A Beautiful Day!

            Today….  if you forgive that guy that is honking his horn at you, if you choose the treadmill over the couch, if you speak the smallest word of thanks, if you hold your tongue at the thousandth irritation of the day, if you make that small change that you know you’ve been needing to make, if you choose to be grateful when you want to pout, if you tell that loved one that you love them, if you lay down a duty for a moment of play, if you face a fear, if you learn something valuable, if you talk to God, if you work on understanding and forgiving that offender, if you deliberately suppress your negative instincts, if you comfort someone in pain, if you obey when you don’t want to, if you take the higher road, if you maintain a positive attitude, if you stand up for what is right and just, if you control your ego, if you teach someone something valuable, if you withhold that critical word, if you let someone know you notice the good in them, if you listen when you want to speak instead, if you analyze before jumping right in, or maybe you need to jump right in when you want to over-analyze, if you say yes when you really want to say no, or maybe you say no when you really want to say yes, if you put off procrastination, if you conquer a difficult task, if you give someone a genuine smile, if you help a child, if you give something extra, if you seek wisdom from those that have been there, if you laugh when you want to brood, if you are patient under pressure, if you read some good material, if you think outside the box, if you share your creativity with the world, if you are honest, if you lighten the load of another….  then you have painted the colors of your own beauty into this day! Make this a beautiful day!

Vulturized!

So the scenario is something like this: You have been struggling with something for a while, maybe you don’t even know what it is, but it has left you weak and vulnerable. Your heart is hurting, empty or angry and you are dealing with it the best you know how to deal with it. It doesn’t matter how pious we may appear in the eyes of others, we have all been here at some point in our lives. Sometimes we have lived at this point for most of our lives.

It is in this weakened state that it happens, someone smells your weakness and your vulnerability and it smells like their next meal. Your desperation becomes their hope, your sorrow becomes their potential joy, your discouragement becomes their future gloating and the circling begins. Vultures are patient, they don’t mind waiting for death to come because it signifies life to them. They are perceptive, able to pick up on the signs of weakness before demise actually comes. They are selfish, hoping for the destruction of a life instead of the restoration of it. Welcome to reality. You are being vulturized!

The original idea of vulturization comes from the devil himself. The Bible tells us that he roams like a lion seeking whom he may destroy. This is unrighteousness embodied, yet it not only exists in the violent criminal on the street, the hideous evil dictator, the greedy business magnate or the menacing abuser, but it also dwells behind the smiling face of the manipulator, the whispers of the gossiper, the self-ambition of the spiritual leader and the subtle betrayal of a teammate. Just as we have all been vulturized, we also have all vulturized another. Only when we deliberately shift our loyalties from our hungry egos to the living Lamb will we learn to become harmless as doves. 

You’ve Come This Far

I wanted nothing more than to eat those delicious dollops of batter that were dripping off of the spoon! I was making a cheesecake for the next day’s Easter dinner and the temptation to lick that remaining batter was overwhelming.  I was starving and here was the perfect answer for my rumbling belly! I mean a little bit of batter isn’t going to matter that much is it?

I agree with that great anonymous theologian that concluded that fat has its very own place in the dominion of darkness (this statement is a joke, insert laughter here please). It seems to me that keeping eating habits in control is right up there in difficulty with climbing Mt. Everest. Not an easy thing to do, so in order to deal with this challenge we have a house rule that there is to be no eating in the late hours of the night. As I am standing there salivating over this delicious goo, my eye catches the glowing numerals on the stove clock, 12:02 midnight. Ugh! I also know from experience that one indulgence like this at this particular time can translate into a disappointing experience at the morning weigh-in. Suddenly the words popped into my sleepy brain, “You’ve come this far, you can’t give in now!” It was true, I had struggled all night to keep a commitment, it would be just plain dumb to give up now.

It is in those moments when the night seems darkest, when our aching muscles just can’t go on, when our faith is faltering, when our broken hearts don’t want to beat any longer that we must not give in! There is a morning coming sooner then you think and relief will come with it, whether that means a bite of heaven or a mansion in heaven. You’ve come this far, you can’t give up now!

Silence

I feel very strange tonight. I am home alone for the night, and I can’t remember the last time I had a house with no hubby or kids in it for 24 hours.

After I dropped the kids off at their sleepover, I began to think of all the activities I could accomplish in just one night... plan out our summer, get ahead on my schoolwork, pray, read, the list was extensive and I was excited. However, I wasn't in the house long when something odd captured my attention- silence! This silence made me aware of neighbors chatting, car doors closing, children playing in the street, a baby crying- I didn't even know there was a baby that tiny in the neighborhood! Honestly, I was astonished at all the outside life my ears were detecting. I was reminded of standing in the desert at nighttime, looking up at the incredible display of stars and being surrounded by the complete absence of sound yet experiencing the overpowering awareness of a universe beyond mine. No experience compares to that, witnessing such grandeur encased in such stillness naturally causes worship to arise in one's heart.

Tonight my world is silent, yet there is an active world right outside my doorstep that I seldom notice. I realize that our personal lives are so noisy, so polluted with constant chatter, media, music, phones, alarms and a million other distractions that our ability to perceive what is outside our immediate universe is severely handicapped. We would not hear God if He were screaming at us, and He rarely screams at anyone. We need more of what He says, "Be still and know that I am God." Maybe that explains why He takes us into the desert at times, it is where we can hear Him best if we are not afraid of the silence.

Something to Chew On

We live in a buffet culture. It feels so satisfying to pay one price for an endless supply of food and the complete power of choice. We are a society skilled at balancing towering plates of food from the buffet line to the closest table we can find and repeating this process as many times as our stomachs will allow. The oddest sight to see in a buffet crowd is a neat plate with matching food. Spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread just don't seem sufficient when tacos, egg rolls and fried chicken are all calling your name at the same time. It would seem wasteful to just let them sit there! I guess there is not a lot of mystery to this American pastime. We all like to experience the joy of abundance and the thrill of unlimited pleasure-giving food.

However, I know a few people who shun buffets. This baffled my logical buffet mind. Why would you prefer to pay for a stingy, one-plate, mono-themed meal when you could pay less and enjoy a perpetual paradise of food?  I was curious so I asked one of them. "Well, aside from the fact that I always seem to get sick from buffets", they said, "I don't care for a huge mixture of foods. I feel better when I eat a moderate amount of good, quality food." Yeah, now that they said that, it is true that 99% of folks leaving a buffet are grumbling about their swollen bellies or digging for antacids. I see their point. I also note that this person is a person of class and taste (no pun intended!). Maybe there is some wisdom in this quality over quantity mentality.  I think I will chew on it over this nice Mexican meal, egg rolls not included.

Ladybugs v.s. Wasps

"I saved all the ladybugs!" proclaimed my 10 year old daughter. She had worked diligently to move all the poolside ladybugs away from the water's edge. I had not noticed the lounging ladybugs, but I sure had noticed the abundance of gigantic wasps flying around the property. "So what about the wasps?" I asked her, "Did you save any of them?" Her face twisted in disdain, "Oh no! I didn't save any wasps!" I have seen that same look of disdain on faces before. You mention the name of a certain person in their presence and suddenly the lips snarl and the eyes narrow and the manifested dislike is sufficient to start a war.

The difference between wasps and ladybugs is that wasps sting. We all know how painful a sting feels, a sting of betrayal, of selfishness, of injustice. The person that threw us under the bus for no good reason, the spouse that lives mainly for their own interests, that person we trusted that we eventually realize is just using us to get ahead. Wasps sting and nobody wants to help that which does harm and causes pain.

Jesus came to deal with stings. His purpose was for all of mankind to be able to proclaim, "Oh death! Where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and it is also the sting of life. Every human comes equipped with a stinger of injustice, capable of inflicting pain and creating ill-will in the hearts of others. Jesus came to de-sting us, to turn us from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, from stinging others to healing others. Undoubtedly, stinging wasps are feared, but life-giving ladybugs are favored. Just ask a 10 year old.