Reminders in the Crafts Aisle

I noticed the Frank Turner song playing at Wal*Mart today. I liked this part of the lyrics: 

 

then I remember you,

And the way you shine like truth in all you do.

And if you remembered me,

You could save me from the way I tend to be.

It strikes me that we should be like that to people around us, shining like truth in all we do while we communicate to the world that God remembers us and saves us from what we are.

and then toward the end came the words:

And then I catch myself
Catching your scent on someone else
In a crowded space
And it takes me somewhere I cannot quite place.

 

"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,  to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?  For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ." II Corinthians 2:15-17

 

here's the song :) 

End of Summer Musings

This morning I picked what I suspect are the last of the blackberries *sigh*. There are only seven and they are not the best looking, but still.

I also pulled every last thistle I could find. I like pulling weeds at the end of summer. Their roots are barely holding on and the plant is ready to die. I wonder if, at the end of our lives, we are like that with out sin, just barely holding on to it and ready to have it removed from our lives. 

Never Sure What to Expect

Probably this is a normal part of the human experience, but as I only get to experience life with my own peculiar brain, let me lead off  saying that living with my brain is a bit like having an unlabelled chemistry set. My brain is constantly mixing together all the stuff that comes its way and I have no idea what to expect the result to be. It generally looks nothing like what went in. 

So here's what is in the latest reaction. I am working on memorizing my way through Hebrews this summer and was working on chapter 9. For some reason (maybe watching too many BBC Miss Marple episodes with Miss Dog Lover - hmmm, a catalyst?) the part about wills struck me (verses 15-17):

Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

I got to pondering what an odd idea it is in law that we should have any say whatsoever what goes on after our own demise, how that might hint of a universal belief in some sort of eternality of life. Anyhow.

Next reagents:  someone used the expression "over my dead body" in my hearing and I started thinking about how that  expression relates literally to warfare, how the person in this case is willing to lay down life to prevent a certain outcome. I did a bit of googling and there does not seem to be any definitive word on what the expression came from.

Then we added in a few milliliters of a discussion in a thread about a recipe (Capitol Rolls in Indiana, PA, for the curious) that had reportedly "gone to the grave" with the baker. 

And then, what seemed at first to cancel the reaction, I saw a link to a story about a sweet woman whose family wanted to share her generosity after her death and did so by inscribing the recipe for her best-loved cookies on the back of her gravestone so all could enjoy.  Only before reading the article I saw the photo and jumped to the conclusion that this woman had spent her life saying she would share the recipe only "over (her) dead body" and that her family had made good on her promise. 

So there you have a lab report on the materials going into this thought experiment. I am not too sure where it is going to go once the reaction has run its course. But I am very uncertain whether "over my dead body" means something will NEVER happen or will SURELY come to pass.

I'll leave you with this query: does a will gives the writer authority to say This Will Happen When I Die? That could make dying one of the most important things we do.

Groanings

The problem with blogs is that sometimes words just don't do it.

We are dealing with some crazy stuff. 'Nuff said.

And I am somewhere between Dreyfus's twitching eyelid:

and Mrs Bennett's (relatively) calm responses.

I don't think words touch either of these.  

I am glad there is One Who intercedes for us. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ~ Romans 8:26

Long Storms

Recently we watched The Shawshank Redemption, a favorite of mine.

The line that really stood out to me this watching was Andy Dufresne: "I was in the path of the tornado... I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has." 

Most storms I feel fine, think I can brave them out, even enjoy some of the power and rawness. But sometimes life makes me feel like Piglet, a Very Small Animal on a Blustery Day, and the Blustery Storm just keeps coming and coming and I realize how much I lack Bravery. Then God slowly, quietly teaches my heart to hold hope, which is what both Andy and Red learn in the film.

And I started wondering, what are some things Scripture says about storms coming upon God's people. So...


I know that Christ calmed the storm in Luke 23-24: and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He certainly does not always calm the storm, at least when I would like, but I believe He will always give a calm to those who are His. Thinking of the children's song: With Jesus in the boat we can smile through the storm. :)

He sends and controls the storms -- Psalm 107:25 and 29: For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 148:8:  fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Job 30:22 tells that God sends us to ride the storm: You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it, and you toss me about in the roar of the storm. Not sure what it means to ride the storm... makes me think of Muad'Dib

Psalm 57:1 tells He gives us refuge during the storm... note to self, NOT that He always takes the storm away: Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

Isaiah 54:11 tells of God's care for those who are storm-tossed: O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

No tidy wrap-up, but some things to think about when the wind howls.

 

Thanks to Pete Townshend

One of my very favorite hymns that isn't a hymn is The Who's "Bargain." I think this song expresses much of what it is like to follow Christ, because being in love with Him is such a part of that... the words of the song remind me of many bits of Scripture and so I often find myself humming it... 

I'd gladly lose me to find you 

(Jeremiah 29:13 - you will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart)       

I'd gladly give up all I had

To find you I'd suffer anything and be glad

I'd pay any price just to get you

(Matthew 13:45-46 - the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it.

I'd work all my life and I will

To win you I'd stand naked, stoned and stabbed

(Hebrews 11:37-38 - they were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword -- of whom the world was not worthy) 

I'd call that a bargain

The best I ever had

The best I ever had

I'd gladly lose me to find you

I'd gladly give up all I got

(Luke 5:11 - they left everything and followed Him)

To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop

I'd pay any price just to win you

Surrender my good life for bad

(Romans 8:5 - those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit)

To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man

I'd call that a bargain

(Song of Solomon 8:7 - if a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised)

The best I ever had

The best I ever had

I sit looking 'round

I look at my face in the mirror

I know I'm worth nothing without you

(I Corinthians 13:12 - now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known) 

And like one and one don't make two

One and one make one

(John 17:23 - I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one)

And I'm looking for that free ride to me

(Romans 6:22 - now that you have been set free from sin)

I'm looking for you

I'd gladly lose me to find you

I'd gladly give up all I got

To catch you I'm gonna run and never stop

I'd pay any price just to win you

Surrender my good life for bad

To find you I'm gonna drown an unsung man

I'd call that a bargain

The best I ever had

(II Corinthians 4:17 - this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond ALL comparison)

The best I ever had

___

apologies for wonky formatting

Thoughts on Prepping for a Test

Disclosure: probably more than my usual level of acceptable grossness, but I wanted to keep track of these thoughts for myself.

Today is the day for one of those once-a-decade rather-unpleasant tests we are encouraged to have to avoid colon cancer. And I am ready. Or at least I hope I am.

I feel fairly confident I am clean and ready for the doctor because I followed all the assigned protocol exactly. But I have no way to be sure. Last time I thought I had done well but a bit of vegetable skin lingered behind... less than pristine, despite my sincere efforts. So today when I realized I had no way to be sure, I wondered... is this how the Old Testament saints felt after all their sacrifices? Because even if they had done everything right, they had no way to be sure. Thank God for the coming of Christ, the perfect sacrifice. We can be sure we are clean with God through His Son's blood.

Such a humbling experience, almost like corporate confession of sin. We all know we have that kind of dirt in our lives. We all know each other does. And yet we spend a whole lot of time pretending we have never seen it and being appalled when we do.

A Friend of Mine

I have been remembering a song I heard a few times my sophomore year in college when my roommate would play it (hi Catherwood!). I don't really know why this song has returned to me after many years but I share it here: 

Here are the lyrics if you'd rather read than listen, though the music is gentle and loving:

A friend of mine is going blind
But through the dimness
He sees so much better than me
And how he cherishes each new thing that he sees
They are locked in his head he will save them for when
He's in darkness again

He can't read books
And he can't paint pretty pictures
But he understands so much clearer than I
For he knows that all he's missing with his eyes
Is more vivid in the mind of the man who's going blind
And that's why he doesn't mind.

Won't you sing Tommy Davidson of
Things that you have seen
Sing of winter's bite and summer nights
And places you have been
Of dew drops and forget-me-nots and
Silver silky sheen
Lain across the morning meadow on the hillside

And this friend of mine, he plays guitar
And he sings so much better than I
He can sing you any pictures in your mind
He will sketch them out in rhyme draw the details in the lines
And he'll color it in time

And oh how he loves his guitar
And it loves him
And they play much sweeter than I
As if to say that come the day that he can't see
He will have at his command so much beauty in his hands
That the loss won't come so hard

Won't you sing Tommy Davidson of
Things that you have done
Sing of silver seagulls sailing into evening's golden sun
Sing of city streets and villages and people on the run
Tell the people how you know it
Tommy Davidson

In any case, I've been thinking about this song and Job and wondering why Job didn't have friends who loved him like this and were able to see at least a glimpse of what God was doing in his life. I have been blessed the last few years to watch several friends walk faithfully through cancer and all the Valley of the Shadow and suffering that entails, and come out with their faith intact, a beautiful walk. 

I once heard a sermon about Job and the pastor talked about the way Satan came to God and God said, "Have you considered my servant Job?," then went on to talk about perhaps sometimes God asks if Satan has considered others of His servants. If that still goes on, I may know some who Satan has been asked to consider -- and by God's grace, they have stood the test.  

Random Thoughts on Death

I nearly chose red as the font color for this post due to being about death but decided death is more about life than about actually dying, so I am going with a nice vibrant green. 

So I have this bubble page going in my daily notebook with thoughts about death. They are all linked around a central bubble labelled "learning how to die." I hate to admit it but I pretty much think that learning to die is the main lesson of life. The problem for me, at least, is that I am generally disinclined to die, to put my old man to death. 

So many of my thoughts for this page are based around song or hymn lyrics. I wonder if the emotional weight of the subject is more easily carried on music. 

Lyric from Jon Forman song of the same title: 

She said, "Friend,
All along I thought I was learning how to take
How to bend not how to break
How to live not how to cry
But really I've been learning how to die
I've been learning how to die"

Paul says (Philippians 1:21) ~  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Andrew Peterson in The Havens Grey: 

When you sail from havens grey
Caught up on the wind and blown away
Close your eyes on the Shadowlands
And bid goodbye to all your friends 
And sail from havens grey
Caught up on the wind and blown away
You'll bid goodbye to all your friends
And close your eyes on the shadowlands
I know you will open them again in the endless day
Of a love that dawns beyond the havens grey.

I was taught once that death is a lot like birth. We were happy and safe in the womb and no words could have explained life outside the womb. We likely would never have chosen to leave and would have been scared if we knew we had to. 

I love the confidence we have both in life and in death, as expressed in In Christ Alone: 

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

And not in any hymnal, but a favorite for me, Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill:

I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
they've come to take me home."

Galatians 2:20 ~ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.

Not by Might

For me one of the deep truths - the sparkling ornaments that I learn from during Advent seasons (the time of celebrating Christ coming to dwell with us) is that victory really does not come from the kind of might I think it does. I have been mulling over some of the lovely sides of that ornament. 

~ ~ ~

I remember one of the first latin phrases I picked up in junior high, probably from a poem. Amor vincit omnia. Love conquers all. True of God's love. We are reminded of that love with the birth of Christ, and then again, so much at his death and resurrection.

~ ~ ~

Not long after that, I got the same idea about God's love often conquering us quietly and seemingly from a place of weakness, in the Edwin Markham poem Outwitted:

He drew a circle that shut me out —

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But Love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle that took him in!

We drew a circle that shut God out. But He showed how large His love is by drawing a huge circle with Christ to take us back in.

~ ~ ~

And James 2:13 includes "Mercy triumphs over judgment." Not the usual cry of power.

~ ~ ~

Last week at a Christmas concert we heard this song, new to me. It moves a little fast, so the words are posted below.

This little Babe so few days old, is come to rifle Satan's fold;

All hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold do shake;

For in this weak unarmed wise the gates of hell he will surprise.

With tears he fights and wins the field, his naked breast stands for a shield.

His battering shot are babish cries, his arrows looks of weeping eyes,

His martial ensigns Cold and Need, and feeble Flesh his warrior's steed.

His camp is pitched in a stall, his bulwark but a broken wall;

The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes; of shepherds he his muster makes; 

And thus, as sure his foe to wound, the angels' trumps alarum sound.

My soul, with Christ join thou in fight; stick to the tents that he hath pight. 

Within his crib is surest ward; this little Babe will be thy guard.

If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy, then flit not from this heavenly Boy.

"foil thy foes with joy" - there is the reminder that my soul longs for

~ ~ ~

Snidely and Inhalers

This week I've thought of "distress" and the whole SOS idea a bit.

It started with a friend who had been hospitalized with asthma. We were with her Sunday and her breathing was obviously far from normal. Good for Devastatingly Handsome, who told her to use her inhaler. She tried to tell him, no, it was only for when she was in respiratory distress (which is what the doc told her). DH explained to her that she was, in fact, in distress. She had no idea she needed help. Amazing.

I guess we think of distress looking like this:

But often distress is more common place and hard to recognize. I am asking God to give me eyes to see when someone is in distress, to be able to show them their need, to cut the ropes, and point them to the Rescue. 

~ ~ ~

Psalm 59:16 ~ But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.

Knocking

This morning I woke up thinking about the old proverb (English? Scottish?) "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

Now, though, I am hearing it changed a bit to Love answered.  I suspect that is a change so people who make no claim to faith can still, um, borrow the idea. But even with the change, it works for me. Because what I know of love is because of Christ ~ I John 3:16 ~ By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us. If He laid down His life for me, I know He will answer the door for me. In fact, He is the door. No one is there to harm me.

Conquering X

Today on Scripture typer I finished off Romans 8 with verses 31-39. When I work on a passage I have a variety of thoughts go through my head, some of which certainly lack that certain spiritual je ne sais quoi.

Today I started thinking what the Homeschooling Mom's version of parts of this would look like, something like:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall standardized tests, or book fairs, or socialization, or clutter, or algebra, or writing, or noise?

Anyhow. They won't and that is good news.

But then following that encouraging part comes the part that does not seem to me to belong, according to my frail logic. Here we have this wonderful list of things that will NOT separate us from the love of Christ, and just when I would like to hear something warm and cuddly instead we get a nasty quote, something that might happen to hapless critters like hobbits:

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

And yet we are reassured that we are still more than conquerors. I do not often picture sheep as the conquering type. It is great that even silly sheep have One who makes them more than conquerors.

Even when algebra is whipping your students. :-P