by Elizabeth | Nov 25, 2010 | Learning Story
Reading this Psalm translation by Robert Alter, Jewish and literary scholar aloud for a great meditation on God’s bounty and beauty in all and through all, I am drawn to worship Christ, who is the FOOD we celebrate today!
Psalm 65:
“To you silence is praise, God, in Zion,
and to You a vow will be paid.
O, Listener to prayer,
unto You all flesh shall come.
My deeds of mischief are too much for me,
Our crimes but You atone.
Happy whom You choose to draw close,
he will dwell in your courts.
May we be sated with Your house’s bounty,
the holiness of Your temple.
With awesome acts You answer us,
our rescuing God,
refuge of all the earth’s ends
and the far-flung sea.
Who sets mountains firm in his power,
–He is girded in might —
Who quiets the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves and the tumult of nations.
And those who dwell at earth’s ends will fear your signs,
The portals of morning and evening You gladden.
You pay mind to the earth and soak it.
You greatly enrich it.
God’s stream is filled with water,
You ready their grain, for so You ready it.
Quench the thirst of its furrows, smooth out its hillocks,
melt it with showers, its growth You will bless.
You crown your bountiful year,
and Your pathways drip ripeness.
The wilderness meadows do drip,
and with joy the hills are girded.
The pastures are clothed with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain.
They shout for joy, they even sing.”
The Book of Psalms, A Translation with Commentary, Robert Alter
by Elizabeth | Nov 19, 2010 | Learning Story
I was really coming to the end of myself, and there were few around me who couldn’t perceive it. Unraveling. Stressed. Taut. Edgy.
Was it that circumstances were barraging me more aggressively and relentlessly, or that I was not absorbing the blows of fallen-world-life with the softness of a heart open to shifting agendas? I don’t know. Probably both. All I know is that I needed a rest.
And funny thing, just as I was packing to leave home for about 36 hours (with the blessing of my family and a text message from a friend: “NO MORE THAN ONE HOUR OF WORK; REST!”), a friend sent me a great article (which of course I did not have time to read — until now), on the need for regular rest. Listen to just one little piece and look back at these commandments regarding rest. A great encouragement on a topic I am experientially pondering: Why rest?:)
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”Deuteronomy 5
“Why should we rest? In the first take (Exodus 20), we hear how the Creator made all things – and then stopped to rest, enjoying all the good that He’d made good, so very good. Don’t forget exactly how you got here. Faith awakens and remembers. We serve this Maker by working well and resting well. But in the second take (Deuteronomy 5), we hear how the Redeemer freed His beloved from the meaningless sweat of slave labor and carried those He had rescued into a place of rest and peace. Don’t forget exactly how you got here. Faith awakens and remembers. We serve this Savior by working well and resting well, and also by giving others who toil – even work animals – the pleasures of rest.” David Powlison, Innocent Pleasures
by Elizabeth | Nov 17, 2010 | Learning Story
Don’t you just love it when God gives a vivid, real-life illustration of His glory? Just such a thing happened to a group I gathered with last weekend to look at A Woman’s Story together.
It was Saturday afternoon, and the weather was quite warm for an Indiana/Ohio November day — temperatures close to 70.
We had opened the back double doors to the little lodge we were meeting in to let the air come through. All of a sudden, with an afternoon-slumber-jolting slam, the side door blew open!
I had two immediate thoughts, which of course, I shared with the group:
1: The Holy Spirit just burst in!’ and 2: ‘I forgot to pray!’ (before the session began:).
Of course, I was wrong, because in fact the Holy Spirit was ‘in’ the room the whole time, alive and active in our hearts as Christians. As Christ told us, we are not left alone as Christians. The Spirit is the “paraclete,” the Comforter who lives in us and moves with us, the power of Christ changing our hearts, the Word of Christ preaching the gospel to our minds, the the Wisdom of Christ redeeming our foolishness.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14: 25-27
Stop, look, listen! The power of the Spirit is moving in you this very moment, as vividly as a door slamming open!
by Elizabeth | Nov 16, 2010 | Learning Story
I confess. Politics frighten me. I easily get overwhelmed by the issues and the ethical complexities. Every election season sends me to one of two places — 1 – cynicism, certainly a safe place to land in this country of the disillusioned, or 2 – worship — praising God again that He is the Wise King who ruled in the strangest way possible, by doing the penultimate foolish political act — “this would be political death” his advisors might say…Our Ruler as Christians established shalom and restored broken things.
Today I write because politics is becoming personal. Our eldest son is declaring intent to run for president of the student body at his university. Part of me is screaming, “Don’t do it!” (Back to my ‘what-if’ tendencies…’what-if’ someone launches a smear campaign?’ ‘what-if someone hurts his feelings?’ Yes, you can see that I am not very far along in my political or maternal maturity:).
Mostly, though, I say, keep on moving, one step at a time, into this story God has so clearly led you into. He has looked to God to help him decide if he should run. He has worked as a restorer of broken things on campus, bringing, among other things, refillable water stations to eliminate the vast waste of plastic bottles. (He’s done other things, but this is not a campaign blog, just a mom being proud and humbled and “treasuring up things in her heart” and watching to see how God moves in this world and her son’s life.)
Mostly, I say to him, to all of my children, to my husband, myself, and you: let us all be good rulers of this earth, for it is our central calling from Genesis 1. Let us exercise dominion by the grace of God alone. Let us live each moment of every day as instruments of peace and restoration. Let us dream of the day when Christ will return, and government will truly mean establishing right relationships and full beauty. For, as I wrote a while back, “the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this!”
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
by Elizabeth | Nov 15, 2010 | Learning Story
One of my favorite things about traveling is discovering previously unknown (to me) aspects of God’s creation. I so enjoyed leading a retreat last weekend. Not only were there amazing women and wonderful stories, there was also beautiful (unexpectedly warm:) Fall weather. Flying into Kentucky, staying with my hostess in Ohio, and traveling to the retreat center in Indiana, I was introduced to all sorts of beauty uncommon to the panhandle of Florida.
In a late afternoon walk, I discovered something new, pictured below.
I am told it is an “Osage Orange” and that it repels all sorts of insects as well as making for a sparkly show in the fireplace when burned. Its nickname is Monkey Brains.
Of course my mind went to part of the subject matter for that night:
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Gen. 3:6
We don’t know exactly what kind of fruit Eve saw there that seemed so delectable. But it just occurred to me that if it was “monkey brains” maybe she wouldn’t have been so interested:)
On the other hand, perhaps she would because the tricky thing about temptation is that things that look as gnarly and unpleasant to the eyes can also compel us to touch, taste, test if we think they will give us a boost in the quest to make our lives work more according to our liking.
How about you? Why do the things that tempt you to sin seem appealing? What do they offer?
by Elizabeth | Nov 12, 2010 | Learning Story
Oh, love is a many-splendored and often-splintered thing. How do we “define” it, get a handle on it? I think the best answer Christians can give is the old adage, “You look up love in the dictionary and Christ’s picture is next to it.”
Here are a few thoughts from Scripture and various folks. Read them but before flying on to the next window, stop and think (and comment here:) — “What might love look like in your life today?”
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” C.S. Lewis
“You cannot worship unless you know you do not deserve to dance. You cannot worship unless you know that you do.” Dan Allender
A Love Prayer:
Father God, it is only because you loved us perfectly through your Son’s sacrifice that we can love at all. We ask you, urge you, make us more like Christ. Keep us from stepping into sinkholes of trying to love in our own strength. By your Spirit give us eyes to see, ears to hear, lips to speak, feet to dance, into your hurting world with YOUR love today. We love you, Lord, because you first loved us.
