Are you friends with your relatives? This grandfather is friends with all his teen grandsons.
He has brought them several hundred miles to his old stompin’ grounds to find the best huntin’ in America. He says.
Did they bag anything?
Nah.
Except closer bonds.
Fun memories.
Greater respect for Granddad.
Experience in hunter safety.
Wild dreams.
Bellies aching from laughter.
Listening to songs of night creatures.
Back-slappin’ good times.
Not much.
For we know in part
and we prophesy in part,
but when perfection comes,
the imperfect disappears.
When I was a child,
I talked like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put childish ways behind me.
Now we see but a poor reflection
as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.
Paul — The First Letter to the Church at Corinth 13:9-12
Consider the times of Jesus. The whole New Testament demonstrates to the world that Jesus is the Son of God by His deeds and by His death. And His 12 Apostles had a front row seat for the whole thing.
Let’s look at what they saw, as recorded by Matthew the Apostle:
Jesus drove out demons, as recorded in Matthew 8. Jesus told the wind and the waves to be still in Matthew 8. They saw Jesus heal the sick and raise the dead. They were there, we read in Matthew 12, when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees like no one had ever spoken to them before. In addition, in Matthew 26, they were there for the Last Supper, when Jesus established a new covenant with all of humankind.
Yet in spite of all these things the apostles were privileged to see, in spite of all the things that were designed to strengthen their faith, “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Matthew 26:31
How could anyone fail God with Jesus walking alongside him?
The disciples swore they would not leave Him, but they were about to find out how weak they were.
They walked with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus told them to watch and pray. However, they were so tired that they could not even keep their eyes open. Then the soldiers arrived and took Jesus into custody. The disciples were so scared and so startled that they turned and ran for their lives. Jesus was right. They all fell away. They failed Jesus and they failed to keep the faith.
What about us? In church, it’s easy to pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ. But when we are out in the world, it is not so easy. Out there, we consider other things:
Our marriage.
Our job.
Our finances.
Our family.
Our health.
Our worries.
As much as we want to serve God, there are times when it is hard. We fail, we sin, we deny Jesus as Lord, and we fail to keep the faith.
Yes, we are in pretty good company with God’s dishonor roll of failures. Thank God, He is not finished with us!
Tomorrow: Ar-r-rgh! What to do! What to do!
______________________
Image via Wikipedia
Some people are servants to good and some are slaves to evil.
Servants of the good things in life fight for what is right; while slaves to the bad things may appear to fight for the good, but it is for bad motives.
Servants of the good take tender care of their children; slaves of evil may appear to care, but only decorate, display, and discourage their children for selfish reasons, if they don’t attack them outright or neglect them.
Servants of goodness are gentle in their dealings with all people; slaves of the wrong may make a show of good mannerisms, but have harsh thoughts they reveal later. This often reveals as gossip.
It may seem as if the servants of the good are perfect and faultless, but really, although their flaws may not be visible, they know them well, and beat them down as much as they can, always striving for a better way, next time. Slaves of evil do not realize they are thoroughly bad, think they are doing folks a favor by their presence, maybe even consciously hide their badness, thinking it is not bad but just unwelcome.
In fact, one big difference between good and bad is where the battleground is in each life.
Some battle self, try actually to be good; others battle appearances, trying to look good.
And when we grow really, really old, whatever is on the inside begins leaking out. When the days come, when weakness no longer has strength to hide what is inside, in the nursing homes, all will be revealed.
Be good . . .
_______________________
*Image by venturout via Flickr
What peaceful hours I once enjoy’d!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.
William Cowper
Walking with God
Have to explain some before I begin this post. Sorry.
First, I once worked outside the home. Surprised? One of the co-workers on that job was retired from the military and would tell us about his experiences abroad, from time to time.
For a while, he was stationed in Israel. It was a fun and easy assignment, no war or other real soldierly things going on, then; a desk job. Winter came, and with it, an extremely rare joy: snow. The old timers declared it had been 60 or more years since the last one.
The results were that the children did not know how to play in snow. So, the U.S. Army came to their rescue and showed them how to write messages with footprints in it, and to make snowmen, forts and snowballs, etc.
I loved that story and the images of soldiers in camo, with a knowing gleam in the eye and grin on the hardened jaw, teaching little kids how to make mittens from socks and play in the winter wonderland. I imagined giggles from young and older, rollicking snowball fights, and who knows, maybe some shared hot cocoa. It always makes me smile.
Hold that thought.
Second, and some folks may already know this, but according to the Bible, Jesus created everything that exists, including the angels. (John 1:3)
Okay. Now all the explanation is out of the way, and we can get on with this post.
I’ve been listening to an old Rich Mullins CD, lately, and the same song that always gets me, got me again.
I wish I could sing like him and impart these songs to millions. Instead, I wander through ballads, trying to hum along, wondering where folks find such skill.
The following links are to a free look at the lyrics with an option to listen.
I don’t like every song the man ever wrote—my problem, I know—but there are universal beauties in his too-short legacy. I absolutely love “Screen Door on a Submarine” (which you really have to SEE performed, to appreciate) for content, style, and execution: Tops!
And the achingly beautiful “Not as Strong as We Think We Are” haunts me for days, every time I hear it.
But my stoic husband hands me his hanky and admits, “It is a sweet song,” when they play “Boy Like Me/Man Like You”. Let me tell you why, and let me tell you why I’m writing about it here and now.
It is a darling song for lovers of children, beginning with:
You was a baby like I was once
You was cryin’ in the early morn’
You was born in a stable Lord
Reid Memorial is where I was born
They wrapped You in swaddling clothes
Me, they dressed in baby blue
It goes on fully expanding its theme, the purpose of the Incarnation, comparing various segments of Jesus’ life and the life of Mullins’ boyhood: Did You wrestle with a dog, let him lick Your nose? Did You play beneath the spray of a water hose?
But then comes the line that slays me, almost like a haiku moment:
Did You ever make angels in the winter snow . . .
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,700 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
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