Faith & Healing & Me

   Sometimes a familiar passage, one that shows up in a daily reading, makes me stop and wonder what I really believe about it. Such is the one from today, which begins in Mark 10 in this way:

"And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. "

   The first thing that comes to my mind relates to a long ago situation that we had in our home when out kids were growing up. We bought an aquarium and some fish for the kids to watch. One was a blind fish whom we immediately called Blind Bart, for the story related above.

   But this morning, I saw more than just this reference to a fish in my past, I looked at the whole healing incident and began to wonder some things.

" And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”  And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way."

   Questions began to surface in my mind as I try to put this in context for my present day.

   Jesus could heal, sure He could, He healed many, but how about today?

   The early disciples and apostles could heal, the Bible is full of that, too. Did that die out after they all died?

   Does God still heal today, in that same miraculous way?

   I can say that I believe God can still heal today, but do I really? Is my faith more in the skill of doctors and the properties of modern medicines or God?

   Why am I cynical when I see faith healers on TV and watch them in action?

   When I hear that some person's cancer has gone away and no longer shows up on any test, why do I pause and, instead of thanking God, wonder how soon it will show up again?

   Is my failure of faith due to the fact that no one that I know personally ever experienced this miracle of healing?

   My faith says that Jesus can still heal if He wants to, and He can do it in any way and at any time, but I wonder if I am a part of the problem? Cynicism does not fit very well with faith.

   I read some of John Piper's sermon on this topic as I sought to understand both the teaching and my response to this matter of healing taking place today, and he says:

"Finally, this implies that we may rightly seek for gifts of healings. This is implied in the pursuit of love and compassion. Praying for healing is only one way to show love to someone. But it is one way."

   And I wonder at my reaction to the possibility of this happening today.

   Does this show that I do not really care or have any compassion on those that suffer?

   And I pray that God will give me the grace and enlightenment to truly understand my role in all of this.

3 Things on my Desk

   I look around my work place this morning and see 3 things that need my attention.

      1. An agenda for a condo meeting this morning at which I need to talk about financial stuff.

      2. A letter from an inmate at Lee State Prison over in Leesburg, GA.

      3. A letter from a 10 year old boy over in Kenya, one that we sponsor through Compassion.

   And I think, what do all of these have in common? I know they are reminders that I need to do something, figure out what to say to the condo owners, write a letter to the inmate, and respond to the letter from the Kenyan boy.

   Sorry to say, I have not even opened my Bible this morning, but I do see something that these lead me to say to those fellow owners this morning, something that needs to apply to my life as well.

   We all live in community. There are 42 owners in our condo complex, there are millions of incarcerated men and women around our state, country and world, and there are multiplied millions of children in the world that are in need of support and help. What is one person's responsibility to them and others?

   I live in a condo, there is a community there, in a neighborhood, there is one there also. How about the island we live on, yes there is one there, and the state and nation that we live in. All these are communities of a sort, and then there is our world.

   Included in each of the above are imbedded other sorts of communities, such as church and school and clubs and businesses. We are all meshed into all various kinds and many of these simultaneously.

   What can one person do? What does God expect from me?

   I can begin by trying to look at the big picture of any community that I am a part of. I do not need to just focus on what I want to have happen, my own needs and wants, but what is the best for the whole.

   Secondly, I can serve where God calls me. Whether it is writing a letter to a boy in Kenya to encourage him, or one to an inmate in Leesburg, GA, there is something that no one else may do today for these people. Those letters are on my personal desk for a reason.

   What else might I see if I just open my eyes and heart to it? If I shuffle around on my desk, in all my stuff, I might just see more that I have covered up.

   An agenda and two letters, at least do that......

The Color Around Us

   What do I see when the news is on the TV?

   What do I read in the papers that come to my door or the emails that show up on my computer?

   What do I hear in meetings that I am involved in?

   Oftentimes, it is all about a world that is broken. From the national and international news, to the personal things that go on in the lives of people I know, it is hard to concentrate on the good out there because the bad screams so loudly.

   But there is good out there. Sometimes it seems hidden, but then there it is.

   Paul writes to the Philippians in his letter:

"Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies."

   The first thing that came to my mind this morning was color, a color that I had seen yesterday that reminded me that God, although He is fully aware of our troubles and the other stuff that is out there, chooses to bless us with color all around us.

   The world wants us to focus on our problems and those of others, and they are real to be sure, but there is more.

   God is in control. Out of the Winters of our lives come the Springs.

   Look around and see.

Famous and/or Faithful

   For some reason, I am drawn to stories of people and events that are historically important, but that are largely unknown. Stories that have changed the course of history, but stories that are hidden under the glamorous events and personalities that claimed the headlines.

   There are so many stories of individuals, lives lived during momentous times, deeds done in obscurity, but differences made in ways that affect my life, even to this day. There are so many story lines interwoven into history, important to the whole story, but hidden to all except maybe the immediate family.

   One of my favorite historical periods are the war years of 1939-1945, otherwise known as WWII, I guess because I lived as a boy through that time.

   Many, many books have brought out the personalities of the period, from the generals and prime ministers to the lowly private in the ranks. Men and women of both sides, individual stories all, made up the whole tapestry of that event and its times.

   The book I am reading right now, Forgotten Sacrifice, contains many names of people that are familiar, but also many stories of individuals that are unknown to most. It is the story of the Arctic convoys that brought war material to the old Soviet Union from the US and Britain, material that enabled Russia to continue the fight against Germany, while the western allies built up their forces.

   This book is a story of heroic men, battling the seas of the North Atlantic, in the worst of weather, braving winds, waves, temperatures and the enemy in a harsh unforgiving climate. This is not D-Day, or Tarawa, or Pearl Harbor, places and events known to most, but seamen, sailing in terrible conditions in slow, lumbering merchant ships and tankers, delivering supplies to a nation in need.

   In any "big story" there are millions of smaller ones that make up the whole and help determine the outcome. That is true for those men in WWII, and it is true for us, in the lives that we live today. We can't see the far reaching affects of decisions we make today, but these, which can be good or bad, are determinants as well.

   What is the key to positive outcomes of what we do? I would submit that it falls under the term of "faithfulness".

   Those seamen were faithful to the task just as those privates on Omaha Beach were faithful in what they had to do. Thousands of individual stories all over the world, combining to spell the outcome of that conflict.

   Each of us make decisions and take actions every day and these affect the lives of future generations as well as the immediate present. It behooves us to be faithful to do what God has given us to do. I read this in a blog post by one of my VA friends this morning:

  "The thing God cares about and honors is faithfulness, not famousness. Face it: faithfulness is pretty boring. Faithfulness looks like creating spreadsheets and changing diapers and caring for aging parents and setting up chairs on Sunday morning. Nobody gets a standing ovation for faithfulness. Nobody makes documentaries about faithful servants. Nobody notices faithful servants. 

   Nobody except God, that is."  

   God knows.

What Kind Of Blog Is This Anyway?

   Sometimes I wonder what is driving this blog. Is it the Scripture passage that I read, or is it the photography that I want to incorporate? Does it work together? Let's see.

   Last Thursday, I had a few minutes to kill before picking Mayre up, so I drove down to the Pier area with my camera in hand, just to look around. When I parked and looked there was this bench that seemed to be calling my name.

   Sitting down and looking around, I noticed this dead flower, intact, and sitting atop its stalk.

   As I thought about the flower, I noticed the comparison between it and the resurrection fern that had come to life on the live oak tree after a recent rain. That vibrant green coloring had been the same texture and color of the flower just a few days before that rainy bath.

   Looking further around the tree for more examples of the fern, I snapped this shot, but did not realize until I put it on the computer last night, that it was not fern at all but a new oak leaf sprouting out of the trunk. Neat!

   All of this was taking place in a radius of about 15 feet from my bench, but until I sat down and looked, I had not noticed. Good Stuff!

   Looming over all of this scene was my friendly light.

   There seems to be a message there also.

   Are there gems of life all around me, pictures that can be applied to my life, or life in general?

   Does this verse from Psalms 107 have any correlation?

"Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

   Can it work?

 

Safe in the Scenery?

   Sometimes I wake in the morning and sit down in the quiet to pray, read and meditate I find my mind focusing on things in my life. Situations that I woke up with that seem to call out for my attention, become the focal point for my prayer, and I look for guidance for that or those.

   When I sensed my mind going that way this morning, I prayed that God might give me some word from the Scripture reading that, while they might truly be the guidance I needed in those specific areas, would also be what God wanted me to see in these few minutes.

   The first Word from Psalm 69:

"Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel."

   These verses have long been a silent mantra for me. I have lived by them for years, because I have not wanted to be the reason for someone else being turned away from God, or put off from following Christ because of something in my life. There are too many admonitions to not being a stumbling block, but there is a draw back.

   There seems to be an easy way to keep from being this rock in the path and that would be to not do or say anything that might be taken the wrong way. In fact, it might be not to do anything at all. Just play it safe and melt into the landscape.

   Then there are the words of Jesus as recorded in Mark 8:

"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

   There is a time to speak up and a time to act. Not saying anything, or doing anything, can be the very things warned against in the Psalm passage. I can be ashamed of Jesus and not say a word. I can bring dishonor to His Name, by not performing that act that He leads me into. I can be that detriment to another by just sitting and being silent.

   So, I breathe out another prayer, that I will not violate either Scripture, but, with God's guidance, will speak His words and act in accordance to His leading, not just be content to be safely a part of the scenery, no matter how pretty.

 

 

Music....Memories

   There was this verse from Psalm 100 in my reading this morning:

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!"

   If my memory serves me correctly, I remember this as one of my early memory verses from Sunday School way back in my early years (and that is "way" back). Every time I read it or hear it read, it takes me back. I can't help but think that God gives us memory to help us connect with those things in the past that He wants us to relate to.

   And the verse speaks of music, and music is one of those "memory sticks" that take us back.

   Just yesterday, our music worship leader at church posted on his Facebook page a query about a lady who had attended one of our Sunday morning services. She had heard a song that reminded her of a special Walk to Emmaus, one that brought back memories of a life changing time God had given her on her own Walk, 9 years before. In her email she had thanked the church for taking her back to that meaningful time. A sweet and powerful memory for her.

   I can relate to that. Familiar hymns and praise songs take me back to sweet times also. Music that resonates in the soul and that has the ability to stir hearts in worship.

   I can still remember the music leader in our Chattanooga church leading us in what was fondly called, this church's national anthem, Amazing Grace. With the congregation singing the first verse, the ladies the second, the swelling organ on the third and all the people, with gusto, singing the last, it was powerful and never failed to elicit goose bumps. It still does as I hear it in my mind.

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found.
'Twas blind, but now I see."

   Such music becomes so powerful in the singing, that it causes a lump in the throat, and, with that, an inability to get the words out of my mouth, simply because of how God has used that in my life. I just have to stand and mouth the words. My heart is too full to make any noise at all.

   Music, for me, like:

"Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and ture
With thanksgiving, I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You"

and:

"How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure"

and from "way" back:

"Jesus loves me this I know 
For the Bible tells me so 
Little ones to him belong 
They are weak but he is strong" 

   My morning becomes one of worship even as I think about them again.

   Thank You, God....for memory