tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66583677678439808002024-02-19T18:04:52.265-06:00Single and SaneSingleness, faith, and life lead to
topics that are sometimes serious,
sometimes humorous, but (hopefully)
always encouraging and thought-provoking.
Single & Sane isn't just for singles!Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.comBlogger185125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-57279309364465981212016-01-03T15:30:00.000-06:002016-01-03T15:36:15.148-06:00PeaceLast summer, I found myself burned out and feeling dry spiritually. I knew I needed a break. I took a couple of months away from my own church and spent that time visiting others. While it was not my intention to change churches, I was fully aware that God might be using this time to call me elsewhere.<br />
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I stayed involved at my church, attending Wednesday night classes. Most weeks my pastor, Deron, checked with me to ask which church I had visited that Sunday. He even suggested some churches he had liked when he visited during his sabbatical the year before. I was fortunate that both Deron and our worship minister, Jeff, were supportive of my time away from serving on Sunday mornings. Being able to take a break and step back into service when it was over was not something I took lightly, but it was something I knew that I desperately needed to do.<br />
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It would have been easier to just sleep in on Sundays and avoid any possibility of change but I knew if I did that, it would have made it all too easy to just walk away from church altogether. So all but a couple of Sundays, I got up and visited a new church. It was a reminder of how hard it is to walk into a new church, particularly when you're walking in alone.<br />
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As the weeks went by, I established a routine. Most Sundays, I attended an early worship service and then made it home to sit out on the deck and watch my own church online at 11:00. Throughout July, I felt like I was just going through the motions, still suffering from burnout and feeling drained. At the beginning of August, that changed. I don't remember if I attended a church that morning -- I think it was one of the Sundays I stayed home. While I sat on the deck watching my church online, I felt the beginning of healing. I felt enveloped in the presence of God. At one point in the message, as a beautiful cardinal perched on a branch just a few feet away, Deron suggested that we ask God to give us one word. As I looked at that cardinal, I knew the word God had for me was <i>peace</i>.<br />
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If there is only one moment in time that I will remember from 2015, it's <i>that </i>one.<br />
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Until next time . . .<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<i>Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.</i> ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:16<br />
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-49306152213963171312016-01-01T21:24:00.002-06:002016-01-01T21:37:08.675-06:00Yikes! It's 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Time truly flies.<br />
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I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted here. Eighteen months ago, I planned to get back to writing but life got in the way. I'm hoping that will change in 2016.<br />
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Life will still be there, and some days my life will be more hectic than others, but I hope to write more. I hope to read more. I hope to be present more.<br />
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I hope to be more open to God's prompting, and I am feeling His prompting to write again. I'm not sure what I should write about, but that will come.<br />
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Until next time, Happy New Year!<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Margaret</span></i><br />
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<color: 15px="" 22.5px="" arial="" elvetica="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" line-height:="" neue="" sans-serif=""><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.</i> ~ Romans 15:13</span></color:></div>
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<br />Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-52108476144985692502014-03-03T11:00:00.000-06:002014-03-03T11:03:20.219-06:00Light at the End of the TunnelThere are days when it feels as if this winter will go on forever. We have been fortunate in Oklahoma to have some warm days in the last couple of weeks, yet winter has returned full force, reminding us not to rush the seasons. Today is a snow day, with frigid temperatures and a landscape covered by snow on top of sleet on top of ice from freezing rain.<br />
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To <strike>stall before going out to clean off the driveway</strike> remind myself that summer will come again, bringing with it unimaginable beauty and fragrances, I am posting pictures from a garden tour from last summer. Winter will be a memory soon enough but until then, I hope these pictures help to warm your spirit!<br />
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Until next time,<br />
Margaret<br />
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<i>To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. </i>Ecclesiastes 3:3</div>
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-18787136229352152192013-11-24T19:05:00.000-06:002013-11-24T20:02:05.364-06:00New Twist on My Grandmother's Pumpkin Chiffon PieMy grandfather's father was a 19th century country doctor. When my grandfather was kicked in the head by a horse, his father didn't mess around. He took my grandfather in the kitchen and performed surgery on the kitchen table. A pumpkin pie was in the oven, ruining the traditional pumpkin pie forever for the young patient - and I imagine the rest of his family, as well.<br />
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When my grandparents married, my grandmother was determined to make a pumpkin pie that my grandfather would eat. She found a recipe for pumpkin chiffon pie in a magazine and sure enough, the pie was a hit. It was the only pumpkin pie Granddaddy would eat, and it has been a mainstay of my family's holiday meals for nearly 90 years.<br />
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Inspired by a post on my friend <a href="http://myletterstoemily.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Lea's</a> Facebook wall, I decided to try to make a healthier version of Grandmother's recipe. The texture is a little different, but it's still delicious, and has the lighter feel of a chiffon pie.<br />
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I changed Grandmother's traditional pie crust by going gluten-free. Similar to a graham cracker crust but with a bit of a crunch, it's the perfect complement to the flavor of pumpkin.<br />
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<u><i>Crust</i></u>:<br />
4 1.2 oz. bags of <a href="http://shop.kaysnaturals.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=L-ADP-S" target="_blank">Kay's Naturals "Almond Delight" Protein Puffs</a><br />
8 tablespoons butter, melted<br />
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Crush the almond puffs. (I put mine in a blender but a rolling pin would work.) Pour melted butter over the crushed puffs and mix thoroughly. Press into a pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.<br />
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<u>Filling</u>:<br />
1 15 oz. can of <a href="http://www.farmersmarketfoods.com/products/organic-pumpkin-pie-mix/" target="_blank">Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin Pie Mix</a><br />
1 envelope of plain gelatin<br />
1/4 cup cold water<br />
3 eggs (separated)<br />
1/2 cup soy milk (I used the Pumpkin Spice flavor, but Vanilla would work, too.)<br />
1/4 cup maple syrup (separated)<br />
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Soften gelatin in water and set aside. Beat egg yolk and add soy milk, pumpkin pie mix, and 1/8 cup maple syrup. Cook until mixture thickens. Lower the heat and add gelatin and stir in until thoroughly dissolved. The gelatin will thin the mixture somewhat, so continue to cook on low heat until mixture thickens again. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Beat egg whites with remaining 1/8 cup of maple syrup. Fold into pumpkin mix. Pour into baked crust and chill.<br />
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We let it cool a couple of hours before my mom and I each tried a piece. Like her father before her, Mom declared it a hit, although she did suggest that it could use Grandmother's crowning touch...Cool Whip.</div>
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I guess there's a limit to how healthy you can go with a holiday favorite.</div>
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Until next time, </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Margaret</div>
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<i>I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well. ~ 2 Timothy 1:5</i></div>
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<br />Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-80283086288111397942013-11-19T06:00:00.000-06:002013-11-19T07:05:07.317-06:00Not My Place<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkuLdH7rRMYarNvU7t3kegdP0yV1g7YBY-fCA-ATuwfFE6trnZijh1Agn_L3hCeGSr9XYeUQ111x_UHnfQw5R3P0hINlLKFdRiZM-3OkXUu77fG3Ak8LyyuePsAQSzJTpvDytv8I_JtUB/s1600/11-homeless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLkuLdH7rRMYarNvU7t3kegdP0yV1g7YBY-fCA-ATuwfFE6trnZijh1Agn_L3hCeGSr9XYeUQ111x_UHnfQw5R3P0hINlLKFdRiZM-3OkXUu77fG3Ak8LyyuePsAQSzJTpvDytv8I_JtUB/s1600/11-homeless.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Google Images</i></td></tr>
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I can't begin to tell you how many times I have seen someone with a "Homeless and Hungry" sign and <span style="text-align: right;">thought, "If only I had food in the car, I'd give it to them." Then last week, it happened.</span><br>
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I ran some errands during lunch and grabbed a hamburger and french fries from McDonald's, planning to eat them in the car on the way back to the office. I had just begun to sample some fries when I pulled up at a light and saw the "Homeless and Hungry Vet" sign. For a moment, I was uncomfortable. I had long vowed that if I saw someone asking for food and I had food in the car to give, I would do so. But this was my lunch. I had already started eating the french fries. And it was McDonald's so it wasn't the most nutritious meal to offer someone. It might even be seen as downright insulting.<br>
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But I couldn't exactly sit there in front of the guy and continue to eat my french fries. There was that promise I had made over and over again. The voice in my head reminded me that I wasn't being asked to make a huge sacrifice, I was just being asked to do what I had said I would do.<br>
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I rolled my window down and held the bag out. "Do you want my lunch?" "Yes," he replied as he came to my car and took the bag. He returned to his spot, stuck the bag in the bushes, and held his sign up.<br>
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Seriously?<i> He wasn't going to eat it? </i>Was he just waiting for lunch hour traffic to die down? Was he hoping for something better? Was he afraid if he was seen eating, it would cost him more lucrative donations? <div><br></div><div>Heck, if he wasn't going to eat it, could he give my lunch back to me? After all, I had enjoyed the few french fries I managed to eat before the attack of the guilty conscience.<br>
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Then I realized it wasn't my place to question what the guy was going to do with the lunch. It wasn't my lunch anymore, it was his. What he did with it was between him and God. <br>
<br>The truth is, everything I have is on loan from God. It's my place to remember that and to be obedient to His Word, even when it's inconvenient.<br>
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Until next time,<br>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"If you have two coats," he replied, "give one to the poor. If you have extra food, give it away to those who are hungry." ~ Luke 3:11</span></i></div>
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<br></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-4637303945445942582012-12-04T07:42:00.001-06:002012-12-04T07:42:41.489-06:00Sing to the Lord an Old Song<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Google Images</td></tr>
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My favorite holiday station is the one that plays music from the '40s to the '60s. As much as I love Josh Groban's <i>Ave Maria</i>, it doesn't come with the memories of Frank Sinatra's version. Michael Bublé may do a fine <i>White Christmas</i>, but it's not the same as hearing Bing Crosby's classic. And while there are contemporary Christmas songs that I enjoy, they don't come with the depth of personal history as the songs and artists that my parents listened to when I was a child.<br />
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Listening to the older versions brings back images of my dad, my grandparents, and aunts and uncles who are long gone. In my mind's eye, they're all gathered around the tree or at the table for Christmas dinner and they're all young, healthy, and strong. I can see my aunt wrapping gifts to place under her tree. I remember my excitement when my grandparents took me to Sears to see Santa. Those older songs bring back memories of traveling to Texas to see family, arriving just in time to be tucked into bed. More than memories of the past, perhaps they're visions of the future, a tiny glimpse of heaven.<br />
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And so it is with the old hymns. While the Bible tells us over and over the importance of singing a new song, it never says to throw out the old. God wants us to recognize His mercy in new ways. He wants us to use our creativity to give a fresh perspective on our love for Him. He wants us to be so overcome with emotion for all that He has done that we can't help but burst out in new and impromptu songs, but He doesn't want us to forget all that has come before.<br />
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Just as the older artists bring back memories of traveling to spend Christmas with family, older hymns bring back memories of traveling with the Lord. They're spiritual markers. They remind us of God's hand in our own lives, as well as in the lives of those who have sung them over the ages.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Microsoft Clip Art</td></tr>
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<i>All Creatures of Our God and King</i> connects us to St. Francis of Assisi, who wrote the words 800 years ago. <i>And Can it Be That I Should Gain </i>and <i>Hark, the Herald Angels Sing</i> connect us to Charles Wesley, the co-founder of Methodism. <i>All the Way My Savior Leads Me </i>and <i>Blessed Assurance</i> remind us that, despite her blindness, Fanny Crosby wrote more than 8,000 hymns extolling the grace of God. The older hymns connect us not only to ancestors we never knew, but to all of the brothers and sisters in Christ who sang those same songs to praise God. They are spiritual markers not only for individual believers, but for the church.<br />
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So, by all means, sing to the Lord a new song...just don't forget the old.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Sing to the Lord a new song. sing to the Lord, all the earth.</i> ~ Psalm 96:1</span></div>
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.Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-16483955958287661932012-12-02T20:30:00.000-06:002012-12-02T20:31:24.050-06:00More Than a Season<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMuicqKg50Z0ZwO88OZ0v3R9OFp2lCwQx22PAmZFMn5IIYR_VWZjFdrovEnXc1tjpqmZVzlemdOekaHFfB8MtQom1J57C_CwO1S8jg7Z3GfcT1KKZkx3P0kbqAeIBDiyy4UUyyXAHuPD5/s1600/Advent+Clipart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMuicqKg50Z0ZwO88OZ0v3R9OFp2lCwQx22PAmZFMn5IIYR_VWZjFdrovEnXc1tjpqmZVzlemdOekaHFfB8MtQom1J57C_CwO1S8jg7Z3GfcT1KKZkx3P0kbqAeIBDiyy4UUyyXAHuPD5/s1600/Advent+Clipart.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/" target="_blank">Microsoft Clip Art</a></td></tr>
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Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and as we sang the familiar songs in worship to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, I had a bit of an epiphany. If we believe that Jesus is coming again - and as Christ's followers, we <i>do </i>believe He is coming again - why do we limit ourselves to anticipating His arrival to the four Sundays before Christmas?<br />
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Shouldn't we always be watching for His coming? Shouldn't we live in a constant state of anticipation? Shouldn't we be filled with hope <i>all the time</i>?<br />
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I'm not big on New Year's Resolutions, but I'm making one right here and now. I will not limit the spirit of hope and anticipation to a season. I will live my life in constant hope and anticipation, watching and waiting for the return of Christ, because He <i>is</i> coming again.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Come Thou long expected Jesus</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Born to set Thy people free</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From our fears and sins release us</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us find our rest in Thee</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel's strength and consolation</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope of all the earth Thou art</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear desire of every nation</i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joy of every longing heart</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Born Thy people to deliver</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Born a child and yet a King</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Born to reign in us forever</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Now Thy gracious kingdom bring</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>By Thine own eternal spirit</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Rule in all our hearts alone</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>By Thine all sufficient merit</i></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Raise us to Thy glorious throne</i></i><br />
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Until next time,<br />
<i>Margaret</i><br />
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<strong style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"Therefore
keep</span></span></span></strong><strong style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
watch</span></span></span></strong><strong style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>,
because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." ~ </i>Matthew 24:42</span></span></span></strong></div>
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-47327469974837701522012-11-23T14:13:00.001-06:002012-11-23T14:14:47.382-06:00For the Beauty of the EarthNortheastern Oklahoma is usually filled with brilliant colors in the fall, but this year's colors have been, well, muted. Some might even feel that they have been disappointing. A second consecutive year of extreme heat and drought have taken a toll.<br />
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We had far too much heat and too little rain, turning landscapes that would normally be alive with brilliant hues of orange and crimson into dull shades of taupe and brown.</div>
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Still, even when it seemed that the overall landscape was dreary, there were wonderful splashes of color to be found.. </div>
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Sometimes God calls us to look at the big picture. Other times, He calls us to focus a little closer in order to see the details in His handiwork. And He reminds us that, <i>no matter what</i>, there is always beauty to be found.</div>
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Until next time,</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span></div>
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<i>He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. </i>~ Ecclesiastes 3:11</div>
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-43113628766370358912012-10-05T06:00:00.000-05:002012-10-05T06:01:15.698-05:00Be Careful Who (and What) You FollowIt took me awhile to get the hang of it, but once I did, well, the rest is history. I am addicted to Pinterest.<br />
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The concept of creating boards and pinning pictures seemed so absurd that I couldn't imagine why anyone would do it. Then one day an invitation popped up in my email. I ignored it at first but after a few days I decided to go back and see what it was about. I was overwhelmed. It was a couple of weeks before I looked at it again and I still couldn't understand the appeal.<br />
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And then one night I was bored and went back a third time. That's when I was hooked. I've tried very few of the helpful hints that I've pinned and none of the recipes, but I do have my eye on a craft for the near future. I have over 240 craft pins, but I tell myself that I'll get to them someday. At least one is a start.<br />
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One of the people I began to follow was a friend and former coworker. She has four young children so I wasn't surprised that she didn't pin very often. Occasionally I would see a series of pins showing adorable girl's rooms in shades of teal pinned to a board with the name of her oldest daughter. I thought she must be preparing to change the room from little-girl-pink to something that would reflect how quickly her daughter is growing up. Sometimes there were pins of party ideas, or fun treats and I would think about a fun mom she is.<br />
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After watching these pins for a couple of months, I ran into this friend and asked if she was redecorating her daughter's room. She laughed. "No, that's not me. My daughter has hijacked my Pinterest board." It turned out I was following a nine-year-old. And if that was not humbling enough, the nine-year-old had more followers than I did, a fact which made that child positively beam with pride when I told her.<br />
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It got me thinking about how easy it is to allow substitutes to get in the way of the One we should be following. It can be exercise, or travel, or food. It can be relationships, or politics, or, um, Pinterest. It can be work, or family, or church stuff. It can absolutely anything (and everything) that keeps our focus off of Christ.<br />
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And when I realize just how many things I allow to distract me from Christ, that's humbling, too.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<i>"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and <br />take up their cross and follow me."</i> ~ Matthew 16:24b (NIV)</div>
<br />Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-17597786663584532762012-09-15T11:00:00.000-05:002012-09-16T19:39:03.327-05:00Judging by AppearancesIn <a href="http://singleandsane.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-brush-with-history.html" target="_blank">one of my last posts</a>, I told you about going to hear Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein speak as part of the 40th anniversary of Watergate. They only spoke in about 10 cities, so it was a fairly unique opportunity to hear their take on the events firsthand.<br />
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One of the most interesting parts of their talk centered on my favorite president, Gerald Ford. I know, he was president such a short time and you don't hear a lot of people say he's their favorite president, but I have admired him <i>almost </i>from the moment he took the oath of office. There was a bit of a detour in my admiration for him when he granted a pardon to Richard Nixon. That was largely because, at 15, I thought the trial of a former president would be great entertainment. By the time President Ford ran in 1976, I had changed my mind and respected him all the more for the pardon and I was disappointed that I was eight months too young to vote for him.<br />
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It took Woodward and Bernstein a little longer to come around. As they told the story, the Sunday morning that President Ford announced the pardon, Bernstein called Woodward, waking him. He didn't beat around the bush, blurting out "The S.O.B. pardoned the S.O.B." Only he didn't say "S.O.B.". They were both convinced that a deal had been made between Nixon and Ford before Nixon resigned but they could never find any evidence to substantiate their suspicions.</div>
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It was many years later, as the 25th anniversary of the Nixon resignation approached, when Woodward was working on a book and called President Ford and asked if he could talk to him. Ford immediately agreed to an interview. Woodward traveled to California and the two men met for the first time. President Ford spoke about the turmoil the country had already been through in the two years between the Watergate break-in and the resignation of President Nixon and his belief that a trial would have torn the country apart. He truly believed we needed to put it all behind us, and the only way to do that was to grant a pardon. Now he had said this before, including the first sworn testimony a sitting president had ever given before Congress, but it was the face-to-face conversation in the historical context provided by the passage of a quarter century that made Bob Woodward realize he and Carl Bernstein had been wrong about the pardon.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVQ29532Wgueuuh-E5QjmYhKOTE1RQWKBkHXSedam18ZGhFUc6WAeJwkpPXj3sVFNhGJEqkvjpa92MOQDhIYDMtNzD5KsV9cEG63upJo_cnsvpaBam7cD4evIYNk51dzTiNz-ONAG0zeQ/s1600/gerald+ford.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVQ29532Wgueuuh-E5QjmYhKOTE1RQWKBkHXSedam18ZGhFUc6WAeJwkpPXj3sVFNhGJEqkvjpa92MOQDhIYDMtNzD5KsV9cEG63upJo_cnsvpaBam7cD4evIYNk51dzTiNz-ONAG0zeQ/s1600/gerald+ford.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Events-and-Awards/Profile-in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/Gerald-Ford-2001.aspx?t=1" target="_blank">Kennedy Library</a></td></tr>
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Not only were Woodward and Bernstein convinced they had been wrong, but so was a vocal critic of the pardon, Ted Kennedy. Largely as a result of <a href="http://bobwoodward.com/books/shadow" target="_blank">Woodward's book</a>, the Kennedy Library awarded President Ford the <a href="http://www.jfklibrary.org/Events-and-Awards/Profile-in-Courage-Award/Award-Recipients/Gerald-Ford-2001.aspx?t=1" target="_blank">Profile in Courage</a> Award in 2001. This is a portion of Sen. Kennedy's speech as he presented the award:</div>
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<i>At a time of national turmoil, American was fortunate that it was Gerald Ford who took the helm of the storm-tossed ship of state. Unlike many of us at the time, President Ford recognized that the nation had to move forward, and could not do so if there was a continuing effort to prosecute former President Nixon. So President Ford made a courageous decision, one that historians now say cost him his office, and he pardoned Richard Nixon. I was one of those who spoke out against his action then. But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. </i><br />
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It's easy to look at Woodward and Bernstein and wonder why it took them so long to realize they had been wrong, but the truth is we all allow our preconceptions to cloud our thinking. I see liberals who refuse to cut George W. Bush any slack and who question his motives in all areas. I see conservatives who refuse to cut Barack Obama any slack and who question his motives in all areas. If only we could set aside our emotions and political biases for a minute, we might get a glimpse of two decent men, each of whom has made some good decisions and some bad decisions. We might learn that it is possible to respect someone with whom we disagree on many issues. And we might just grow up a bit.<br />
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If only...<br />
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Until next time,</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<i>I said to myself, "In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds."</i> ~ Ecclesiastes 3:17 (NIV)</div>
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-88589570122054780652012-09-11T05:35:00.000-05:002012-09-11T05:35:04.129-05:00Never, Ever, Forget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-64590409052850626792012-07-30T06:00:00.000-05:002012-07-30T06:13:21.822-05:00Ready for This Particular Chicken to Cross the Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you live in the Bible Belt, every shot fired in the culture wars seems to be the shot heard 'round the world, or at least throughout our section of the world.<br />
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The current battlefront can be found at Chick-Fil-A. I refuse to take sides, although I'm sure there are those who think not siding with them (whichever side they're on) <i>is </i>taking a side.</div>
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Call me silly, but I think companies can support whatever causes they may choose to support and customers who don't care for those decisions can choose to take their business elsewhere. That seems simple enough.</div>
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I don't understand Christians turning this into a holy war with snarky comments and pictures on Facebook. These Christians represent <i>both </i>sides of the issue.</div>
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<i>Really? </i>Jesus gave his life for a holy chicken war?</div>
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I think not.</div>
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Paul indicated in I Corinthians that marriage can be a distraction from the Gospel. While he wasn't speaking to this situation, I think it applies. While there are married couples who manage to serve the Lord fully through their marriages, as Paul says, most who are married have divided interests. As Christians, when we let ourselves become distracted by who is or is not supporting gay marriage, we have divided interests. </div>
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Sometimes I wonder if we all have a case of spiritual ADD as we bounce from one battlefront in the culture war to another. Whenever Christians get caught up in this stuff, we're not focused on Christ. We're focused on convincing others that we're right. That's not our job.</div>
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God does not call us to make people just like us, which is a good thing. Jesus unloaded on the Pharisees over that sort of thing, masterfully employing the phrase, "son of hell." (I alternate between chuckling that he used that term to describe religious leaders and feeling convicted that he could be referring to me.)<br />
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We're called to love others. We're called to tell people about Jesus. We're called to tell the world about God's grace. We're called to share the story of God's love for each of us, love demonstrated in Christ's sacrifice.<br />
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Nothing else compares.<br />
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Until next time,</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.</i> ~ 1 John 4:10</span></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-70724543657662787012012-07-14T17:00:00.000-05:002012-07-14T17:00:06.380-05:00My Brush With HistoryI'm a news junkie, largely because I love to watch history unfold. My earliest memory of a national event is President Kennedy's assassination when I was 4, and I have no doubt that's what taught me at an early age that history isn't just in books. It happens all around us. <div>
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So a few months ago when two men whose work was connected to one of those historical events that I watched unfold came to town, naturally I wanted to see them. My friend, Trella, and I looked forward to the night for weeks. We knew we needed to plan better for this one after finding ourselves watching George Will from very bad camera angles on a monitor in a standing-room-only area outside the auditorium where he was speaking a few weeks earlier.</div>
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We arrived two hours early. We were <i>so </i>early that the ushers tried to direct us to the VIP reception to meet the speakers but we knew <strike>we</strike> <i>I</i> wouldn't be able to stop giggling long enough to pull that off. Instead, we went into the basketball arena (the University of Tulsa learned something from George Will's popularity) and carefully chose our seats. Since we were the first to arrive, we had plenty of choices. We decided we wanted to be dead center. Unfortunately, the VIPs who were invited to the reception had several rows of the center section reserved just for them so the closest center seats were many rows back from the stage. Like Goldilocks, we tried those seats for awhile but decided we could do better. By that time others were beginning to arrive so our options were more limited. We moved to the section just to the right of center and found seats near the aisle two or three rows back from the stage.</div>
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We were rewarded for our efforts when the speakers came out, walking right in front of us. One of them was visibly surprised by the size of the crowd - a few thousand people - filling the arena. They took the stage and spoke for an hour or so about their experiences and the historical event which had propelled them to fame decades ago. The whole time I couldn't believe that I was so close to these men who have been household names for most of my life. When they opened the floor to questions, I knew I had to get in line.</div>
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I've never been one of those people who goes anywhere near a microphone in front of a crowd, but here I am, asking my question.</div>
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The first guy responded that my question was a good one. Or maybe he said it was <i>great</i>. No, I think he said it was the <i>best. question. ever</i>. Oh, I have no idea what he said, I just know he indicated he liked the question and I couldn't believe he was looking directly at <i>me </i>as he spoke. Then he turned to the other guy who spoke to me for several minutes as he continued to answer the question. Although his words were obviously intended for everyone in the arena, he looked me directly in the eye the entire time, as though he was speaking only to me as he told a story. It was a thrill I can't begin to explain.</div>
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It was a day or two later before I had a revelation about that night. I was thrilled for the opportunity to talk to these guys who had impacted history. But I get to talk directly to the One who <i>created </i>history every. single. day. And while His Word is clearly intended for everyone, it speaks directly to me each time I read it. Why do I forget that? Why aren't I as excited to greet Him every morning? Why do I take speaking to Him throughout the day for granted? Why do I neglect Him?</div>
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I won't lie. There are still many days when I take my relationship with God for granted, but then are those other times when I break through that indifference -- or more accurately, when I allow <i>Him </i>to break through my indifference -- and I find that I can still have that same feeling with God that I had for those few minutes when two famous guys answered my question. No, that's not right. It's not the same. It's <i>way </i>better.</div>
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Oh, and who were the speakers? These guys -- and Carl even looked up!</div>
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I couldn't have been more excited if they'd been Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, themselves!</div>
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Until next time,</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. </i>~ Revelation 2:4a-5b</span></div>
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<br /></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-50664620526566758082012-05-10T22:30:00.000-05:002012-05-14T07:34:35.768-05:00His Grace is SufficientThere is a street in downtown Tulsa that for most of my life, was one-way -- northbound only. It has been a two-way street for around 10 years now...maybe more. To be honest, it still kind of freaks me out when I see a car coming towards me on Boston Avenue.<br />
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If I worked downtown and drove on Boston every day, I probably wouldn't give it a second thought but as it is, I only drive down that street a few times a year, almost always northbound. I don't think I've driven south on Boston more than half a dozen times in the years since it has been two-way. It just doesn't feel right...it makes me tense and it's almost as though I can hear a voice in my head screaming, <i>"Danger, Will Robinson!"</i> as I see buildings from the "wrong" side.</div>
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But just because it feels wrong to me doesn't mean that it actually <i>is </i>wrong. The city determined years ago that it no longer made sense for Boston to be one-way. They did a study -- I suppose they did, anyway. (I'd hate to think they messed with my head without doing a study first.) They painted a yellow line down the middle of the street. They publicized it in advance and officially declared it a two-way street. But I can't help it. After all these years, a two-way Boston Avenue still doesn't <i>feel </i>right to me.</div>
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Driving down Boston causes an internal struggle for me. Being a member of a Southern Baptist church causes an internal struggle for me, as well, and has for at least 15 years. Don't get me wrong. I agree with most Southern Baptist doctrine. I love my church. That church has been a part of my personal history for over 50 years. Each day as I put on my makeup, I am confronted by a scar over my left eye that has been there since one of the first Sundays I set foot in the church as a 2-year-old child and was injured in the nursery. For many years I have seen that scar as a reminder that God called me to that specific church. </div>
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But it's no secret that many Southern Baptists believe that women are less than men. They don't come out and say it quite that way, but that's their meaning. Most who hold that opinion will tell you that they believe that men and women are <i>sort of equal</i> but were created to serve different purposes, and it just happens that the woman's purpose is to be subservient to men. They point to verses to justify their positions -- verses that were not written in English and that can be translated and interpreted in more than one way. They can read explanations about the different interpretations and still refuse to consider <i>any possibility</i> that perhaps, just <i>perhaps</i>, the interpretation they have clung to all of their lives is not the best interpretation of that scripture. It doesn't feel right to them, just as a two-way Boston Avenue doesn't feel right to me.</div>
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Just because allowing women to serve God wherever He calls us doesn't <i>feel </i>right to some people, doesn't mean it's wrong. God is absolutely the same yesterday, today, and forever. His grace has always been sufficient for <i>all of us</i>, men and women alike. But <i>we </i>were not intended to stay the same yesterday, today, and forever because that would be a sign that we're not growing and maturing in our faith. If we <i>are </i>growing in our faith, we will be changed.<br />
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Not permitting women to serve fully is not an affront to women. It is an affront to the Holy Spirit who indwells each woman who follows Christ, just as He indwells each man who follows Christ. Women do not receive some diluted version of the Holy Spirit. Women don't function in the power of the Holy Spirit on some kind of pro rata basis. We receive a full measure of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. To deny the role of that Spirit within women is to deny God, Himself.</div>
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We cannot deny God and glorify Him at the same time. Until Southern Baptists figure that out, we will never fully be the church that He has called us to be.</div>
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Until next time,</div>
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<i>Margaret</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus</i>. ~ Galatians 3:28</span></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-4894749384232254942012-04-08T00:00:00.009-05:002012-04-08T00:00:01.858-05:00He is Risen!<i>Reprise of a post written in 2010. The message doesn't change...</i><br />
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<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Years ago, when I taught first and second graders in Children's Worship, one of the boys asked me about the Easter story. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">He said, </span><i>"Let me see if I have this right. Jesus came to earth and was born as a baby, then He died on the cross, and He rose from the dead, and because of that I'm saved."</i><br />
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"Yes, that's right."<br />
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<i>"But that doesn't make sense."</i><br />
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"You're right," <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I replied</span>. "It doesn't make sense. God doesn't have to make sense to us. That's what makes it faith."<br />
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<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's impossible for us to intellectualize God...I'm mean He's <i>God</i>. He is all-knowing. He created the heavens and the earth. He created <i>us</i>. How could we begin to intellectualize Him with our puny little brains, and our painfully limited abilty to comprehend <i>All </i>that He is?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's enough to know that He loves us, and that His love for us is so great, that sent His only Son to die as a living sacrifice for us. A Son who was - in every way - a part of God.</span><br />
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Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see</i><span style="text-align: center;">. ~ Hebrews 11:1</span></span></div><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!</span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Alleluia! </span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Comments for this post are closed.</i></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></span></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-14169146222668253032012-04-07T10:15:00.003-05:002012-04-07T13:05:26.563-05:00A Day for ReflectionHoly Week begins with Palm Sunday and Christ's Triumphal into Jerusalem and culminates in the darkness of Good Friday.<br />
<br />
But what about Saturday?<br />
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We have no idea what the disciples were feeling on Saturday. They must have felt inconsolable grief at the loss of their rabbi and friend, but did 10 of them also feel guilt for spending Friday in hiding while John and the women stood at the foot of the cross? Were they still totally overcome with fear for their own lives? Did they think they had been wrong for the previous 3 years? Were they beginning to question who Jesus was? Had they lost hope?<br />
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Saturday surely left them with questions, but Sunday's coming!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pW7UgzFG4v4?rel=0" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sarah Reeves, "Lamb of God"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://youtu.be/pW7UgzFG4v4">http://youtu.be/pW7UgzFG4v4</a></span></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-35312653809824302412012-03-12T12:00:00.003-05:002012-03-12T12:00:02.982-05:00My Lenten Detour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTbEL2Pqcltynf5JB5_KVzNy1HM4H8UsQ77nVH9GTyQHhjJ5_JsBMiJUzHP0PzK_qALQmCaX1nUiJWsO1nhhIsgw7ifwkmnZnYMkNPBl8fGKpcy3x2l4Rd2Dt4Pdh5MS-2wy3Sfib3QLS/s1600/justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTbEL2Pqcltynf5JB5_KVzNy1HM4H8UsQ77nVH9GTyQHhjJ5_JsBMiJUzHP0PzK_qALQmCaX1nUiJWsO1nhhIsgw7ifwkmnZnYMkNPBl8fGKpcy3x2l4Rd2Dt4Pdh5MS-2wy3Sfib3QLS/s200/justice.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I was considering giving up the sin of judging others for Lent...and beyond. Then I remembered I had jury duty.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">I had served twice before. I knew the drill. You show up on Monday, you bring a book -- expecting lots of down time -- and you're released to go back to your own life by Wednesday afternoon. (If anyone thinks we no longer have a draft, I would argue that we do, and we call it jury duty.)</span><br />
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As I walked from the parking garage to the courthouse, I could easily spot my fellow jurors. I thought about how odd it is that we're plucked from our normal lives and kept in the basement of the courthouse for a few days, silently hoping that our names will be called so that we can be released from the boredom of said basement. This time would be different though. This time I would silently pray that my name would not be called.<br />
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The last time I served was 25 years ago and I sat on a jury for first-degree burglary, which meant the house was occupied when burglars broke in during the night. We came back with a guilty verdict, sending the defendant to prison. The time before that I served on a civil jury, deciding a case involving car repairs. What I remember most about that first experience as a juror was that by Tuesday afternoon when my name was finally called, I felt as though I had won a trip to Paris. Whether that was my youthful naivete or just the tedious boredom of the jury room, I don't know. I just remember that getting out of that basement felt like freedom.<br />
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As it turns out, our city has become much more violent over the last 25 years. When I read the paper looking for jury verdicts following my most recent service, I think there were three murder trails and one rape trial decided by the jury pool that I was part of. When they called panels of 38 and 45 for voir dire on Monday morning, I knew that was a bad sign. Shortly after lunch on Monday, my name was called to another panel of 45.<br />
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When we arrived in the courtroom, there was another drawing. Thirty-six of the 45 of us were called into the jury box for voir doir. We soon learned that the defendant had been charged with murder. There were a few of us who had come back with guilty verdicts in previous trials and I think most of us assumed that we would be thanked for our time and sent back to the jury room. The voir dire continued through the afternoon and into the next morning. We were sent downstairs as the attorneys made their final selection, most of us hoping not to be selected. When we were called back up, the names of the final 12 jurors and 2 alternates were read. As we neared the end, I began to breathe a sigh of relief and started to pick up my purse. Then my name was called.<br />
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I don't think there was anyone on that jury who wanted to serve on a murder trial. I know I didn't. It was surreal to find myself listening to opening arguments. But we did it, because that's what we were called to do. And it was a privilege to see the lengths that the courts and the attorneys will go to in order to ensure a fair trial. I wouldn't have thought it possible to truly presume innocence, but I learned that it is. That's something I need to apply better in my own life.<br />
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On the final day, as we entered the deliberation room, roughly half of us were either undecided or leaning not guilty. As we talked through the testimony and the sequence of events, one by one, we each joined those who were convinced of the defendant's guilt. We talked about the difference between <i>no doubt</i> and <i>beyond a reasonable doubt</i>. After several hours of deliberation we came back with a unanimous verdict of guilty.<br />
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I had prayed all week that we would come back with the right verdict. I had prayed for discernment and clarity. For each of us, I think it was something different that persuaded us of guilt. That's how God speaks to us. We each recognize something different in His voice.<br />
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Soon after the verdict was read we found ourselves surrounded by deputies. Other jurors had noticed the anger in the eyes of the defendant's family members who were seated in the gallery. We had kind of joked about wanting security as we returned to our cars (which we received), but suddenly the personal ramifications of the verdict began to feel real. It would have been so much easier on a personal level to say "not guilty". But it would have been the wrong thing to do.<br />
<br />
As the judge spoke to us after everyone else had been released, he quoted the scripture from Matthew 7 about judging others, and assured us that we had not judged the defendant. We had judged his actions.<br />
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Our Christian walk is much like jury duty in that we follow where we're called to follow and we do what we're called to do, even when it's something we would never choose for ourselves. We know our Master's voice, and we respond to His commands. My prayer is that I'll get better (and faster) when it comes to saying, "Yes, Lord."<br />
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My first act of following His directives will be to go back to my original Lenten intention and work on that judgment thing, learning to freely apply the presumption of innocence. For I am judged as I judge others.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
Margaret<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>I can do everything through him who gives me strength.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Philippians 4:13</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-66152860873488842862012-02-16T23:00:00.006-06:002012-02-18T21:11:20.709-06:00The Grace of GodYou often hear people talk about how we choose the wrong people to be our heroes, and they're right. We shouldn't make heroes out of athletes and celebrities. At the same time, we shouldn't be so quick to throw celebrities on life's trash heap.<br />
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I didn't realize how quick I am to do that very thing until last Saturday night, when I heard about the untimely passing of Whitney Houston. I always liked Whitney but I was never a huge fan. I recognized that she had been blessed with a fabulous voice, but there was a time when you could not turn the radio on without hearing one of her songs, and I thought she suffered from a bad case of over-saturation. And then there was the messy marriage, the drugs, and the occasional public embarrassment. I got tired of Whitney and her problems and I filed her under "Fallen from Grace".<br />
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I"m embarrassed to admit that. No one is ever beyond redemption in the eyes of God, and they shouldn't be in my eyes either. God looks at my messiness, my mistakes, and my crummy attitude, and still, He sees me as His beloved child. His grace is never beyond my reach. No matter how many times I rebel against Him, He welcomes me with open arms. And so He welcomed Whitney last Saturday afternoon when she slipped from this life into the next.<br />
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Judging from the hullabaloo in New Jersey over Gov. Christie's decision to fly flags at half-mast this Saturday, there must be a lot of people who dismissed Whitney because of her public failings, just as I had. I understand those who are incensed that the flags are never lowered to half-staff for the funerals of New Jersey's servicemen and women who die in the line duty. I agree that flags should be lowered to honor the true heroes of this nation whenever one is buried to remind each of us to stop for a moment in gratitude for a life lost serving our country.<br />
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But I think it's also fair to lower the flags in New Jersey for a favorite daughter who did not choose to be idolized for it's not Whitney's fault that we choose the wrong people to be our heroes. Yes, she made bad choices, and she disappointed, but who among us has never made bad choices? Who among us has never rebelled against God? Who among us has never made mistakes? When Whitney was on top of her game, New Jersey was proud to claim her. They should be no less proud now. For she is a child of God, and she is loved by the Creator of the Universe. She is a reminder that lasting redemption is possible, but we will not experience the fullness of that redemption in this life.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Long before Whitney, another musician cried out the Lord, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant a willing spirit, to sustain me." Even as Whitney's life sank into the abyss, I'm sure God could see the exuberant joy of a young woman who loved Him with all of her heart. That girl was still inside the middle-age woman but most of us didn't see her anymore. Then this week, we saw all of the videos once again and were reminded of what had been. None showed her optimism and enthusiasm more than Whitney singing the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5jeUINzHK9o" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>http://youtu.be/5jeUINzHK9o</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
I didn't see Whitney perform that night because I was stuck on an airplane at Hobby Airport in Houston for a few hours as fog rolled in, eventually cancelling the flight. I don't remember seeing the video before this past week. As I watch it, I am filled with conflicting emotions. I'm transported back to memories of how we felt as a nation as Desert Storm began and I'm carried away by the sense of patriotism that clearly filled the stadium. I am overwhelmed by a God who would give her such a phenomenal gift and at the same time give her a mother who would see to it that she knew Him. I see Whitney's youthful exuberance and it makes me smile for just a moment before I remember the sad ending to her life, and I begin to feel tears rolling down my cheeks. And I feel shame for ever filing Whitney under "Fallen from Grace", for she has been redeemed.<br />
<br />
Until next time,<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned an fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:21-24</i></span></span> </span> </div></div></div><div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-92101861110639894852012-01-05T22:00:00.004-06:002012-01-06T19:34:03.419-06:00It's Not All About EveI'm tired of taking the rap for Eve. Heck, her husband - who was up to his neck in her deed - wasn't willing to take the rap for her. When God confronted Adam and Eve after they had eaten the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam's response was, "<i>The woman you put here with me -- she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it</i>." Don't get me started on Adam.<br />
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Not that I think for a minute that I would have done any better than either one of them. I know better than that. It's the insinuation by some that the Fall of Man was more Eve's fault than Adam's, when I think the Bible teaches that it was the result of the predilection we <i>all </i>have for rebellion against God. It's the implication by too many that Adam would not have been so easily persuaded by the serpent that offends me. Even if not <i>directly </i>by the serpent, wasn't Adam just as easy to persuade to rebel against God as Eve was?<br />
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It's one of those things for which I intend to have a chat with Paul when we all get to heaven. Just what did he mean in I Timothy 2:14* when he wrote, "<i>And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner</i>"? So what is he saying? Surely he's not implying that Adam didn't become a sinner because that wouldn't be right. Excuse me, but we don't call it the "Fall of Woman".<br />
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We each have a certain amount of cultural conditioning to overcome in our walk with Christ, and Paul surely had a boatload, what with having been a Pharisee and all. Maybe he was guilty of what we Baptists call backsliding when he wrote that verse because it doesn't seem to line up with Genesis 3. More likely, I think that he was well aware that he was writing to people who were new Christians, and who, like Paul, came from a religious background that placed emphasis on following Mosaic law. They didn't have the experience of decades of following Christ in their own spiritual walk. They didn't have the example multiple generations before them who modeled Christlike behavior. They didn't have the benefit of 2,000 years of faithful Christians who had studied the New Testament scriptures and written books and hymns about God's unfathomable grace. For that matter, beyond whatever letters each church had received and/or shared, they didn't even have a New Testament. Many of those early Christians had legalistic baggage they had not yet learned to let go of and more importantly, they lived in a culture that was immersed in that same legalistic baggage. Paul knew his audience in the early churches, and he knew the minds of those who had not yet come to Christ. I think Paul didn't want his words to become a stumbling block to a culture that had enough trouble grasping that God's grace was extended to Gentiles as well as to Jews; never mind trying to explain that God's grace covered women as well as men.<br />
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Even so, I always took the words of I Timothy 2 blaming Eve for the Fall of Man for granted because after all, Eve <i>did </i>take that first bite. There's no getting around that. But then I had an "aha" moment earlier this year when I was reading Genesis. I'm visual, and whenever I think of the Fall, I always picture an image of Eve talking to the serpent that came from the teacher's packet in my first grade Sunday school class. It looked something like this:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmn65bcgE4FO_Wz5nMbKoVChpJZ7Ijjs8cifrTQbErCHhR8GmQS_X2BVHP_uymBFa2I4wSTB8cYyWjEWFtExD9I-XUYTayZiLsR4ne7Bzww7EUU7A43eEneGVnyaX1Z-05bdYrG_w_UkSy/s1600/genesis3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmn65bcgE4FO_Wz5nMbKoVChpJZ7Ijjs8cifrTQbErCHhR8GmQS_X2BVHP_uymBFa2I4wSTB8cYyWjEWFtExD9I-XUYTayZiLsR4ne7Bzww7EUU7A43eEneGVnyaX1Z-05bdYrG_w_UkSy/s1600/genesis3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Google Images</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Naturally, Eve is prominent in the illustration, as is the serpent, and there's that <strike>smoking gun</strike> fruit in her hand. You'll also notice that Adam is nowhere to be found. That's why I had always pictured Adam coming home from a hard day's work tending the garden to find Eve wiping fruit juice from her lips. But in reading Genesis again this past summer, something jumped out at me that in all of my previous readings had never fully registered. <i>Adam was with Eve</i> when she took the bite out of the fruit. How had I missed that? Following the conversation with the serpent, Genesis 3:6-7 says, <br />
<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-j04h5fwwGZp2IMAMkXa1MD40Vb00s1em3rdBQMJLH1SqVoFxD6iWlyuhd6-7Sm7YOx9TS8vMAkFzY03qAsh0wX4SzWugXk4NE_Qg2534Zh1aa1m03i5vR64SqV9E4_GLg4kiyGsV95O/s1600/adam+and+eve.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-j04h5fwwGZp2IMAMkXa1MD40Vb00s1em3rdBQMJLH1SqVoFxD6iWlyuhd6-7Sm7YOx9TS8vMAkFzY03qAsh0wX4SzWugXk4NE_Qg2534Zh1aa1m03i5vR64SqV9E4_GLg4kiyGsV95O/s1600/adam+and+eve.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Microsoft Clip Art</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. <b>She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. </b>Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. </i> </span></div><br />
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Now it's not clear if Adam was around for the serpent's spiel, but it <b>is</b> clear from Genesis 2 that before Eve was formed, God directly told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 says,<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black;">And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”</span> </i></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So I have to wonder, what was Adam thinking when he saw Eve reach for the fruit? Was he curious, too? Had he been tempted to eat the fruit himself? Did he fully comprehend the meaning of death? Did he think it was something from which you could recover? In that split second, did he decide to use Eve as his food taster just to see what would happen? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">If Eve's sin was the first sin of commission, Adam's was the first sin of omission. <b>They occurred simultaneously. </b>And if those who believe that a gender hierarchy was in place from the very beginning of Creation are correct, then it could be argued that Eve's sin was not the first -- that it was Adam's failure to <b>stop </b>Eve from eating the fruit that was actually the first sin.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The death that Adam and Eve experienced did not come in a physical way the day they sinned. Theirs was a slow death, one that began with expulsion from the Garden. We live in a fallen world today not just because of the failure of Adam and Eve to obey God, but because of all the ways <i>each of us </i>continues to rebel against Him. The Fall of Man isn't about Eve's sin. The Fall of Man(kind) is about OUR sins -- the sins of men and women, alike.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There are lots of things about scripture I don't understand but <i>this </i>I know: despite the fallen world in which we live, the God who forgives me my sins is not still holding Eve's sins against me. That's because my Savior paid for Eve's sins the same day He paid for mine. That's the power of Christ's sacrifice. That's the power of God's grace.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Until next time,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This righteousness is given through faith in</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:22-24</span></span></span></i></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">*Revised when I reread this after posting and realized that on a roll, I had inexplicably typed I Peter (not once, but <i>twice</i>) instead of I Timothy. As the governor of my native state would say, "Oops." </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b><br />
</b></span>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-23116891735112825132011-12-22T07:00:00.002-06:002011-12-22T14:39:20.126-06:00I Have Seen the Light!As I mentioned a few posts <a href="http://singleandsane.blogspot.com/2011/11/angels-and-men-rejoice.html" target="_blank">back</a>, I have been listening to Christmas music since Halloween because I need a couple of months to hear everything I want to hear..and I want to hear everything more than once.<br />
<br />
Last week I realized I had not yet heard one of my favorites, <i>I Have Seen the Light</i>. One of the things I love about this song is that it's written for men's voices. So often it seems that men at church don't like to sing so I like the encouragement men's voices lend to the guys in the congregation. That and it has a beat a girl could dance to, and listening to it makes me smile.<br />
<br />
I found a wonderful version on YouTube. I tried to find one from a Living Christmas Tree because my church had one for years and if you've never seen one, it's a sight to behold. There were several of those, but my <i>favorite </i>version didn't have a tree - it's just fabulous voices from Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover, Alabama. (If you look at the background, you'll even see that Baptist choir swaying to the music.) Enjoy!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BC8rzT_Fqos" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://youtu.be/BC8rzT_Fqos"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">http://youtu.be/BC8rzT_Fqos</span></a></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Have a wonderful Christmas!<br />
<br />
Until next time,<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">“</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”</span></span> ~ John 8:12 (NIV)</i></span></div><br />
.Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-17713907276653825902011-12-20T14:00:00.000-06:002011-12-20T14:06:04.122-06:00Expecting the UnexpectedGod doesn't color inside the lines. You know how I know that? Because He chose to use a girl to bring his plan to save the world to fruition. There was nothing about Mary's station in life to qualify her for such a position. She wasn't just a girl, she was a <i>teenager </i>for crying out loud. She was poor. She was betrothed, but not yet married. Her family had no influence.<br />
<br />
Mary was the last person anyone would have expected God to use in such a miraculous fashion, yet she was an integral part of His plan. Religious leaders of the day certainly weren't looking for an unwed teenage mother to deliver the Child through whom the entire world could find deliverance. Despite the prophecies, they weren't looking for an infant in Bethlehem. Their preconceptions about who God could use led them to miss the Messiah.<br />
<br />
There were exceptions, of course. The shepherds who were out minding their own business were easy converts when an angel showed up with a story to tell, soon accompanied by a heavenly host praising God. There were also devoted servants of God who understood the prophecies and who immediately recognized Jesus for who He was when He was just a few weeks old.<br />
<br />
From Luke 2:25-38:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3psJSRDr6qwuXb1CCvw8Z6eNZ06htIlaWROnfGLztCMwEVDD8P0TbLZH725JWWh5ZKwqrqPnO-0zMAtIvCmq70FQ8O_9LWKPXsJ5AdQx-ziPO4oNYE-W8eUA25Kvm7aBDpy3gvbyMWoA/s1600/Mary.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3psJSRDr6qwuXb1CCvw8Z6eNZ06htIlaWROnfGLztCMwEVDD8P0TbLZH725JWWh5ZKwqrqPnO-0zMAtIvCmq70FQ8O_9LWKPXsJ5AdQx-ziPO4oNYE-W8eUA25Kvm7aBDpy3gvbyMWoA/s200/Mary.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Microsoft Clip Art</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“<span style="font-size: small;">Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (NIV)</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Simeon and Anna recognized God's handiwork, even when He colored outside the lines. They understood that it's not our job to tell God who He can use, or how He can act. They understood that when God says that something will happen, it <i>will </i>happen, even if His methods don't make sense. They understood that when it comes to God, you have to expect the unexpected...especially if He's already told you exactly what He's going to do.<br />
<br />
Until next time,<br />
Margaret<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel</i></span></span><i> (God with us)</i>. ~ Isaiah 7:14</span></div></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-73171474911537151492011-12-17T07:00:00.033-06:002011-12-17T11:56:42.105-06:00In the Eye of the BeholderI have a confession. I <i>adore </i>Christmas sweaters.<br />
<br />
I know, I know. Popular opinion has deemed them ugly, <i>tacky </i>even. I blame the GenXers and Millennials who put them in the same category as mom jeans. They'll never know how fun it was to dress as gaudy as you pleased for 3 weeks out of the year without looking like a hooker. What's next? Are they going to tell me that Santa's not real?<br />
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I'll concede that a lot of Christmas sweaters are quite ugly. As for tacky, well, I'll give you that one, too. That's precisely their appeal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJzynYpUxUOm4MiDZ5J0c34PE-dMdCI5sM_sCkg6BkwBceWxGVaXxfy-n_eDdegBgdEdJraLAnZxyxlWKlqcG83QS91v0bMUCfciTOeEGQfeus65PtAWNACNapLah1XrRma86tBMYbLRK/s1600/Christmas+Tinsel+Tree1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJzynYpUxUOm4MiDZ5J0c34PE-dMdCI5sM_sCkg6BkwBceWxGVaXxfy-n_eDdegBgdEdJraLAnZxyxlWKlqcG83QS91v0bMUCfciTOeEGQfeus65PtAWNACNapLah1XrRma86tBMYbLRK/s200/Christmas+Tinsel+Tree1.jpg" width="101" /></a></div>Maybe it's the same reason I'm drawn to pink flamingos (I don't own any, mind you) and pink tinsel Christmas trees. (It's just possible that I have a <i>small </i>pink tinsel tree. Just ignore the picture on the right.)<br />
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Until the War on Christmas Sweaters was launched, I never had a problem wearing a Christmas sweater in public. I didn't feel as bad if I hadn't put my tree up (the regular green variety) if I could <i>personally </i>be bedecked and bedazzled. Now if I wear a Christmas sweater, I'm afraid I look like the eccentric old aunt that no one wants to claim. <i>Sigh</i>.<br />
<br />
Savannah Guthrie did a story on ugly Christmas sweaters this week and I actually own one of the sweaters she featured during a trip to a thrift store. (It's the green one that Savannah deems "pretty" in the video. I suspect that means her crazy old aunt has the same sweater.)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" height="245" id="msnbc48cc85" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=45666647&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc48cc85" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=45666647&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9439521-anchors-don-ugly-christmas-sweaters-whose-was-the-worst"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/14/9439521-anchors-don-ugly-christmas-sweaters-whose-was-the-worst</span></a></div><br />
I particularly liked the one Matt Damon put on, although viewers voted it the ugliest of all in a poll, which I would like to stress was <i>non-scientific</i>. It was cuter on Savannah when she wore it to deliver fruitcake to Brian Williams but it really wasn't the best look for Matt. (The striped tie is the crowning touch.) Despite its ranking in the poll, I think it would make an <i>adorable </i>Christmas pillow. It would look so cute with the pink tinsel tree that I may or may not own.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtQbnJhB3gNwB8Bxr1yucvDs3sPAmABnM2WWz07fQbz7KzNPksKZCDjqv8eWybKMcLk0Z1ePZlPbHCGzvUTXUQuv2_EbB2xyiIxpLvehVtW3JV3sICfCIFZ404QqAmpZGguaw25s2UGgu/s1600/matt+damon+christmas+sweater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtQbnJhB3gNwB8Bxr1yucvDs3sPAmABnM2WWz07fQbz7KzNPksKZCDjqv8eWybKMcLk0Z1ePZlPbHCGzvUTXUQuv2_EbB2xyiIxpLvehVtW3JV3sICfCIFZ404QqAmpZGguaw25s2UGgu/s320/matt+damon+christmas+sweater.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com/" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
Since I will no longer embarrass my family by wearing them, my Christmas sweaters are all in a corner of my closet, waiting for a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party excuse to come out and see the light of day. And since everything comes back sooner or later, their day will surely come again. If not, I'll eventually become old enough and eccentric enough that my nieces and nephews will just have to deal with having an aunt who wants to look like a bloomin' Christmas tree. ;-)<br />
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Until next time,<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;"><i>“The L<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span> does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the L<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span> looks at the heart.”</i></span><i> </i>~ I Samuel 16:7</span></div><br />
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</div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-41468986168692864602011-12-14T19:00:00.003-06:002011-12-14T19:10:23.476-06:00Hope: To Expect With Confidence<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: georgia, 'bookman old style', 'palatino linotype', 'book antiqua', palatino, 'trebuchet ms', helvetica, garamond, sans-serif, arial, verdana, 'avante garde', 'century gothic', 'comic sans ms', times, 'times new roman', serif;">"Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them." ~ Vincent McNabb</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt;"> </span> </span></span> </div><br />
<br />
Sometimes I wonder if our collective memories are all shot. We seem to have forgotten much of our (relatively) recent history.<br />
<br />
Exhibit A: Readers of <i>Men's Health</i> magazine recently voted Jennifer Aniston "<a href="http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/hottest-women-all-time" target="_blank"><b>The Hottest Woman of All Time</b></a>". <i>All time???</i> OK, it turns out that they only included women who had been photographed, but still, it seems that Jen beat out a lot of other women from decades past. I will confess that I found a certain satisfaction on Jennifer's behalf when I saw that she had garnered the Number 1 spot while Angelina Jolie came in at Number 10. Then I realized that Madonna came in at Number 5, further evidence that I have no earthly idea what men find appealing. It's not that I begrudge Jennifer Aniston's placement at the top of the poll but I wonder if it's a sign that the men who voted have frightfully short memories...or maybe they are all just <i>very </i>young.<br />
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I see evidence of our short memories everywhere. I see it in the endless political polls. I see it in fashion. (Five inch heels will mess up your feet in ways you've never imagined, they're bad for your knees, and we've known these things about five inch heels for a <i>long, long </i>time.) <br />
<br />
People seem to be particularly downcast these days and as the effects of the recession linger on, many seem to think things are the worst they've ever been. Christmas is just a few days away, and it seems that far too many people are filled with despair. It's more than the economy. It's the sense that we don't quite know what our place is in a rapidly changing world. There is fear for the future. There are people who are convinced that things have never been this bad when the truth is that there have been times that were <i>far </i>worse, and yet people got through them largely because they never quit dreaming of a brighter future. They never gave up hope. <br />
<br />
I wonder how my paternal grandparents dealt with the worst period of their lives. Beginning shortly after Pearl Harbor, they watched as all of their sons and some sons-in-law left home to fight in World War II. They faced Christmas of 1944 with the realization that their oldest son would never come home and undoubtedly feared for the safety of their remaining sons. It was the most painful loss that any parent can experience and I'm sure they felt the full depth of that pain with every breath. If hope was gone for them that Christmas, it would return as their faith played a significant role in leading them to find hope and healing.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkNdVKrB-UOzCHNO_u4-94aISsPyVBz4Bs-HJxkRbr5kMifV5FK3JQVmPkIF4V098twKQpGtKXsD6Nq62DlPlXlxZeDkN3aP-q9nD8x3Feikktv8uYYCNEZi_76kMUyg4E4q-AAFQCuVV/s1600/stocking.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkNdVKrB-UOzCHNO_u4-94aISsPyVBz4Bs-HJxkRbr5kMifV5FK3JQVmPkIF4V098twKQpGtKXsD6Nq62DlPlXlxZeDkN3aP-q9nD8x3Feikktv8uYYCNEZi_76kMUyg4E4q-AAFQCuVV/s200/stocking.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Source: Google Images</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>All four of my grandparents struggled to raise their families during the Great Depression. They went through year after year of lean times. Any gifts were modest, and each Christmas the stockings were filled with fruit and a few pecans. They felt blessed, never giving up hope that things <u>would</u> get better.<br />
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Their own grandparents had lived through what were truly the darkest days of our nation's history, a time when we were at war against ourselves. As I write this post, there is a Victorian loveseat just a few feet away from me that was in my great-great-grandparents' <strike>living room</strike> parlor during the Civil War. I wonder what their feelings were as they sat on that loveseat...were they filled with hope, or did they feel despair? Did they turn to God for comfort, or were they consumed by fear?<br />
<br />
The journal of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow makes it clear that he was filled with despair during those years. Shortly after the war began, Henry lost his wife when her dress caught fire and she was soon consumed by the flames. That Christmas he wrote in his journal, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." The next Christmas, in 1862, he wrote, "'A merry Christmas' say the children, but that is no more for me." There was no entry for Christmas of 1863. Not long before that Christmas, Longfellow had received the news that his eldest son had been injured in the war. Perhaps it was because Lt. Charles Longfellow survived his injuries, but by Christmas of 1864, Henry was evidently feeling more optimistic. That was they year that Longfellow wrote a poem that has become a favorite for many, <i>Christmas Bells</i>. In 1872, John Baptiste Calkin set the poem to music, deleting verses specific to the Civil War. Today, we know the poem as<i> I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day</i>.<br />
<br />
This is the poem with all seven of the original verses. It echoes the ups and downs of Longfellow's life and his reflections on the war, ending with that glorious verse brimming over with hope.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><b>Christmas Bells</b></i></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I heard the bells on Christmas Day</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Their old familiar carols play,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And wild and sweet</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The words repeat</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And thought how, as the day had come,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The belfries of all Christendom</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Had rolled along</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The unbroken song</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Till, ringing, singing on its way,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The world revolved from night to day,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A voice, a chime</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A chant sublime</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then from each black accursed mouth</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The cannon thundered in the South,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And with the sound</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The carols drowned</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">It was as if an earthquake rent</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The hearth-stones of a continent,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And made forlorn</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The households born</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"There is no peace on earth," I said;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"For hate is strong,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And mocks the song</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Wrong shall fail,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Right prevail,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With peace on earth, good-will to men!</span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>The last verse is one of my favorite verses of any hymn. "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!'" May those words encourage anyone who looks to the future with trepidation to remember that God <i>is </i>in control, and that with Him there is <i>always </i>hope for the future.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified...for the L</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span><span style="font-size: small;"> your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.</span></i> ~ <span style="font-size: small;">Deuteronomy 31:6</span></span></span></span></div><i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“<span style="font-size: small;">For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the L</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">ORD</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”</span></span> </i>~ Jeremiah 29:11</span></div><br />
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</div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-27008928661858523812011-12-07T19:30:00.014-06:002011-12-07T21:01:36.254-06:00It's Not the Name That MattersOnce upon a time, and not all that long ago, "the holidays" referred to the period from Thanksgiving to New Year's. It was the stuff of which movies and songs were made. We looked forward to watching "Holiday Inn" on TV and we listened to Steve and Edie sing, "Happy Holidays". We openly wished our friends, "Happy Holidays!" as often as we said, "Merry Christmas!" and we didn't feel a need to apologize for either greeting.<br />
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We all understood that for many of us, the most important holiday in the aforementioned period was Christmas but we didn't feel a need to make it an issue because we also understood that everyone was not a Christian. Then something happened. Someone decided that the word "holiday" was an assault on Christianity and they found lots of people who agreed, that yes, that's what it was...an assault on Christianity.<br />
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Last year the debate over the use of the H-word brought national attention to my hometown. It all started when one of our US Senators decided he would not ride his horse in what was formerly known as the Christmas Parade of Lights but had been renamed (a year earlier, a point he evidently failed to notice) the <i>Holiday </i>Parade of Lights.<br />
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The controversy that followed did not escape <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-6-2010/the-gretch-who-saved-the-war-on-christmas" target="_blank"><b>Jon Stewart's</b></a> attention. As Stewart pointed out, Christianity survived the Roman Empire, and it will surely survive the renaming of Tulsa's parade. But goodness me. When Jon Stewart makes fun of the hullabaloo over your parade, you know things have gotten out of hand.<br />
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There was a mixed reaction to the parade controversy. There were Christians who sided with the senator, saying they were glad someone was "taking a stand". Other Christians felt that the fact there was a controversy at all over the H-word was an embarrassment.<br />
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I leaned towards the latter. I thought the Christian community looked like a petulant 2-year-old who has a toy they don't want to share. There are two problems with that. One is that Jesus does not "belong" to His followers. <b><i>We belong to Him</i></b>. The second problem is that we are called to tell others about Christ, and I believe that Christmas is a time when some are more open to the message of a light shining in the darkness of their lives. That message is often drowned out by Christians who are busy screaming, "Mine!" every December. There are Christians who bristle at the inclusiveness of the word "holiday" but if we're called to share Christ, doesn't He <i>demand </i>inclusiveness?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWG8_tg4vHrQ5CRf_BmRJ2MouLwTViKt0MvqnDibLbUg249jsbfJVXWjBNrQNroWws3RYR6O0VY2ZbStX3jw4WfrXD0FZmt4Cvt_PWa0t2a56vLeYam_lvfqKlJy7y2XU18ATjuiOZA1Ya/s1600/Santa+Sleigh.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWG8_tg4vHrQ5CRf_BmRJ2MouLwTViKt0MvqnDibLbUg249jsbfJVXWjBNrQNroWws3RYR6O0VY2ZbStX3jw4WfrXD0FZmt4Cvt_PWa0t2a56vLeYam_lvfqKlJy7y2XU18ATjuiOZA1Ya/s1600/Santa+Sleigh.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <i>Microsoft </i>Clip Art</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's been 15 years or more since I've been to the parade, but I have no memory of baby Jesus being the star of the show. There were always a few church floats, business floats, school floats and bands, local TV anchors, and of course, the main attraction, Santa. But despite the parade's name and the presence of some churches, the parade was <i>never </i>about Jesus. The change from a daytime parade to a "Parade of Lights" came about not as a way to allow Christ's light to shine, but because the main sponsor was the local electric company. I have to think Jesus is totally cool with not being featured in a parade that's primary purpose is well, <i>commercial</i>.<br />
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Indeed, I think there are times when Christ would probably just as soon we left His name out of things that don't really honor Him, at all. As much as our economy is driven by consumerism, and knowing that businesses rely on Christmas shopping to make a profit, I don't think Christ feels particularly honored when we use the celebration of His birth as an excuse for extravagant giving in order to impress others. I don't think He feels glorified by Christmas parties that have nothing to do with God's love for us. I don't think He is impressed when we "stand up for Him" in a way that builds walls that prevent others from coming to Him. (While I hesitate to say how Jesus would respond to those of us who profess to follow Him but who build walls to keep others away, I suspect it would start with the phrase, "<i>Woe to you...</i>")<br />
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Which brings me back to the parade. This year, there will be competing parades, held on the same night and at the same time. The Holiday Parade of Lights will be held downtown, as it always has been.<br />
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There will also be a "Christmas parade", which will be held at a local shopping center. Supporters of the Christmas parade say they will attend because the parade has honored Christ in its name. However, according to the <a href="http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=5541"><b><i>Tulsa Beacon</i></b></a>, the location was selected "because there are almost no retail shops downtown." <i>Really?</i> I didn't realize retail shops were required in order to honor Christ. An organizer - who happens to be running for office - went on to say, "Our new...shopping center is becoming the more frequent first choice for shoppers. We have chosen this location for our first (hopefully of many) annual Christmas parade." Is it me, or does this parade seem to be about retail businesses? There's nothing wrong with a parade being centered around shopping, that's how our downtown parade began back when most stores were located downtown. But don't pretend it's something spiritual when clearly, it's not.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvJi7u9909iqcRokDUPPHCkEqsWnq53ilhg30tQOX6YltMk_pgfTT30gkgSob0-EtAKatO5D7rKj8UK_YAgutY6KSjC45lhj9SDAzooBQvPjAsp7g3qiDynsyEOWDJ53y4r3VAy76yFEU/s1600/Gethsemane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvJi7u9909iqcRokDUPPHCkEqsWnq53ilhg30tQOX6YltMk_pgfTT30gkgSob0-EtAKatO5D7rKj8UK_YAgutY6KSjC45lhj9SDAzooBQvPjAsp7g3qiDynsyEOWDJ53y4r3VAy76yFEU/s200/Gethsemane.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>As He prayed at Gethsemane in His final hours, Christ prayed for future believers who would come to Him through the message of those who already believed. He prayed for <i>us </i>in those early morning hours as He waited for the soldiers who would lead him to the Cross. Christ prayed that we would hear His message and come to know the grace of God. Now it's our turn to spread the message, and that message is one of love and grace. Is that the message we're sending?<br />
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May <i>you </i>experience the love of Christ throughout this holiday season.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Margaret</i></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">My prayers is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one -- I in them and you in me -- so that they may be brought to complete unity. </span></b></i><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.</span> </b></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>~ John 17:20-23</b></span></div><i><br />
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</span></div></div>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6658367767843980800.post-81726214216866118492011-12-05T22:30:00.001-06:002011-12-05T23:57:41.125-06:00Angels and Men Rejoice!My maternal grandparents were extremely legalistic about the Christmas season. It lasted exactly one week. They never put the tree up before Christmas Eve and it absolutely had to come down on New Year's Eve. I always wondered if they had any idea how much joy they missed by limiting Christmas to such a narrow window of time.<br />
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Maybe that's why I start listening to Christmas music around Halloween, something for which I refuse to apologize. What baffles me is why it disturbs so many people. A couple of weeks ago I heard someone at the mall complaining about the Christmas music. "It's too soon," she said. "I'm already sick of it." Sick of Christmas music? In my mind, that just doesn't compute.<br />
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It seems to me that despite all of the options available, most of us tend to listen to one or two specific genres of music. Our preferences might be country, jazz, songs from our youth, or current hits, but we still listen to basically the same songs over and over and over again throughout the year. But there are a lot of people who want to restrict Christmas carols to a period of about four weeks. They have no idea how many different songs I want to hear more than once...<b>it can't be done in four weeks</b>.<br />
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I'm not talking about <i>Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer</i> here. Heavens, no. If I hear that once a season, it's one time too many. I'm talking about songs that herald the joy of Christmas.<br />
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It can be Bing Crosby and Davie Bowie singing <i>Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy </i>or a choir singing <i>Joy to the World</i>. It can be a contemporary artist or it can be Rosemary Clooney. It can be be secular...I love John Lennon's <i>Happy Christmas (War is Over)</i> and the hope it represents. It can be the ancient sound of <i>O Come, O Come Emmanuel, </i>the familiar strains of <i>For Unto Us a Child is Born</i>, or the more recent <i>Breath of Heaven</i>. All of these songs remind me of a season that represents the full depth of God's love for us, that He would send His only Son to live among us and to be a living sacrifice for us.<br />
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When you think how long the world waited for the Messiah, is it really too much to spend a couple of months a year anticipating His arrival all over again through music? Is it ever wrong to rejoice over the reality of Emmanuel...God with us? Is it ever too soon to sing, "O come, let us adore Him?"<br />
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One of my favorite Christmas songs is a newer song, <i>All Is Well</i>, by Wayne Kirkpatrick with music by Michael W. Smith. I love the music, and I love the words. You can listen to it on <a href="http://youtu.be/yAyplzXmjVE">YouTube</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yAyplzXmjVE" width="420"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAyplzXmjVE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAyplzXmjVE</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>How early do you start listening to Christmas music? What are your favorite Christmas songs?<br />
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Until next time,<br />
Margaret<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>and the government will be on his shoulders.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Isaiah 9:6</span></div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span>Single and Sanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01088040256596780195noreply@blogger.com5