Cooking A Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner – Yes I Can – This Is About Thankfulness

27 Nov 2014 4 Comments


Yes, dear reader,
Unlike most men, especially old-school men such as myself,
I’m capable of planning and cooking
a full-blown turkey-and-stuffing anchored;
mashed potato filled;
gravy-slathered;
two vegetable enhanced;
candied sweet ‘tater and
green bean casserole complimented;
cranberry sauce enlivened;
dinner-roll augmented;
and pie-crowned Thanksgiving dinner.
I don’t want that to sound like bragging,
nor self-exaltation,
it’s just the truth.
It’s a blessing that I can cook almost anything, and even do a little baking, but the blessing came at the expense of my mother’s suffering.
When I was 13, my mother dislocated her elbow due to a fall. That very painful injury prevented her from doing many of her homemaking duties including cooking the daily family meals. As the eldest child, I was appointed cook’s assistant. I performed the mechanical operations of cooking while poor plaster-casted Mom directed me. That was one of my life’s momentous turning points, because I have used those cooking skills that she taught me countless times for my own benefit and for the benefit of others.
Today, Mom is on my mind.
Thanks, Mom, for teaching me to cook and for everything else.
Thanks, God, for Mom and for all my blessings.
Thanks for the ability to imagine and invent things, and for the ability to make, and build, and create the things I imagined – everything from small tools to buildings and a home, and thanks for the ability to repair, or at least “rig up” almost anything. Thanks, God, for the ability to grow food on Your land. Most of all thanks, Lord for the very surprising gift of the ability to write.
As much as I like to cook, I’d rather write about cooking.
I’d rather write than do almost anything else.
As for Thanksgiving, I’m thankful that this website is partial fulfillment of my God-given purpose. More than anything else, I’m thankful to You, Lord, for gathering me to Yourself and giving me the joy of salvation – the joy of knowing You!

“O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good!
His loving mercies endure forever!
O, give constant thanks unto the Lord!”

Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader!
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Through The Eyes Of Love

07 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

 


Shortly after his baptism, the new believer looked at a quite dirty, quite unkempt beggar sitting on the curb holding a sign. For many decades he had judged harshly those whom he thought “beneath” him. “There sits more scum of the earth,” he thought. “It’s their own fault. So many have pulled themselves up from that gutter. It’s a choice they make to live that way.”

“Now that you know Me, you surely know better than to entertain that kind of thinking. Be still and look again with My eyes . . .”

As he did so, he was astonished to see a different man. This one was clean, and neat, and so upright that the believer thought he could like this man. The more he looked, the more he thought he could even love him like a brother. Astonished, he exclaimed, “Ahhh, thank you Lord. I’ve been so wrong about many things,” he said contritely. “Life with You is so different – so much better – than life was without You.

“That is the way I see that man; the way I see all people. That is the way I saw you when your own soul was in filthy tatters. I have always loved you. I love that one no less. Think of the father whose son hates him to the point of wishing him dead, yet, that father, nevertheless loves that son to the point that he would give his life so that the hate-filled son might live. If you see that, you see but a speck of how I view that poor man, yourself, and every person alive.”

The revelation so struck the new believer, that he went home and began writing. From then on, when he was tempted to look upon someone and judge them as unfit to stand on the same ground as he, the image returned. “God loves that one, just as much as He loves me, I must love them and pray for their good, for I was once worse, yet He loved me.”

Inspired by God’s revelation, this is part of what the new believer wrote:

“O great God, I looked up at You, and You, down at me, and I could understand, in some small sense, what you saw in us and how You love. Later, when I knew You better, I looked up again and saw You scanning Your limitless horizons all the way around, but I could not begin to fathom what wonders You were seeing, for You survey all the past, all the future, and everything else that exists in Your realms bounded by time, and those Heavenly realms outside of time. It was then that I knew that I had little conception of your wisdom, nor, despite my scientific efforts, very little understanding of Your mind, nor what Your thoughts might be, except for the grace of that one revelation of Your love for all people, and for me, when you, for a moment, let me see with eyes of love.”

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The Psalm That Is Music To My Soul

02 Nov 2014 4 Comments

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Hallelujah!!!
   Have I found my defining verses?
 My life statement?
My heart’s fondest song? 
There are so many to choose from, but I think this one was chosen for me.
May I quote it for you?  
OK, I will.

Psalm 57:7-11  :

“My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
Awake, my soul !
Awake, harp and lyre !
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of You among the people.
For great is Your love reaching to the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be over all the earth.”

Ohhh, 
I pause,
breathless in absolute wonder of it . . .

Do you have a Bible verse, or set of verses that define your life,
or are your heart’s fondest song? 
Please share them with all of us. 
  We will be blessed to hear them!
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Is Grace Enough?

13 Oct 2014 3 Comments

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There was a time when,
if I received something from God
it wasn’t enough.
I asked for more.
“Things” that I wanted,
“things” that I thought I needed,
“things” that others have been given,
“things” that I thought I had been promised,
“things” I thought I was entitled to.
Things that I asked for others,
that I thought they really needed.
Not only things with substance,
but mainly things of the spirit,
and health, and healing,
and happiness, and peace.
I only received a few of them.

“It’s not fair”,  I have thought . . .

But the biggest thing I did receive –
the biggest and likely the best –
was faith wrapped up in His grace.
It was the one thing I hadn’t asked for,
the thing I didn’t deserve and hadn’t earned,
the thing I hadn’t known I needed,
and the thing I hadn’t known was promised.
Moved by love, He wanted me to have it.
What a gift!

So, I started thinking,
“If the faith-grace package were the only thing He ever gave me,
the only thing I ever received,
WOULD IT BE ENOUGH?”
After much thought,
and soul searching,
and reasoning,
and questioning,
I decided that:

YES!
OF COURSE!
MOST CERTAINLY!
IT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!

For it is by that grace, through faith,
that I’m saved from death!
(“Death”, here, being eternal separation from God)

I think of Paul asking “his desire”
again, and again, but being denied.
“My grace is sufficient,” he was told.
I’ve decided it’s more than sufficient for me too,
even though I do get more,
including grace’s twin, mercy in the bargain!
However, there are many for whom grace is not sufficient.
Some even go as far as using unanswered prayers
as reason to doubt,
turn their backs,
even relinquish belief.
I pray “Father let them see“.
Furthermore, I won’t stop asking for more,
because He, Himself entreats us to ask,
but I will remain extremely thankful for
simple grace, faith, and mercy,
for they are my daily bread,
they keep me alive, and sustain me.
They are my sacred treasures
given by Him out of love,
and they will always be
more than enough for me.
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Tears Are For The Living

04 Oct 2014 2 Comments

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I have few tears for the dead,
for their souls have flown away,
each to its eternal land,
to the god, or God they chose,
or Who always held them in His hands;
Only gone from here,
as I, one day, will be,
they’re gone,
in the main,
to their self-determined fates.
But here survive the living
in their mourning, loss, and grief;
aching whether in their faith,
or in their unbelief,
still sad.
It’s only for all of those
that my sighing heartstring breaks.

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Destructive Doubt, Rhetorical Questions, and Faith – Urgent, Read Immediately

14 Sep 2014 4 Comments

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I feel an urgent need to write specifically about faith versus doubt.
At this moment, it is imperative,
crucial,
critical,
essential,
indispensable,
vitally important:
Someone is having doubts.
Someone is losing their faith in The Father.
Or never had any.
So many hard questions remain unanswered.
So many prayers unanswered,
or seemingly answered with a “no”.
So many promises seemingly not kept.
So much blame
to be unloaded,
and assigned.
So much heartbreak.
So much pain.
The internal debates wear one down,
sap our strength,
stress our beings,
abscond with our joy,
waste our lives.
Those kinds of troubles can alienate a person,
isolate,
Make one feel alone,
even in a crowd.
Make one feel like they are
the only one who has gone through so much,
who has had to bear this specific torture,
and you’re right,
No-one has had your exact experience.
But you’re wrong about being alone in it.
You are not alone,
never alone.

 I, myself, have had questions and doubts about
God’s existence,
His caring,
His promise keeping.
His love.
I, myself, asked things early-on like
“Why should I believe?”,
and, “What if it’s all a big hoax?”,
and, “Why don’t You seem to hear even my most
heartfelt,
earnest,
fervent,
prayers?”,
and, “Why do good people,
people who care,
and who act right,
and who are good to others,
people I love and care about,
die too soon,
while evil people,
people who only hate and hurt,
and murder,
people who detract from life,
and from Your glory,
people who I (forgive me) detest,
persist,
live on,
even thrive while doing more and more harm?”

I’ve had those, and countless more,
doubts and questions,
both before and a bit after my rescue,
my lifesaving encounter,
with my Lord.
Now I know that I have an enemy who likes,
encourages,
abuses,
and twists,
my doubting and questioning,
who whispers about them in my secret ear,
to use them against my good,
and promote his own evil.
When I ask my doubting questions,
I hear his faint,
but clear,
insane laughter,
for doubts are like lies,
and he is the father of lies.
I smile inside myself when I realize that is happening,
because knowing is being forewarned,
 forewarned is forearmed,
and I’m armed with a powerful weapon.

I still have questions and I ask them,
but, doubts?
Doubts can do damage.
Doubts can threaten trust.
Doubts can mislead, deceive,
and obscure Truth,
runaway doubt can destroy.
Of course there is something I call
“healthy skepticism”,
discernment,
“useful doubt”,
but you have to understand the difference,
which I don’t want to address at this moment.

The thing is, my questions and destructive doubts
are different after knowing God than they were before.
Before, the enemy,
with my permission,
used them to try to destroy me.
Now I can try to use them for my good.
And yours.

A big obstacle to my faith is that I am, by nature, a
rational,
logical,
reasoning,
pragmatic
thinker.
“Stuff” has to make sense to me.
There has to be order.
There has to be a reason something is the way it is.
Therefore, science was once my god, in a sense,
instead of the real, true God whose works
we attempt to understand through science.
In other words, I lived only by sight and not by faith.
Now, I am predominantly the opposite.
Now I know rationality and logic
can get in the way of my spiritual thinking.
One can overthink one’s self into trouble.
One can complicate what is supposed to be simple
and veer far from the truth.

Now, I try not to “lean too much on my own meager understanding”.
I try to remember that there is not just a “big picture”, but a “great, huge, majestic picture”
that I can’t fathom
that I’m not allowed to know,
even if I did have the capacity to understand.
I’ve learned to recognize when I’m
stuck in circular questioning
or trapped in doubt.
I’ve come to realize that when I
doubt and question God, I’m making Him into the god
that I, myself, am creating rather than
the One who created me;
the “word” from my mind, rather than
the true Word,
the great I AM,
the One true, factual God of the Bible.

When I realize that I’m getting lost,
(It’s often not simple or easy)
I have to push the offending thoughts away,
with a mental, even a kind of physical stiff arm,
and get myself back on the trail to my destination:
home.

It’s simple; I have made my choice of faith in Him.
I will let nothing change that decision.
I simply cannot!
I know He is good, and kind, and cares about me.
I know that He keeps all His promises
in ways that would – and will – amaze us,
when we can finally fully understand.
I don’t want to lose my faith in Him,
nor my personal relationship with Him.
It took too many years to get it.
I lived too long without it.
I can’t let anything or anyone steal it.
Without it, I’d be less than nothing;
I’d be lost in the worst sense of the word.
Here’s a question I have asked:
“If I were to turn my back on the Lord,
which of us would be harmed, or “hurt” more?”
My answer is, “I would be, infinitely so!”
His answer is that He would hurt greatly for me,
because of my choice, but He would wait with open arms
in hope that I would change my mind.

It boils down to this:
To be sure, we all have questions and doubts.
It’s a human thing.
It’s how we handle them that makes the difference.
Dwelling upon destructive doubt and rhetorical questions is a waste of time.
Our choice is between faith in Jesus and Father God, or the enemy . . .
there is no between, no middle ground, no compromise.
You might say “I choose myself”,
but that is the same as choosing the enemy, not God,
as your Lord and master.
So, please, choose life, choose love,
choose faith in Jesus, and stick to it with all your might!

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I do have many other drafts waiting in the wings
that I want to finish and publish,
but this new theme was put on my heart with an “urgent” notice attached.
It seems like an emergency that needs immediate attention.
It is a form of sacrifice to be used this way,
yet it is a joy to serve.
I pray that this quickly gets to the readers who need it.
Reader, I care about what happens to you.
I’ve shared your struggles, believe me, maybe worse!
You have no idea what I’ve been through,
only God does,
therefore He is the “logical”
One I turn toward for support, and comfort.
I hope and pray that my words help you.
Sincerely,
L<

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Divide and Conquer – Decrees of Evil

30 Aug 2014 4 Comments

$&$&$&$

“Begin The Great Dividing!”

My First Decree:

“Divide them up!  Divide them down!

By age,

By gender,

By color,

By country,

By wealth,

By poverty,

By religion,

By belief,

By ideology,

By politics,

By education,

By rank,

By lack,

By abundance,

By every division, and disparity,

By every difference and distinction,

By every dissimilarity and variation, no matter how small.

But, most of all, separate them into billions and billions

Of little selves which exclude all others.

Selves, each of which love only I,

Which care for only myself,

Which cherish only mine,

And thus worship only me!

Apart they are weak!

Chop them up like the onions in our hash!

Separate them all!”

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Decree Number II:

“Deceive and distract,

Show them the bait but hide the trap.

Make them a tempting supper, perhaps.

Whip together a dash of hot anger and a dollop of hate,

Beat in a good measure of jealousy; delicious to taste.

A spoonful of envy,

Some grated ungratefulness,

A cup of covetousness

Into their fattening-food.

Mix in maximum revenge,

Make it all feel so good.

Throw in a fistful of greed,

Add a pinch or two of bitterness and blame,

Then a generous handful, of sweeet unforgiveness

Stirred up in their feed!

(My poetry is magnificent, indeed!)

Thus we will capture and conquer;

Self-divided!

Thus we will assimilate them all;

Self-poisoned!

Thus they give their selves over.

Our slaves, our sheep, our food.

They have no way to defend themselves from this dividing,

For it agrees with their very nature.

One whisper, and they divide themselves!

The age of Darkness is at hand!

Divide them up! Divide them down!

They won’t even know it happened!

(Until it’s Too. Late. For them.)

Then the world will be all mine….. Excuse me, ours, to rule!”

Would I lie to you?!

Your Supreme Master,

Lord S.

 

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Intelligence-Advisory Memo (I-AM) :

Thus speaks, thus dictates,

Thus plots our arch-enemy…….

But we do have a defense, and he knows it! 

He knows he cannot divide nor conquer us

If we live in the unity of the Holy Spirit’s nature that binds us together as one

In the peace of the Word of The Famous One, The Great Uniter.

One body, one family, saved by One Risen Man’s sacrifice.

One eternal life, together inseparably, with Him!

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Faith Of Our Fathers – The Power In A Young Man’s Faith

25 Aug 2014 Leave a comment


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He has a ministry already, this young man of God.
He may not even know the power he has
as he quickly proclaims his faith publicly in the face of his wrenching heartbreak.
He may not know that the most unlikely people are watching as he says goodbye;
watching, and being influenced, in life-changing ways:

He said:    “Dad, thank you for being an awesome role model in my life!
I love you and I know that you loved me!
I know that you are in a better place and are with our Father.
I wasn’t ready for you to pass so soon, and I don’t think anyone was.
Let God’s will be done, and trust in his plan.
May you rest in eternal peace.
Thanks for being such a great dad.
I love you Dad.”
 J.A.K.

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You’re only beginning adult life,
one of my “younger brothers in the Spirit”,
yet, even in the throes of intense grief,
you still publicly proclaim your unwavering faith,
– the faith handed down by my friend, your wonderful father –
(oh, what a legacy)
You show the power of the love you were given
by your earthly father, and most of all, by your Heavenly one.
You proclaim the love between father and son,
you testify to your unshakable belief in Jesus, Father, Spirit,
and I’m inspired;
   under these circumstances, I am touched . . .
That is the truest test,
the brightest evidence,
the hardest proof,
the best power of  The Truth,
the highest worth of faith . . .
And even as my heart breaks for you,
Like Theirs does,
I’m so very proud of you.

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What more could I ask of my own son,
when the time comes,
than to grieve hard, to mourn,
also, to sing and rejoice,
and to loudly, visibly, proclaim our faith.

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Faith of our fathers, living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword;
Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene’er we hear that glorious Word!

Refrain:  Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

Faith of our fathers, we will strive
To win all nations unto thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
We all shall then be truly free.

Faith of our fathers, we will love
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach thee, too, as love knows how
By kindly words and virtuous life.

Frederick W. Faber

 

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Fattened With Sin – And So It Is

05 Aug 2014 1 Comment

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The sparrow squeezes through the chicken wire
To feast upon the easy chicken feed within . . .

Fattened with illicit lunch,
She can’t squeeze out again.

Then, here he comes
With broom in hand,
Oh, fear of death and pain.

Freedom just beyond her reach,
She struggles desperately,
Just like we,
To find any way out – in vain.

Without help,
Against wisdom,
We found our way in.
We trespassed without a thought,
Of ever getting out again,
Now all may come to naught.

So it is with the easy feed,
And so it is with sin.

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(I had to knock her down to catch her,
Risking life, and limb, and bone.
– In a moment of merciful grace –
Released and returned her distended self,
Back to her rightful home.)

And so,
And so,
And so it is,

#And so it is with Him#
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Testament – A Dangerous Gift of Risky Wisdom

21 Jul 2014 4 Comments

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To all my friends, neighbors, and relatives:

This present, the precious fruit I hold out to you,
puts me at risk of being cast out, criticized, ostracized,
scoffed at, shunned, unfriended, thrown away, kicked out,
laughed at, and made fun of.
In some places, extending this to others
even brings hardship, torture, or death.
Nevertheless, I extend my gift of Good News to you,
though it may, through the enemy’s deceit,
look and sound to you like the opposite. 

My gift is honest, plainspoken, it’s candid and frank,
forthright and truthful, direct and unreserved, 
open and plain, and is completely sincere, out of my care,
compassion, concern, and love for you.

It is this:

If you are seeking to be “at one with the universe”,
you will never be that until you are “at one” with the creator of the universe.
(Yes, it was created, as were you; as was I.)

If you seek peace, seek freedom, and seek justice,
in their truest, purest forms,
you will never have those without knowing
the originator and provider of those things.

If you seek to be whole and complete, you will never truly be
until you know The Only One who was perfectly whole
and complete in Himself – Jesus – God With Us;
who sacrificed His all so that you could have all of the above
through Him and in Him alone.

And if you seek one person to love, and to love you in return, for all your life,
seek one who knows the creator of love – The One who loves you both
with eternal certainty. 

This is eternal wisdom, of which I once had none,
but of which He has given like He gives the gift of faith.
I am a firsthand witness. It happened to myself.
I have grasped only the corner of His robe.
I have but sipped from His living spring.
(to lend a particle of the poetic)
Only a corner and a small sip have already brought forth refreshing fruit
which I willingly pass out despite personal cost. Now.
For I may be out of time here.
One day, I will certainly be out of time, if you get my drift.  .  .

Once, I had none of those gifts,
Now, I’m getting.
Once, I couldn’t have,
Now, I can.
Once, I only was,
Now, I AM.

My Christ-following friends already know these truths,
as they know the Author of truth,
the Giver of the only gifts which have lasting value.
They already have, or are in the process of, accepting all the above desirable gifts.
The Good News is that there is much, much, more
to knowing Father God, Jesus, and His Holy Spirit!
Knowing them and making them Lord-Of-My-Life
is Everything.

Choose any of those friends, neighbors, or relatives to confide in
or ask questions of, if you want these things and much, much, more.
Any of them can tell you who to see, where to go, and what to do
to get the absolute most out of this current life and have it all extended everlastingly!

My heart is “on my sleeve”,
It’s plain for all to see,
Who do you want to be, or not to be?
This, sincerely, lovingly, from Me.

7-12-14  *From Estes Park*
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Hiking The High Country

20 Jul 2014 3 Comments

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My son and I went to Colorado.
Hiking the high country, we were blessed to find
that God had the mountains all spruced-up for us.

 

He has everything ready.

He has everything ready.

(Gloryteller’s Original Quips, Quotes, Random Thoughts, Puns, Humor, and Philosophies #99)

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Incognito – Or Not

28 Jun 2014 4 Comments

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“Incognito” in our age implies “wanting to remain anonymous, or unknown”.
The word is from Latin, and it means “not known”.
I can’t debate the great C.S. Lewis, but I do know that God doesn’t want to remain anonymous.
If He is not known, it is because people refuse to know Him in spite of ALL He has done to make Himself known.
The first two sentences shine brilliantly.
We can ignore, but in no way evade, His presence.
He walked the earth in ragged sandals.
In a sense, He inhabits, and breathes inside, every living creature.
All Creation is FILLED with His glory!

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Plain Clay Jar

08 Jun 2014 2 Comments


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I am like
the sealed, plain,
clay jar, that contained
bitter water, which feared
being broken but wished that it
could be broken so that the bad
water would run out, but after it
was inevitably dropped, and when
the inevitable crack opened in its side,
the jar was dismayed that only a part of
the bitters ran out and it sat damaged, thinking
it could never be a whole jar again, and found that
being broken was a far worse thing than it had imagined,
so it wished and wished that it could be an undamaged useful
jar again, even if it had to hold bitter water, when suddenly the
Spirit of Plain Clay heard the longings of the poor jar, found
the crack, entered through it, sealed the crack behind Him,
and changed the bitter water to sweet, clear water, which
He multiplied to fill the jar, after which the jar begged
Him to stay, Spirit said  Forever, If You’ll Have Me,
at which point the jar knew brokenness to be a
blessing, for without the crack, the glorious
Spirit of Plain Clay would never have gained
entrance;  I am like that — if clay jars could
fear, could wish, could be dismayed, could
 think, could imagine, could wish, could
beg, and could know, and if there were
a glorious Spirit of Plain Clay —
I AM like that.

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I AM

03 Jun 2014 4 Comments

~  ~  ~
^^^^^^^^^
~~~

I exist, therefore I am — I think.
Humor. Jocularity. I can laugh!

I have roots in reality, therefore I am.
More accurate.

I live, therefore I am.
More true.

I have being, therefore I am.
Truer still.

Finally, I believe, therefore I AM!
Because of my being and my living,
Those two words became one word.
I came to believe in the Living God,
Through the being of the living Savior,
Who existed, Who died, and Who loves, and  lives in me.

In Him, I have thought.
In Him I have:
Existence!
Reality!
Being!
Truth!
Belief!
Love!
Life!
Everything good, desirable, worthwhile, now and evermore!

In Him, I am a living spirit-self currently residing in a body which is cognizant of all the above wonders.
Rejoice, O my soul,
My spirit,
My body,
My self!

Indeed!
Because He lives, I am.

I AM!

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Afterthought:  “I write, therefore I am — a whole other post”, I laugh!

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Why?

05 May 2014 5 Comments

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When disaster strikes,
when tragic loss of lives occurs,
why do we second guess ourselves
after the fact?
Why do we have to look back?
Why do we say,
“What if I had only said  _______,
or done _______ ?”
Why do we search for answers when there are none,
or the answers are beyond us in their complexity?
What do we gain when the past won’t change?
Will it help if there is something or someone to blame?
How can we cope when we have no control?
Where can we run, when futility finds us?
When will we abandon wasteful rhetoric?
Why do we keep asking “Why”,
crying, WHYYYYY?

Why?

It is futile to ask the wind, the sky, the universe.
Hopeless.
Useless.
Pointless.
Of no value.
To no avail.
And vain.
A waste of faith.
A waste of time,
especially if one knows The One
Who knows the answers,
the One who kindly, lovingly, comforts us
when the only word that will come is “why”.
The One who will, on our day, answer us without being asked,
for He already knows why
we continuously,
helplessly,
ask . . .
Why?
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Remembering Rachel 3-31-14

02 Apr 2014 7 Comments

~  ~  ~

 For the family and close friends of dear Rachel S.
whose sense of loss must dwarf my own.
~And in honor of Rachel~

~  ~  ~

The whole congregation prayed as one for a miracle – for Rachel’s healing.
Many prayers have been said for Rachel and her family.
I don’t know why those prayers don’t seem to have been answered.
Maybe they have, I think they have, but in a way we can’t understand because our wisdom is lacking.
I have no answers for why things happen as they do,
but I do know The One who does.
He asked me to write for Him,
so once again I sit here in a sort of cauldron of amazement mixed with sadness,
and loss mixed with joy, as He feeds me words and I try to copy them properly;
as I try to do this thing that’s not as easy as anyone thinks,
I know it’s not as hard as if I were alone . . .
I sit here and write my heart out for Him and for you . . .

~  ~  ~

A Touching Moment

Over a year ago, on the Sunday when the whole congregation lifted up Rachel in prayer, I saw her standing by herself after the service so I walked up to her and held my hand up, chest high, in the “high five” position. Her eyes met mine with a quiet, gentle, questioning look, but, without hesitation, she raised her hand to mine. What a special surprise it was, when, instead of “high-fiving”, she placed her warm hand perfectly on mine and tenderly held it there for several seconds, while her eyes became clear and bright, and full of life, and she gave me one of her small, heartfelt smiles. In that slight smile was a certain “knowing”, a certain loving compassion, a certain comforting, a certain closeness. She was comforting me! That was the essential Rachel! It was only a small gesture, but she gave me a tender moment of herself – from her heart – that has lasted; one of those rare human moments that will stay with me and be cherished because, through Rachel, God revealed something more of Himself. I can hardly wait to be where Rachel is now, where all of us who know Rachel, and Jesus, will be able to press our hands together, embrace, and rejoice within His loving presence.

~  ~  ~ 

Speaker For A Sister

I read a book  (second in the “Ender” series by Orson Scott Card) in which a man, when called upon to do so, “speaks” the life of a “departed” person publicly. This “speaking” involved the Speaker’s researching the life of the deceased through opening records and interviewing people. He looked for The Truth of the subject’s life no matter how painful that truth might be when he spoke it, for in The Truth is healing, and in The Truth is freedom for the living.
The truth is that, although we were friends and fellow believers, I’m not sure I knew Rachel well enough to “speak” for her. The only Truth I can try to speak is His Truth. Here’s some truth: All of the people I know, and know of, who did know her better than I, said that she was loved, and/or liked, and/or highly valued, and/or cherished by them all. 
She was beautiful in the all the various ways we think of beauty.
She sang beautifully, especially during worship.
She was adventurous.
She liked a little non-conformity.
She liked to wear exciting colors.
She was intelligent, witty, and kind.
She would be the first to admit that she was far from perfect.
She was a gifted artist who also wrote well.
She liked learning and teaching, and did both well.
She loved people and enjoyed helping them.
She was a thinker, and a doer.
She loved and followed Jesus, and would want to tell me that I should have listed this first.
She would have been right once again.
I was notably impressed by the dignity, and quiet humility,
and faith that she maintained throughout her illness.
That alone was a huge testimony of her faith.
~I am a poor speaker for her.~
I’m glad that there are many others coming forth who are better-qualified than I.
For the testimony of her life, as she lived it with God foremost, is a wonderful, powerful thing,
even as is the testimony of her death, (“the death of a saint is precious in the sight of the Lord”)  and it needs to be spoken often and well.
She was that kind of “bigger than life” sort of person. I heartily agree with my friend, who wrote publicly:
“The world is a better place because of her life, and a much poorer place because of her death.”
I, for one, am humbled and thankful that I had the privilege of sharing a tiny part of her life,
and to be able to, in my tiny way, “speak” for her here.
Mine is only one of many lives that is richer for having known her.

~  ~  ~

Of God, Grief, and Glory

On a highly personal note, I have a personal “revelation” that He seems to want shared:
I was sitting by myself in the back of the church, excited to be worshiping in His house again, when The Lord began sharing His Spirit with me. (If you have questions concerning this, I can’t adequately explain it, not at this moment.
It takes a kind of knowing, so please bear with me. Just go with it.)
He shared His excitement with me, conveyed that He was glad I was there when and where He wanted me to be, but He was especially excited that very soon He would be bringing Rachel to Himself – that’s the way He expressed it.
(I had been told earlier that Rachel was barely hanging on to life)
He wanted to comfort me in my sense of loss and concern.
He poured into me, strongly, how much He cares for Rachel; how deeply He loves her;
so much that He sent Jesus to shed His blood for her and give up His life for her, to save her life – her second life – the most important one, by far. He showed me how He had redeemed her for this day, her day of glory, and forever more. Do I need to describe the peace and comfort that settled upon me? How I wept when I realized that He was not only speaking of Rachel, but of you and me, dear reader?

I hesitate to share such intimate personal testimony.
Could it be misunderstood? Misused?
I want to keep it to myself. Selfishly? Maybe.
Defensively? Sure.
But it’s all I have to give you, so
He says I must give it.

I write my heart out for Him and for you . . .

~  ~  ~

This next closing poem was inspired by something Rachel wrote.
I dedicate it to her memory:

Why A Blue Sky ?

Why is the sky blue?
Why am I me, and you, you?
Why do we live, and breathe, and move?
Why do tears fall as they do?
Why, Some things are not for me to know!
Except that I can ultimately say
That in God’s kind goodness,
In His wise reason,
In spite of our rudeness,
To enrich our every season,
  Out of His great love,
He intended it all to be just this way.

*****

(I can also say that I’ll soon know why,
when I have my own glorious day,
Though I may have glorified Him poorly in my life,
May I glorify Him well in my death)

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If she were here, I’d say “See what you did Rachel?
See what you inspired in all of us?”
And she would flash that beautiful smile and probably wink
and smack me with a real “high five”.

With love,
Missing you, and
Looking to see you soon, Sister.

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A Re-run To Fill The Seeming Void – – – HIS PRAYER EXPANDED

18 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

~  ~  ~

I’ve not been forthcoming with new material, but I’ve been writing right along.
While I finish that work, here’s a re-run to mark time.
I assure you that new material is forthcoming,
assuming that I’m still working here in the physical “plain”
(or plane, if you’re literal and a discerning speller, that was an ordinary pun, haha)


^  ^  ^

My Father

Oh, my Father-God and my Lord, Who walks the vast halls of Heaven,
where You live, and breathe, and reign sovereign
over everything finite and eternal.
From where You speak.
From where You write Your Word.
From where You see all, know all, and do all.
From where You give Your unfathomable grace,
your mercy, and forgiveness.
From where You open Your hands and pour out goodness,
and from where You sent Your Love Incarnate, Immanuel.

Your name is Holy.
Let me kneel humbly, respectfully,
in reverence to Your glorious name.

May Your kingdom, Your realm, be established,
may Your kingship be proclaimed,
may everything You desire to happen
be done here on Earth, just as it is in Heaven.

I ask that You continue to provide all I need
in the form of wholesome food and water to nourish my body,
as well as Your Living Bread, and Your Living Water,
and understanding of Your Word, with personal revelation,
to nourish my soul.

I ask that You help me remember how You paid my debts
on the horrible cross of torture.
How You took my sin upon Yourself, Jesus.
How You gave Yourself in propitiating atonement, and in conciliation,
and appeasement, for my trespasses against You, Father-God.
Help me Lord to continue to learn to forgive others their debts against me,
their trespasses, wrongs, crimes, and sins against me,
just as You have so mercifully and graciously forgiven mine through Christ.

I ask You, Lord, to lead me away from the temptations of this world.
Help me keep your Word, Your principles, in obedience.
Lead me through the minefields, the snares, and the pitfalls,
for they are many, and my enemy shows me only the bait,
but hides the trap well.
Protect and deliver me from that devil, from that evil one, in Jesus name!

And finally, Almighty Father, I want to proclaim Your Kingdom.
It is the Kingdom of kingdoms, and You are the King of kings!

I proclaim that Your power is absolute.
It is the power that created Beautiful Creation in its entire completeness.
It is the power to create human beings in Your image;
human minds, souls, and hearts.
It is the awe-inspiring, miraculous power to change those hearts,
and save those souls.

And, I proclaim Your Glory, Lord.
How can I explain Your Glory?
It is too beautiful, too splendidly colorful, too exquisitely bright!
How can I illuminate it?
It blinds my eyes, baffles my mind, closes my mouth.
It is love unleashed, fervent, and intense.
It is Your inexplicable mercy, and grace, and kindness, and generosity.
It is as inexplicable as You, my God.
You’re glorious in Your Glory.
You ARE the Most High Lord,
Holiness Itself,
Ancient of Days,
The Great I AM.

Yes, Yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory,
for all time, and through unfathomable eternity.
You are my ABBA, my Heavenly Father-God
to Whom I pray this prayer, as You have instructed.
I ask these things and proclaim these things
in the love of Jesus’ most holy name.
Amen, and Amen.


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Indescribable

28 Feb 2014 6 Comments

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And we all,
who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

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God,
through His Word,
through His physical presence on earth,
through His presence in us,
describes something which,
through words alone,
is by its nature,
basically indescribable;
His glory.
Yet I persist in trying to describe it.
For His own reasons, He asked me to.
I don’t fully understand that, but I willingly comply.
He unveiled my face.
How can I describe the glory of God,
Even to willing believers,
Unbelievers notwithstanding?
Understanding of it can only bloom out of personal knowledge.
I’m a scribe for the impossibly indescribable.
How can I explain the joy which comes out of knowing Him,
The love,
Compassion,
Forgiveness,
Mercy,
Grace,
Spirit?
. . . I can’t.
I can only attempt to tell my perception of them.
How they affect me.
How they feel inside the heart of my spirit.
I can’t express the wonder of those concepts
without His intervention in the heart and mind of the reader.
Even though transformed,
Even though called and qualified,
I can’t on my own merit, describe the indescribable. 
Glorytelling would be a glaring futility without the guiding companionship of His Spirit.
Where does this come from,
This contemplation of the Divine,
This glorytelling,
This scribing of the indescribable?
Where does your own high calling come from?
It comes from the lovingkindness of the Lord,
From His wise will,
From the heart of His Holy Spirit,
And the image He pours us into, shines with ever-increasing glory,
And THAT, once again, is exquisitely indescribable.

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Faith Waxes Poetic

21 Feb 2014 1 Comment

~  ~  ~

Two poetic quotations which help clarify the mystery of faith :


“Nothing before, nothing behind;
The steps of faith
Fall on the seeming void, and find
The Rock beneath.”

John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

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AND :

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.“
Hebrews 11:1

Matthew Henry explains:

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary:

11:1-3 Faith always has been the mark of God’s servants, from the beginning of the world. Where the principle is planted by the regenerating Spirit of God, it will cause the truth to be received, concerning justification by the sufferings and merits of Christ. And the same things that are the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a full approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good. This view of faith is explained by many examples of persons in former times, who obtained a good report, or an honourable character in the word of God. Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services, and patient sufferings.

On a personal note;
When my faith saw these two “poems”,
it immediately deepened itself.
It’s hard to explain.
It’s miraculous; a wonder,
and the explanation is in the poetry itself.
Have a faith-deepened day!
Gloryteller

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Being Is

17 Feb 2014 3 Comments

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My being is in the Lord.
My being is with Him.

Walking awkwardly has become free running,
tireless leaping,
unfettered flying.

Looking has become sharp seeing,
watching moving lights and still,
colors dancing,
cloudless clear sight of wondrous beauties,
beauties perishable and eternal.

Listening for frightful noises in the night has become bell-clear hearing,
the uttermost enjoyment of the sounds of earth-spring,
the indescribable musics weaving through all seen and unseen Creation.

Living has become much more than the opposite of dying,
than waiting to die,
than a one-shot party,
than a self-serving, self-sustaining joyride.
Living has become the unfathomable gift of participating in being;
in having sacred existence which arises,
and is redeemed,
out of Christ’s Being and Existence.

Life has come –
has come to be lived,
set free as life before never was,
soaring with joy,
full of purpose,
everlasting,
life is,
life has come.

Mere existence has become transcendent-being,
True-being,
being rooted in Him.
‘Being-wise’, it can never again be otherwise;
When my Being is in the hands of The Highest Lord.
When my Being is with Him.
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