These are the Words I Would Say . . . .

I can’t explain it but I am a fan of the TV series, NCIS. I prefer to skip the first ten minutes because it’s generally too gory for my taste, but I find the rest of the show entertaining as the team solves mysteries and the characters interact with each other.  

A few nights ago, when sleep eluded me, I watched a dvr’d episode. I do that sometimes for “white noise” in hope I will fall asleep and miss it; but that night, I found myself stepping into the storyline. 

Well, I should qualify that—I stepped into the premise of the storyline. Agent Gibbs was sitting in a diner and the audience saw the flash of a figure coming toward him with a gun. The scene blurred dreamlike, and he was still in the diner but obviously not as it was. He spoke to the waitress whose back was turned, and he (and we) learned it was his mother as a young woman. 

The diner was now full of people from his past, many of whom had died. The rest of the story showed each talking to Gibbs about past decisions he had made in his life. It had hints of the Christmas classic “Wonderful Life” as there were considerations of the effects from his decisions. 

That’s where I joined the story. I began to look back at my own life, and in this process, I concluded I would have been kinder to others and less focused on me. These are, if given such a chance, some of the things I would say: 

♥ To my darling child who died eight days after his birth:  I wish you could have stayed to be part of our family’s life. I’m sure you would have been a delight to your father and me and great brother, friend, and godly man. We think of you often and promise your nieces and nephews that they will love getting to know you in eternity. 

♥ To my mother:  I’m so sorry I didn’t understand your life and personal trials and that I didn’t help you more. I have come to increasingly appreciate your sacrifices, your difficulties, and your love for your Lord and your family. You gave me big shoes to fill. 

♥ To my childhood neighbor: Thank you for being such a wonderful father figure in my life. I think of you every time I see a box of chocolate covered cherries and occasionally at Christmas buy myself some in your memory (well, it’s not like that’s completely unselfish). 

♥ To my childhood Sunday School teacher: I’m sure you had no idea how influential you were and still are in my life. As I sat on those little red chairs, you taught me not only stories of God’s word, but caused me to believe that since you cared so much about me, maybe God did too. 

♥ To my favorite high school teacher: You taught me that that being a teacher was not something done just in front of a classroom. Rather, you developed opportunities and pushed us to learn, to excel, and to value one another. You insisted upon excellence and the awareness of our individual contribution and importance. I have sought to replicate your style. 

♥ To my friends who left this life too early:  I miss you. You each had a unique gift and shared it freely. I was so blessed to have walked beside you for a time. I hope to do that again on the other side. 

Of course, Gibbs had all this drama completed in an hour. For me, it will take longer for I realize that having received so much from those I mentioned, I must now turn and give it all away. 

I want to be a darling child of the Heavenly Father, and I now assume the role of a loving mother, a caring neighbor, a passionate Sunday School teacher, an energetic teacher of those who will listen, and a giving friend to those who now walk beside me. 

I’m glad for the chance to say these things—well worth a little less sleep. 

♫ “Be strong in the Lord and,
Never give up hope,
You're going to do great things,
I already know,
God's got His hand on you so,
Don't live life in fear,
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say.” ♫

The Sidewalk Prophets

Thirty-Nine

In our overview or walk through the bible in Sunday School, we are ready to begin the section of the Old Testament called “The Prophets.” At this point in class, I would hold up my hand with fingers spread and remind the disciples that the first five books are the “Law” (reminded by the hand showing “Stop in the name of the law!”) I then stick that thumb in my ear, point to my face, and explain that the next section is “History” containing 12 books (like the face of a clock).  Holding up the other hand, fingers spread, I remind that the next 5-book section is called “Poetry.” In class, we have considered lightly those first 22 books (5+12+5=22).

Moving back to the first hand, I again hold it up to indicate the next section called “Major Prophets” (I know there are really only four people, but since Jeremiah wrote two, we count them as five)—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. We will learn that the five are called major because of their length, not their importance. Thumb in ear again reminds us that we have another face-full of books—12 minor prophets. And that is the organization of the Old Testament (5+12+5+5+12=39).

Next Sunday, it will be time for Isaiah. It is tempting to think that especially these Old Testament pages were good for that time and even important for the times Jesus lived, but have little to do with today. Well, I ordered a book yesterday based on Isaiah which suggests that we are in a time of progressive judgment on our nation.

I don’t know how to take much of what is “prophesied” these days, and yet I hungrily seek the voice of God’s prophet. One of my favorite verses is Amos 3:7 “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” The most difficult but important thing is to know just WHO is speaking the words of God.

I’m sorry to admit that God certainly could and may well be bringing judgment on the U.S. for turning away from Him and from its founding principles. We, as a nation, used to be “one nation under God,” but now we are a mess—spiritually (more and more dismissing God and His word from our midst while displaying a cavalier attitude toward sin), physically (hurricanes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes), mentally (lower test scores, higher dropout rates, child hunger, and school violence), financially (who even knows the national debt let alone the future of health care and coming tax levels), and socially (divorce, violence, terrorists, drugs, prison populations, and expressed hatred).

Are we seeing the results of a nation who has chosen to move out from the hand of God’s provision? In our class, we want to look to the prophets of and strain to hear any messages God may be revealing.

Isaiah 3:8-9, 10

Jerusalem staggers,

Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.
 The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They have brought disaster upon themselves.

So, is it woe for us?  I’d say join me in holding on to the next verse:

Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

♫ “He didn’t bring us this far to leave us

He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown
He didn’t build a home in us to move away-
He didn’t lift us up to let us down.”  ♫

Where He Leads Me I Will . . .

Many times I have sat down to write in this blog and have nothing. Likewise, at times I have tried to write a song and find no words come. (Actually, I wrote a goofy song about not being able to write a song when I wanted to so badly).

It has been my experience, however, that if I will just start, words will come. My mind will settle and some degree of clarity will emerge. Often, I go back to the beginning and completely delete the first few paragraphs or song lyric lines yet discover an idea inside me that wanted to be expressed. Before that idea ever materialized, I just had to begin.

We have always heard it said that you can’t steer a car unless it’s moving and the rudder on a ship won’t work until the boat sets out. Perhaps that’s how God’s guiding spirit works. Perhaps we have to take a few baby steps forward toward God to allow Him to guide us into His will for us.

Joel 3:14 describes how most of us feel; “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!”  The VALLEY of decision—it sure feels like a valley, doesn’t it? Being unsure of what to do is a place of insecurity, dread, and even fear—a low place like a valley. I, for one, would rather be on the mountain top where I could see all directions. I want to know how each option is going to work out and then I’ll make my decision based upon the best outcome.  

Down in that valley, there is no way of knowing what’s ahead. It’s like being in traffic behind a semi-truck—no view of what is down the road. The driver must drive blindly forward, constantly apprehensive about changes, hoping not to miss the signs for exit ramps.

Yet, sitting stationary there in that valley, it’s difficult to receive guidance. I want it to be like Isaiah 30:21, “Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.” I want it to be that clear. I want to make only the right decision.

Perhaps that’s the whole thing about faith—trusting that as we take the first few steps while listening constantly for the voice of guidance, He will guide us. I picture a shepherd guiding a silly sheep with his staff, first tapping it on this side and then on that. I would prefer the shepherd go first and let me follow; but unfortunately knowing myself (and other silly sheep), I would get distracted or dawdle, wander off, and not follow.

Faith, it’s not an easy way to live! Yet, when Jesus asks in Luke 18:8, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” I insist that the answer will be YES!

For the multitudes and I in the valley of decision, may we move in the direction toward Him and find the guidance we so desperately need.

Terror

The news today reports the anniversary of the death of the man accused of being the world’s chief terrorist. He was a man, like so many others, who had as a life’s goal to destroy. I don’t understand the mindset of a desire to cause terror in others’ lives.

I surely get it that there are beliefs and people worth fighting for, dying for, and even killing for if there is no other way to defend them. I think about Jesus praying in the garden and asking his Father if there might be some other way than the one filled with terror, pain, and death. I think of Jesus asking his Father to forgive those who were the very tools of the terror, pain, and death. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, refused to be a terrorist.

The other evening, my farmer and I watched a movie called Wild Hogs with Tim Allen and John Travolta. It is a comedic story of four middle-aged men, frustrated with life in their post-youth phase (mid-life crisis), who take a cross-country motorcycle trip. Soon, they meet a motorcycle gang, the Del Fuegos, and as you would expect, trouble ensues. Both groups end up in a small town which has been regularly terrorized by that gang of bullies.

As I watched, I thought (yes I know it was fiction) that the gang was an example of terrorists who had no real cause except a lust to show off their power. They were mean!

Yesterday, May 1, the “Occupy” movement wanted to cause chaos around the nation in the form of destroying this and that. Last fall, that movement cost us taxpayers untold thousands of dollars as they protested whatever and trashed places leaving behind much filth. They terrorized anyone who disagreed with them.

Earlier, groups called “Tea Party” had demonstrated. However, they obeyed laws, made their point, and cleaned up after themselves. They were taxpayers and cost other taxpayers very little. They did not resort to terrorism; they went to the voting booths. Their ideals resulted in a change in the elected officials in Washington.

It seems to me to be a no-brainer which group would be supported by our government and by the media? But it wasn’t. The law-abiding citizens were and still are ridiculed and criticized. Does that make any sense?

Since 9-11, we live in the shadow of terrorism—of fear for our lives. We are afraid of terrorists who willingly blow themselves up to kill and cause maximum havoc. We are afraid of terrorists who have sneaked into our country across unsecured borders. We are afraid of terrorists who have moved to our country and enjoy its blessings yet seek to destroy it. We are afraid of the thugs that our ungodly society has created in the name of freedom from religion.

Terror—it is so obviously from the kingdom of darkness. But, we have a God, whose Son took the terror for us to give us peace. We can now claim the promises of God—Psalm 91:5 “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night. . .” and 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Taylor Swift wrote and sang a song about mean people:

♫ Someday I'll be living in a big old city
And all you're ever gonna’ be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna’ be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
All you are is mean and a liar and pathetic
and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean
Why you gotta’ be so mean?  ♫