September 11, 2011
August 14, 2011
The Eye of the Beholder
It's always amazing to me when two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different. Remember Nancy Reagan's first Inaugural gown? Some people looked at the one-shouldered white dress and saw classic elegance.
Others saw this:
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| Source: Google Images |
Others saw this:
August 5, 2011
Nothing New Under the Sun
No doubt you've heard that we're sizzling in the middle of the United States. Seriously, sizzling. Adding insult to injury, voluntary water rationing began this week so we're supposed to limit outside watering to every-other-day, between the hours of midnight to noon...when I'm usually either asleep or at work. So, for the foreseeable future, it looks like I'll be up at 5:00 a.m. every-other-day to water, which leaves me with some time on my hands to write about the things I have been tossing around in my head.
As we have watched weather records fall this summer with temperatures reaching new highs, I have found myself thinking that every generation needs its very own summer from you-know-where to tell their children about. I grew up hearing all about the summer of 1936, when not only was there no air-conditioning, but my mother's family didn't even own a fan. My friends' kids grew up hearing tales about the summer of 1980 when, mercifully, central air-conditioning was pretty standard. The thing I remember most about that summer was when the day came that the high was only 90 degrees, it seemed as though everyone in town was driving around with their windows down to feel the "cool" breeze. The summer of 2011 is another one of those summers that generations to come will grow up hearing all about, thinking it will never be THAT hot again. But the truth is, there will be another summer like this...we just hope it will be decades from now.
Each generation has to learn truths about life for themselves. My mom gets a kick out of watching the epiphany as each generation of parents stumbles onto something "new" that isn't new, at all. You should hear her on the topic of lead paint. "Do they think they're the first ones to figure out that lead paint is dangerous? What, do they think we were feeding paint chips to our kids? Honestly, how do they think we survived without them?"
I found myself doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago when I was watching Today. Natalie Morales, who is in her late 30s, was doing a segment on how GenX women are re-inventing 40. Seriously? They think this is new? I remember Jane Pauley doing almost exactly the same segment a little over 20 years ago, and I feel sure that Barbara Walters probably did a similar segment as she approached 40. It's only new to today's generation of late 30-somethings because they weren't paying attention 20 years ago. There wasn't any reason for them to notice it. They weren't ready for the story about reinventing 40 when they were in their late teens. It had no relevance for them.
Spiritual truths work the same way. We all have to discover them when we're ready. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we're not. It takes us time to catch up - not to where He is - just to where He wants us to be at any given point in our lives. And He is always willing to wait patiently for us to get there, knowing that when we do, we'll still have further to go. He will show us exactly what we need for that part of our journey, preparing us for what's ahead, when He'll show us a little more...
Until next time,
Margaret
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| Source: www.free-extras.com |
Each generation has to learn truths about life for themselves. My mom gets a kick out of watching the epiphany as each generation of parents stumbles onto something "new" that isn't new, at all. You should hear her on the topic of lead paint. "Do they think they're the first ones to figure out that lead paint is dangerous? What, do they think we were feeding paint chips to our kids? Honestly, how do they think we survived without them?"
I found myself doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago when I was watching Today. Natalie Morales, who is in her late 30s, was doing a segment on how GenX women are re-inventing 40. Seriously? They think this is new? I remember Jane Pauley doing almost exactly the same segment a little over 20 years ago, and I feel sure that Barbara Walters probably did a similar segment as she approached 40. It's only new to today's generation of late 30-somethings because they weren't paying attention 20 years ago. There wasn't any reason for them to notice it. They weren't ready for the story about reinventing 40 when they were in their late teens. It had no relevance for them.
Spiritual truths work the same way. We all have to discover them when we're ready. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we're not. It takes us time to catch up - not to where He is - just to where He wants us to be at any given point in our lives. And He is always willing to wait patiently for us to get there, knowing that when we do, we'll still have further to go. He will show us exactly what we need for that part of our journey, preparing us for what's ahead, when He'll show us a little more...
Until next time,
Margaret
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV)
May 21, 2011
Rapture Saturday
I can't remember the last time we had such a wacky week We had so many sex scandals that Thursday morning when I turned the car radio on and found the station was in the middle of a news story, it took me a few seconds to decided if they were talking about the French cad or the Arnold cad. (For the record, it was the French cad, and of course his alleged behavior far exceeds that of a run-of-the-mill sex scandal as he has been accused of criminal behavior.)
Then there was the spectacle of a potential presidential candidate "dropping out" of the race he never officially entered, at a roll-out of a major network's fall television season. Really? Is this where we're going to discuss the important issues confronting our nation? Of course it's not.
By the end of the week, we were all enraptured by talk of the rapture. While I take the promise of Christ's return seriously, I can't help but laugh out loud at the idea that anyone could figure out the hour and day by coming up with just the right mathematical formula. It's not because math was my worst subject. It's that Jesus made it clear that no one knows the hour or the day - not even the Son.
I know that to a lot of people, the very idea of a rapture - of Jesus coming to claim believers and take them up into heaven - is nuts. And perhaps by choosing a word like "rapture" to describe such an event, Christ's followers have encouraged such cynicism.
But despite the fact that the term "rapture" isn't biblical, the concept is. Jesus refers to his coming again and tells his disciples to be prepared. In Matthew he tells them that the day will come when all the nations "will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens of the other." Now we know that Jesus often spoke in figurative terms. If his disciples had realized he was talking about his body when he told them that the temple would be destroyed and he would raise it again in three days, they'd have been hanging out at the tomb following the crucifixion. They would have been actual witness to more than an empty tomb - they would have been waiting in anticipation of watching him walk out of that tomb.
I don't know if Jesus is speaking in literal or figurative terms when he tells what his second coming will look like. I suspect we'll be surprised by the reality, much as we were surprised by the baby in the manger. But I know that whatever it looks like, we won't miss it. And we won't need to worry about anyone's ability to come up with the right math formula to be ready for it.
As for today, it looks like instead of waiting for Jesus to come around dinnertime, I'll be cleaning house. Because tomorrow is another day and I'd like to wake up on clean sheets.
Blessings,
Then there was the spectacle of a potential presidential candidate "dropping out" of the race he never officially entered, at a roll-out of a major network's fall television season. Really? Is this where we're going to discuss the important issues confronting our nation? Of course it's not.
I know that to a lot of people, the very idea of a rapture - of Jesus coming to claim believers and take them up into heaven - is nuts. And perhaps by choosing a word like "rapture" to describe such an event, Christ's followers have encouraged such cynicism.
But despite the fact that the term "rapture" isn't biblical, the concept is. Jesus refers to his coming again and tells his disciples to be prepared. In Matthew he tells them that the day will come when all the nations "will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens of the other." Now we know that Jesus often spoke in figurative terms. If his disciples had realized he was talking about his body when he told them that the temple would be destroyed and he would raise it again in three days, they'd have been hanging out at the tomb following the crucifixion. They would have been actual witness to more than an empty tomb - they would have been waiting in anticipation of watching him walk out of that tomb.
I don't know if Jesus is speaking in literal or figurative terms when he tells what his second coming will look like. I suspect we'll be surprised by the reality, much as we were surprised by the baby in the manger. But I know that whatever it looks like, we won't miss it. And we won't need to worry about anyone's ability to come up with the right math formula to be ready for it.
As for today, it looks like instead of waiting for Jesus to come around dinnertime, I'll be cleaning house. Because tomorrow is another day and I'd like to wake up on clean sheets.
Blessings,
Margaret
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
~ I Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
April 20, 2011
Easter Carols
Growing up, there were Christmas hymns that I dreaded hearing in church. While I loved Hark, The Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, and Silent Night, there were others that I just didn't think sounded at all Christmasy. I don't know what it was in my 6-year-old brain that considered Silent Night worthy of Christmas, but O Holy Night not, but that's how I felt. Now, my middle-aged brain finds it irritating that O Holy Night is almost never included in my church's Christmas Eve service. (I can only assume that someone on our staff must have been traumatized at some point in life by one too many bad O Holy Night solos.)
While I still love the jubilant and the sentimental carols, I have come to love the haunting ones just as much...maybe even more. While Holy Week always brings to my mind the more traditional songs of Easter, such as Were You There? and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, I also find the more haunting hymns of Christmas running through my mind this week, long after the Christmas decorations have been put away. These are the hymns that remind me that it is impossible to separate the Baby in the manger from the Savior on the Cross, for they are one and the same.
Beginning with Palm Sunday, I find myself singing the first verse of I Wonder As I Wander as it runs through my head over and over again. My mind simply will not let it go...
Then there's O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It's a song that has been sung for hundreds of years - although most of those years it was sung in Latin. It's easy to imagine Christians who lived in the 15th century singing the mystical tune with words that paint a clear portrait of the Lamb of God. As I listen to it, I am overcome by the realization that Christ came to ransom more than captive Israel. He came to ransom all of captive mankind. He came to ransom me.
Just as I have learned that it is impossible to separate the manger from the cross, I have leaned that the joy of Christmas, the sorrow of Good Friday, and the jubilation of the Resurrection are all intertwined. And perhaps nothing says that better than the last verse of that Christmas carol I didn't care for as a child.
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| Source: Google Images |
Beginning with Palm Sunday, I find myself singing the first verse of I Wonder As I Wander as it runs through my head over and over again. My mind simply will not let it go...
I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus, the Savior, did come forth to die,
For poor ornery people like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander...
Out under the sky.
Then there's O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It's a song that has been sung for hundreds of years - although most of those years it was sung in Latin. It's easy to imagine Christians who lived in the 15th century singing the mystical tune with words that paint a clear portrait of the Lamb of God. As I listen to it, I am overcome by the realization that Christ came to ransom more than captive Israel. He came to ransom all of captive mankind. He came to ransom me.
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Just as I have learned that it is impossible to separate the manger from the cross, I have leaned that the joy of Christmas, the sorrow of Good Friday, and the jubilation of the Resurrection are all intertwined. And perhaps nothing says that better than the last verse of that Christmas carol I didn't care for as a child.
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love, and His gospel is peace;
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name;
Christ is the Lord, Oh, praise His name forever!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
Blessings to you this Easter,
Margaret
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
~Isaiah 53:5
March 27, 2011
The Single Pastor
Death and taxes are only two of life's certainties. There are others.
For instance, if a tornado hits Oklahoma, network reporters will invariably seek out video of the person with the strongest Okie twang and the worst grammar to share their tornado survival story on the national news.While our hearts go out to anyone who has been so traumatized, I have to tell you, we always wonder why they never seem to be able to find any articulate tornado victims to interview. Believe me, there are plenty of articulate people who have survived tornadoes.
Another certainty? Whenever evangelical churches do something questionable, The New York Times will not only write about it, but they will go out of their way to include a quote from Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. It's also fairly certain that whatever Dr. Mohler says will make me cringe.
Almlie, who has years of experience behind him, says he has responded to more than 500 job postings. Some churches reply and request more information, but never contact him again once they learn he is single.
He believes there is a bias against single pastors, and I think his point is valid.
March 16, 2011
Murphy's Law
The events of the past week have been incomprehensible, beginning with a 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Japan, followed by a tsunami that wiped out entire towns, and now a nuclear crisis. As we watch the pictures, it's hard to believe it's real. The home videos of the tsunami look like special effects from a disaster movie.
There are those who say it's God's judgment. I don't agree with that but I do believe it's the result of living in an imperfect world. That said, I also believe the images of the past week, including what's happening right now at the nuclear plant in Fukushima are a vivid illustration of sin in our lives.
When I was in the 8th grade, the local electric company announced plans to build a nuclear power plant 30 miles east of the city. It would be named Black Fox, which sounded like an appropriate name for a plant in Oklahoma. But over the next 9 years, as opposition to the plant grew, the name came to sound very ominous.
As I neared my 20th birthday, the plant had still not been built, and a couple of things happened that spring to draw everyone's attention to the protests. The first was the release of the movie, The China Syndrome, about safety issues at a fictional nuclear plant. That same month, there was the all-too-real accident at Three-Mile Island.
By now, I was paying full attention to the issue, and I agreed with local protesters that the dangers of a nuclear power plant were too great. While I never joined their efforts, I admired their tenacity, particularly that of Carrie Barefoot Dickerson, who led the fight. By 1982 the power company gave up their plans for Black Fox.
A few years later came the disaster at Chernobyl, and I was again relieved that Black Fox had never been completed. But 25 years went by without another major event at a nuclear plant - although there have been other accidents - and like many people, I didn't give nuclear power a lot of thought.
Then, a couple of years ago, as it became more obvious that we needed to be considering alternative energy sources, I began to wonder if maybe Black Fox should have been completed. "Sure," I thought, "things could go wrong, but they hardly ever do go wrong. Maybe nuclear power isn't really all that dangerous." Those who planned the various nuclear plants that have been built along fault lines probably told themselves the same thing.
That's exactly how sin works. "Sure, things could go wrong, but they hardly ever do go wrong," we tell ourselves. I know even the word "sin" causes some of you to cringe. Too often, we see use of the word itself as judgment. While we all acknowledge the big sins - sins against children, sins of violence, we tend the minimize the sins we see as small sins, or the sins that we don't believe affect others.
But that's the problem. Just as radiation escaping from the plant in Fukushima could potentially affect people beyond the immediate area, our sins can have an impact beyond ourselves. Sin is what separates us from God, but it also separates us from others, as it impacts our relationships. All sin can do that, from those we see as "small" all the way to the Big 10. Sin can permeate our culture and impact generations.
Just as those who approved and built nuclear power plants on fault lines convinced themselves the dangers could be controlled, we think we can control sin. And while we tell ourselves that the sin we're considering giving into is not that dangerous, the truth is we never know when the ground will begin to shift beneath our feet, or when the wave will overcome us, or when the safety mechanisms we thought were in place will fail.
Fortunately we have a God who forgives. We have a Savior.
Lord, please help those who are harm's way in Japan because we foolishly thought we could outsmart nature. Lord, forgive us our arrogance. Forgive us our greed. Forgive us our short-sightedness. Lord, have mercy.
Praying continually for the people of Japan,
There are those who say it's God's judgment. I don't agree with that but I do believe it's the result of living in an imperfect world. That said, I also believe the images of the past week, including what's happening right now at the nuclear plant in Fukushima are a vivid illustration of sin in our lives.
When I was in the 8th grade, the local electric company announced plans to build a nuclear power plant 30 miles east of the city. It would be named Black Fox, which sounded like an appropriate name for a plant in Oklahoma. But over the next 9 years, as opposition to the plant grew, the name came to sound very ominous.
As I neared my 20th birthday, the plant had still not been built, and a couple of things happened that spring to draw everyone's attention to the protests. The first was the release of the movie, The China Syndrome, about safety issues at a fictional nuclear plant. That same month, there was the all-too-real accident at Three-Mile Island.
By now, I was paying full attention to the issue, and I agreed with local protesters that the dangers of a nuclear power plant were too great. While I never joined their efforts, I admired their tenacity, particularly that of Carrie Barefoot Dickerson, who led the fight. By 1982 the power company gave up their plans for Black Fox.
A few years later came the disaster at Chernobyl, and I was again relieved that Black Fox had never been completed. But 25 years went by without another major event at a nuclear plant - although there have been other accidents - and like many people, I didn't give nuclear power a lot of thought.
Then, a couple of years ago, as it became more obvious that we needed to be considering alternative energy sources, I began to wonder if maybe Black Fox should have been completed. "Sure," I thought, "things could go wrong, but they hardly ever do go wrong. Maybe nuclear power isn't really all that dangerous." Those who planned the various nuclear plants that have been built along fault lines probably told themselves the same thing.
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| Source: Google Images |
But that's the problem. Just as radiation escaping from the plant in Fukushima could potentially affect people beyond the immediate area, our sins can have an impact beyond ourselves. Sin is what separates us from God, but it also separates us from others, as it impacts our relationships. All sin can do that, from those we see as "small" all the way to the Big 10. Sin can permeate our culture and impact generations.
Just as those who approved and built nuclear power plants on fault lines convinced themselves the dangers could be controlled, we think we can control sin. And while we tell ourselves that the sin we're considering giving into is not that dangerous, the truth is we never know when the ground will begin to shift beneath our feet, or when the wave will overcome us, or when the safety mechanisms we thought were in place will fail.
Fortunately we have a God who forgives. We have a Savior.
Lord, please help those who are harm's way in Japan because we foolishly thought we could outsmart nature. Lord, forgive us our arrogance. Forgive us our greed. Forgive us our short-sightedness. Lord, have mercy.
Praying continually for the people of Japan,
Margaret
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. ~ Romans 8:5-6
March 1, 2011
Back in the Saddle Again
Since my last post much has happened.
I may have exaggerated a bit on the last one, but just a bit. I feel reasonably certain that Charlie Sheen has not hired mercenaries to kill his enemies - although at this point I don't think anything would surprise me as each day seems to bring a new dimension to the very public unraveling of Charlie.
As long as I have brought up the topic of Charlie Sheen, just this week I have learned that I have missed the vanity cards that appear at the end of each episode of Two and a Half Men. I was vaguely aware that something flashed by at the end of the credits, but I didn't know what it was.
Now, thanks to Charlie's rants, I have discovered that I have been missing a creative art form. It seems that Chuck Lorre, the show's co-creator and the target of some of Charlie's nastiest comments, has been writing vanity cards to end episodes of his various shows for years. It turns out they are also on The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly and they were on Dharma & Greg. You can find them archived on Lorre's website.
While cards from the recent weeks have attracted a lot of attention, it's #111 that caught my eye. It begins with words that I felt speaking directly to me. "This is the official "I have nothing worth writing about" vanity card. It will run whenever I have nothing worth writing about." It was first aired in November of 2009, and as Lorre goes on to explain, he wrote it because he realized he had nothing to say, and the only thing that had kept him from coming up with this card earlier was his vanity about the vanity cards.
That pretty much sums up how I have felt the last couple of months. It wasn't necessarily that I had nothing to say, or nothing worth writing about. There were a couple of times when I was tempted to write a post about something I felt strongly about, but I held back because it either wasn't my post to write, or it wasn't the right time to write it. I realized that I would be writing for the sake of filling a space, and to appease my own vanity. I tried reading other blogs and realized my competitive nature was dangerously close to taking over, tempting me to post just to keep up with everyone else.
As I held back, I learned that I don't need to share every thought as it enters my head. I can wait for the right time. I can wait to feel inspired. I can wait. And, as Chuck Lorre points out on card #111, "that knowledge is freedom."
So thanks to each of you who have either posted or emailed me to ask how I'm doing. Nothing has been going on beyond regular life and oh yeah, the occasional record-breaking snowstorm. It's wonderful to know I have been missed. I am feeling refreshed from this break, but I'm still not sure I'm ready to get back to a regular writing schedule.
While I continue to wait for the right time to return to posting on a somewhat regular basis, I will get back to the routine of visiting and commenting on your blogs, looking forward to the wisdom each of you has to share. I've missed all of you!
Love to each of you,
Margaret
- I have learned that I'm a Leo instead of a Cancer, which is just plain wrong.
- Two Middle-Eastern governments have been overthrown.
- We have discovered that the delusional rants of Muammar Gaddafi are nothing compared to the delusional rants of Charlie Sheen.
I may have exaggerated a bit on the last one, but just a bit. I feel reasonably certain that Charlie Sheen has not hired mercenaries to kill his enemies - although at this point I don't think anything would surprise me as each day seems to bring a new dimension to the very public unraveling of Charlie.
As long as I have brought up the topic of Charlie Sheen, just this week I have learned that I have missed the vanity cards that appear at the end of each episode of Two and a Half Men. I was vaguely aware that something flashed by at the end of the credits, but I didn't know what it was.
Now, thanks to Charlie's rants, I have discovered that I have been missing a creative art form. It seems that Chuck Lorre, the show's co-creator and the target of some of Charlie's nastiest comments, has been writing vanity cards to end episodes of his various shows for years. It turns out they are also on The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly and they were on Dharma & Greg. You can find them archived on Lorre's website.
While cards from the recent weeks have attracted a lot of attention, it's #111 that caught my eye. It begins with words that I felt speaking directly to me. "This is the official "I have nothing worth writing about" vanity card. It will run whenever I have nothing worth writing about." It was first aired in November of 2009, and as Lorre goes on to explain, he wrote it because he realized he had nothing to say, and the only thing that had kept him from coming up with this card earlier was his vanity about the vanity cards.
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| Source: Google Images |
As I held back, I learned that I don't need to share every thought as it enters my head. I can wait for the right time. I can wait to feel inspired. I can wait. And, as Chuck Lorre points out on card #111, "that knowledge is freedom."
So thanks to each of you who have either posted or emailed me to ask how I'm doing. Nothing has been going on beyond regular life and oh yeah, the occasional record-breaking snowstorm. It's wonderful to know I have been missed. I am feeling refreshed from this break, but I'm still not sure I'm ready to get back to a regular writing schedule.
While I continue to wait for the right time to return to posting on a somewhat regular basis, I will get back to the routine of visiting and commenting on your blogs, looking forward to the wisdom each of you has to share. I've missed all of you!
Love to each of you,
Margaret
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17
2 Corinthians 3:17
January 12, 2011
Cheering Scripture
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| Source: KVOA.com |
It seems that after days of mourning as a community, people have a desperate need to latch onto anything positive. I can understand that. Grief is exhausting. It saps our energy and feels as though the sun will never shine again. It makes us want to hide.
So after my initial surprise at the tone of the service, which after all, was held in a sports arena at the University of Arizona, I decided maybe cheering at a memorial service isn't such a bad thing. And when Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano walked away from the podium to cheers following her reading of Isaiah 40, I smiled because it reminded me of something that Deron, my pastor, often chides us for.
You may have heard that Oklahomans love football. (Well, most Oklahomans seem to. The fascination with football totally escapes me.) Sooner fans get excited about OU and Cowboy fans get excited about OSU and it seems that most Oklahomans have a strong preference for one over the other. Deron can make a positive comment about one of the teams and the sanctuary will erupt into cheers that even manage to drown out the (good-natured?) boos of the opposing fans.
Then Deron will point out that we never show that kind of unbridled enthusiasm for scripture or for worship. We never give God the kind of glory that we give our favorite teams. We talk a lot about giving God glory. We sing about it..."Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing!" But the sad truth is, we don't cheer for God.
I don't have any illusions about who the crowd in Tucson was cheering for. Some may indeed have been cheering for the words she read, but I suspect most were excited to see their former Governor and current Cabinet Secretary back for the service and more than that, they were caught up in the pep rally atmosphere.
But perhaps the rest of us can learn something. We should shout to the mountaintops when we hear scripture. We should always be thrilled for the opportunity to shout to the Lord with passion, giving him all the glory.
Until next time,
Margaret
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
January 10, 2011
A Perfect Storm
The only thing that surprised me about the tragic event in Tucson this past weekend was that it didn't happen sooner. My earliest memory of an historic event is the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I was 4-years-old at the time. Despite the fact no president has died in office since 1963, it was only about 10 years ago that I realized I no longer assumed that every President of the United States would die at the hands of an assassin.
Over an 18-year-period, we had the assassination of JFK, then Martin Luther King, then Bobby Kennedy, then the attempt on the life of George Wallace, two attempts on the life of President Ford and one attempt on President Reagan, which likely would have succeeded had he not been so close to a hospital.. It seemed as though the violence would never end, but it did...for awhile.
Like many Americans, I have been troubled by the political rhetoric of the past few years. Much of it seems designed to appeal specifically to people who might not be playing with a full deck. And yes, it comes from both sides of the political spectrum.
With 435 Congressional districts, it's impossible to be familiar with all of the U.S. Representatives, but I'm sorry I had never noticed Rep. Gabrielle Giffords before tragedy struck. It seems she is truly special, and I don't think it's just because of her injuries that her colleagues are being so generous with praise for her. In the few clips I've seen of her over the past few days, it's apparent that she is articulate, intelligent, reasonable, and thoughtful.
Over an 18-year-period, we had the assassination of JFK, then Martin Luther King, then Bobby Kennedy, then the attempt on the life of George Wallace, two attempts on the life of President Ford and one attempt on President Reagan, which likely would have succeeded had he not been so close to a hospital.. It seemed as though the violence would never end, but it did...for awhile.
Like many Americans, I have been troubled by the political rhetoric of the past few years. Much of it seems designed to appeal specifically to people who might not be playing with a full deck. And yes, it comes from both sides of the political spectrum.
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| Google Images |
December 24, 2010
The Dinner Conversation
You know that parlor game, the one where you name the people you would most like to have dinner with? They can be living or dead, so it's often overwhelming to think of all the people who could make your list, and consequently they tend to be from the last couple of hundred years. Oh, sure, lots of people throw Jesus into the mix, but other than that, you'll often hear names like Lincoln, Churchill, and JFK.
Recently I have found myself thinking it would be fascinating to have a dinner conversation with Mary. Yes, THAT Mary. The Mary who doesn't often generate much in the way of curiosity among Southern Baptists, such as myself. We cover that angelic visitation thing with Gabriel and Mary's subsequent visit to her older cousin Elizabeth, who also found herself in the midst of a miraculous pregnancy, but then there's that whole stable scene where the angels and the shepherds seem to dominate as the baby in the manger takes center stage.
After that, Mary is relegated to a supporting player role with a few cameo scenes and her primary purpose seems to be to move the storyline along. Lately, I have found myself wondering, "What was she thinking?" At various points in the life of Jesus I am curious about how much she knew.
If I could talk to her, I would start with that visit from Gabriel.
"Mary, when he said, 'Do not be afraid,' were you really able to not be afraid?"
"And when he told you the purpose of his visit, did you think you were imagining things? Were you able to so calmly respond with, 'May it be to me as you have said,' because you thought it was a dream?"
"When did it become real to you? Was it when you saw Elizabeth in her sixth month? Was it when you began to feel the baby moving in your own womb? Was it in Bethlehem when you realized you weren't even going to have the dignity of a room at the inn in which to give birth to your first child? Did you long for the presence of your mother or any another woman to hold your hand and give you moral support?"
"Were you afraid then? Did God at least spare you the pain of childbirth, or was yours the most painful of all? Did you feel the full power of this cosmic mystery as you gave birth?"
"What was Jesus like growing up? Was he like any other child up to a point, or was he always different? Was it when he stayed behind in Jerusalem to talk to the teachers that you first saw the signs that he was not like other children or were there signs before that?"
"Were you surprised that he took up carpentry, like Joseph, or did you always expect that? Did you spend your life waiting for the other shoe/sandal to drop, wondering at what point God would take him from your home to use him for greater things?"
"Did you know that once his ministry began, he would no longer belong to you? Or had you always felt that he didn't belong to you? Were you surprised by the stories of healings, or had you seen evidence of his power before? Did he ever whip up dinner when there was nothing in the pantry?"
"Did it break your heart to hear the derogatory things that some people said about him, or had you been prepared for that? Did you know where this was headed? Did you expect him to sit on an earthly throne or did you always know how it would end? Was it a rolling revelation, or did the reality of his calling come to you for the first time on that awful Friday afternoon when the sun went dark?"
"Did he spend time with you and your family after the resurrection? What did he say to you? Did you understand it then, or was it years later that it began to make sense? Or did it ever fully make sense to you in this life?"
As Christmas Eve comes, it never ceases to amaze me to think of all the preparation it took in order for the pieces to come together in Bethlehem that night so long ago, or of the willing hearts that had to be open enough to say, "May it be to me as you have said."
May you feel the power of the risen Christ in your life on this day, and every day.
Until next time,
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” ~ Luke 1:30-33
Recently I have found myself thinking it would be fascinating to have a dinner conversation with Mary. Yes, THAT Mary. The Mary who doesn't often generate much in the way of curiosity among Southern Baptists, such as myself. We cover that angelic visitation thing with Gabriel and Mary's subsequent visit to her older cousin Elizabeth, who also found herself in the midst of a miraculous pregnancy, but then there's that whole stable scene where the angels and the shepherds seem to dominate as the baby in the manger takes center stage.
After that, Mary is relegated to a supporting player role with a few cameo scenes and her primary purpose seems to be to move the storyline along. Lately, I have found myself wondering, "What was she thinking?" At various points in the life of Jesus I am curious about how much she knew.
If I could talk to her, I would start with that visit from Gabriel.
"Mary, when he said, 'Do not be afraid,' were you really able to not be afraid?"
"And when he told you the purpose of his visit, did you think you were imagining things? Were you able to so calmly respond with, 'May it be to me as you have said,' because you thought it was a dream?"
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"Were you afraid then? Did God at least spare you the pain of childbirth, or was yours the most painful of all? Did you feel the full power of this cosmic mystery as you gave birth?"
"What was Jesus like growing up? Was he like any other child up to a point, or was he always different? Was it when he stayed behind in Jerusalem to talk to the teachers that you first saw the signs that he was not like other children or were there signs before that?"
"Were you surprised that he took up carpentry, like Joseph, or did you always expect that? Did you spend your life waiting for the other shoe/sandal to drop, wondering at what point God would take him from your home to use him for greater things?"
"Did you know that once his ministry began, he would no longer belong to you? Or had you always felt that he didn't belong to you? Were you surprised by the stories of healings, or had you seen evidence of his power before? Did he ever whip up dinner when there was nothing in the pantry?"
"Did it break your heart to hear the derogatory things that some people said about him, or had you been prepared for that? Did you know where this was headed? Did you expect him to sit on an earthly throne or did you always know how it would end? Was it a rolling revelation, or did the reality of his calling come to you for the first time on that awful Friday afternoon when the sun went dark?"
"Did he spend time with you and your family after the resurrection? What did he say to you? Did you understand it then, or was it years later that it began to make sense? Or did it ever fully make sense to you in this life?"
As Christmas Eve comes, it never ceases to amaze me to think of all the preparation it took in order for the pieces to come together in Bethlehem that night so long ago, or of the willing hearts that had to be open enough to say, "May it be to me as you have said."
May you feel the power of the risen Christ in your life on this day, and every day.
Until next time,
Margaret
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” ~ Luke 1:30-33
December 21, 2010
The Spirit of Thankfulness Continues
I'm baaaaack! After eight days of coping with a stupid, stupid cold during the busiest month of the year, I'm back on track with much to catch up on in the way of thankfulness leading up to Christmas. From the trivial to the meaningful, here we go:
I don't say it often enough, but I am thankful for each one of you. You encourage me, you challenge me, and you enrich my life. Thanks for being a part of Single and Sane.
Until next time,
Margaret
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV)
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| Source: MSNBC.com |
- I am thankful for over-the-counter cold medicine. It might not provide a cure, but at least it helps get some relief and the sleep you need until you can feel better. (And I'm thankful to finally be feeling better.)
- I am thankful for the sleep timer on my TV.
- I am thankful for my two cats who think it's their job to keep me warm while I sleep. Or maybe they think it's my job to keep them warm. Whichever it is, it works...although sometimes too well.
- I am thankful for the countless hours that others put into preparing for Christmas programs so the rest of us can enjoy them..
- I am thankful for coworkers who make my job such a joy.
- I am thankful for friends and family who mean more and more with each passing year.
- I am thankful that my sister and nephews will be here to spend Christmas with our family.
- I am thankful my family decided to draw names this year so we can spend more time focusing on our time together.
- I am thankful for my niece and her family who moved back home this year. It's wonderful to see her do such a great job of being a mom.
- I am thankful for our first Christmas with my grandniece, who at 9-1/2 months should be a lot of fun to watch Christmas day. Heck, she's a lot of fun to watch any day.
- I am thankful for this time of year when we stop to remember the greatest gift of all, the gift of a Savior.
I don't say it often enough, but I am thankful for each one of you. You encourage me, you challenge me, and you enrich my life. Thanks for being a part of Single and Sane.
Until next time,
Margaret
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV)
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