Reflections of December 30, 2006

Today's news proclaims the end of three lives--Gerald Ford, James Brown, and Saddam Hussein. A few thought have been unravelling in my mind as I listen to the reports.
Saddam Hussein - Here was a man who lived with ultimate power in his own created kingdom. He died helpless. "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment--" Hebrews 9:27.
Gerald Ford - I remember seeing him step off a helicopter in Texas. We were in a huge crowd standing and waiting to get just a glimpse of The President of the United States. It is interesting that as I watched this President who served only part of a term and was not really lauded as a powerful President, I was stuck by a sense of power as he stepped off that helicopter. I thought, "I am witnessing principalities and powers." As I watched Mrs. Ford today, watching her husband's coffin loaded into an airplane, I thought, "She would have rather been doing anything else than this today."
James Brown - His funeral is more like a star-studded gala. It's OK with me--his family, his funeral, but a little strange that it is also Michael Jackson's debut to his new life. I wondered when I saw that Brown's body was laid out for viewing at the Apollo Theater, where I might like to be laid out. And I have decided--Fabric Depot--73,000 sq ft. of fabric. If you are interested see this link: http://www.fabricdepot.com/

High Tech Umbrellas

I was browsing around looking for art that includes umbrellas, and I found this. The article is titled, "The Umbrella that Makes Sense (We Think)." I like the confidence. This umbrella allagedly forecasts the weather. A component in the umbrella is connected to Ambient which sends signals and changes the color of a portion of the handle to indicate the weather. Interesting.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/ces/an-umbrella-that-makes-sense-we-think-147933.php

Quilts

OK--trying--trying--as I listen to Jessica give me verbal instructions--hmmm--she's telling me I don't have the icon. A little finnegeling! I did it! The black quilt is titled "Elvis Lives!" and the other is Makenzie's Flower Garden.

Merry Christmas and Quilts

Merry Christmas to the 3 people who read this. We are having a wonderfully quiet and peaceful day with non-traditional food--brisket. Some Oregon friends were over last night and asked what we were eating today. We told them and they said, "What's brisket?"

Now for the quilts. I made these for my grandchildren, Micah and Makenzie. Well, I say now for the quilts, but I don't know for sure if I will be able up upload the pictures.

This World Is Not My Home

Between August 29 and October 30, 2006, we have had 3 difficult tragedies among our church family and friends. All three involved someone dying. We are not the primary grievers. Others are suffering deeply. I am watching, and I don't like it. One of these situatioins involved an intentional violent act that took the life of a young woman. It crushes. In The Gulag Archipelage, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, "The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart."

In increments the world has become more and more uncomfortable to me. From time to time, the awareness of the temporary state of the world has traversed my mind. In Cote d'Ivoire, 1998, walking the streets of Abidjan I realized, "I am a citizen of the United States of America--not by my choice. I could renounce my citizenship and become a citizen of another country. I will not always be an American--but I will always be a Christian." Then in Kenya in 2003, I saw my life as a dot on the timeline of eternity. The dot is only a speck.

Through those times I still felt a great deal of comfort in the world, but that has changed. Maybe it won't be as deep, but I think of Paul's words to the Philippians, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself" Philippians 3:20-21.

Raising An Ebenezer

For 55 years I have been singing the 2nd verse of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing--

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by thy great help I've come--

This week I came across the word Ebenezer in Prayer by Richard Foster. After some investigating I found that in 2 Samuel 7:12, Samuel raised up a stone at Ebenezer. He called it Ebenezer and said, "Till now the Lord has helped us."

Samuel, a young judge and prophet came after Eli, who had lived the good life in Israel. Having grown old and fat, he failed to discipline his children who were now out of control. 1 Samuel 4 records Israel in battle against the Philistines. They didn't fare well. The elders of Israel had the "bright" idea of moving the Ark of the Covenant out of the Tabernacle out to the battlefield, using the very presence of God as something like a good luck charm. Eli's sons, wicked priests, without regard for God, brought the Ark to the battlefield. The Philistines heard about it and were afraid, but went into battle with Israel. Israel was routed and the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant. Eli's two sons were killed. A messenger took the news to Eli--"Your sons are dead." And the Ark of God has been taken. At the news of the capture of the Ark of God, Eli, fell over backward from his seat by the gate and broke his neck and died.

Samuel held this mess in his hands. The saga of the Ark being returned to Israel goes on through chapters 5, 6, & 7. After seven months it was taken to a temporary place for 20 years before David brought it back to Jerusalem.

All this, I tell, because Samuel stood up a rock to mark the remembrance of what God had done for them in bringing His dwelling place back into their own territory.

We all have Ebenezers. It's good to remember them. God told Israel, not to forget that they were slaves in Egypt and He brought them out. We all have places where God has moved, but they sink into memory and when the next difficulty comes may be hard to dredge up.

Record your Ebenezers.

Who Is This Man?

Who Is This Man?
A prisoner sat shackled before a group of high government officials. Their condescending attitudes mirrored amusement, amazement, and cruiosity tinged with tear. They gave him opportunity to speak for himself, then responded with their own opinions about him. In response he spoke, "I wish you were all like me, except for these stocks."

This man knew something about freedom that his judges did not know. He knew that liberty of the soul constitutes true freedom. When God shines His light into our hearts to reveal something He wants to change, He compares us to Himself--not others. If other people were the measure of our greatness, like water, we would all fall to the lowest level. By His grace that we do not.

Apple Pie in a Jar

On our deck we have four Columnar apple trees. Developed to grow in pots on a deck or patio, they grow pretty much straight up. Today we picked apples and used our handy dandy apple corer peeler. We had enough apples to make 7 quarts of Apple Pie in a Jar. I also made 3 pints with Splenda.

Anxiety

My small group begins again tomorrow night. I woke up a few minutes ago out of a nightmare. I dreamed that I was going to group, but I couldn't find my clothes. Then when I did, I couldn't find my notebook, then I'd find it and lose my clothes again. I finally got to the group. I couldn't get people to sit down. Bill Gaither was in my group and in the midst of all the confusion he was sitting on the edge of his seat with his notebook in his lap.

On a note of reality, my small group is splitting, because we had 20 sign up. I am teaching a lady in my church to be a facilitator. I think she is going to be great. We are talking about prayer.

Whose Side is God On?

Psalm 124 begins, "If it had not been the LORD who was on our side-- let Israel now say-- ." It goes on to say that their enemies would have destroyed them. So I always assumed God was on my side. Right? Of course the little niggle in my brain kept saying that something might not be quite right with this thinking. This week I read Joshua 5. The scene is just before the defeat of Jericho. Joshua sees a man with sword drawn. So Joshua inquires,

"Are you for us or for our enemies?" We all know this answer. God was on Israel's side. Right? He picked them to be His people. Hmmm--The man with the sword answered Joshua's question in a way that adjusted my thinking. He said,

"Neither." Neither? The man said he was captain of the host of the Lord. He wasn't an angel, because he let Joshua worship Him. It took a minute, but I got it. God is on God's side. He's not on our side unless we join His side. It's a comfort. Keeping God on my side is a lot to live up to. Nice to know that just staying on His side is the key.

The Light Came On and I Didn't Even Know I Was in the Dark

It's strange when you always thought things were one way and they turn out to be another. I noticed that after a funeral, our church always acquired many boxes of Kleenex. I thought it nice of the funeral home to provide a box for every row in the church. I lived with this belief for ten years. It was a bit strange for a moment when a friend whose parents had been killed in a car accident, (this is a whole 'nother tragic story), called me a few days before the funeral and said,

"Can you do me a favor? At every funeral I make sure there are Kleenex on every row, alternating them end, middle, end. Do you think you can get someone to do this for me?" It took a moment for my brain to process this information. I never dreamed the pianist at our church was buying all those Kleenex.

Oranges, Coconuts, Tangerines & Shooting Stars

Tonight we met at Karen and David Rouse's house in Longivew, WA to have dinner with some of the NW people who went to Brazil in July along with five prayer partners. There was a lot to share. Kraig Neet, pastor of Highland Baptist Center in Longview, WA had told Bert to send him to the jungle. He got what he asked for. They walked 4 miles from the house they were staying in to the church. He walked up to 10 miles a day. He shared things I want to remember. Richard, the missionary, dropped he and his interpreter, Tadashi, off with eight bottles of water and said,

"If you run out of water, put lemon juice in your water." Well, they ran out of water and were not able to get lemons, so they drank dirty water and prayed. Neither got sick. The lady of the house served cake in which the ants were still wiggling as the batter went into the oven. By the middle of the week they had eaten no fruit. One day they were eating, he said in his mind,

"Lord, we haven't had any fruit. Would you give us fruit?" He said as soon as the words left his mind, a man they were with said,

"Would you like some oranges? I can get you some oranges." Later in the day someone said,

"Would you like some coconuts?" The next day a man said,

"Would you like some tangerines?" Kraig said they were the biggest tangerines he had ever seen and tasted like honey.

On the evening walks home from the church in the darkness the Milky Way was visible from horizon to horizon. Walking home from church one night, he saw a shooting star. He told Tadashi who said,

"Oh, I've never seen a shooting star! I wish I had seen it." At that very moment a long shooting star swept across the sky.

In times of need, small things seem big, don't they?

Live as though . . .

I was looking at some verses in 1 Corinthians 7 (29-32a). I have missed some meaning for years. I think I usually focus on the ideas about marriage that Paul is talking about. I saw these verses and wondered how does this work out in real life

The context is not really marriage, but how to be available for God. Paul suggested reducing our anxieties and there are four specific instructions.

*Those who are married should live as though they have no wife. It is not license to treat one's spouse indifferently or cruelly, but to put God first.

*Those who mourn should live as though they are not mourning. The nature of life in a broken world includes loss. It is a given. But they are not to overwhelm and distract us from the goal of knowing God and pursuing the gospel.

*Those who buy, as though they had no goods (did not possess them). In a consumer's world, how do we hold our possessions so loosely that we buy them, bring them home in a bag, put them in a closet and if someone else needs it, just give it away. Yesterday I was at Multnomah Falls (if you want to know what that is, do a search. I don't know how to add links yet). I had on some pink dangle earrings. A little girl, too young to wear these earrings said, "I like your earrings." I looked at her and her ears were not pierced, but I wondered, if someone older had said it, would I have just taken them off and said, "Here, they are yours." The stuff is for God's glory, too.

*Those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.
The activities of the world are varied. Everyone is doing different stuff.
But these activities are not to be the substance of our life. The things that occupy our time and our talents and skills are not our identity, our joy, or our peace. They are not our salvation.

Here I Am In My Patchwork Life

Hmmm-- I have blog. It took 5 minutes to set it up, but it has taken me twelve months to decide on a name. You see, I really wanted behindtheclouds or thesunalwaysshines or patchesoflife, but they were all taken. That's what happens when you are a late comer to the up and coming things of life. Jason, you should have told me about blogs sooner!!

It's probably smart to stop writing now and do some things that need to be done. Then when I can get back to this, I'll start doing whatever you do with blogs--adding links and thinking of content.