A Steep Learning Curve, For Sure...

   Our family is blessed to have many good cooks, and several great ones. I won't try to point them all out in order to avoid putting someone in the wrong category, but you know who you are and where you fit in.

   Our oldest son's school in Davidson, NC has as its mission:

"Our Mission: To produce independent lifelong learners 
who are responsible, contributing members of a diverse global society"

   Lifelong learners; there is where I am trying to go, even in these latter days. Several sayings come to mind:

"It is never too late to learn."

"Better late than never."

   So, what am I doing about this? I am trying to learn about other people who are different than I. Not so that I can look up or down at them, but trying to understand where they are coming from, so as to relate to them on some level. I mentioned the new web site http://seetheotherside.us/ the other day as one place I have been looking to understand others on some of the chief issues of our day.

   I am trying to learn what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Not just a Sunday morning disciple, but one who follows in His footsteps each day and in every situation. This is a lifelong challenge for sure.

   And I am trying to learn my way around the kitchen. This may pale in comparison to the importance of the first two examples, but it is something that I want to do. The only thing that I feel competent doing is dry cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I want to do better in the cooking category. I know how to load the dishwasher and get it running, and I'm good at the clean up of the table, but after a tossed or a fruit salad, my culinary skills are pretty non-existent.

   So, I asked my wife if she would not like a "real breakfast" this morning instead of cereal. I knew that I could do the toast in the toaster oven and the bacon in the microwave. I had done things like this before, but the scrambled eggs would be a new challenge. So, when she answered in the affirmative, I set out. After some good instruction from the one who knows how, they turned out OK, and with a minimum of mess.

   A good start, but a new career? Doubtful, but I should have taken a photo for posterity. My friend Tom Holland would not have believed it.

   I might even try hot dogs for lunch.

   It is never too late to start, and, you can't do anything unless you start.

   But, oh, that learning curve.....

Avoiding a Botched Job

   A friend invited me to have breakfast with him this morning. Well, he did not actually want me, he really wanted my opinion on something he was doing. I was not blindsided by his questions, I had heard about it the other day, but I did want to listen, ask intelligent questions, and then respond appropriately.

   Since this was an early morning thing, I did not sit down and read, study, pray, write before I went, but when I returned and got to the "important things", this portion of Psalm 119 spoke:

"Teach me good judgment and knowledge,"

   If I know I will be called on in meetings or just in conversation, I try to pray for God's wisdom before I open my mouth. Then I try to listen during any time to hear not only what the speaker is saying, but what God might be saying about it, too. I don't always remember to abide by that rule, but it does keep me from speaking foolishly a lot of the time.

   I want good judgment. Judgment as to what is being said, or asked. Judgment on when to respond and how. Judgment on whether to give my opinion, or to just stick with the facts.

   I want knowledge. Not just the "book learning" facts, but the knowledge of what God may say about all of it.

   True judgment and knowledge comes from Him. Relying on mine is a recipe for disaster, for anyone asking my opinion and for me as well.

   Reminds me of a picture that I took the other day. This relates to one of the old Primitive Baptist Churches that have been featured here the past few days.

   I don't know the whole story about this particular situation, or the reason it ended up as it did, but it reminds me not to be hasty when it comes to doing things right. Taking the time to seek the proper guidance, and then listening to it, can keep me away from a botched job.

 

No Light in the Building, But...

   I thought more about those churches I mentioned yesterday, especially the Smyrna PBC in Lulaton, that disbanded in 1990.

   The church building just sits there, looking lonely, but still in some semblance of repair. I walked inside, and the floors seem solid, the benches are still in there, the pulpit is there, but the windows remained closed, and its voice is not heard, at least not from its building.

   While standing inside the room, I could not help but notice that some light was still coming in from the spaces in the windows where the boards sought to come together. The outside of the building in general was constructed using the board and batten approach, but the windows, even though still made of wood planks, had none of the batten to keep anything out, including the light.

   Since the church used no electricity, I don't know whether or not it ever met in the evenings or just used the daytime sunlight. Possibly lanterns were used at night, who knows?

   From Luke 11 in The Message:

"If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky."

   The church above has disbanded. As I read about other Primitive Baptist Churches having done the same because of aging congregations and a lack of new blood in the church, I wonder about the people who used to populate this body of believers.

   Light is important. I'm sure that opening up those wooden windows was important to those earlier people, and I'm sure that they not only received the sunlight of the daytime, but also the light of God's Word for their lives.

   Since His Word does not go out without effect, I can also be sure that the light is still shining from sons and daughters of that ministry.

   From Matthew 5, still in The Message:

"You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

   Keep the windows of the heart open, to let in and shine out The Light.

   Don't let the world snuff it out!

Off the Man Road

   We have driven Highway 82 West many times over the past few years. This is our route to Arkansas where our daughter and family live. This is also the route to Waycross, the home of Ware State Prison, where I have spent many Kairos weekends with the inmates in that institution.

   We drove it again yesterday afternoon after church. Not to get to some final destination, but just to see a couple of places that lie just off that main US highway.

   Schlatterville. I had seen the sign denoting the town many times while driving this road, but had never ventured off the main highway. Piqued by a photograph I found on the web, we turned south at the sign and found this church. High Bluff Primitive Baptist Church.

   A plain wooden, board and batten construction, church with no electricity, unpainted, situated in the midst of a big cemetery, out in the countryside.

   Opening the unlocked door and stepping inside; a simple, no frills, sanctuary ready for worship.

   According to some information on the Internet, this church is still active, and I wondered about its congregation. There was no signage anywhere around, and I guess you would have to just know it was there. The church is said to have begun in Raybon, GA in 1819 and moved to the Schlatterville area sometime around 1822. The only modernization I could see was the installation of storm windows on the inside of the wooden ones.

   Driving a little east of Schlatterville, on down Highway 82, we turned off and followed a dirt road to another church. Smyrna Primitive Baptist Church, in Lulaton, GA. Again no signs, and we had to ask a boy at a nearby grocery how to find it. "No problem, just turn north at the sign to the Brantley County Landfill, take that dirt road and go till you find it". Easy enough, and there it was, right at the landfill.

   Same type of construction, same lack of electricity, same type of cemetery around it, but this one looked to be not in operation anymore. Indeed, as I found on the Internet, this church was built in 1890, but disbanded in 1990.

   Were the folks in these old churches off the main road in more ways than one? What was their influence in their day, and now in this day? Has the world passed them by and, if so, is that a good thing?

   How about all those folks buried in those cemeteries? What were their lives like? What is their heritage?

   Did you ever wonder?

   I do......

 

 

Help, the World Is Not Flat...

   The other day I went to the eye doctor to see if I needed some new eyeglasses. I had not any big new problem with seeing, but had been noticing some difference in my ability to refocus, especially in going from the computer screen to a document and back.

   He prescribed some new lenses that would get my eyesight back up to where it should be, and the other day they came in. I went to give them my old frames, which I like and to save buying new ones which are kinda expensive nowadays, got the new lens put in, and they seemed to be fine.

   But I did get a funny feeling when I was walking and wearing the new ones. Nothing to put a finger on, just different in some way. I figured it was the new strength in one side and thought that I would get used to it and be OK. I ran several errands and got back to the condo a couple of hours later, still feeling a bit strange, but nothing bad.

   It was when I sat down to the table to eat supper that I noticed that the right side of my plate seemed to be closer to my eyes than the left. I knew the table was level, but it sure did seem that there was something under the right side of the plate that caused it to be higher than the left.

   Then I noticed, as I looked at other objects, that these appeared to be leaning to the right. I guess being outside, and using my far vision, I had not noticed this, but when things got closer it sure was evident.

   After calling the eye doctor at home to tell him my problem, and being reassured that that could be corrected, I showed up at the office when it opened yesterday. It did not take the nurse long to come up with the answer. My old glasses had a small amount of prism in the prescription, but when the doc checked me this time, he did not see the need for this. I had heard him say the word, but I did not know what it meant at the time.

   This may be an over simplification, but the prism added to any prescription causes the eyes to work together so that I get one image and it is aligned correctly. Without it, I got this weird effect of leaning objects and a surface that appeared not to be level.

   No big deal they said, and put my old lenses back in the frames. They would get new lenses with the prism added back in. Things looked considerably better right away.

   Leaving out one small thing caused the whole world to become strange.

   How often do I leave some "small" thing out of my life that can cause me to not see the world I am living in correctly? The world and people as God wants me to see.

   Time with Him, His Word and His people. Those "prisms"can get my life back in alignment.

 

Rabbit Trails

   One thing that I love about the Internet is the ability to take off on a number of different rabbit trails, and then try to reconcile them together with what brought up the search in the first place.

   Take for example this morning's ramblings:

   My Psalm reading for this day was from Psalm 37:

"3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart."

   Then I began to think about the word "mercy" and wondering about the difference between mercy and tolerance. When I asked Google to search this question, I was led to a blog by a Catholic priest, where he had written these words.

   "It struck me that mercy is so much bigger than mere tolerance. We may be tolerant of others, but what real good is that? It is really little more than an absence of bigotry and malice. Indeed, it is little more than indifference. “Can’t we all just get along?”

   I am sure that all of the above and the reason that I had somehow read mercy into that Psalm stemmed from my blog post of yesterday and the conversations that had precipitated it. So I went back into the See the Other Side website and reread the blog post by the mother and her gay son. In fact I read it a couple of times, trying to sort my feelings out on her story. That story is here:

http://seetheotherside.us/2013/10/just-because-he-breathes/

   As I think on this story, I try to reconcile my thoughts from a Biblical perspective. There are a lot of sins enumerated in the Bible, many of which belong to me. Just because homosexuality is not one of mine does not make it worse than any of the others.

   So why is this deviation from God's laws so offensive. Is it the constant publicity from both the religious and the secular? Is it the "in the face" attitudes on both sides of the issue? Is it the "we need to be tolerant" of all others, regardless, thing?

   Just as I realize my sins and throw myself on the mercy of God, and repent, the way is open to fellowship with Him. I need mercy and not just tolerance.

   The son in the story seemed to be working his way back from his disillusionment, of God and people, and I cannot know his whole story. Mother and son were both recipients of the mercy of God as they walked through what that all meant.

   And God is still working in me and my attitudes. Just pondering all the facets of this causes me to think and reflect.

   Now, what does God want me to do?

 

 

Thinking, An Exercise for All of Us...

   When I got up early this morning to go to an Elder's meeting at church, little did I know that I would be confronted with some new thoughts, ideas that I needed to think about.

   One of the men told us about a new project that he was embarking on, a project that he believed might stem the tide of the confrontative and uncivil attitude that prevails a lot of the time in our country right now.His premise is that if all of us would take the time to try and see the other side of these divisive issues that plague us, there might be some meaningful dialog that could actually accomplish something.

   My friend is operating from a Christian viewpoint that emphasizes God's love for all people, not just the ones that we agree with.

   I admit that, from the part of the plan that I have read so far, I have been challenged to take the time to study and think about some ideas.

   Here are the 3 areas covered in this movie (scheduled for 2016):

   Gay and Transgender Issues
   Gun Control and 2nd Amendment Rights
   Immigration, Legal and Illegal

   Now, I would admit that if a movie could deal with these 3 areas and promote a non-polarizing dialog, tensions and solutions might be more possible. At least they ought to.

   Take a look at the new web site for this project here:

   http://seetheotherside.us/

   Then take the time to read the blog post by a mother about her son. I did, and it stirred several thoughts in my mind. Maybe it will yours also.

   I know there are a diverse set of readers out there. This post was for you as well as myself, and I would appreciate anything you have to say about the concept, the issues and the blog, especially the thoughts contained in that Mother's writing.

   Comment on line or drop me an email at: dmanbow@gmail.com

   Thanks for thinking with me on this.

A Somewhat Well Used Phrase

   At the end of today's Bible reading, in Luke Chapter 9, is this verse (translation from The Message):

"Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.”

   Seize the day. Carpe Diem.

   It is so easy for me to roll this phrase off my tongue and then go on about my day. Why is it that, even though these words should provide an urgency to the ways that I live, I can just acknowledge them as good and then go on?

   There is a tension between the planning of the events of the day and the trying to live in the moment. I know I have places that I need to be at a certain time today, and, in my mind I try to see what these events will hold. Yet I do not know what the day holds, or even the events themselves. The actual day is unknown, what it will look like as it happens and the opportunities and challenges that will come because of the circumstances as they unfold.

   So, does this phrase compel me to keep my ears, eyes and heart open for what will be in my path as I travel? It should, but does it really?

   It is so easy to write all of this and then to go about until the end of the day, then look back and realize that I have not paid any attention at all.

   If I write "Carpe Diem" on my hand will it make any difference?

   Let's see!

Is It OK?

   Is it OK that I do not hear from God in the way that I want, especially when I sit down each morning and try to see and hear? Is what I want the most important thing about the time?

   There is an incident in Luke 9 where a man brings his son, who has an unclean spirit that causes the boy to fall down and foam at the mouth. As the father begs Jesus to heal the boy, he states:

"I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.”

   What, there is something that the disciples cannot do? These are men that have been with Jesus. They have witnessed his miracles and heard his teachings. They had even gone out and done some of the same themselves, as is told in the beginning of this 9th chapter. But then, they could not....

   I have an assignment for this small group of men that I meet with at church. I am supposed to pick out a moment in my quiet times, before our next meeting, where I sense that God is speaking to me and then answer the questions:

   "What is He saying?"

   "What am I going to do about it?"

   Now it is not going to make me look good in front of these other men if I have to say "I did not hear anything". If each of them can answer the questions with great spiritual insight, and I have nothing to say, where does that put me?

   According to Luke, in this narrative, Jesus heals the boy, and then, as the people around are amazed at the miracle, this happens:

"But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement."

   The disciples heard what Jesus said, they heard the words, but did not comprehend the meaning, because God saw fit to conceal it from them. Those 12 men wanted to heal the boy, no doubt, and they also wanted to understand what Jesus was telling them, but they could not. Was there a greater reason than their "I want to"?

   Is "saving face" a valid reason for wanting to do anything?

   Did God just speak?

   What will I do about that now?

   

 

Traps are Sticky

   Last evening we had our Home Group meeting, and, on a hunch, I threw my camera case into the trunk, just in case. The minute we walked in the front door, our host started talking about this spider that they had seen close to their backyard. After they carefully explained where I might find it, I grabbed the camera and the tripod and went looking.

   I had photographed another of these writing spiders at their place once before, but without the tripod, so I hoped to get a steadier shot even with the zoom lens that I had on the camera at this time.

   After looking around for a few moments, I finally spotted him out over the saw palmetto, close to the marsh. This was the best shot:

   This morning, I thought of this "guy" again, and her trap. One reason given for the white silky threads in her web was so that larger animals and birds would not tear it down accidentally, but it sure would be a sticky mess for me to walk into also.

   I got to thinking about traps that we humans tend to get caught up in sometimes. Not the ones that might make us food for some large spider, but those that can grab us and make us less effective in our lives.

   There is the trap of self-importance. Whether it is from the amount of money that we have or the position that we hold, it is easy to say, "look what I have done" and not say "Thank You God for what You have blessed me with".

   Then there is that trap of what I can do, what I am good at, or how healthy I am. Rightly, I can do a lot of things that help me to do certain activities or live a more healthly life, but ultimately it is God's Will that puts me in the place that I occupy.

   So, I know that there are other traps out there such as disobedience to God's laws and such, sins that can entrap me and lead me astray. You know, like those 10 Commandment sins that are so obvious, but some of these "self" sins can sneak up on a person and make them all sticky, too.

   Just as this writing spider makes a web that we can see and stay out of, so God gives us His Word as a guide to keeping clean.

   God, let me see clearly where those traps are and how to stay out of them.

   Pay attention to where you walk, traps are lurking.

Getting Up, Ready

   There are all sorts of people this morning who do not want to get up:

   Students who have a test that they have not studied for,

   Those who have a meeting that they do not want to attend,

   Those that have a doctor's appointment that they do not want to keep,

   Those who do not want to face a problem that will not go away.

   But the day comes, the sun rises and opportunity awaits. Opportunity to be a help to someone else, maybe one of the above, who don't want to face this day. Opportunity to be a friend, or a good neighbor, or a fellow student, or a fellow patient, and just make the difference in a life that needs what we may have.

   We got up early, in the dark of the predawn, and went to the beach to catch the sunrise. People were already there, maybe some with the anxiety of those above and maybe some of those that would be the helpers this day.

   As the sun comes up, the day stretches out in front of us. People will cross my path today that I need to notice, maybe even help in some way. Open my eyes, God, that I might be aware of what goes on around me, and, when I do notice, help me to act as You would have me do.

For Goodness Sakes!

   In the Book of Isaiah is the story of King Hezekiah. This king knows that he is going to die, but he prays to God that he might live, and is granted that answer to his prayer. God gives him 15 more years, and Hezekiah writes this response:

“Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back."

   King Hezekiah, in his gratitude for the extension of his life, writes these words. God does not keep his sins continually before Himself, He puts them all behind His back, where He does not look on them again.

   God does not want us to be demoralized and paralyzed by the sins that we have committed. That is easy for us to do when we come to the point where we realize how bad we really are, but He wants us to know, that when we truly confess our sins to Him and repent of them, He "puts them behind His back and looks on them no more".

   In a small men's group at church, we are being encouraged to observe our lives and reflect on those events that are "kairos" moments, ones that have special significance. Some of these can be high moments, ones where God has especially worked goodness in our lives, and some can be trying times, but through which new learning has come. Many of these bad times come because we sin and have caused harm, both to ourselves, and to others.

   Times of reflection can be hard because it is our sin that has caused us pain. We can even be stuck in a reflective mode and not be willing to move beyond our mistakes, but it is good to know that God, if we are truly His, puts them behind his back and looks on those no more. We may dwell on it, but He does not.

   Thank Goodness!

Focus and Light

   Friends of ours invited us to go with them last night to a service at a church over in Brunswick. They had gone to this church for the Sunday morning service to hear a guest speaker talk about "end times and Bible prophecy" and wanted to hear what he had to say further on the subject in the evening service.

   The speaker's message centered on the nations of the middle east, what the Bible had to say about them in the prophecies of Ezekiel 37-39, and the role of the United States as it concerned its support of the State of Israel.

   Without going into a lot of detail, I'll just say that this man's premise was that the events in Syria, Egypt, Israel and the entire middle east were portrayed in those Ezekiel passages, and that America was increasingly becoming a non-player in this part of the world through its neglect of its ally, Israel, and its own moral decay.

   My first reaction to all of this is to say "God is in control and I won't worry too much about all of that". That is true about God, but I wonder if it should be on my part. Is there something I should do? What is it?

   I believe that all events are leading to fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. If God is in control and this is all His story, then that has to be true. The times, the seasons, the events and the circumstances are all in His hands, and they will come together for His purposes.

   I do see our country on a slippery slope of irrelevance on the world stage. I believe that God has blessed our nation because we have stood by His people in these days. I believe that we are declining in morality, and that God will hold us to account on how we have treated Him and His Word on all of this.

   But it all seems so huge in proportion to what I might do about it all. He says not to spend a lot of time in worry about what will happen, just to trust in Him and rely on Him, and He will not forsake.

   But to just go blithely around, without worry, living as if these things and events did not exist, does not seem the thing to do either. As much as I would rather not think about it, I do live in this world, and events of the present and the future do affect my children and grandchildren, and I am concerned about them.

   So, what to do? Is there a reason I am still here in these times?

   A verse from the middle of Psalm 3 this morning:

"I lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me."

   After I heard all of the message last evening, I slept, and I woke up this morning, Why? Because God willed that I wake up. And for what reason?

   I used this picture the other day, but I think I can again:

   The vase of flowers in the foreground is not focused and not in the light, whereas the one across the room in the other window is. Which one is me?

   God, give me the focus and the light so that I might be both for You in my time.

 

Inside Importance

   Having to take a trip to the northern part of the county the other day, I remembered an older church building on Highway 17 that I had always wanted to stop and photograph, so I did.

   Needwood Baptist Church, organized in 1859 to serve the slaves of the nearby rice plantation, began on the grounds of the plantation and then was brought to its current site a few years later. I am not sure how long the African-American folks worshipped here, but I do note a portable air conditioner in the side of the building.

   In walking around the south side of this building, I noticed some artificial flowers on the inside of the side windows:

   Then on the other side more of the same, but with the sunlight and the time of day, a shot of the ones on the north side also took in the ones on the south.

   As I looked through the windows, I could see some of the furniture inside, along with other church items. That made me wonder:

   What was this church like when it was in operation?

   How about the lives of the people that made up this congregation, what were they like and how did they live? What were their joys and sorrow, and how did those play out in this very room?

   How did God work in the lives of these people and what eternal decisions were made here?

   The outside of the old church building may be important from a historical perspective, but it is the lives of the people who met on the inside, and the decisions that they made, that continue to resonate down through the years.

   Amen

 

Why Me?

   If it is one thing that I know for sure, it is that I am a blessed man.

   As I sit here in the early morning quiet, this fact is ever present in my mind. There are several things that come to mind as I think on this:

   I am thankful.

   I did nothing to deserve them.

   They are not the result of any goodness on my part.

   I need to receive them with an open hand.

   I do not need to cling to them.

   I need to share them.

   Then there is the thought from a few days back: There are people this morning who are praying for the same things that I take for granted.

   God, let me live out these thoughts in my life today.

   Amen

A Mistake, A Flexibility and A Message

   Yesterday I had a schedule, two meetings at church, one at 7AM and the other at 3PM. That was to be my day.

   So I went to the early one and got home around 9:30 or so, did some stuff and ate lunch, preparing to go back at 3. This I did and showed up right on time, to an empty room. I knew it was the right day, so I found the church administrator who informed me that I was an hour early. The meeting was at 4.

   What to do? Fortunately I had my camera in the car and decided to go to a nearby pond and see if I could learn more about this new lens. I got this shot of a peeking turtle:

   Then I went to a spot behind the church and worked some more, looking eastward toward the marsh, like this: marsh grass reflected in a pool:

   I thought this morning that there must be a lesson in all of the above that I can apply to my life and maybe even write about. At this point there is a question: to just write, to go ahead with my routine of reading and praying and write from that time, or just to try to see in that Scripture something that will fit what I have already decided to blog. My plans or God's?

   My first thoughts this morning were questions: What was the meaning in yesterday's mess up? Was there something that I ought to learn? How did it all work out?

   Then I read Psalm 131, the first reading for today. It began:

"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,"

   OK, don't try to do too much with those questions, unless God leads. Sometimes the questions are only answered in time.

  Then I read today's commentary in Jesus Calling, part of which states:

"When you project yourself into the future, rehearsing what you will do or say, you are seeking to be self-sufficient: to be adequate without My help. This is a subtle sin--so common that it slips by unnoticed. Train your mind to seek My help continually, even when you feel competent to handle something by yourself."

   I had a good thought in mind as I set down this morning, "don't hold on to your plans too tightly, but be flexible and take what comes". But that does not seem to be the thing that God wanted me to hear, however right that that thought may be.

   How about being self sufficient?

   How about being adequate for the task on my own?

   How about being quiet and listening for God's message ?

   How about letting go?

   My plans or His heart?

Badwater Belt Buckle

   I happened upon a show on the TV last night entitled Ultramarathon. Now I know what an ultra is in this case, a race longer than a regular marathon, longer than 26.2 miles, but I had no idea about the one that was being featured in this production.

   The Badwater Ultra is a race from Death Valley to Mount Whitney in California. Held in July, the 135 mile test seems to be the ultimate of physical endurance, set in an atmosphere of epic proportions. From temperatures of up to 130 degrees in the desert, to the number of hours involved to complete the distance, the effort to finish is tremendous. I can't even begin to fathom the preparation for such an endeavor, much less the actual running of the event.

   The race organizers take only a limited number of runners for the yearly event, these picked from an applicant pool of many more. I believe 90 is the cutoff now, and the runner must have some proven ability in this race or other ultras in his portfolio.

   Any runner that finishes the course in under 48 hours receives a prize. And what is that prize, you may ask, a bronze belt buckle.

   A bronze belt buckle, a symbol of great effort, many hours of training and a perseverance to continue the quest to the end of the goal, no mean feat for sure.

   I thought this morning, as I looked at the Scripture, of a verse from I Corinthians 9:

 "Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one."

   And I thought of the prize for completing the course of life, a life well lived; a well done from Jesus Himself.

   I do not discount the effort involved in that race, in fact, I am awed by just the thought of it, but I know that the imperishable crown is far superior, not even in the same league.

   The image that sticks in my mind from this documentary was that of a 76 year old runner standing in a close circle with a couple of friends. As the film showed this and then several other runners preparing to take off at the start, the words of a prayer, one being offered up by a man in that circle for the runner, furnished the background:

   "Lord, help this man to run the race set before him for Your Glory"

   Now that is a real prize...

Can or Will, That is the Question......

   What if I go through my routine, if I do my reading, my praying, my silent walking and my putting in the time to do all of this, and God does not speak?

   What if I get up early and make myself available and do not get any great revelation?

   Is it OK?

   Does it mean that I have something in my life that is blocking God, or not allowing Him to speak to me or me to listen?

   Or could it be more? Could it be that this is His choice for this morning time? Could it mean that it has become for me just another routine, a set schedule that is meant to make Him give me what I need for a particular day? Could I write up a schedule that would guarantee His speaking into my life?

   Is it any, or all of the above, or a combination of several of them? Am I at the core of the whole process, or is He?

   How many times have I read in the Psalms:

   "Lord, do not hide your face from me"

   I do not know all of the answers to these questions. I do not know the whys of any particular day or time.

   I also read:

   "Your ways are not my ways"

   Can I let God be God and not question so much?

   Perhaps God has spoken, and this is what He wants me to know.

   Can I be OK with that?

   Maybe that is not even the right question.

   Not "Can I" but "Will I"......

Look at Both Sides of This Coin

   Just to read the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5 can give me a feeling of joy. The words "Blessed are those..." can denote peace and happiness, because it is somewhat easy to put myself in the place of those being blessed and look forward to being in that state. Those are good words, ones that lead to thanksgiving to those who fall in that category.

   But I have to confess that the verses of today's Gospel reading have not entered into my conscious thought before. There is a portion of the Book of Luke, chapter 6, that I do not remember reading. The section begins like the Matthew portion in this way:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."

   But then the verses that follow look like this:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep."

   All is not sweetness and light. There is not just a pleasant reward for doing well, there is a different reward for those who neglect this warning.

   It is easy for me to pick and choose the verses that I want to concentrate on because of the way they may make me feel at a particular time, but the whole Word of God is there for a reason.

   The choices are not just "blessed" or nothing, good outcomes or neutral.

   There are "woes" in there, too, and I dare not forget those. They apply to me also.

   Rewards can sound very positive, but maybe.......

Trust is Only a Five Letter Word, But Packs a World of Meaning

   As I was out walking a bit this morning, I found myself thinking about what was on my calendar for today. Not that I have so many engagements, but just planning how the day should be lived and where.

   For some reason I thought about the story of a boy who found a sparrow that had been hurt. He was counseled to pick him up, but to do so without squeezing the bird, as that might cause more hurt and lead to the death of this winged life.

   I thought of that counsel and it seemed to apply to my thoughts as I walked. Sure, I had plans for the day, and items on a calendar that I anticipated taking part in, but how should I hold them in my mind?

   Should I hold tight to my schedule and be upset if things did not go exactly the way I had seen them in my mind as I looked toward those times? Or should I hold them loosely, being aware of other circumstances that might have a play in how the times were spent?

   Were the days and the times even in my control at all? Why should I get upset or worry about those things that might go askew?

   It seemed to be all a matter of Trust. Trust in the One who held the day and the times in His hand, and trust that all these things would revolve around what He wanted for me.

   How can I argue about that? I cannot, but I still have to remind myself of this fact, as I try to be in absolute control of all the facets of my life.

   This verse was in my reading for today. From Psalm 13:

"But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."

   Oh, how I need to live this trust out in my life.

   Get out of the way "me"!

Another's Journey Leads Me On Mine

   This has been a strange morning. Not anything to do with the way the day began, but the way this writing has played out.

   First the journey to this moment in time: I got up pretty early, read my Scripture readings, and the Moravian ones for today, the Jesus Calling entry and then went for a stroll. Coming back in I ate breakfast and then waited for a repair guy to come and fix a door. While I waited I read some on the chapter of the Discipleship book I had as homework for the session tomorrow.

   After calling and finding out that the "repair guy" had forgotten and would be here early in the morning (he wrote it down this time), I thought about what I needed to do this day, realizing that having something to write in my blog post was pressing me a little. I do not like having to say that nothing I did this morning in the way of study or prayer or whatever, nothing was worth putting on paper, Then a phrase I had heard hit me:

"The unforced rhythms of grace"

   I looked up the phrase in Google search and got a bunch of sites that had incorporated that phrase, most going back to the Scripture in Matthew 11, but one that intrigued me...a blog post from a girl in Canada who was fighting through Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. So I began to read.

   From her writing, she is a strong Christian, so her work centers mostly on her feeling of being loved by God, regardless, and how she has received His peace through her journey.

   These words she posted one day:

   "Someone is praying for the things you take for granted"

   I don't know where all of this leads me this morning, I have only thought this far and don't know what I might be led to say about it. Whatever comes after these lines will come, and the end is not for sure, but here I go......

   I know I am blessed. I have written that many times over the past years, but until I read this little line, I did not really know how much. I probably still don't, but I can put my blessing into more perspective.

   Someone is praying for a little food to ease their chronic hunger. Someone is praying for a sick child or one that is slowly dying. Someone is praying for a cup of cold clean water to drink.

   And there I am praying that the "repair guy" will come soon to fix my front door so that my air conditioning will not all leak out and my electric bill go higher as a result.

   Relate my plight to someone who does not even have a door, or electricity, or money to have something fixed, or have something to fix, and you can see how pathetic my prayers are most of the time. Even when I thank God for my blessings and acknowledge His role in all of that, I don't even know how great they are.

   So I sit here chagrined at my lack of concern for others and get a glimpse of why God has lead me on the "rabbit trail".

   Now He has spoken,
   Now I have realized the "me" in all of that
   Now what will I do?

   Want to read this girl's blog journey? Go here:

   http://lifebeyondthewindow.blogspot.com/2013

   And pray for yourself, too.

Glory and Awe, or something else?

   I have a friend up in Virginia who, in the course of a physical exam, was told that the doctor had found evidence of a cancer growth in one of his kidneys. It looked like the only thing to do was to remove that kidney and hope that the cancer had not spread from there to other areas of his body.

   The decision was made to go to Duke, to have a consultation with a doctor there who specializes in kidney removal, especially those with cancer implications. After that doctor looked at all the information furnished by the referring physician, he told my friend that he was not sure that there was any cancer there and did not want to do surgery unless he was 100% sure of why the kidney was being removed.

   The original diagnosis had seemed so definite. What had happened between the time of the first exam and the second? Did some sort of divine healing take place or had the first doctor been wrong in what he had found?

   Maybe everyone will find out, after the second set of tests have been run at Duke, what the true state of the man's health is, and, if there is indeed some change, when it took place and why.

   I thought of that whole scenario as I read the account in Luke's Gospel of the lame man, healed by Jesus in the presence of Pharisees, teachers of the Law and others. Luke records:

" And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.  And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

   The man had been brought to Jesus by four friends. There was no need for a diagnosis; he could not walk, and, when Jesus told him to take up his bed and go home, he did with great joy, glorifying God all the way.

   And the Scripture records that all who witnessed that healing act were amazed. They glorified God and were filled with awe. Did the "all" include the Pharisees and teachers? Did they too glorify God? They were there, they saw it.

   The first thing I though of when I read the man's email this morning was that the first doctor had missed it, that he had misread the images and made an improper diagnosis, but was this true? Had he seen something, and now it was not there?

   I was quick to assume that there was no supernatural healing involved, that it was a case of simple human error. When I think that way I do not have to glorify God or be in awe of His power to heal.

   Now I am doing all of this without the benefit of the second round of tests, so I really can't know, but I can see how quick I am to take away the supernatural and assume it was a normal mistake, "no big deal".

   God, help me to see Your glory in all of this and be filled with awe for what you do, regardless of the hows and whys of any particular situation. Help me not to leave you out of any equation and realize that You are in it all, regardless.