Drink Deeply

As I was reading a little this morning, I came across a statement that caused me to pause and ponder:

"We rarely drink deeply at the well of the present moment."

Ken Boa in Conformed to His Image

As I think about the present moment--the covid-19 pandemic that has affected us all--I consider how I should be drinking deeply instead of just wanting to pray the problem away. What characterizes this "present moment" for me, personally? What is the efficacy of the here and now for me? It's certainly not to kick against the goad, but rather to look for God's good graces in it. And so I'm setting the image of the swan on my computer desktop to remind me to do so.

My tendency is to be a doer. These days, however, my "doing" has been curtailed. I'm offered time to think more deeply about "being" rather than "doing." Of course, the doing should be flowing from the being, but there are times when it's good to stop and consider what fountain the "doing" is actually flowing from.  

And to look for God's grace and mercy flowing in and through the present moment. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, there are many good changes that I'm experiencing, as I'm sure is happening to many people. So I encourage us all to be fully present in the moment, even though we long for this situation to be over. To glean from it what is there for our good. And to express gratitude for God's abundant grace and mercy. To Him as well as to those through whom He sends it. 

Image via Pixabay

Times That Change Us

I'm sure all of us have experienced new levels of change amid the covid-19 pandemic, and like it or not, we're experiencing an altered normal. At least for awhile. Maybe for a long while. Maybe, in part, this is our new normal. Some of the possibilities I dread, others may actually be beneficial.

While there's much that I lament having lost (like relating to family and friends in person and being able to attend our church gatherings and worshipping with fellow believers, and worst of all knowing there are many losing their earthly lives), I've also gained much as well. For me, it's been a new perspective on cultivating relationships, an increased awareness of the importance of being with our church family that outweighs the desire to sleep in on Sunday mornings, a new appreciation for the freedoms I typically enjoy (and probably take for granted) to come and go when and where we wish. Yet, staying at home 99% of the time has helped me view my home as a haven of rest from the encroaching coronavirus.

I've also been made more aware of the responsibility I have to care about the well-being of fellow travelers through this time of uncertainty. I've social distanced, and I've made the face masks. I've been out to wear one only once, and I'll admit that it was quite bothersome to wear, and I took it off at first opportunity. But the understanding that it's for the greater good outweighs my own inclination toward my own comfort.

The bottom line for me is that I know God works all things (that includes the bad things) together for good, for those who love Him, according to His own purpose. What that purpose might be for me personally I don't know. I don't doubt, though, that I will eventually know, either here in my earthly home or there in my heavenly home. Either way, God says He's working it together for good. That's a change I can look forward to.

And so I trust the Father and walk by His Spirit. I pray that in the changes surrounding all of us that we will also be changed within, that the changes will be an agent, perhaps the crucible, for our personal transformation into greater conformity to the image of Christ. Yet, that is only for those who love God and are called by Him for His purpose. I hope, dear one, that you are one of us.

Image~ Pixabay.com

A New Day Has Dawned

The LORD hath done great things for us; 

whereof we are glad.

Psalm 126:3

We are coming into the sunlight. 
Or is it that the sunlight has come to us?

Grandchildren are now living nearby. 

A gift far beyond our expectations. 

Which has meant less time at the keyboard. But it is so good of you to stop by. Do linger for awhile. I hope that some of my writing may be helpful to you as it has been for me to process some thoughts over the years, that it draws your heart Homeward. I find myself returning here upon occasion to reflect on ways that God has worked through the months and years. And to be reminded of the great things that He has done.

A new day has dawned, and we are glad. 

Image via Pixabay

The Guest He Took Home

Thus, on his cross, the Savior called a guest to the wedding feast. Finlayson puts it movingly, "He has a right to take a guest home with him without asking leave of any. He had the key to His Father's door in His pierced hand. He could open and no man shut. He could shut and no man open, and the guest He took home with Him to His Father's table that day was the first trophy of Calvary after the sacrifice had been finished.'

-Frederick S. Leahy, The Cross He Bore

Image via Pixabay

A Distinct Difference Between This and Myself

I had intended to sit down at my computer forty minutes ago. My mistake was walking past the table where I'm working on a jigsaw puzzle. Just one piece, and then I'd head upstairs. It didn't take me forty minutes to find one piece. But what it did take was forty minutes of my prime morning time.

I enjoy working on jigsaw puzzles. I like the coming together of scattered pieces to make a beautiful whole. The process of thoroughly examining each piece and what the pieces are to become brings their details into focus, those small-scale markings that at first may seem inconsequential when viewed as a whole. Yet, comparing the subtle difference in shape of the piece or shade of its hue, and where it belongs in the overall picture is an aha moment. It finds its proper place and becomes part of an emerging picture that shows beauty, artistry, cleverly placed objects, or maybe even in some way speaks to my soul.

I still have many pieces to add, but on the table are partially-finished cars, a few leaves on a tree, a couple of completed signs, the pieces of a white house along the side. I haven't found where one of the signs fits in the picture yet, but I know it will because of the image that it is to become. It's in process.

And so am I. As I work with each piece of the puzzle, bringing them together to conform to the image that it's becoming, I'm reminded that God is conforming me into the image of His Son. He knows that each piece fits and brings good from them all.

There is one distinct difference, however, between the puzzle and myself. It is passive, with pieces that will lie on the table until the end of time if they are not moved. It isn't expected to do anything, it has no personal responsibility to bring itself into conformity to the image on the box.

However, I do. God calls me (and all His children) to be conformed to the image of His Son through the transforming of the mind. How does the transformation happen? We pursue Him through the Word that we've been given, and the Holy Spirit uses it to conform us more and more to the image of the One we bear. This is a mysterious interplay between the providence of God and our own responsibility. We are not to be passive. We are to pursue.

And not be distracted with jigsaw puzzles that can sap prime time. So I tell myself once again that puzzles are for the evening hours when my body and mind are pretty well spent for the day. But I do hope to finish it soon to return it to my Dad. We swap puzzles every now and then.  :-)

Changing Crowds of Children

Back in the day when I was fresh out of college and began teaching in the classroom, it perplexed me as to why some teachers in our school sent their children to another teacher in the school to be taught, and that teacher, in turn, sent her children to the teacher down the hall, and that teacher sent her children to the teacher in the adjacent building, and that teacher sent her children to the first teacher... and around it went. To me, there was a sense of oddity about it. Although I don't fully understand all he's saying in his comment (especially about the pinafores and the flourish of speech), I think G.K. Chesterton must have sensed it as well. I need to ponder a bit more about this.

We cannot all live by taking in each other’s washing, especially in the form of pinafores. In the last resort, the only people who either can or will give individual care, to each of the individual children, are their individual parents. The expression as applied to those dealing with changing crowds of children is a graceful and legitimate flourish of speech.

~ G.K. Chesterton, in The Superstition of Divorce

Image ~ The Lesson, Jules Trayer, 1829-1904
public domain

When a Poor Decision Becomes the Richer One

I've been thinking and praying the past few weeks about what God would have me do about something that's been on my heart for awhile. I took a step into it yesterday, and it seems to be a positive move forward. Not all of my steps turn out positively, though. Some do not move forward at all. And some have tended to bring doubt and misgivings about God's leading, because some of my 'urgings' (aka ideas) just lead to nowhere or turn out disastrously.

I've at times thought that there must be something wrong with my spirituality, my connection with God, that I couldn't discern His will. There were times when this inability paralyzed me into doing nothing at all. I so very much wanted to be in the center of His perfect will. How more spiritual than that could I possibly be? Nothing else would do. I sincerely believed that all I wanted in my life was doing whatever God wanted, and without full assurance of that, I was not to take another step. "When in doubt, don't."

I've realized over time, though, that what I really wanted was to be all-knowing, not full of doubt. I've since accepted that that's one of God's attributes, and is not communicable to me. It's not one that I can strive after. It is His alone. There are some things that He simply is not telling me, for whatever purpose there might be.

It was spiritually and emotionally freeing when I realized that more than being fearful of missing God's will in a matter, I was fearful of making a mistake, fearful of failure, fearful of where my failure might lead me. What I was doing was living my life in fear rather than in robust faith.

I've learned that being in God's will is not really about the doing. It's not about knowing what I should do every step along the way, although seeking wisdom in decisions is always prudent. God's will is rather about my being as decisions are made. Not what does God want me to do? But who does God want me to be? It's possible to make what seems to be the best choice in a decision, but if that decision is made out of fear or avoidance, what glory does that bring to God?

It's not about making better decisions, but about who I am becoming in whatever decision is made. The doing is often ambiguous. The being is clearly shown in God's Word. I am to be conformed to the image of Christ, transformed into His likeness, becoming like Him. A life lived in trust, knowing that in all my decisions, whether perfect or not, God will work them for good according to His purpose. And often in making a poor decision, I've learned much more about His love and care through its consequences. He is my provider, my sustainer, my sufficiency. He leads me in the paths of righteousness.

Yes, it's more than a little prudent to make wise decisions. Our decisions move us along a path through life.

But sometimes the poor decision can turn out to be the richer decision.

Image ~ Destiny, John William Waterhouse, 1900

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Pushing Back

I try to keep only a few balls simultaneously in the air. Juggling life can at times be problematic. Am I moving too far forward? Am I keeping a proper distance in the height? Am I consistent with each throw? One miscue and they all come tumbling down. So blogging has been at a standstill this past month. Classes are on pause for awhile, and now my attention is turned once again to here. It's been a month since I've posted, and I hope to share along the way some of the things that I've learned--which is always the purpose, isn't it, to pass on whatever we've learned to whoever will listen.

I was able to rejoin our women's Bible study yesterday. This is a group who dig into God's Word and freely share what they've learned with one another. Some of them know a lot, some of us learn a lot, but whichever end of the spectrum we're on, we all learn and encourage one another in our faith.

You've probably experienced that no matter how many times you've read a passage of Scripture that something new is always to be gained from it. That happened to me yesterday in the passage about Paul and Silas being put in jail without a trial as Roman citizens, which was unlawful. When the mistake was recognized by those in authority, they wanted Paul and Silas to leave quietly. Paul said no way! He wanted the council to come and release them in person.

I've always wondered why Paul was so insistent about that. I would have gone out post haste, but Paul was thinking of more than himself. I tend to think about myself in disagreeable situations, but Paul was thinking how slipping away quietly would reflect on the newly formed church. The council had shamed him because he was talking about Jesus, whom they didn't approved. To slither out of jail was to accept the shame that was put on Jesus' name and, therefore, the believers there in Philippi.

It brought to mind some of what is going on in America today in regard to Christianity. We're told that our beliefs are disapproved, even damaging to our nation. There's an attempt to shame us, to quiet us, to jail us, to keep us from being heard. I'm thankful for those who are pushing back and saying no way!

There was a time in America's recent past when turning the other cheek was expected to be the Christian's response. I believe that response was misconceived, misdirected and taken advantage of by those who manipulate their own political and perverted agendas.

Christians are now pushing back. The Apostle Paul exercised his freedom as a Roman citizen, lest the church be found insignificant in his day. Christians must exercise our freedom as American citizens, lest the church be found insignificant in our day.

It's a spiritual struggle in which we are engaged. May God be merciful and strengthen us.

Image via Pixabay

Love, But Not for These Things in Themselves

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
 

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile—her look—her way
Of speaking gently,—for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'—
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity. 

Image ~ Childhood Sweethearts
Frederick Morgan, 1847-1927
public domain 

On Belittling

A classmate's question to the professor reminded me how we need to instruct the children in our lives: "I'm wondering where I can find the requirements for cover pages for our papers? In the first class I took with you I didn't meet the requirements, but I never found out what they were."
 
While this student has the maturity to ask for clarification, children typically don't. When we fail to give requirements for a task before it's begun, we set our children up for failure. And when the task isn't completed to our liking, it's not necessarily the child's fault but, rather, our failure to be explicit as to expectations for the task.

If we don't realize the underlying problem and then begin to belittle our children, their spirit can be bruised, and eventually our relationship with them is harmed. Resentment may settle in on our children for being belittled or on ourselves for thinking they are being obstinate. Children can also begin to feel that they fail at every turn or that we can never be pleased. This is not the way to train up a child in the way he should go.

Children begin to understand themselves from those who nurture them. They are valued by God and need to feel valued by us. If we sense that our children are feeling devalued or insecure, we need to check how we're communicating our expectations. Even though each child may respond differently, the impact of belittling is felt in their hearts even if it doesn't show on their faces. Many of us have grown up with scarred hearts that often take years to heal, if they even do.

Whether it's our children or our grandchildren, expectations need to be clear. When we show that our expectations are not met over and over again, children learn not to expect that anything they do will be acceptable to us. And it will be a downhill spiral between the two of us.

Some suggestions to keep good vibes flowing between us and within the child's own spirit:

- Be clear as to our expectations. Does she understand what we want her to do?

- Be realistic in our expectations. Can he actually do what we want him to do?

- Be affirming as we instruct. Telling them what not to do implies that we assume that they'll do it wrong before they even begin. Not: "Don't just throw your shoes in a pile in the closet." Instead, "Put your shoes on the rack in the closet."

And if they break something in their feeble attempts, we need to let it go if it wasn't intentional. What's a broken dish compared to a broken spirit? Our reactions at times such as this will stay with our children for a long, long, long time. Some of us still hear the echoes.

Belittling isn't training. It isn't discipline. It's Shaming. It's rejection. It hurts.

Image ~ Just An Accident

Philippe Francois Sauvage, 19th century

public domain