What Are You Staring At?

When I was a youth I had a younger brother who was confined to a wheelchair due to an inherited disease. This was at a time before the American Disabilities Act required handicap access to any place in the universe except the moon. It was also a time before chairlifts and vans were common. Our family's first wheelchair accessible van was a used cargo van with a homemade ramp which required two persons (a pusher and a puller) to get my brother up into the van. So it was relatively rare to see someone out and about in a wheelchair. During this time if you wanted to get into most buildings you had to navigate steps in a wheelchair. Thus it was unusual to see a handicapped person out in public trying to circumvent the barriers of curbs, steps, and non-automatic opening doors.

Whenever we were out in the public away from our small hometown, my brother was very conscious of the eyes following him around. It was obvious that my brother was the object of many sets of eyes following him wherever he went. It bugged him so much that sometimes he would confront a person with the phrase, "what are you staring at?" It really was useful in getting someone to quit staring at you.

But let's face it. We find it hard not to stare at something that is spectacular - whether it is good or beautiful, bad or ugly.

Within the soul of man are eyes that have the ability to behold both a physical realm and a spiritual realm. It is far easier to behold the physical realm because it is so easily seen. (It really takes no effort to see the physical.) The spiritual realm is not so easy to behold as it is for the most part invisible. I say for the most part because the miraculous can be seen and is simply the spiritual realm manifesting itself in the physical realm.

The Bible encourages us to fix our eyes on the unseen, spiritual realm. One of the valuable reasons for fixing our eyes on the spiritual realm rather than the physical realm is the fact that the realm we are most conscious of will be reflected in the way we live. To fix our eyes on Jesus will bring a result in our inner character being transformed into His image which will then have the positive effect on our outward thoughts and acts.

I am finding the more conscious I become of the unseen spiritual realm, the more this focus brings into sight the spectacular nature of our Lord Jesus. And the more spectacular He appears to us the more irresistible He becomes to us. We just have to stare more at Him because of His awesome goodness manifested in and through us.

So friends, let's all have a "stare fest". Let's stare at the unseen, spiritual world and become more conscious than ever of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings

Mind Stretchers To Think Over

I am spending this week at the Hem Of His Garment Healing Conference at Bethel Church in Redding, CA. What a marvelous time it has been these first 5 sessions. I have 5 minutes before I head off to start the day so here are some random "mind stretchers" to ponder on throughout the day from the first session on Monday evening.

"God loves us as much as he loves Jesus."

"Nothing is as important as the presence of God."

'The reason god does the miraculous is because he loves people."

"We do not need to work for what he has already given us."

That's it for now.
Blessings

Is It Worth It?

I am attending a conference in Redding, CA this week. The opening session begins in about two hours so this post is a poem I wrote several years ago. Hopefully you will enjoy it. I will post again on Wednesday if I'm able.

Is It Worth It?

Is it worth it . . .

To here a newborn baby cry?

To run to the finish line after having fallen?

To stand alongside King Leonidas at Thermopylae?

To see those first baby steps in your house or on the moon?

To be there when the "Fat Lady" sings?

To plant the flag on Mt. Suribachi?

To chase after the rainbow?

To aide an Anne Frank?

To sweat drops of blood?

To hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"?

Back in the Posting Business

It has been way to long since my last posting. A whole lot of things have been happening since June 17. Mostly it has been very good. Mostly it has taken up my time so that when I do sit down I either don't want to write or I was too tired to write about my happenings. But this morning is different I want to blog! Maybe if I blog in the morning instead of waiting till midnight my mind would be a little more than mush and things coherent would come out.

As I sit to write this post I am listening to the music of Glen Campbell. Listening to Glen Campbell songs is like watching water rush over a 15 foot waterfall. It is something that you could listen to all day (or as the case of a waterfall - watch all day.) Now I know the younger readers of this blog will ask, "Glen Campbell, who is he?" But it is to their loss that they are so culturally deprived!

I have been asked with incredulity, "You listen to that?" Well, I'll let the secret out. I do listen to music other than Praise and Worship music. However, it is hard to beat what God is inspiring songwriters to put together expressing the wonderful nature and person of the Lord Jesus. So I go back to P&W everyday. So what's in my MP3 player? To begin with, you need to know that my music appreciation range is quite eclectic as you'll notice. It's sort of hard to pin down what my favorite style is so I just call it Eclectic.

My favorite song in my MP3 player is How Much Is That Dogie In The Window. Don't laugh, it was a number one hit sometime in the 1950s. Songs ranging from Roy Orbison to Patti Page, with the Temptations, Glen Campbell, Henry Mancini, Roy Rogers, Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, Three Dog Night tucked between them give pleasure to my soul. Oh, I almost forgot the classics, every MP3 player must have Maurice Ravel's Bolero in it. This is one for the ages! And of course, my MP3 player would be second rate if it did not have the military marches in it. Appreciation and gratitude always come to mind when you hear the likes of Anchors Aweigh or The Caissons Go Rolling Along or The Marine's Hymn or The Air Force Song.

On to other thoughts. Tomorrow marks the end of my first year of serving on the Pioneer Valley Association Board of Directors. It has been a real trip! I have two more years to fulfill my term. Last year at this time the annual election meeting needed to have the Sheriff's deputy called in to stop a scuffle between individuals. Shortly after things calmed down I was one of three newly elected directors sworn in. (Note: I was elected with one vote as a write-in candidate. And no, I did not vote for myself.) Many good things have been accomplished during the past year. One of them is that the people of Pioneer Valley now talk to each other instead of yelling at each other. That is always an improvement and hopefully will make the coming year even more productive.

One last item to mention. Sunday will see the last of our youth head off to the mission field for this summer. We have had youth serving in Oklahoma, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and now Italy. We also had an adult do mission work in Zambia this summer. Two others will go to Honduras in the Fall. That is 16 individuals out of our congregation of 80. Wow, well done CTC!

Children's camp this week, youth work days next week, youth camp the week after that (along with a conference in California). Then things will settle down in August. At least one can dream.

Manuals !?!

This posting will be about a mundane thing which I have thought about writing but it is surely nothing profound. I write it to get it out of my mind- so out it comes.

Every time you purchase something it comes with an operator's manual/instruction book. Being a true man, I promptly pitch the manual into the trash with the box and proceed on with life. This worked well when your better half retrieved the manual and kept it in a filing system for future reference (and saved the day on many occasions.) The worst of these manuals is always with a computer software program which promises "plug and play" ease of operation. Being the simpleton I am I always assume that "plug and play" means that your slip the disk in and install the operation and, 'whoohoo', it works. But I have learned that in the box, underneath the shiny disk, lurks a manual - at least 100 pages worth! Do they really expect me to read this stuff? Never in a 25years! That's why you marry someone who does read the manuals!

Life changes real fast when your 'manual reader' is no longer around to save the day. Either life gets much simpler because you abandon anything more complicated than "a+b=c" formula or you begin to read the manuals so you can stay in touch with the world of new and improved "gizmos".

So now I save the manuals (I always have so that Joyce would not have to later dig them out of the trash) and pile them somewhere with all the other stuff I may need someday. My non-orderly filing system was no match for Joyce's filing system. Think in terms of "chaos vs. order".

After one month without my manual reader around I am helpless in programming my TiVo. this simple task would have naturally fallen on Joyce's shoulders but alas, it it now up to me to find the manual and learn to do it by reading the manual without having someone show me how to do it. Did you notice the operative word in the previous sentence was 'find'. It is not that I can't read the manuals - the problem is I can't find the manuals. Auuugh !!!!! Sometimes being absent minded is the pits.

Wow! Just as I finished typing the above paragraph I glance up from this post and there it is tucked away on the bottom tier of the coffee table! I have found the manual! Now I can learn to operate the TiVo and my life will be made easier - so they say.

Life is good so keep smiling. Blessings

Fortitude

I am at the present time in Safford, AZ attending a conference. The hour is late so I thought it would be cool to bring out of my poetry files something of the past that has not seen the light of day before this time. Below is a poem I wrote on 12/31/2004. Hope you enjoy it.

FORTITUDE

There is no truce
Surrender is not an option
Embracing uncertain outcomes
We move forward

One step at a time

Toward one certain Outcome

We travel light

Assured by the Word and Spirit

We look backward only to see abundant grace

We stay not where we are

Our hearts drawn with yearning

For a new tomorrow

Onward . . . always another step

Never give up the journey

Eucastrophe awaits around the corner

And there . . . there is our goal

Our Lord and Savior with outstretched arms

"Well done, good and faithful servant."

Eucatastrophe -- a word coined by J.R.R. Tolkien to describe a momentous turn of events ushering in good fortune.

Blessings

Yearnings

OK. I have just lost my recent great post on yearnings. Where it went I have no idea. It seems that 3 mistyped keys in random order (or secret code unknown to anyone in the universe) will vaporize a masterpiece. Trust me, it was a good post. Does this happen to others or is it just my unique abilities that are able to accomplish this?

So here is a substitute post for the masterpiece just lost. Ten days ago we had a series of storms blow through. It appears the only damage of consequence was that the hummingbird population around my house was either blown into the next county or did not survive the storms. Either option has left the hummingbird feeders void of any activity since the storms. Now they only serve as a reminder of the former days of enchantment while we wait for a new batch of "Hummers" to find the feeders. Now, today, I see that I have Roadrunners in my back yard! That's cool but they don't have the color nor quite the same 'enchantment factor' of the hummingbirds. Still I will take the Roadrunners over the crows who come by for the pecans. All in all it is an amazing world God has placed us in and given us the responsibility to steward.

And for those reading this blog who watch what you eat, here's a interesting observation that may relieve some of the worry about what to eat.

Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausage/fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Apparently, it is speaking English that causes heart attacks!

Blessings