Monthly Archives: June 2014

Good Gifts

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I was working at the Canadian Bible Society Book Store on Monday, April 30, 2001, when a new shipment of Bibles came in, which included a beautiful family Bible, NKJV, with illustrations by the painter of light, Thomas Kinkade. It took my breath away!

As I priced and shelved these Bibles, the thought came to mind that I would love to give one to each of my five children for Christmas. (Yes, I thought of Christmas in April!) These Bibles were very expensive and it occurred to me that by purchasing them now, on a lay-away plan, they would be bought and paid for by December. However, not sure of what my family’s reaction would be, I decided to think about this idea for a few days.

The very next day I opened the following e-mail from my daughter-in-law, Sonya. It was a forward, the most timely one I had ever received; and here it is in its entirety:

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As graduation day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study, and told him how proud he was to have such a fine son and how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely leather-bound Bible with his name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money, you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realized his father was very old and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since graduation day. But before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matthew 7:11, “If you then, though you are evil (meaning not perfect) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

You guessed it! I bought those Bibles the very next day, and by December they were all paid for, and each was embossed in gold with its recipient’s family name. To my mind it was the best gift I’ve ever given, and no, there were no car keys or hundred dollar bills tucked inside, only my undying love and God’s undying Word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metanoia for the Modern World

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A few years ago I attended a lecture given by an evangelical Catholic priest.  It was very informative, and I came away with a new word. Metanoia. It was added to my word collection in one of many journals, and filed away for future reference. I’m hauling it out today in the form of a blurb and poem I wrote in 2009:

Are we praying for ways to redeem the world or planning ways to destruct it? Remember Saul on the road to Damascus. God stopped him in his tracks on that hot, dusty road and struck him first with blindness and then with metanoia, a change of heart. Saul the persecutor became Paul the saint. God can do that in today’s world too.

World leaders need to do some soul-searching as did Saul. Are they interested in peace or is power their real agenda? If it is a power struggle, God, as he did with Saul, will have the final say. The world is getting a wake-up call. Perhaps the energy spent on threats would pay better dividends if used for promoting peace. Who is perceived to be the most powerful? Let them put that power to use constructively rather than destructively.

God can change the hearts of ordinary people also. Let us each leave our own little world, the world of personal, pithy, private life, and step into the big picture. Let us all step onto the road to our own Damascus and experience metanoia.  And now the poem:

METANOIA FOR THE MODERN WORLD

On that long road to Damascus,

the Lord stopped Saul in his tracks:

“Why, Saul, do you persecute me?”

the voice from heaven asked.

“Who are you, Lord?”

the stricken man cried

as he rubbed his sightless eyes.

“I am Jesus whom you persecute!”

the voice from heaven replied.

For three days Saul was blinded,

he neither ate nor drank a drop

until he was convicted

to change the way he thought.

When he saw himself as Jesus did

his eyesight was regained

and Saul the persecutor

became known as Paul the saint.

We need that kind of metanoia

in our modern world today,

let people think before they act

in such destructive ways.

Away with guns and knives and threats

and bombs and words of war!

Hear God’s voice from heaven say,

“These things I do abhor!”

And if we listen carefully,

if we try to be humane,

then surely metanoia

will touch our world again.

Our road to Damascus is just as real today

as it was in Paul’s time…

may we meet Jesus on the way.

©2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Quotes from Great People

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The longer I live, the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I want to learn. Now, onto more famous quotes. (Once again, my comments are in parenthesis.) By the way, I saved the best for last; it’s a real thought provoker.

No man’s life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and try to find one’s way to the heart of man…Mahatma Ghandi. (I always wondered what this meant until I wrote my book, and then it became clear.)

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience…Pierre Tielhard de Chardin. (This one keeps my thinking cap on!)

Never be entirely idle but either be reading or writing or praying or meditating or endeavoring something for the public good…Thomas A Kempis-early 15th century. (I found this one in a cemetary.)

All that we are is a result of all that we have thought…Buddha. (It reminds me of As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.)

I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all I ever knew), their names are what and where and when and how and why and who…Rudyard Kipling. (It is said that this is a journalist’s mantra.)

The individual human personality has bound up inside itself, a connection to all the wonders of the universe…Sidney Poitier in The Measure of a Man. (I like to think of this as truth.)

Focus on the front windshield and not on the rearview mirror of life…Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State. (That goes for driving a car too!)

It is one thing to talk about God. It is quite another thing to experience God…Leonard Sweet, Methodist Theologian. (The experience is what encourages the talk.)

Life is God’s gift to you, the way you live it is your gift to God…Leo Buscaglia. (Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.)

Live that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip…Will Rogers. (That’s why I never had a parrot.)

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give…Winston Churchill. (This doesn’t mean just money…does it?)

I expect to pass through life but once, if therefore, there can be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now…William Penn. (I hope this cures me of my procrastination.)

And finally…

What if you slept? And what if, in your sleep you dreamed? And what if in your dream you went to heaven and plucked a strange and beautiful flower? And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand?…Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (No comment.)

Great Quotes by Great People

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Over the years I have collected many quotes from many sources, and I’d like to share a few today. Quotes are a wonderful way to spice up our minds, especially when they come from the hearts and minds of great people. (My comments are in parenthesis).

Let me start with this one from Confusius:

I hear, I forget…I see, I remember…I do, I understand.  (This has always made sense to me.)

Imagination is more important than knowledge…Albert Einstein.  (More than one knowledgable person will dispute this.)

Our doubts are our traitors…William Shakespeare. (I don’t doubt this!)

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for?…Robert Browning. (Can you feel yourself reaching?)

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear…Zen Proverb. (This has actually happened for me.)

Do more than touch, feel. Do more than look, observe. Do more than hear, listen. Do more than listen, understand. Do more than speak, say something…John Harson Rhoades. (Try this, it really awakens the senses.)

You must enjoy the moment rather than waste it with feelings of wanting, wanting, more, more. It is very necessary to be content or you spoil the time you have…Gina Lollobrigida. (Being content in a moment without the the immediate need for another, is sublime.)

“Be still and know that I am God…” God. (This is only one of His many.)

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute! What you think you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Only engage and then the mind grows heated. Begin and then the work will be completed…Johann Wolfgang Goethe. (This one is responsible for my forthcoming book…I began and now it is completed.)

Let there be spaces in your togetherness for the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow…Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet). (This has been one of my favorites for years, and can be great advice for relationships.)

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away…William David Thoreau. (I wonder if this is why I particularly love the drums.)

When you are yourself, expressing who you are and giving the gift or talent that you were born to give, that is how you spread the greatest amount of love and peace in the world. That is your special, unique way of making a difference…Robert Allen. (Would that we could all make a difference. Once again, imagine if we try.)

More tomorrow….

In Good Company

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I’ve had this life-long dream of writing a book, never believing it would come to fruition…but it is…(coming to fruition!) Why did it take me so long? Well, living life played a great role, and “to everything there is a season” as Ecclesiastes, chapter three, so eloquently puts it: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…”

It took me seventy-seven years but look what famous people accomplished in their elder years:

Albert Schweitzer was still treating his patients at age 90.

Grandma Moses was still painting at 100.

Edison was still inventing at 80.

Shaw was still writing plays after 90.

Frank Lloyd Wright worked until 90 as did Picasso.

Rubenstein received a standing ovation at 88

Monet was still painting in his 80’s.

Michelangelo was still building St. Peter’s in Rome when he died at 89.

And our own Alice Munroe, Canadian short story author, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature at age 82

So, I don’t feel so bad. These people are my creative heroes.

There’s a good old saying, “You are judged by the company you keep”, which I used to tell my children, if they ever found themselves in the company of some who would or could lead them off the path I felt they should follow; one of honesty (above all) and truth.

And now, here am I, ordinary person, trying to keep company with these famous “oldsters” of bygone days. Maybe I’ll be worthy of a Nobel Prize in Literature by the age of one-hundred-and-twenty: and then again, maybe not. One can only dream. I would love to rub shoulders with these celebrated people, and be judged by the company I keep.

 

Just for Laughs

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It appears that most of my blogs have been on a more serious bent and I am about to change that. Proverbs 15:30 says A cheerful look brings joy to the heart…and Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine…

Today’s post will include some Christian humor…just a little…just for laughs. Here goes….

A man appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. “Have you done anything of merit?” St. Peter asked. “Well, I can think of one thing”, the man offered. “Once on a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of high-testosterone bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone but they wouldn’t listen. So I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker, smacked him on the head, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring and threw it on the ground. I yelled, “Now back off biker boy or you’ll answer to me!” St. Peter was impressed. “When did this happen?” he asked. “Just a couple of minutes ago.”

 A man, his wife and mother-in-law went on a vacation to the Holy Land. While they were there the mother-in-law passed away. The undertaker told them “You can have her shipped home for $5000 or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150.” The man thought about it and told him he’d just have her shipped home. “Why? Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home when it would be wonderful to be buried here and spend only $150.” The man said, “A man died here 2000 years ago, was buried here, and three days later he rose from the dead.” I just can’t take that chance.”

This is about a middle-aged woman who wanted a new improved self.

Unfortunately she ends up injured in a car accident and is rushed to hospital. As she floats in and out of consciousness, she begs God to keep her alive. God tells her not to worry and promises her a long, long life.

While she’s in hospital recovering from her broken bones she figures she might as well get a few other things done. She opts for a tummy tuck, a breast augmentation, has her eyes lifted and her nose reduced.

She looks and feels like a new woman and can’t wait to show the world.

She had just left the hospital for home when a bus rounds the corner, slams into her and kills her. When she gets to heaven she’s furious and tells God “You said I was going to live a long life. What happened?”

God studies her face and says, “I didn’t recognize you!”

 

A man was taking it easy, lying on the grass looking up at the clouds and decided to talk to God. “God” he said “How long is a million years?” God answered, “In my frame of reference, it’s about a minute.” Then the man asked God “How much is a million dollars?”

God answered, “To me it’s a penny.”

The man asked “God can I have a penny?”

God said, “In a minute.”

And that’s it for my attempt at Christian humor. My apologies to anyone who may take offence; especially bikers, mothers-in-law, and those prone to gilding the lily.

In case you are wondering where my material came from, I borrowed it from one of my Alpha experiences. My pastor loved to open each session with a bit of humor.

Until tomorrow….

Wake Up! There is a Better Way

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Who of us is immune to the effects of vandalism, terrorism, random acts of violence, and the life-snuffing behavior of some people who seem to have a complete disrespect for their fellow person?

We see it around the world; Russia, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, America, Canada…each country has its own lack of human values to deal with: guns, knives, machetes, bricks, sticks, stones, whatever…to prove what?

I even noticed it in our own recent Provincial elections, to a lesser degree but noticeable, indeed. I call it a new kind of party animal (if you will pardon the pun) where,  instead of sticking to their own agendas, and offering voters some substantial food for thought, two of the three candidates went on a bashing spree against the third one; verbal yes, but still bashing. It reminded me of Genesis 50:20 when Joseph said to his brothers, who sold him into slavery, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”

It is all an assault on my senses, and I go on a writing spree. The G-20 Toronto Summit riots in 2010, and the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots in 2011, prompted the following:

WAKE UP! THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

To all who are asleep in vandalism and violent acts,

unconscious to the fact

that destroying the lives of other people and their property

is not a joke, hear this!

What gives you the right to take a rock

and with your might

smash the life another person lives?

Hear what I say:

“Wake up! There is a better way.”

Look at you!

What do you see?

That thoughtless, senseless person

is not who you’re meant to be!

Wear the shoes of the destroyed

rather than the destroyer.

See how it feels

to be ground

under the heels

of people

who are not aware

of their good side.

Again I say,

“Wake up! There is a better way!”

Find it! Change your wicked ways!

Humanity awaits the new you.

©2011

Can you imagine a world where we work together instead of against each other? Do you remember John Lennon’s Imagine? Imagine if we try.

The Way I See It

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Somewhere around 2006 I took part in a Bible study, called The Mustard Seed group (which is why I joined it). The question came up about the Triune or Trinity, the Three in One. The person who posed the question was of a scientific mind, and could not quite “get it”. Admittedly it is a difficult concept to understand, and I struggled with it for a long time until a thought entered my mind that helped me see it in a different light. And here is that thought.

God gave us our minds to use, as the free will he also gave us, dictates. But his greatest wish is for us to acknowledge and believe his word and that of his Son, Jesus; and to love him with all our heart, and soul, and mind; whether it be a brilliant mind, a scientific mind, an average mind, or a simple mind.

Albert Einstein had a scientific mind and here is a clip from Wikipedia’s Religious Views of Albert Einstein:

For Einstein, “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”[40] He continued:

a person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their super-personal value. It seems to me that what is important is the force of this superpersonal content … regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a Divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities. Accordingly a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance of those super-personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation … In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be…[40]

And then there’s Sir Isaac Newton: (from the Internet’s Evidence for God)

  1. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
    In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a figure of undisputed genius and innovation. In all his science (including chemistry) he saw mathematics and numbers as central. What is less well known is that he was devoutly religious and saw numbers as involved in understanding God’s plan for history from the Bible. He did a considerable work on biblical numerology, and, though aspects of his beliefs were not orthodox, he thought theology was very important. In his system of physics, God was essential to the nature and absoluteness of space. In Principia he stated, “The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.

Doctors have scientific minds, and I know of some of these gifted people who have very strong beliefs in God. I’ve heard of surgeons who wouldn’t consider beginning an operation without first praying.

God, himself, has a scientific mind. How else do we explain the perfection of the universe? In my opinion, the Big Bang Theory is not an option unless we rewrite Genesis 1:1 to read: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth with a big bang!

No random explosion can cause that kind of perfection, and every seeking mind, being open to the possibility that with God, all things are possible, may realize that as an apple, within its core, contains a seed, contains a tree; and as an atom contains electrons, protons and neutrons; so God contains his Son and his Spirit, each a separate entity contained in the whole.

That’s the way I see it.

Comments/feedback always welcome.

 

 

More on Not to Worry

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In 1989 the Canadian economy experienced the beginning of a downturn, and the booming business I had been used to for four years in my pretty little gift shop was suddenly not booming anymore. In fact it got to the point where I was behind on my rent. While trying to get past this hurdle without reverting back to the old worry habit, I turned the radio on to this line of Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit, Don’t Worry, Be Happy…The landlord says your rent is late…he may have to litigate…but don’t worry, be happy.

It made me laugh, and freed my mind to thinking through my dilemma, which got suitably sorted out in the end.

And then there’s this from Alpha’s Challenging Lifestyle by Nicky Gumbel:

It’s an excerpt from the chapter, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

There are seven reasons why we should not worry:

First…To worry is to miss the point in life

Second…Worry is illogical…it is a slander on God’s character

Third…Worry is a complete waste of time; it is futile, unproductive and pointless. So many things we worry about never happen.

Fourth…Worry is incompatible with faith

Fifth…Worry is un-Christian

Sixth…Worry is unnecessary

Seventh…Worry is incompatible with common sense. (This is my favorite)

And then there is this from All Things Are Possible Through Prayer by Charles L. Allen

Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?

It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.

It gives you indigestion and sleepless hours at night

And fills with gloom the days, however fair and bright.

It puts a frown upon the face and sharpness to the tone.

We’re unfit to live with others and unfit to live alone.

Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?

It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.

Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?

Praying really changes things, arranges life anew.

It’s good for your digestion, gives peaceful sleep at night

And fills the grayest, gloomiest day with rays of glowing light.

It puts a smile upon your face, the love note in your tone,

Makes you fit to live with others and fit to live alone.

Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?

It brings God down from heaven, to live and work with you.

Finally, this from an unknown poet:

In life there are only two things to worry about,

whether you are well, or whether you are sick.

If you are well, you have nothing to worry about,

but if you are sick, there are only two things to worry about;

whether you will get better or whether you will die.

If you get better, you have nothing to worry about,

but if you die, there are only two things to worry about;

whether you will go to heaven or to hell.

If you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about,

and if you go to hell, you will be so busy shaking hands with your friends,

you won’t have time to worry!

That’s the end of the worry topic. Now for tomorrow’s post. Hmmm, let me think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible on Anger

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Here’s a poem I wrote in 1979 after throwing a hissy-fit, and shouting in anger at someone that I can’t even remember now. I do remember saying things I wished I hadn’t. The words hurled themselves at my targeted victim, like darts at a dart board, and I was immediately filled with regret. Since then I have worked very hard at harnassing my anger, but every once in a while, something triggers it, and off I go on a short-lived tangent. Here then is Anger:

When anger

rears its ugly head,

the spoken word

is best unsaid.

The heat of anger

spawns words of ice,

sears heart and soul

and quickly dies

to a smoldering ash

of regret.

©1979

Somehow it makes me feel better to know that even Jesus got angry on several occasions. Mark 3:5 tells us, “He looked around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.”

In Matthew 21:12 he overturned tables and chairs in his anger at the people using the temple as a marketplace.

In Exodus 32, God tells Moses how angry he is that the people carved out a golden calf to worship, and calls them a stiff-necked people. And then Moses gets really angry with the people and smashes the tablets God had written upon up on the mountain. There was a lot of anger going on in the Old Testament and that’s not even touching on Noah and the flood in Genesis.

And yet James, in the New Testament, cautions that everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.  (James 1:19) Oh, how I need to heed that advice sometimes!

Paul tells the Ephesians, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,… (Ephesians 4:26)

This makes good sense because to go to bed angry would not promote a good night sleep.

Ah, is it any wonder that the Bible is one of my favorite books? It is filled with such history, wisdom, poetry and yes, even a hint of anger to ease my conscience when I succumb to that dreaded emotion on occasion.