Reflection

"Thar’s gold in them thar hills…."

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121

I get to have this view every evening when I come home, the beautiful and mysterious Superstition Mountains. Their presence comforts me somehow, they are so strong, so steadfast, so solid. I always think of this Psalm when I gaze up at its beauty, especially when the last rays of the sun turn it a deep magenta.

Somewhere up there, the legend says, the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine is hidden. It was named after German Immigrant Jacob Waltz, and said to be the most famous lost mine in the U.S. Many have looked for the mine since the late 1800’s and so far it has never been found.
Moses found treasure one day on a mountain. He didn’t find gold, but something much better, he found God. When I look at these mountains I always think of Moses coming down with those tablets, his face glowing like the sun…..

I can always find God on the mountain.

One particular evening when the sun was doing its magenta magic, I was standing in our community clubhouse. I approached the door because from there you get an unblocked view of the mountain range. Standing in the doorway was a sweet elderly lady who is very sick. She was going home early because she didn’t feel well that night. She paused at the door way, looked up and caught her breath at the magnificent view and said in a hushed voice, “I think God lives up there.”

I said, “Yes, I think He does too!”

Which type are you?

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

Today I am continuing my thoughts and reflections from John 3. Yesterday I came to rest on this section of verse 8: “you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” I stopped……. It seems that Jesus is saying here that I have to be ready at a moments notice to go where He sends, where He leads. This verse was somewhat convicting to me…….I am not crazy about spontaneity, I only like planned change, when I decide!


I am a person who likes to dig in, settle down, burrow in, put down roots. I don’t like uprooting, moving, or picking up stakes. I lived in my hometown for the first 30 years of my life. Then I moved to two different states…..but I wasn’t crazy about it. I did it for work. I am a long term person, I was at my first job for 14 years, and the one I have presently for 15. If I were a vegetable I think I would be a potato, very comfortable and secure in my warm happy place until final harvest. It takes a lot to make me move!
 
When I was a kid, whenever we would come across a dandelion that had gone to seed we just had to blow it. That is just what we did. We didn’t have all the sophisticated games we have now so we had to invent our own. The challenge was to not leave one seed attached left after just one puff…….I was thinking how this relates to God and me and John 3:8. The Holy Spirit, working in me will blow those seeds onto whomever I am rooted next to. Sometimes He needs to help me along by a powerful gust, and sometimes He needs to do something drastic and rip me out by the roots and blow me another direction. This can be a very painful process……and yet, I can see why it is necessary.
 
The truth is, God needs both kinds of people, movers and shakers, and those who like to stay put. He is able to work equally well with both types of personalities. Sometimes I beat myself up for not being more willing to move, to go where He sends, and I am sure others beat themselves up for not being more stable, for always bolting at the next opportunity. He works patiently with each of us, in all of our glorious individuality moving us this way and that.

I think the key is to be open…….to listen with an open heart, to hear and obey when He speaks. To be ready. And He won’t hate me if I don’t, He will lovingly keep prodding me along.

I think a good writing project would be to describe what kind of vegetable you are and why?

The Best Prayer

A simple offering of love….
A prayer that says, “I love you, God.”
Not for anything You have done, but for who You are.
Sometimes those are the best prayers.
Because isn’t that sometimes what you want as a parent?
Doesn’t it make your whole day, to have them run up…..
in the middle of whatever they were doing before
just to give a breathless, “I love you…..”
How does it feel to hear it and know they mean it?
And something changes within the child too…….
Soul of parent and child expand, connect.
A love reunited from ages past and one that will go on
ages from now…..a precious bloom for His eternal collection.
The Holy Spirit smiles……
We warm from inside out.
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,” 1 Peter 1:8

The Phantom Christian

“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Romans 7:21-23

Bob George introduces a concept in his book, “Classic Christianity”, that intrigued me, and I immediately recognized what he describes as the Phantom Christian syndrome. It is that image we all have in our head of the person we think God expects us to be. What we expect ourselves to be. You know the one…..the one that never fails to get up early for morning devotions, is at church every time the doors open, volunteers their time sacrificially every weekend, leads Bible studies, never blows up, excels at work and has everyone in rapt attention by their wonderfully interesting devotions around the table at dinner.

The way he describes it is really quite ridiculous, and he means it to be. Do we really think God will love us more if we do all these things? Sometimes I confess I do. I even do it with blogging. Sometimes I think you will love me more if I can just manage to capture those perfect and illustrious posts that I see in my head. The ones that always come out clear and evoke beautiful thoughts and emotions. But the truth is, that is not what God wants any of us to do. He just wants me to be the very best me I can be, expressing in my own words the things He wants me to say. Just like you.

Sometimes it helps to know that others are struggling just like we are, especially those we don’t expect, like the Apostle Paul. When I was at my Mom’s Bible study last week, a lady I greatly admire for her faith and boldness in talking to people about the Lord said that she is a bit upset at the way God not only allowed but actually orchestrated the tragic events in Job’s life. I was surprised, and I admit also a bit comforted by her confession.

It all comes full circle back to Christ. He is the only one who can give us the power and the victory to be the person He wants us to be. The one we are becoming. He sees us as we will be…….And He loves us right now where we stand. He sees the million small decisions we make to be better, to not blow up, to pray more, turn our eyes to Him when we see a beautiful full moon, and thank Him.
“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:56, 57

photo by Jon Luty http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

Don’t miss the moment……

“Just the simple observations of a quiet morning walk can sometimes have the power to set the whole world right“….this was taken out in the back forty of my brother’s yard.
Coming home, I realize as always that I have brought them all back with me. I hear their voices still in the quiet moments of reflection. This trip was so good on so many levels. We arrived, my friend and I, on the heels of a storm, a very windy one. We blew good weather in it seems, for the whole week we were there it dawned sunny and bright……unseasonably so. It seems we brought the good weather of Arizona and they were all happy we did. 
The trip all started with a phone call. My Mom told me that my cousin had arranged for a group to attend the performance of  “In the Mood.” It started me to thinking……how often will we all be able to get together like this again, my two Aunts, my cousin, my Mom and I? My friend also needed to see her brother, it was time.
Ever have a trip that seemed God ordained? The timing was right for so many things……This trip was like a string of miracles, one after another. Every now and then a trip works out that way.
How wonderful to be heralded by a little head looking out the window in anticipation of my arrival. She was standing on the bed and as soon as she saw me she started jumping up and down.
My friend went on to Modesto, her home town, where she got to spend two wonderful days on a mostly deserted beach in Moss Landing. From her description, I felt I went there myself. It was a good time for just the two of them, and I prayed that they would get to do that together. Another answered prayer…..
And another miracle, she got to attend church with her Nephew, who has been reunited with his wife, now clean and off drugs….both of them now off the street with their six children, all of them in church and doing remarkably well. To think that so much heartache and pain could lead to this? Only God could do that……so many sleepless nights, so many tears and prayers shed for them. To be able to put all that aside and extend grace to them now, that’s Holy Spirit work!
She was also reunited with a friend of long ago, now a Christian too, and clean and sober after many years of addiction. There was much joy in their reunion, sisters now and friends again twenty years down the road….
Even little miracles happened on this trip……I wandered into Tom’s Used Books, never hoping to find a book I was looking for, since it was several years old, and there on the shelf was one copy!
I got to attend an event in my Old High School auditorium that has now been turned into a theater. I would go again in a heartbeat, it was great! Afterwards we went to my Aunt’s house where she layed out a wonderful buffet, complete with champagne. I know it would have been easy for her not to do it. My Uncle suffers from severe dementia and she is his caretaker now….but still, she created a magical evening for us. It was a precious time spend with wonderful friends and family.
One of the best memories I brought back was when my Mom, my Aunt and I sang at the piano just like we used to for so many years….we sang the old hymns together as my cousin held the flashlight, (My Uncle has broken all the lightbulbs)
All my life I have been surrounded by strong people who in spite of much hardship, have never lost the miracle of the moment. They have taught me how to slow down enough to see the magic happening all around us, all of the time……What a gift! How blessed I am to have learned that lesson from them.
photos taken with iphone

Journeys……

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11,12

I heard trains last night…..I am presently in Barstow, California, the stopping point for this particular journey…..along with my very best friend at the wheel of what I call “the Bus” a 32 foot motor home. We are enroute, she to her brother and his family and myself to my parents house. We have made this trip many times, and there is always a new experience no matter how many times you have been down the same road.

We saw a semi-truck on its side yesterday, there were some high winds, but not terribly high. He may have fallen asleep and lost control….we whispered a prayer as we drove by. Our precious cargo includes “the garden.” We didn’t want to leave it home for the neighbors to watch, since my green-thumbed friend wants to take full responsibility. They are her babies now. Every sprout is encouraged, and exclaimed over. Now I know a little about how a farmer feels.

We passed the state-line without a hitch. I had forgotten all about the rules about bring plants over…..I can just imagine the headlines…..”Two Church going Christian women caught, accused of bringing marijuana over the border! I could hear us now trying to explain that it is our future garden, consisting only of Okra, marigolds, radishes and spinach, but no pot…..Oh my!

The little green charges are currently on the dash recieving their morning dose of sunlight. Soon she will be bent over them with a water dropper for their watering and “encouragement.”

We think our neighbor may be a Vietnam Vet, judging by the various bumper stickers which are plastered all over the back of his vehicle. He just walked by and looks like he may be related to Charles Manson’s brother….Never a dull moment. One of the bumper stickers says, “Breast inspection 20 miles ahead, please have them out.” Forgive me for that, but sometimes you have to be plunked right down in the middle of humanity like Jesus was. If we make it out of here without an incident we will be very happy. You never know what you might see in a KOA park.

What a blessing this trip….already. Everyone needs someone in their life that they can travel with so companionably. Nothing is a problem and everything is an adventure and a potential source of laughter……

This morning we read from the Bible and shared thoughts on Ephesians 6……we forge ahead today, each one of us reaching our destinations. In our hands, our hearts, we bring encouragement and blessings and love to our families who are all going through their own trials and hardships. And of course, they will do the same for us…..

Hopefully tomorrow I can post pictures of the “garden.”

A Failure to Communicate

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don’t like it any more than you men.” From the movie Cool Hand Luke

This week I had something interesting happen. It was a crazy day at work on Thursday. In the computer chip making business sometimes you have to be really creative and go to the next level. We had a defective chip go out so it was an “all hands on deck” kind of day. It was a twelve hour day with a small break in between. Right in the middle of it, a couple of engineering interns came in. They were new and someone had sent them in with questions. It was clear they had an agenda from somewhere else. I tried the nice approach. I tried to explain that it would be in their best interest and mine if they came back another day. They weren’t hearing me.

The phone was ringing, I was up to my ears in requests, and they still would not leave…….I kept thinking of the line from that movie. Finally, I appealed to the system that we all go by and said, “All engineering requests must go through my OM, so just shoot her an email and we will go from there.”

They finally left, but it was a frustrating experience for both of us. Was I not clear? Were they not? What could I have said differently? With any communication breakdown, we tend to evaluate ourselves. I do, anyway. A situation like that becomes a good opportunity to evaluate yourself and the situation; see if you could have done or said something differently. Try to see things from their perspective.

I did that. Then I prayed about it. I don’t like it when I feel like someone leaves unhappy. I feel like things are somehow unfinished. When I got to work today I asked my OM about it. She said, yes, they did in fact send her an email. She verified what I was thinking inside, they had no clue what they were asking of me. It was nice to get confirmation.  As usual I worried needlessly.

I got another thought this morning on the way to work. It used to be that certain things were just understood to be wrong, no argument. Now it seems that whoever has the best story wins. It used to be if someone was caught red-handed in a crime they were guilty. Now, if they can convince a lawyer to argue their case effectively, they get off. In politics it is the same way. Whoever can present the best case, tell the best story, make the most polished speech wins. Character is something that is becoming increasingly irrelevant in our society.

In God’s world it is never irrelevant and I am glad.

Draw comfort from this today. If you ever feel like you are not being heard clearly remember Jesus felt the same way.

“Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?” Matthew 16:8-11

Imagining how it was…..

I was asked the other day if I thought Jesus sang…….like did He ever walk down the road and break into song? I said I thought He probably did. The Bible says He sang songs of worship with His disciples, and He was filled with the Spirit so, yes I believe there were times when He spontaneously burst into song. Just imagining that set my mind in motion. Can you imagine hearing Him sing, or laugh? Seeing His face light up with a smile?

I think sometimes it is hard for us to think of Jesus as fully human. But I love to imagine Jesus doing the simple things of life. Walking down the road with His friends, or maybe helping His Mom with a task around the house, sitting down to dinner with His family. It is hard for us, for me anyway, to imagine Him being silly or joking around. Did He tease His Mother? Pull a practical joke on His brothers or sisters? I like to think He did. He was after all, fully God but also fully man, and fully human. 

I like to imagine those simple times when He greeted His friends with a smile or put an arm around them while walking, lifting His face to Heaven while He prayed, or sang a song, swung a child around just to listen to them laugh.

I like this form of meditation, imagining Jesus and how it was….. I think that many times He probably felt very burdened when He looked out over the crowds, at the immensity of the need, the desperation. I think it made Him sad many times, when people just didn’t get the message, couldn’t grasp His love for them.

But I also think there were times when Jesus had to lighten the mood by cracking a joke.

My Prayer Cave

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4

It was very cozy in my prayer shed/closet today. I lit the little stove in the corner as well as the lantern that sits on top of the roll around toolchest……It was windy and cold, and the windchimes sang the accompanyment to my prayer this morning. I was thankful, so thankful for this moment, these moments that come at the start of every day. He has brought me through another week.

As I end my prayer I think of going out for a walk, but as I open the door it blows in like a gust……and I sit back down. Maybe a bit more prayer instead…..

Say what???

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

It has never been hard for me to accept the Genesis account of the fall of man. I guess because I can easily see that as good and beautiful this world is, what we had before was much, much better. Why would God make something as wonderful as bearing children so very painful, if not for the fall. I have tried to grow things and I can attest to the fact that it is toil. The Bible teaches creation itself to be under a curse. This is very easy for me to believe as well. All I have to do is look around.

I can imagine that it was so much better than this, yes. Even as good as it is. I can imagine being unhindered by time and space, by death. I can imagine colors we have never dreamed of, walking through walls, and time travel.

I have always assumed that Eve was tempted by Satan but the Bible says that it was a serpent. Well, Satan working throught the serpent. It also says that he only slithered on the ground after the fall. I think he was probably a very captivating and stunning creature, and of course extremely crafty and intelligent.

What amazes me though was that Eve didn’t seem surprised that this creature talked. Can someone correct my theology here? Even if it was Satan talking through the beast, don’t you think Eve would have been just a little surprised? What if your dog or cat started talking all of a sudden? Whoa……

No, if I had been Eve, I think the conversation would have been different.

The Serpent: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Eve: Dumbfounded that the serpent was actually talking, she ran to get Adam. “Come quick, you gotta hear this.”

So was the serpent talking all along? Did all the animals talk? Was C.S. Lewis onto something?

When I think of how it must have been in Eden, my head spins. If Hollywood can create wonderful, magical worlds like Oz, Narnia, Middle-earth, and Pandora, just think what God could do. And by the way, the Bible never said it was an apple either. I think it was probably one of the most beautiful sparkling luscious things we could ever see. I think it caught the light and danced on the limbs like prisms….

photo credit: google images