce something of lasting value.

Futility is the fruit of meaningless work. Jesus offers more.

Belief is not a passive thing. The word for "believe here is πιστεύητε (pisteuēte), "to keep on believing." I have always been intrigued that the root of the word is used for our modern word, "pistol."

Pistols launch projectiles into open space and belief launches our lives and efforts to a place beyond ourselves.

The work of God is to believe. Once we accept that, we can begin to learn what it means to believe. We can be taught by God what the implications of living faith really are. We can begin to be shaped by our beliefs as they take shape within in us.

As a starting point, as well as an ending point, Jesus gives us focus, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent.

I think this speaks better than I can write: 

 

 Then said they unto him, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God" Jesus answered and said unto them, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28-29

Again, I say: Either work is easy or belief is hard work.

I am going to presume that both are true.

Belief-work is what produces lasting satisfaction in our lives. This is the preface to Jesus' teachings on the bread of life. Because people are hungering for more, Jesus is addressing that hunger and providing Himself as the source of "food that endures to eternal life."

So far, they have labored with frustration and only temporary satisfaction. There is a need in every human to produce something of lasting value.

Futility is the fruit of meaningless work. Jesus offers more.

Belief is not a passive thing. The word for "believe here is πιστεύητε (pisteuēte), "to keep on believing." I have always been intrigued that the root of the word is used for our modern word, "pistol."

Pistols launch projectiles into open space and belief launches our lives and efforts to a place beyond ourselves.

The work of God is to believe. Once we accept that, we can begin to learn what it means to believe. We can be taught by God what the implications of living faith really are. We can begin to be shaped by our beliefs as they take shape within in us.

As a starting point, as well as an ending point, Jesus gives us focus, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent.

I think this speaks better than I can write: 

 

Still Hungry

Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." - John 6:27, (NIV)

" Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness' - Isaiah 55:1-2

After a miraculous meal, the crowds worked very hard to find Jesus.

He gently questioned their motives in order to get them to do the same about themselves.

Your harried, frantic efforts to feed yourselves are futilely flawed, he seems to suggest. Everything in which you invest your time, energy, and resources is already in the process of spoiling.

There is, however, a food that produces eternal satisfaction.

Place your focus there.

Thus, Jesus introduces a lengthy discussion of the bread of life. He started by stimulating their hunger and thirst to hear more.

What does it take for God to make us aware of our profound hunger for more?

 

Further Meditation

What Motivates Me?

I am not asking you this question because you cannot answer it.

I am suggesting you ask it of yourself.

I am working on it.

When I find the answer, I can cooperate with God in shaping my life by "setting myself up," to produce the motivators that produce the behaviors that produce real success.

I am confident that the full depth of understanding of the answer is just beyond my reach even if it is within me. I need the help of the One who knows me, fashioned me, and is intimately involved with guiding my life toward His own purposes. It is He who defines the success I seek.

And it is He who knows what will motivate me to move in that direction.

It behooves me to prayerfully meditate, diligently seek, and fervently pursue.

 

 

I am not asking you this question because you cannot answer it.

I am suggesting you ask it of yourself.

I am working on it.

When I find the answer, I can cooperate with God in shaping my life by "setting myself up," to produce the motivators that produce the behaviors that produce real success.

I am confident that the full depth of understanding of the answer is just beyond my reach even if it is within me. I need the help of the One who knows me, fashioned me, and is intimately involved with guiding my life toward His own purposes. It is He who defines the success I seek.

And it is He who knows what will motivate me to move in that direction.

It behooves me to prayerfully meditate, diligently seek, and fervently pursue.

 

 

And More on Speaking Truth in Love

Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash

Christian caring requires that I care without an agenda.

It moves me to do what I do out of the overflow of who I am in Christ.

If I behave as I do because of my relationship with Jesus and out of real love, I can be honest about that without being "preachy."

Then others can trust me not to be manipulative, coercive, or judgmental - Just real and bearing witness with all my imperfections.

Let Your Words Reflect the Kindness and Gentleness of Christ.

 

 

 

Do You Have a Brilliant Comeback? Delete It ... Maybe.

 

Photo by Matt Collamer on Unsplash

Sometimes I write things that seem very clever, insightful, and truthful

... to me...

... and then ...

I delete them before I post them ...

... because they could hurt someone at a level that would be or seem to be unkind ...

... whether I intend it that way or not ...

and then, sometimes, I miss.

Recently, I caught two and deleted them.

The secret?

I stepped back and read them as a third party.

Try it.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." - Ephesians 4:32

It counts online too.
Real people are here reading and responding!

 

 

Grace on Tiptoe

Photo by Patricia Palma on Unsplash

 

The world is lonesome, quiet place.

Grace makes its entrance,

Softly,

On tip-toe.

Oh, to know its heart and soul.

A goal, a light, an arrow in the sky.

Why should I  resist

Or flee?

Insist on proof, aloof, and cold?

The old, the young, unsung and poor

A door to truth, a way to find.

Kind words are not enough,

The stuff of delusion, confusion, and appearance.

A clearance sale, a give-away.

Grey to bright, sight to insight.

Flight above the clouds and stars.

Jars of life,

Boxes of love,

Packages of joy.

 

 

In the Time When Kings Go Out to Battle

Artemisia Gentileschi [Public domain]

 

"In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem." -II Samuel 11:1 (ESV)

We live is a raw world where nations go to war to grab power and place and people commit adulterous sins which lead to even more devastating sins where lives are destroyed and ended. Some of those people have the hand of God upon them and they wrestle with their humanity on the battlefield and off.

I am not for war. I am for peace. However, the story is raw and real and about real and really raw people. David was the king and the leader. He was supposed to be somewhere else fighting another battle when he was in a position to fight the battle of his life - and lost.

What if he had been where he was supposed to be?

He was not in his place and so he had to fight his battle within.

Whether it was right to go to war every spring just because it was spring is a matter for another discussion. The point is that he had a role and was not playing it and so, in the wrong place at the wrong time, his eyes fell upon Bathsheba and he wanted her.

He wanted her badly.

His lust was greater than his sense of duty, responsibility , and integrity. It was greater than his loyalty to a loyal friend. It was greater than his will power.

It was greater, in the moment, than his own strength and he did not cry out to God for strength.

That is because lust is a strange meeting place of need (or distorted perceived need based upon real need) and arrogant power than pivots the universe around our own egos.

He wanted it and he could have it ... so he took it.

There will always be a battle unless we surrender to the enemy of our souls.

Sometimes the bad choices begin when we choose to stay home and not be where we are supposed to be.

The choices have devastating consequences. Two people died. Bathsheba was wounded in her heart. David was scarred for life. 

But afterwards ...

"Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."- Psalm 85:10 (ESV)

If we have made the wrong choices in the wrong places. we can find forgiveness and a new beginning so that the next time, things will be different.

 

 

 

 

 

Is there any to whom I can show kindness today?

Illustration from the Morgan Bible of Mephibosheth kneeling before David.

 

David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” - II Samuel 9:1

The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” - v3

So, with a question, repeated the second time with the variation, "God's kindness," David found Mephibosheth, a son of Jonathan. He was lame in both feet. David brought him to Jerusalem and, when brought before the kind, he was uncertain and most likely, afraid.

He bowed and told paid homage only to hear these words:

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

So, this son of, David's friend who was also the grandson of his enemy, King Saul, became like a son today. He and his household enjoyed the kindness of God and the kindness of the king.

And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet. v.13

It raises a question for each of us:

Is there any to whom I can show kindness today?

Do I have a Mephibosheth in my world?

What i we made that a mission for today and tomorrow?

 

 

 

"My hat's in the ring ... stripped to the buff."

Teddy Roosevelt is quoted in 1912 as saying, "My hat's in the ring. The fight is on and I'm stripped to the buff."

It strikes the eyes a bit crude and un-presidential, but the blunt truth is a pretty fair template for our undertakings whether they are in business, ministry, or social entrepreneurship.

Throw your hat in the ring. Make and announce your commitment and do it in such a way as there can be no backing down. If you decide to do something, tell some people who will ask you about your follow-through. Secret goals are too easy to lay aside when things get tough. Assemble your group of encouragers and keep them posted.

Get in the fight. To know that the fight is on is an invitation to engage. Don't wait for a second invitation. Do something today in movement toward your goal. Make a call. Write a note. Explore an idea. Take tangible actions. Make sure at least one of those actions involves interaction with human beings. Then, at the end of the day, pause and report to your encouragers.

Strip to the buff. Do keep your clothes on, but strip off all the other encumbrances. You know what they are. They are excesses, unnecessary expectations and activities, unreasonable expectations, old messages playing in your brain, defeatist attitudes, excuses, and a million other articles of luggage that will hinder you. Prepare to travel light and let your team know what you are shedding.

So, what are you waiting for ... a second invitation? 

Get in the arena!

 

 

Teddy Roosevelt is quoted in 1912 as saying, "My hat's in the ring. The fight is on and I'm stripped to the buff."

It strikes the eyes a bit crude and un-presidential, but the blunt truth is a pretty fair template for our undertakings whether they are in business, ministry, or social entrepreneurship.

Throw your hat in the ring. Make and announce your commitment and do it in such a way as there can be no backing down. If you decide to do something, tell some people who will ask you about your follow-through. Secret goals are too easy to lay aside when things get tough. Assemble your group of encouragers and keep them posted.

Get in the fight. To know that the fight is on is an invitation to engage. Don't wait for a second invitation. Do something today in movement toward your goal. Make a call. Write a note. Explore an idea. Take tangible actions. Make sure at least one of those actions involves interaction with human beings. Then, at the end of the day, pause and report to your encouragers.

Strip to the buff. Do keep your clothes on, but strip off all the other encumbrances. You know what they are. They are excesses, unnecessary expectations and activities, unreasonable expectations, old messages playing in your brain, defeatist attitudes, excuses, and a million other articles of luggage that will hinder you. Prepare to travel light and let your team know what you are shedding.

So, what are you waiting for ... a second invitation? 

Get in the arena!

 

 

Doing What Can't Be Done

Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

It is such an enduring truth and ever inspiring plot of great drama - the triumph of the underdog against all odds. Some soul, armed only with a great idea and audacious belief, makes a commitment and follows through. Ridicule is spurned. Obstacles are overcome.

Criticism is ignored.

Hardships are endured.

The price is paid daily.

The goal is pursued.

"Fred Smith wrote a term paper based on an idea for reliable overnight delivery. His professor gave him a C because the idea wasn't feasible. Years later, many potential investors agreed with the professor, refusing to send capital Smith's way. The funds he did raise in 1971 and '72 were gone by '74, along with his investors. One catchy slogan and several million dollars of hard-won capital later, Federal Express was on its way to profitability and long-term success. Read more here."

The key for people of faith is one simple concept:

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
- Luke 18:27

You can choose what to do with the volumes of well meaning advice you will receive when you set out on a great venture. It will be your choice and not the words of discouragement that will contribute most you your success of failure.

There are no guarantees but one.

That guarantee is this: If you never attempt it, you will never accomplish it.

 

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest

 

 

Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Walter Bagehot

It is such an enduring truth and ever inspiring plot of great drama - the triumph of the underdog against all odds. Some soul, armed only with a great idea and audacious belief, makes a commitment and follows through. Ridicule is spurned. Obstacles are overcome.

Criticism is ignored.

Hardships are endured.

The price is paid daily.

The goal is pursued.

"Fred Smith wrote a term paper based on an idea for reliable overnight delivery. His professor gave him a C because the idea wasn't feasible. Years later, many potential investors agreed with the professor, refusing to send capital Smith's way. The funds he did raise in 1971 and '72 were gone by '74, along with his investors. One catchy slogan and several million dollars of hard-won capital later, Federal Express was on its way to profitability and long-term success. Read more here."

The key for people of faith is one simple concept:

"What is impossible with men is possible with God."
- Luke 18:27

You can choose what to do with the volumes of well meaning advice you will receive when you set out on a great venture. It will be your choice and not the words of discouragement that will contribute most you your success of failure.

There are no guarantees but one.

That guarantee is this: If you never attempt it, you will never accomplish it.

 

It Couldn't Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
    But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
    Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
    On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
    At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
    And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
    Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
    That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
    There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
    The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
    Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
    That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest

 

 

Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart

" Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one." - Psalm 69:22 

I serve a God manifest in a man ...
A man with a broken heart.
How can I not follow one who so willingly ...
Wore a broken body
And bore a broken heart?

 

 

 

Don't Be Stupid; Ask Stupid Questions

Some years ago, pastor, researcher, and author, Ed Stetzer dedicated a day on his blog and social media feeds to answer "stupid questions,"

STUPID Questions

After you ever asked or been asked a stupid question?

That posting prompted me to think about stupid questions. What constitutes them. How does the asking of them often nullify their stupidity?

There is an old adage that the only stupid question is the one we do not ask. That is true sometimes, but there really are stupid questions that are asked.

"Stupid" has this etymology:

"Middle French - stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupēre to be numb, be astonished"

The relationship between exercising stupidity and being in a stupor is profound.

... a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility <a drunken stupor> 2 : a state of extreme apathy or torpor resulting often from stress or shock

Therefore, a stupid question is one that is numb, disengaged, apathetic, or drunken.

To break it down with an acronym, a stupid question has these characteristics:

S - Surface - It is exemplified by the student who, after a moving lecture of the meaning of life, raises his hand and, as the professor prepares of an insightful and probing question asks, "Is this going to be on the final?" 

T - Trivial - With the opportunity to probe some pretty profound principles of perpetual truth, we focus on insignificant details. Another professor, Dr. Charles Tyer,once lectured us from a classroom overlooking a bucolic mountain view. He asked us if we were focused on the view or on the fly specks on the window. Trivial questions miss the view for the fly specks.

U - Unconsidered - Any question worth asking someone else is worth asking oneself first. The ask if (a) you could not find the answer within yourself, (b) you want a second opinion, or (c) you sense that there are any number of answers and approaches to the question and you wish to enter into dialogue over it. Once you have wrestled a while with a question, it is no longer stupid.

P - Perfunctory - A perfunctory question is one you are using to accomplish something other than the quest for truth. It is an obligatory question like the one at the blood donation center when they ask if you have had marital relations with a non-human primate in the last 12 months. It is the question where you state your name for the record. It is merely functional and automatic. Anyone can ask it given a script.

I - Inflammatory - An inflammatory question is asked when you know that the answer is going to embarrass,indict, inflame, or discredit the person giving the answer. In online forums,people who asked such questions used to be called "flamers." They were just trying to start fires. There was no value placed on the quest for truth.

D - Disengaged - This is the essence of stupidity in every area of life. As Forest Gump's mother said, "Stupid is as stupid does." That is why Gump was never stupid in spite of his lower than average intelligence quotient. In spite of the challenges he faced, when he set out to do something, he fully engaged in the process. When he asked a question, he really wanted to know the answer. He looked beneath the surface of things. He thought about life and the big questions. Gump was, as his drill sergeant said, "brilliant," because he was fully engaged.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. No question that digs beneath the surface a bit, ignores the fly specks, is given some thought, comes from your own heart and mind, seeks real answers, and is fully engaged can ever be a stupid question.

ASK!

 

 

After you ever asked or been asked a stupid question?

That posting prompted me to think about stupid questions. What constitutes them. How does the asking of them often nullify their stupidity?

There is an old adage that the only stupid question is the one we do not ask. That is true sometimes, but there really are stupid questions that are asked.

"Stupid" has this etymology:

"Middle French - stupide, from Latin stupidus, from stupēre to be numb, be astonished"

The relationship between exercising stupidity and being in a stupor is profound.

... a condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility <a drunken stupor> 2 : a state of extreme apathy or torpor resulting often from stress or shock

Therefore, a stupid question is one that is numb, disengaged, apathetic, or drunken.

To break it down with an acronym, a stupid question has these characteristics:

S - Surface - It is exemplified by the student who, after a moving lecture of the meaning of life, raises his hand and, as the professor prepares of an insightful and probing question asks, "Is this going to be on the final?" 

T - Trivial - With the opportunity to probe some pretty profound principles of perpetual truth, we focus on insignificant details. Another professor, Dr. Charles Tyer,once lectured us from a classroom overlooking a bucolic mountain view. He asked us if we were focused on the view or on the fly specks on the window. Trivial questions miss the view for the fly specks.

U - Unconsidered - Any question worth asking someone else is worth asking oneself first. The ask if (a) you could not find the answer within yourself, (b) you want a second opinion, or (c) you sense that there are any number of answers and approaches to the question and you wish to enter into dialogue over it. Once you have wrestled a while with a question, it is no longer stupid.

P - Perfunctory - A perfunctory question is one you are using to accomplish something other than the quest for truth. It is an obligatory question like the one at the blood donation center when they ask if you have had marital relations with a non-human primate in the last 12 months. It is the question where you state your name for the record. It is merely functional and automatic. Anyone can ask it given a script.

I - Inflammatory - An inflammatory question is asked when you know that the answer is going to embarrass,indict, inflame, or discredit the person giving the answer. In online forums,people who asked such questions used to be called "flamers." They were just trying to start fires. There was no value placed on the quest for truth.

D - Disengaged - This is the essence of stupidity in every area of life. As Forest Gump's mother said, "Stupid is as stupid does." That is why Gump was never stupid in spite of his lower than average intelligence quotient. In spite of the challenges he faced, when he set out to do something, he fully engaged in the process. When he asked a question, he really wanted to know the answer. He looked beneath the surface of things. He thought about life and the big questions. Gump was, as his drill sergeant said, "brilliant," because he was fully engaged.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. No question that digs beneath the surface a bit, ignores the fly specks, is given some thought, comes from your own heart and mind, seeks real answers, and is fully engaged can ever be a stupid question.

ASK!

 

 

Water Walking

Water Walking in the Wee Hours of the Morning

In the Fourth Watch of the Night - That is when it happened, perhaps at about 3:00 A.M.. It is that unique time when the extreme night owls are thinking of retiring and the extreme early birds are rising.

It is also at that time when "graveyard shift" workers are starting to yawn and requiring a second wind to make it through.

At such a time, a second wind came for the disciples in the boat Jesus sent on ahead of Him while He prayed. it was a big wind, the kid that beats and batters and threatens to beach even the most seasoned mariner.

In the hours leading up to this cataclysmic event, Jesus had been praying alone and the disciples had been trying to cross the body of water as the storm got worse and worse.

We really don't know exactly when the storm came, but when Jesus looked in on the disciples, they had only moved about three and a half miles and they were straining at their oars, desperately trying to survive. Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 give essentially the same accounts, but Matthew records more of the dialog.

They see Him and He looks ghostly. At least they suspect He is a ghost - even more so when He starts moving toward them walking on the water.

Question: What beats your boat?

What winds are against you? What has got you nearly swamped? What forces are so overwhelming that you are making little or no progress? What are you rowing against that is defeating you?

To you, in your present situation, Jesus speaks three words and then a fourth and finally a fifth. First, "take courage; it is I; do not be afraid."

1. Take courage.  The  original Greek meaning was to lift or carry and came to mean endure, dare, suffer, and be bold.  Thus, it is to have courage, to bear up under the great burdens, hardships, threats, and challenges that we face in spite of our fears and apprehensions and the odds against us. When we take courage, we refuse to throw in the towel and quit. We keep rowing when we think we are going nowhere.

2. It is I. Mark said that even after Jesus crawled into the boat with them, they were amazed, lacking in understanding, and hard of heart. Yet, knowing it was Him ought to have and did give them some comfort. It should strengthen out hearts and encourage our souls to know that in the midst of the storm it is Jesus walking toward us, above the storm and above the waves.

3.. Be not afraid. He will calm our fears so that we will not be crippled or driven by them. We have many choices available to us. It is those we make based on terror or fright that will usually be shortsighted and poor.

It is at that point that Peter had a streak of boldness and made an audacious request. He asked Jesus to call Him out of the boat and into the water. "If it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

I admire the fact that Peter is unwilling to leave the boat if it is not Jesus and if Jesus does not call. That is wise.

Mark does not record this and Peter had Mark's ear. Matthew "tells on him."

Jesus utters the fourth word.

4. Come. It is a gracious word. It is inviting, affirming, and challenging. It is still the word He speaks to us in crisis. He is always, in the storm or in the calm, calling us to Himself to meet Him and to experience Him in a new way. We could hope for no better outcome.

Yet, Peter loses focus and then faith and falters. Ray Steadman said, "If your faith fizzles before the finish it was faulty from the first." Peter had what we used to call in Virginia "a ways to go." In his defense, he was the only guy willing to get out of the boat.

Peter cried out for Jesus to save Him and Jesus effortlessly reached for him and lifted him up. This gave occasion to His third word for the stormy moment.

5. You of little faith. Why did you doubt? I have heard this and said this before. Why did you stop? You were doing so well. You were almost there. You could have made it. 

We get so close and then we stop in panic, retreat in horror, or slink away in a loss o confidence. The storms are real, but just a moment before, we were rising above them. We have lost our focus, our short term memory, and our faith. We have "a ways to go."

But none of that stops Jesus. He comes to our boat, we invite Him in, He climbs in, and eventually (or sometimes immediately) the winds subside. It is then that we declare again, "Truly You are the Son of God."

In 1925, Gertrude Ederle sought to swim the English Channel . "She had less than seven miles to go when her trainer, Jabez Wolffe, who thought she was too tired to keep going, pulled her from the water."

Some have said that it was because she could not see the shore that she grew weary.

The next year, she would not be deterred. She captured a vision of the prize in her mind and kept going. She became the first woman to swim the channel. More people have climbed Everest than have accomplished this.

For us, it is the vision of one who walks on the water in the fourth watch of the night who becomes the focus of our faith. We may not be able to walk on water, but we can certainly ride out our storms in the boat with confidence and courage as we  take Him on board.

In the Fourth Watch of the Night - That is when it happened, perhaps at about 3:00 A.M.. It is that unique time when the extreme night owls are thinking of retiring and the extreme early birds are rising.

It is also at that time when "graveyard shift" workers are starting to yawn and requiring a second wind to make it through.

At such a time, a second wind came for the disciples in the boat Jesus sent on ahead of Him while He prayed. it was a big wind, the kid that beats and batters and threatens to beach even the most seasoned mariner.

In the hours leading up to this cataclysmic event, Jesus had been praying alone and the disciples had been trying to cross the body of water as the storm got worse and worse.

We really don't know exactly when the storm came, but when Jesus looked in on the disciples, they had only moved about three and a half miles and they were straining at their oars, desperately trying to survive. Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 give essentially the same accounts, but Matthew records more of the dialog.

They see Him and He looks ghostly. At least they suspect He is a ghost - even more so when He starts moving toward them walking on the water.

Question: What beats your boat?

What winds are against you? What has got you nearly swamped? What forces are so overwhelming that you are making little or no progress? What are you rowing against that is defeating you?

To you, in your present situation, Jesus speaks three words and then a fourth and finally a fifth. First, "take courage; it is I; do not be afraid."

1. Take courage.  The  original Greek meaning was to lift or carry and came to mean endure, dare, suffer, and be bold.  Thus, it is to have courage, to bear up under the great burdens, hardships, threats, and challenges that we face in spite of our fears and apprehensions and the odds against us. When we take courage, we refuse to throw in the towel and quit. We keep rowing when we think we are going nowhere.

2. It is I. Mark said that even after Jesus crawled into the boat with them, they were amazed, lacking in understanding, and hard of heart. Yet, knowing it was Him ought to have and did give them some comfort. It should strengthen out hearts and encourage our souls to know that in the midst of the storm it is Jesus walking toward us, above the storm and above the waves.

3.. Be not afraid. He will calm our fears so that we will not be crippled or driven by them. We have many choices available to us. It is those we make based on terror or fright that will usually be shortsighted and poor.

It is at that point that Peter had a streak of boldness and made an audacious request. He asked Jesus to call Him out of the boat and into the water. "If it is you, bid me come to you on the water."

I admire the fact that Peter is unwilling to leave the boat if it is not Jesus and if Jesus does not call. That is wise.

Mark does not record this and Peter had Mark's ear. Matthew "tells on him."

Jesus utters the fourth word.

4. Come. It is a gracious word. It is inviting, affirming, and challenging. It is still the word He speaks to us in crisis. He is always, in the storm or in the calm, calling us to Himself to meet Him and to experience Him in a new way. We could hope for no better outcome.

Yet, Peter loses focus and then faith and falters. Ray Steadman said, "If your faith fizzles before the finish it was faulty from the first." Peter had what we used to call in Virginia "a ways to go." In his defense, he was the only guy willing to get out of the boat.

Peter cried out for Jesus to save Him and Jesus effortlessly reached for him and lifted him up. This gave occasion to His third word for the stormy moment.

5. You of little faith. Why did you doubt? I have heard this and said this before. Why did you stop? You were doing so well. You were almost there. You could have made it. 

We get so close and then we stop in panic, retreat in horror, or slink away in a loss o confidence. The storms are real, but just a moment before, we were rising above them. We have lost our focus, our short term memory, and our faith. We have "a ways to go."

But none of that stops Jesus. He comes to our boat, we invite Him in, He climbs in, and eventually (or sometimes immediately) the winds subside. It is then that we declare again, "Truly You are the Son of God."

In 1925, Gertrude Ederle sought to swim the English Channel . "She had less than seven miles to go when her trainer, Jabez Wolffe, who thought she was too tired to keep going, pulled her from the water."

Some have said that it was because she could not see the shore that she grew weary.

The next year, she would not be deterred. She captured a vision of the prize in her mind and kept going. She became the first woman to swim the channel. More people have climbed Everest than have accomplished this.

For us, it is the vision of one who walks on the water in the fourth watch of the night who becomes the focus of our faith. We may not be able to walk on water, but we can certainly ride out our storms in the boat with confidence and courage as we  take Him on board.

Rebellion and Redemption - There Is Hope

" The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord." - Judges 3:12

It is easy to point the finger at these ancient tribes and say, "Look how evil they were."

Don't single out the Israelite family based on this scripture and history. It is our story too.

They are simply a prototype of all of us.

Is there hope for an America that seems to have lost it's heart of compassion and instinct for justice and has done so periodically through its history?

Is there hope for those of us who trade moments of security and prosperity for a lifetime of truth and love?

Is there hope for us when we raise and salute the banner of commercialism and greed, erect idols of self-satisfaction, and irreverently turn our backs on the simple way of Jesus?

And then, we dishonor the One who is One  and calls us to ultimate loyalty and worship.

There is hope.

We are given this record so that we can relate and so that we can track the mercy of God to take a people of purpose and keep forgiving. restoring, and recommissioning consistently, persistently, and repeatedly through time.

This is the story of the relentless love of God. We know this because it was one of many such times and through the centuries, God never rejected the people.

Judgment is not the flip side of this. It is included in it - not as a paradox, but as an exclamation mark because, throughout the Hebrew scriptures, God's judgment of His people was designed to lead to repentance and renewal of the covenant.

Sometimes the path to redemption is rocky and hard.

Sometimes, it involves retracing the steps of our rebellion and heartless oppression of others.

But it is never a trek that we make alone, even when it seems so.

And it is never about erasing or eradicating our own guilt or redeeming ourselves.

It is a journey of grace and reconciling love.

What is evil in God's sight is what draws us away from God and God's love for us.

Sometimes, God will strengthen the hands of our enemies to draw us back into that relationship for it is only in the relationship that we can thrive.

For that reason, we ought to shun sin and embrace the discipline of a God who passionately and sacrificially draws us into a relationship that is on His terms, knowing that His terms ooze with love, grace, and mercy ... even when it hurts. 

 

From The Mission, a story of redemption and forgiveness.

"Jesuit priest Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) enters the Guarani lands in South America with the purpose of converting the natives to Christianity. He soon builds a mission, where he is joined by Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), a reformed slave trader seeking redemption."

 

 

 

Save Me, Oh God; I Sink Deep

 

 

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

Up to the neck in mire, no place to stand, no place to grab hold, deep waters, dry mouth, weary eyes, and constant waiting for God.

This is what it means to be spiritual?

This is sometimes what it means to be spiritual.

It is a place where we are, have been, may return, or return often in our midnight memories and darkest nightmares.

It is place to which we go in search of others who are sinking.

It is where we first learned to pray.

" Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God."-Psalm 69:1-3 (ESV)

It is not by our merit that we grow into the full stature of Christ.

Waiting for God who is already present, we come to realize something.

Something.

We live with regrets.

We navigate with blind spots.

"Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will." - BONO, 2004 PENN Address

We have had them; we have them; we will have more. We must do our best to know them, confront them, and see through or around them.

We come top terms with the sad reality that there are no do-overs in this life.

We cannot turn back the clock even five minutes to change our last poor choice.

We only have grace.

Grace makes it possible for us to live with ourselves and be transformed.

Regrets linger and haunt.

All we have is peace.

We are not required to carry a backpack full of shame to weigh us down as we hike the heights.

Life goes on as it must.

There are no excuses for wallowing.

We do not have to remain in the mud or quicksand, but we have to remember.

We get no pass for the past.

It is over.

We cannot withdraw from today because we blew yesterday.

We cannot avoid the future because we are ashamed of the mud scars we carry.

We always remember we have been drawn out of the mire.

We are always humbled by the  memories of our mistakes, oversights, failures, poor decisions, rebellion, and selfish ways.

We carry the sorrow of those we have wounded and yet, we walk on as healers of others who are wounded, bearing our own wounds as well.

We endeavor to be honest about our imperfections and realize there will be more.

We claim no special genius because God has revealed Himself to our hearts, no secret handshakes, no exclusive understanding, no elite standing among the masses, no exceptionalism for being blessed.

If we do well, it is because we have been loved and accepted.

"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius." - Mozart

So, let us love.

We have been granted mercy and forgiveness, not to be proud, but to be vulnerable and free.

"...You have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living."-Psalm 56:12

Rescued men and women aid in the rescue of others.

" You have noted my lamentation; put my tears into your bottle; 
are they not recorded in your book? " -Psalm 56:8 (NRSV)

Those faces stained by tears can never turn away hardened to the tears streaming down the faces of their neighbors.

Did we become spiritual in the mire or as we began to emerge? Was it before or after we bathed? Was it at our lowest or at our highest? 

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is not about us, but the one who drew us out and breathed life into us.

We may step in it again, we we know when to call when  we do and what to do once we emerge.

Save me, Oh God for the mire is muddy.

Rescue me for I am in trouble.

Deliver me from both the sorrows of my own making and the slurs of my enemies and friends.

I am tired, discouraged, and sorrowful.

I cannot go on like this; yet, I wait for you.

Reach down and lift me out of this quicksand for I am drowning.

And grant that I may go back into the swamp with you to rescue others.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

 

Hard Incarnation

Christ en majesté, Matthias Grünewald, 16th c.: Resurrection of Jesus

Incarnation is and was hard ...seeing from everyone's point of view, feeling the pain of all sides, calling forth intercession, glimpsing a divine and eternal perspective, knowing that others do not and cannot know and feel what you know and feel.

God did it and does it and invites us to share a piece of the action ... which depolarizes us and unnerves us and takes away all sorts of safe hiding places where we might retreat.

Jesus had no name that any could understand to define or confine him, so he most often called himself, "Son of Man."

That is incarnation and it calls for identification with all suffering and allows for no comfort zone with which to label oneself.

 

 

Disturbing the City

 

Photo by Adam Rakús on Unsplash

Something inevitable happens when the good news liberates people from their bondage.

The profits of their masters dry up and the masters cry out.

If God's people are bringing liberation to the lives of people, powers that be and industries of oppressive commerce will declare,

"These men ... are disturbing our city."

And they will be correct .... hopefully.

"But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city." - Acts 16:19-20 (ESV)

Let us disrupt the systems that oppress.

Let us disentangle the bonds that keep people enslaved and marginalized.

Let us discredit the narratives that devalue and dehumanize.

Let us disparage the disparaging messages of our culture that promote bigotry and supremacy.

Let us dispel the myth that religion is a nice addition to one's preexisting mode and rationale for living.

Let us distribute grace, love, and justice freely and with militant joy.

God help us to disturb the city.

 

 

The Unfinished List

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

When people ask me how I get certain things done, the response is often, "I work them into the cracks of my life between major commitments. Ironically, the things we do in those squeeze times are not always the least important, but sometimes the most.

Earthquake spasms create cracks in the surface of the earth and life spasms do the same in our schedules. That is why we can never be complacent and must always be aware of the landscape of our existence.

Because you have so much to accomplish and must make the best of every crack in your calendar as I am doing at this very minute), I am going to offer some suggestions in my next few posts. The first is about lists: ALWAYS HAVE AN UNFINISHED LIST!

If it gets finished without you adding to it, you are already behind and wasting time. Never let your list get empty. Always have something on it that you can be working on when an unexpected crack opens in your daily schedule. Categorize your list; let it flow into multi-layers; give it thought; give it prayer; keep it with you.

That's all for now because the crack is closing around me and I have an appointment across town.

 

 

When people ask me how I get certain things done, the response is often, "I work them into the cracks of my life between major commitments. Ironically, the things we do in those squeeze times are not always the least important, but sometimes the most.

Earthquake spasms create cracks in the surface of the earth and life spasms do the same in our schedules. That is why we can never be complacent and must always be aware of the landscape of our existence.

Because you have so much to accomplish and must make the best of every crack in your calendar as I am doing at this very minute), I am going to offer some suggestions in my next few posts. The first is about lists: ALWAYS HAVE AN UNFINISHED LIST!

If it gets finished without you adding to it, you are already behind and wasting time. Never let your list get empty. Always have something on it that you can be working on when an unexpected crack opens in your daily schedule. Categorize your list; let it flow into multi-layers; give it thought; give it prayer; keep it with you.

That's all for now because the crack is closing around me and I have an appointment across town.

 

 

Mental Notes

 

Photo by Julia Joppien on Unsplash

A mental note isn't worth the paper it is written on... or not written on.

You can make mental notes all day long, but they lack the safety features of paper and digital notes.

For one thing, you lose them. They exist, but they are floating out there is a closet of cerebral clutter and are only retrieved when looking for something else and usually after a deadline has long expired.

A basic problem with mental notes is that they are subject to the distortions of time. It has been demonstrated by neurological researchers that eye-witness accounts are often unreliable and altered by time and intermingling with other memories.

Perhaps that is why the Bible required two eye-witnesses before a person could be convicted of a capital crime.

Mental notes are often relegated to lists of lesser leverage in our thinking simply because we did not render them important enough at the moment to write them down.

Entrepreneurs eat ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Good ideas are worth remembering and writing down. So are not-so-good ideas. They can be sorted out later or even trigger good ideas.

Make a note of that.

 

 

 

Herod's Switch

 

Pieter de Grebber ca. 1600 – 1653

He really loved his power and authority and thought a great deal of himself.Herod was a character.

He shared a name with others who were addicted to power, position, and wealth.

Though his ego was over-sized, his heart was not cold enough to be frozen. He held a fascination with John the Baptist. He was able to recognize that something in him that was different from other people.

It confused him.

His ignition switch for God-consciousness was shooting out some sparks, but the conflict within him always kept the engine from turning over.

He had fear and fascination and they could have led somewhere ... they could have led to faith and repentance, but it would have cost Herod more than he was willing to pay. John merely lost his head from his shoulders. Herod lost everything.

" for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly."-Mark 6:20 (ESV)

 

 

On Your Toes

Photo by Form on Unsplash

Stay on Your Toes

The admonition is to be alert and take nothing and no one for granted. Live life on tiptoe in anticipation, and in awareness of what is going on over the horizon. 

Boasting vs Believing about Tomorrow  

We are to make faith declarations and dream statements as freely as we breathe, but boasting is another matter. It presupposes that we are self-sufficient and need neither God nor other people to reach our aspirations and excludes gratitude from the success equation of our lives.   

Thus, the writer of Proverbs declares (27:1): Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth." (New International Version)   

Of course we do not know. There are variables beyond our oversight and capacity to predict. We do not control other people's choices or the heartbeat of nature. There are larger purposes than our own and we function best when we view our lives as part of a larger plan and submit ourselves to a greater will.  When that happens, the dream that is planted within our hearts is a dream we must pursue and can pursue with divine guidance and power. 

However, we do not know what valleys of sorrow or storms of trouble through which we must pass.   We cannot boast about the time frame.   All that we can determine are our choices and our beliefs and these we must control or they will be controlled by the circumstance.   

You can believe in tomorrow without boasting about it. 

You can predict your own success without presumption. 

You can embrace a life of faith without assuming that there will be no battles to fight or hardships to bare. 

You can control your decisions without controlling all of your circumstances.   You can choose to be an overcomer without knowing what tomorrow will bring.   You can live in absolute ignorance of the specifics of the future and remain positive if you know and trust the One who holds tomorrow.

 

 

The admonition is to be alert and take nothing and no one for granted. Live life on tiptoe in anticipation, and in awareness of what is going on over the horizon. 

Boasting vs Believing about Tomorrow  

We are to make faith declarations and dream statements as freely as we breathe, but boasting is another matter. It presupposes that we are self-sufficient and need neither God nor other people to reach our aspirations and excludes gratitude from the success equation of our lives.   

Thus, the writer of Proverbs declares (27:1): Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth." (New International Version)   

Of course we do not know. There are variables beyond our oversight and capacity to predict. We do not control other people's choices or the heartbeat of nature. There are larger purposes than our own and we function best when we view our lives as part of a larger plan and submit ourselves to a greater will.  When that happens, the dream that is planted within our hearts is a dream we must pursue and can pursue with divine guidance and power. 

However, we do not know what valleys of sorrow or storms of trouble through which we must pass.   We cannot boast about the time frame.   All that we can determine are our choices and our beliefs and these we must control or they will be controlled by the circumstance.   

You can believe in tomorrow without boasting about it. 

You can predict your own success without presumption. 

You can embrace a life of faith without assuming that there will be no battles to fight or hardships to bare. 

You can control your decisions without controlling all of your circumstances.   You can choose to be an overcomer without knowing what tomorrow will bring.   You can live in absolute ignorance of the specifics of the future and remain positive if you know and trust the One who holds tomorrow.

 

 

Get Sharp

 

Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

Sharpen Up

Are you taking full advantage of the opportunities that come to you with arms and legs every day?

You have been gifted with associates above you and below you on charts made by human hands who have the capacity to add value to your life with every conversation and as you observe them.

Some of them make big mistakes, but even they are not useless. You can use them as examples of what not to do.

You can learn from everyone with whom you come into contact.

Proverbs 27:17 in the NIV says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

How does this happen? Many ways. Perhaps we can touch on a few of them with the word, SHARP.

S = Seeing - We observe the other person's life, choices, habits, techniques, strategies, behavior, and interactions and learn. If we will watch people closely, we will collect valuable information and will observe timeless principles being fleshed out in their lives. Paul once told some of the disciples to follow him as he followed Christ.

H = Hassle - The word means "struggle" or "contest," but we use it to refer to the resistance we sometimes get when we need to reevaluate our behaviors and choices. So it is sort of a struggle that begins within us and continues as others compete with us or challenge us about our behaviors. we get sharper and either change our choices or become stronger in them. Never discount the benefit of a good hassle.

A = Accountability - If we are never accountable to anyone, we will drift into an undisciplined and unproductive life. That is almost always true because God has made us for community and has designed systems of accountability into the framework of churches and businesses. Some systems of marketing and self-help programs employ that principle. So, call your coach or your accountability partner and do it regularly.

R - Respect - We learn respect for ourselves by respecting others, We learn respect for others when we reverence and respect God and His handiwork in fashioning people so magnificently. When you look upon one of those polished pieces of iron with arms and legs, you are looking upon the very handiwork of God. You will get sharper by respecting people.

P - Practice - People give us the opportunity to practice principles, to practice our presentations, and to practice our principles. People sharpen people through practice, interaction, conversion, struggle, and shared labor.

Don't be a loner. If you make the choice to do it all yourself, by yourself, you will suffer unnecessary setbacks and delays. Let other people make you sharper and let them benefit through their association with you as well.

Are you taking full advantage of the opportunities that come to you with arms and legs every day?

You have been gifted with associates above you and below you on charts made by human hands who have the capacity to add value to your life with every conversation and as you observe them.

Some of them make big mistakes, but even they are not useless. You can use them as examples of what not to do.

You can learn from everyone with whom you come into contact.

Proverbs 27:17 in the NIV says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

How does this happen? Many ways. Perhaps we can touch on a few of them with the word, SHARP.

S = Seeing - We observe the other person's life, choices, habits, techniques, strategies, behavior, and interactions and learn. If we will watch people closely, we will collect valuable information and will observe timeless principles being fleshed out in their lives. Paul once told some of the disciples to follow him as he followed Christ.

H = Hassle - The word means "struggle" or "contest," but we use it to refer to the resistance we sometimes get when we need to reevaluate our behaviors and choices. So it is sort of a struggle that begins within us and continues as others compete with us or challenge us about our behaviors. we get sharper and either change our choices or become stronger in them. Never discount the benefit of a good hassle.

A = Accountability - If we are never accountable to anyone, we will drift into an undisciplined and unproductive life. That is almost always true because God has made us for community and has designed systems of accountability into the framework of churches and businesses. Some systems of marketing and self-help programs employ that principle. So, call your coach or your accountability partner and do it regularly.

R - Respect - We learn respect for ourselves by respecting others, We learn respect for others when we reverence and respect God and His handiwork in fashioning people so magnificently. When you look upon one of those polished pieces of iron with arms and legs, you are looking upon the very handiwork of God. You will get sharper by respecting people.

P - Practice - People give us the opportunity to practice principles, to practice our presentations, and to practice our principles. People sharpen people through practice, interaction, conversion, struggle, and shared labor.

Don't be a loner. If you make the choice to do it all yourself, by yourself, you will suffer unnecessary setbacks and delays. Let other people make you sharper and let them benefit through their association with you as well.

At the Start of the Day

Our Abba in Heaven, God of the Universe, I begin this day in a state of seeking, hungry, thirsty, lowly and lifted. I come as a man washed and yet, desiring to enter the depths of the river and flow with its mighty course, fresh and free.

I drink from the fountain of grace and drink again and, while satisfied, ever desiring to drink more that its nurturing presence might enter deeper and deeper into my soul.

I pray with some knowledge and much ignorance for those who also cry out, "Our Abba ..."

I embrace them in every yearning of my soul and join in their concerns with every "amen."

We are many and we are one and in Your Son, there is no contradiction and there is no condemnation and there is no competition.

Your love is abundant and free.

Your people, made in Your image, have Your attention and You have created them uniquely and wonderfully to each reflect some facet of Your character.

Grant that I might see You in each person I meet today and may Your love flow through me to them and may You draw us each unto Yourself in the Strong embrace of Jesus and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus' Name. Amen. 

Photo by Jack Sharp on Unsplash

 

Walk steady today, but walk on.
Walk softly today, but surely.
Walk quietly into each room, aware and gentle,
But speak with a strong and compassionate voice in time.
Walk in love.
Walk in faith.
Walk in the Spirit.
Walk on.

Brooding on Authentic Church

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Sometimes I brood over inconsequential trivia.

Sometimes I wrestle with big questions, issues, and calling.

Sometimes I have to sort out what is my business from what is merely my interest. For instance:

I cannot lead someone else's tribe.

I cannot even throw stones at it or its leaders. I really will not because stones are always reciprocated back and forth and, as they fall, they only build walls.

I think we ought to be walking in the direction of more projectiles that can hurt us with nothing in our hands. Authentic church is not about protecting ourselves from attack.

My tribe is the church and my passion is its authenticity no matter what other tribes do or say.

Authentic church welcomes outside criticism and neutralizes it with love and truth.

That takes courage and conviction.

Authentic church is about being the body of Jesus in the world the way Jesus was and is in the world.

I can criticize my tribe because they are my stewardship, because they listen, because I love them, and because I believe in what they can be.

So --- I may have a word to say about decaying and declining elements of culture, but understand me --- they are the backdrop of our discipleship. We are not shaped into who we must be , we cannot be shaped, by our reactions to culture.

What we are becoming, by grace, if we are so becoming, is what we were becoming yesterday and the day before. The contrasts look different depending upon the shapes and colors in the background, but we are who we are becoming ... not just what we are and were.

We --- the people of God, individually and in community.

Now ... my brood :

How do I get that across and involve more people in being authentic church and shaping our lives by the example, presence, redemption, and life-giving power of God in Jesus Christ?

Easy answers --- not needed ... simple intention, affirmed .....

Fellow brooders, WELCOME!

I am feeling both frustrated and  ...

...and ....

Brothers and sisters, let us love God and ...

Let us love one another and .... as hopeful people,

... our neighbors as ourselves.

 

 

Who Can I Lift Today? - A Prayer

 

Photo by Nicole Harrington on Unsplash

 

Who can I lift today from dregs or rags or rubble?

"Who will lift me?" replies the me within me whose focus, inverted and cross eyed cause me to stumble over unexpected opportunities.

For that me knows the dregs and rags and rubble common to all.

"Refocus!" shouts the me within me that can see.

Refocus and move forward and ask again the first question.

Who can I lift today and, in the lifting, lift myself?

Who can I encourage? Who can I bless?

Who can I walk alongside and with that one, share a burden?

Who can I love. To whom can I give what You have given me? To whom can I give what You are yet to give through me

Who will be my brother or sister or lifelong friend I have never met?

Who will you bring along my path today, Oh Lord, by divine appointment to change my life as I give myself away?

For I have come to see that it is not me. And I have come to realize that I am not the prize.

And I have come to understand that it is not by my hand that dregs are transformed and rise to the top.

Nor is it, by my hand that rags become garments of silk or rubble turns to castles of grandeur.

I am not the helper to the helpee.

I am not the mentor to the mentee.

I am not the big brother to all the little sisters and brothers.

I am a fellow traveler, struggler, wanderer, falterer, and friend.

I am helped in the helping, mentored in the mentoring, brothered in the brothering.

I am lifted as I lift and keep my focus on another.

When I sought to be lifted, I fell.

I stand before You on tiptoe, Oh Lord, with childlike anticipation and wonder, waiting for the moment and the person that You will bring along my way that we might lift each other.

 

 

 

Photo by Nicole Harrington on Unsplash

 

Who can I lift today from dregs or rags or rubble?

"Who will lift me?" replies the me within me whose focus, inverted and cross eyed cause me to stumble over unexpected opportunities.

For that me knows the dregs and rags and rubble common to all.

"Refocus!" shouts the me within me that can see.

Refocus and move forward and ask again the first question.

Who can I lift today and, in the lifting, lift myself?

Who can I encourage? Who can I bless?

Who can I walk alongside and with that one, share a burden?

Who can I love. To whom can I give what You have given me? To whom can I give what You are yet to give through me

Who will be my brother or sister or lifelong friend I have never met?

Who will you bring along my path today, Oh Lord, by divine appointment to change my life as I give myself away?

For I have come to see that it is not me. And I have come to realize that I am not the prize.

And I have come to understand that it is not by my hand that dregs are transformed and rise to the top.

Nor is it, by my hand that rags become garments of silk or rubble turns to castles of grandeur.

I am not the helper to the helpee.

I am not the mentor to the mentee.

I am not the big brother to all the little sisters and brothers.

I am a fellow traveler, struggler, wanderer, falterer, and friend.

I am helped in the helping, mentored in the mentoring, brothered in the brothering.

I am lifted as I lift and keep my focus on another.

When I sought to be lifted, I fell.

I stand before You on tiptoe, Oh Lord, with childlike anticipation and wonder, waiting for the moment and the person that You will bring along my way that we might lift each other.

 

 

Actually Learning in Traffic School

Thank you, Mike Cassidy for writing this piece in 1994.

It actually brought me a little attention and a great deal of affirmation.

I hope the San Jose Mercury News will forgive me for linking to it here.

We taught one sentence which amounted to an equation for driving safety and success:

Values + Attitudes = Behavior.

Drawing from the insights of Glasser's model of Reality Therapy, we taught that the willingness of the person to accept natural consequences of his/her behavior was key to the process of change.

Like Abraham Maslow, we affirmed that values are deeply embedded in societies (social values)  and individuals (personal values).

I have applied V+A=B to life in counseling, coaching, preaching, teaching, and writing about personal development.

I thank National Traffic Safety Institute and Dr. Jeffrey Chase, the founder,  for that tool.

I thank Mike Cassidy, who wrote for the San Jose Mercury New for 28 years for the props.

Mike can be found tweeting in his new incarnation at Twitter.

 

 

Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles

JESUS MAFA. Easter - Christ appears to Mary, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 

 

 

Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

Because she was the first witness to, and proclaim the resurrection, she has been called the "Apostle to the Apostles."

She is also associated, by many, with "The Woman Who Loved Much," and washed Jesus' feet with her tears because she had been forgiven mich.

Methodist Theology, Kenneth Wilson describes her as, "in effect", one of the "first missionaries"

Women came first to the tomb.

They found it empty.

"He is not here. He has risen, as he said," was the greeting they received with initial perplexity and eventual joy. in Matthew 28:6.

They were commissioned to announce the news of resurrection to the Apostles in Matthew 28:1–10 and Luke 24:–11.

The Gospel of John, as well as Mark 16:9 zero in on Mary Magdalene's part in this great drama.

She meets Jesus, supposing him to be the gardener.

Pope John Paul II said, "This event, in a sense, crowns all that has been said previously about Christ entrusting divine truths to women as well as men."

She was among the women who supported Jesus financially.

Coming from Magdala Nunayya, she may have frequented the Roman-period synagogue unearthed in 2009.

It dated as far back as 50 BC and 100 were

Discovered in the ruins was a stone carved with a seven-branched menorah.

Magdala (Aramaic: מגדלא meaning "tower," was an ancient city, built on the shore of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberius.

It was a fishing village.

It might be surmised that Jesus, passing through, met her. She was said to have been delivered from seven demons. That might mean, because seven is the number of completion, that she was completed overwhelmed by the oppression of demonic forces that dehumanized and degraded her.

Jesus set her free.

She is mentioned enough times in the gospels, all four of them, that one would gather that her name and reputation were well known in the early church.

After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, she must have been one of those leaders and preachers of the gospel, that helped to shape the early church and the Jesus movement.

Mary Magdalene's life is an example to us of how the compassion of Jesus, the power of God the resurrection, and the call to proclaim the good news can transform our lives and the lives of others through us.

 

 

 

Hanging Gardens

This hand-coloured engraving probably made in 19th century after the first excavations in the Assyrian capitals, depicts the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

"... Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him." - Daniel 2:1b

Hanging gardens remind me of the great Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar who was known for the magnificence of his architecture, the extravagance of his reign, and, especially, for his hanging gardens, one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

Daniel, his contemporary and God’s prophet, would have experienced these.

The king and his gardens were impressive and overpowering. Yet, both were humbled and brought down.

Each had their day, but no day lasts.

As we wander through the gardens of our minds, some dreams are grand and inspiring. Others are terrifying. The king, though surrounded by beauty and grandeur, had a terrifying dream. When he did, he sought out the man of God to help him interpret it.

Daniel came to him and spoke truth. That truth burned upon the heart of Nebuchadnezzar and brought him to his knees. The beautiful garden of terror and judgment became a garden of repentance and contrition.

So many gardens are depicted in scripture and in history.

Adam and Eve knew bliss, temptation, and shame in a garden.

Solomon planted lovely gardens.

Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, felt the weight of the world and the heaviness of the cost for redeeming the world.

We are drawn to the places of serenity. In those idyllic and bucolic places of budding life and blessed repose, we mull ideas and dream dreams. We can meet ourselves and our destinies. We can be stirred to fear or soothed to restful comfort. We can meet our most dreaded fears, or we can meet God.

Or we can do all of those. Like Nebuchadnezzar, we can confront what is worst and most fearful in our lives and destiny and find the resolution in a renewed encounter with God.

What is hanging in your garden?