"Peace............................."

In my front yard, the magnolia tree has erupted into a beautiful display of pink blossoms. Out back, the ground is covered with broken limbs and branches. This area of northern Kentucky escaped the tornadoes that devastated points just south of us; but strong winds always mean a job waiting for me in that portion of my domain.

The temperatures are unusually high for this time of year, the rain heavy now and then. There has been no flooding yet, however, only my lawn looking like it’s just about ready for me to resuscitate my mower. I drove over to Half Price Books yesterday while Beth and the granddaughter were shopping at the mall, picking up a used copy of Merton’s “The Ascent to Truth”. The author wrote it in 1951 and within the first few paragraphs speaks of the human race “facing the greatest crisis in its history, a claim he attributed to both “moral collapse” and “unrest in five continents”. The latter was said to be due to “a fear of being destroyed” and, by that, I assume he was referring to those days when, in this country at least, men were building bomb shelters and schools were executing drills on what to do if nuclear explosion was imminent. Here we sit, though, over half a century down the road, the monster still in the closet, but the general attitude seems to be “So what? A man could just as well get hit by a bus before the day is over!” Indeed, we are so up to our ears in this mess that we, ourselves, have made, that apathy, mental insanity, and depression are all a constant angry roar in the darkness, the question being: What can one man do? For me, it can only be answered within. I can only work on me, pray for others, and follow the inner tug on my anchor line. It’s a daily exercise capable of being accomplished on the go, whether one is working outside, driving somewhere, or simply standing in the middle of chaos. He, though, must be the force; I am but the vessel…..

"Visitation......................"

Wednesday evening Bible class was a second look at Romans Chapter Seven. Why? I don’t know; but it’s for sure that we will not ever completely conquer any portion of the Word. The Book was given only to give question to our heart and it is holy only because He inhabits it to speak to us as we go. In such sense about twenty of us once again explored this particular part of the puzzle on this occasion, discussing it in relationship as to how its individual message had proven to be truth in our life thus far. There was no arguing Paul’s claim that men remain men, even “in Christ”. The mystery to be probed was our being found “justified”, absolved of all sin and knowing freedom to walk with “no condemnation” in spite of whom and what our walk reveals us to be beneath this claim of being “born again”. Here, it seems, is where many of us are yet not one in our view of the matter. We do not enter into “making war” concerning our different perspectives, for surely only God can give light and take us “through the veil”; but, for me, if what we possess in the way of being pronounced “innocent” is merely our own pardon constructed out of a few verses of Scripture, then all we really have is “religion”. It may well be found valid on the Day of Judgment. He looks at our heart, not our scholarship. I want my verification now, however, and have learned this to indeed be what Jesus extends unto us through the Holy Ghost: an open invitation to step into His presence, a liberty to approach Him again and again for a daily cleansing of the soul, an encounter wherein His touch eliminates all doubt, renewing us as we go……

"As It Is............."

An old friend was waiting for me at church yesterday. Not having my phone number, he had come to the one place he knew I’d be on a Sunday evening and caught me outside the front entrance just before worship started. A co-worker of ours from the railroad had passed away, another good buddy not seen by me but once since my retirement a decade ago, a fellow who used to chastise me for putting too much salt on my lunch and then would grin when I’d point to the two packs of cigarettes that he consumed each day. We were like that with each other from the beginning. His childhood poverty endured had him always counting pennies, everything in his life geared toward making a profit, continually shifting his annually allotted sick days into his 401K so as to gain one hundred percent of their worth at some future date. I, on the other hand, would always sell back to the company ten or fifteen of mine, receiving but half their value to finance a vacation to Florida. He was six years younger than me, a great guy, and got to enjoy very little of what he had labored so long to save. If the news of his death saddened me, however, further conversation with the man who had sought me out with the report would give me reason to rejoice. This individual, about my age, while having taken never neglected his family, for as long as I had known him had struggled with an addiction to gambling. To learn now that awhile back he not only managed to break such hold on his identity, but that he also found deeper relationship with Christ in finding that victory, was like serving me up manna from heaven! At this stage of the journey, more and more it is but to be expected that family, comrades, and acquaintances, who share my generational time span to some degree on either side of me, are looking at the odds increasing that any of us might well be the next one to leave. I face that fact with no fear. What concerns me is the world around this old man: the chaos, the lack of morality, the loss of sense, and the Gospel message being preached in the midst of it all. The battle, however, is not mine to fight, other than through a surrendering of myself unto Him. All things are in His hands…….

"Clay Feet..............................."

Visitation for my wife’s oldest brother was Tuesday evening in the church sanctuary, the funeral service taking place there as well, at one o’clock Wednesday afternoon. The deceased had fought in Okinawa during WWII, was wounded twice, awarded two Purple Hearts, and now laid to rest in military fashion, a couple of Army soldiers rendering Taps and presenting our nation’s flag to his widow. Family gathered from all over, giving opportunity to renew acquaintance with some that I hadn’t seen in years. Amusing to watch two of his sisters, who haven’t talked to each other for at least two decades, avoid each other throughout the entire ritual. I love them both and know well, from my own experience, that all too often: it happens… Our Bible class last night focused on the seventh chapter of Romans wherein the apostle Paul speaks of his own humanity yet being an issue in his Christian walk (or at least that’s how we who took part in the discussion so saw it and therefore how we examined it in our own life). The danger, it seems to me, is in (a) simply dismissing that aspect of our existence, somehow believing our declaration of faith absolves us of all sin, past, present, and future; or in (b) recognizing the truth of the matter, but accepting it as an inability to meet that which we think is required of us. What Jesus brings unto us through His victory over Satan is the restoration of what Adam originally knew in the Garden, not some sanctified state of existence in which it was impossible for him to stumble, but a “oneness” with the Creator, a relationship wherein mercy and grace were always available unto him if he would only face his Maker. Even so our own journey must be accomplished in truth and whether or not we utilize the healing waters provided remains, of course, a matter of our own choice……

"In the Midst of the Storm.............."

Northern Kentucky was but one of several places across this country where tornadoes struck this past Friday leaving behind death and devastation. A small rural community about five miles south of us was pretty well just wiped off the map while my wife and I were sheltered with others on the lower level of a local mall. Tragedy, for us, came, instead, in the wee hours after midnight, at exactly three-sixteen a.m. Sunday morning. We were expecting it, family members having been called to be there with her oldest brother during what appeared to be his final moments with us. Nonetheless, parting is never void of sorrow, the separation sealed and the heart left with only memories. It was nearly dawn when the two of us returned home. Our day has been phone-calls, cat-naps, and much like “being in limbo”. Rather than going to church, I sat down this evening and pulled up the computer broadcast of our service, worship already underway and the song coming forth immediately connecting with my spirit, its lyrics relating all that the blood of Christ brings unto us. For a few moments the flow made all of us one. Theology mattered not. There was no need of any real understanding of one’s faith. It didn’t require a Biblical PHD to step into His presence and be humbled by all that He is. Yet therein, it seems to me, is the key ingredient to this mystery, whether the emphasis is on our praise or practice of what we profess to believe. I told my sister-in-law recently Saturday evening that it isn’t about us creating God out of the Book, but rather the other way around. In either situation, are we willing to yield ourselves unto His grace, His rod and staff……

"Dimensional............................"

Some sort of viral bug has plagued me the last few days, a day off from school and a visit to Veterans supplying me with some Amoxicillin to fight it; but it does seem to be reduced to a few sniffles at night before bed, under control otherwise. An option to forget the NyQuil before crawling under the covers, however, gave birth to one of those “asleep but not asleep” journeys and an early return to the living room recliner this morning, my thoughts on just who and what we are in our humanity. A man comes into this life helpless, no control over bodily functions, no ability to do much of anything other than scream for attention, needing help if he is going to survive. If nothing takes him out along the way, there’s a good chance that, in his finality, once again he finds himself in the same situation. The only difference, as I see it, is that on the inside of that which has held him all those years exists a seasoned individual about to be set free from flesh… I read an article some time ago wherein scientists claimed that any sense of our being a spirit and soul persona capable of yet knowing another functional state after death was no more than an illusion produced by our own brain. Having once experienced being momentarily “out” of my body, though, this old man begs to argue their ignorance. Temporary as it was, the event gave no opportunity to examine myself in a mirror, but hovering over and looking down at my frame laying flat on its back in bed with a river of praise flowing from my lips, I well realized the separation, the truth of that which my Bible teaches. My “mind” no longer felt contained, as if held in the grip of something in my head. I could reason without the “mechanics”. There was, and yet is, a step beyond this mystery within which we now walk. Christ called it “eternity” and said that it begins with knowing both Him and His Father……

"Heresy?.................................."

Wednesday evening Bible class ended with a bit of disagreement, nothing involving a need to physically separate anybody, the issue contested not being pursued any farther than by a few who noted their reluctancy to accept a statement made by this old man. In short, I saw no reason to attempt a forceful demand for them to adapt their theology toward mine, whether or not they believe Jesus to have been the first to be “born-again” in no way affecting their faith in Christ. To each their own. We all come unto Him via different paths and will one day kneel before Him individually. To my own way of thinking, however, without this specific piece of the puzzle, one is reduced to possessing no more than a “disconnected story” held together by one’s willingness to believe. Sin becomes what we do or don’t do, instead of who and what we are; and salvation tends to be maintained out of our own religious convictions, rather than confirmed by a reality. Until we can see the Holy Ghost as that which was divinely introduced into Adam in the Garden, then adamantly rejected by him out of his love for the woman, until we likewise find Jesus conceived by the Holy Ghost, knowing God’s original “plan for man” all the way from His birth unto His crucifixion at Golgotha and then momentarily losing it to take our walk into hell, we are left with riddled explanations of the Gospel, doctrinal dogma that divides us and often makes little sense. In the depths of darkness, the Father confirmed that bond with His Son and, in doing so, made it possible for us to be re-connected as well. I find that, not only Scriptural, but also a vital fact that opens the door to better understanding of other mysteries brought to us by the Word. Burn me if you wish; but it’s where I am after nearly forty years of following Him down the path……