It is quiet around here these days. Not that it is usually noisy, unless a train is going by, but when only one person is in the house there is not much conversation going on, unless I am on the phone or talking to myself. And I usually only talk to myself when I am at the office, I don’t know why.
Randy has been in California the past few days with our sons and families, enjoying playing with the grandchildren. He was there, as I mentioned earlier, because he had an opportunity to drive with our son, Seth, as he moved his (Seth’s that is) mother in law’s belongings across country from Pennsylvania to Colton, CA. They had a safe trip, only one flat on the trailer hauling the car behind the Penske truck, in downtown Las Vegas, and gorgeous vistas all through the mountains of Colorado and on into Utah. Randy said they were taking all kinds of pictures, it was so beautiful. And that was just along the interstate highways (I-70 and I-15). They didn’t even go into any of the national parks.
Randy is flying home today and I pick him up from the airport in Charleston. He will have been gone a week. It was an unanticipated journey, but we are glad he could accompany Seth on that long trip. It is always better to have another person along on such a journey. And it is a joy for us to help our kids. Besides, Randy got to see his grandchildren a few weeks earlier than planned and that was to him, “like Christmas”. Sometimes God gives us these special gifts.
So I have been rattling around in this big house, as a friend commented, the reverse of what had gone on for most of the past year and a half, when I was in California with the children and grandchildren and Randy was here alone in this big old house. I wonder if he talked to himself….
I do not mind being alone, if you are wondering. I like quiet and I am not afraid to be by myself, even at night. But I will be glad when Randy is back. We enjoy being together. God has blessed us with a wonderful relationship and we both are amazed at His kindness to us.
I’ve been reading a little book of two essays by Malcolm Muggeridge, the text of the inaugural addresses he gave back in 1978, of the Pascal Lectures on Christianity and the University, at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (the book is “The End of Christendom”, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.). Very interesting reading. I need to read Blaise Pascal (1632-1662) on whose writings these lectures were based. Anyway, Muggeridge, toward the end of the first address, says something which resonates with me, not because I identify with his perspective of old age and his particular bodily experience, but I identify with the tenuousness of life, the fragility of life in this body which he speaks of, and the insight gained because of it. Let me quote the passage here for you.
“You know, it’s a funny thing that when you’re very old, as I am, seventy-five and near dying, the queerest thing happens. You very often wake up about two or three in the morning and you are half in and half out of your body, a most peculiar situation. You can see your battered old carcass there between the sheets and it’s quite a tossup whether you resume full occupancy and go through another day or make off where you can see, like the lights in the sky as you’re driving along, the lights of Augustine’s City of God. In that sort of limbo, between being in and out of your body, you have the most extraordinary confidence, a sharpened awareness that this earth of ours with all its inadequacies is an extraordinarily beautiful place, that the experience of living in it is a wonderful, unique experience, that relations with other human beings, human love, human procreation, work, all these things are marvelous and wonderful despite all that can be said about the difficulty of our circumstances; and finally, a conviction passing all belief that as a minute particle of God’s creation, you are a participant in his purposes for his creation and that those purposes are loving and not malign, are creative and not destructive, are universal and not particular. In that confidence is an incredible comfort and an incredible joy.”
Yes! What more is to be said? I know this reality for myself. I have lived enough along the edges of life, being also the edges of death, to know in the deeps of my being the truth of both. We are but a breath. This makes every breath I breathe a gift, special, not to be taken lightly, not to be squandered. God has given me back my life so many times; to me, life, living, means loving God and trying, yes, trying because I am still not very good at it, to love my fellow humans and give them the place in my life I reserve for myself. To love and serve the living God with all I am is all I want to do, to be “a participant in his purposes for his creation”, knowing they are good, that these purposes are something much bigger than “me”. This is worth living for. This makes me get up in the morning.
Even when I feel insignificant, or am tempted to feel that way, when I feel powerless, I am comforted, as Muggeridge notes, because I am part of something much greater than myself. I can with confidence know I have meaning; there is meaning to my life, my existence on this earth. And flows from that, joy. I am free to delight in God’s good world, even when things are not altogether right in the world.
This confidence, this joy and comfort and meaning to life do not flow from within us but are realities only because of the Incarnation, God come in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ. Only in embracing that reality, accepting that truth, receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of one’s life, can any of this which Malcolm Muggeridge spoke of and I have been talking about be experienced. Outside of that, you are on your own, and none of the above applies; no confidence that you are part of something which transcends your own existence; no comfort, no joy no sense of meaning in life. All that person can have is what they make up for themselves…and it will die with them.
But while there is breath, there is hope. And I would hope for everyone to take seriously the words and claims of Jesus Christ. He alone holds hope for both this life and the next, time and eternity.
I do not mind being alone, because I am not truly, nor do I feel, alone. My closest companion is the living God, by His Spirit who lives in me. He it is who enables me to delight in His good world, in the beauty of nature around me; to joy in my friendship, companionship, and loving relationship with the husband “of my youth”; to delight in family members and friends; and to know the satisfaction of being occupied with good work. Life is good, because the Giver of Life is Good.
I asked last week for you to pray for my brother, Robert, who had surgery which removed his spleen and part of his pancreas. These problems stem, I believe, from his colon cancer surgery of a few years ago. He has gone home from the hospital and is in pain but improving every day. Please continue to pray for his healing. There are specific conditions which follow this kind of surgery so pray for that complete healing and protection.
Another request I have is for my daughter in law, Monica, Jeremy’s wife, who is carrying their third child and could go into labor at any time. She was supposed to be due in September but is approaching week 36 (next Tuesday, August 25) and the doctor is not sure the baby will wait until then. Her last child (our grandson Emmanuel) came fast and furious; they barely made it to the hospital. So pray for everything to go well, the other 2 children to get to their caregivers quickly (my other son and daughter in law) when the time comes, Jeremy to be there or get there quickly, etc.
Thank you, you who pray for us and these needs I bring up. You bless us.
Jacque
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I am a reader. I read books for improvement and entertainment, for relaxation. Currently I am reading the “Pendragon Cycle” by Stephen R. Lawhead, a series of 4 books based on the legend of King Arthur. Now, in case I’m about to lose you, hang in there. This is actually a very well done story and the author has several excellent spiritual truths woven into the story line. Let me tell you about one which I find fascinating, and instructive.
For generations the Britons had been fighting the invading barbarians and there was no peace. The Romans had come to Britain and now were gone, leaving the Brits to fend for themselves. It was an age of Darkness. Local kings had to raise warbands to defend their holdings and their people. They would set a High King over them who would join all the forces of the combined kings, the better to defend the country. They were a nation used to war and bloodshed, to mighty men of war.
In the 3rd book of the series, “Arthur”, a battle is about to take place between hordes of barbarians holed up in an abandoned Roman fort, led by a traitorous British lord, and the warbands of Britain led by Arthur. His forces are woefully outnumbered by thousands. Nonetheless they storm the high sitting fort, its steep slopes strewn with thousands of stones, a deadly way to have to do battle. The barbarians run down upon them, sheer numbers pushing the Britons back and allowing no advancement in the fight. Thousands are slaughtered but the Britons cannot take the wall of the fort. After the first day of battle Arthur’s men retreat to their camp to rest. Things are not going well, not at all.
The second day is the same. At noon they retreat to take a breather and the lords under Arthur meet with him to discuss strategy. Some want to lay siege to the fort and wait for more men. Arthur, as their leader and knowing better, is against it. Merlin approaches (in this retelling he is a former druid bard who is now a Christian, the Soul of Britain, their spiritual leader) and quietly says, “The hill is cursed. There is distress and calamity here. The slopes are treacherous with torment, and disaster reigns over all.” He goes on to recount the tragic history of treachery and betrayal and the battles fought there, and the spirit of evil which has been awakened by the treachery of the current traitorous lord leading the barbarians against his own countrymen.
The quieted lords, hanging on his words, ask what they are to do. Merlin answers, “This battle will not be won by stealth or might. It will not be won by bloodshed alone. The spirit abiding here will not be overthrown except by the power of God.”
The lords are thrown into a dither. They are used to fighting for their right, using force of physical strength to win their battles. The sword and bloodshed is what they are trained in. But trusting God? “What are we to do about that?” they cried.
“We must pray, Lords of Britain. We must erect a fortress of our own whose walls cannot be battered down or broken. A caer (fort) that cannot be conquered. A stronghold of prayer.”
Arthur heartily agrees to do this very thing. The next day before dawn, Merlin is seen climbing the hill of the fort and starts gathering rocks. Arthur goes to bring him back, but ends up joining him in stacking stones. Other lords go up to stop what is going on and end up doing the same thing, and the warriors start flowing out to join them. A wall starts to take shape. When asked what they are doing, Arthur responds by lifting a stone over his head and calling to the men, “What do you see?”. They call back “A stone!”. “No!”, Arthur shouts, “I tell you it is not a stone. It is something stronger than stone, and more enduring: it is a prayer!” He called them to look at all the stones on the steep hillside and see them as prayers. He was gathering the “prayers” to build a wall, a “stronghold to surround the enemy”.
This “picture” of prayer as a stronghold was given physical form as they built the wall which surrounded the whole hilltop fort. Within those walls they fought the enemy. They were trapped within the shoulder high wall as much as the enemy they fought.
Yes, this is a make believe story, one which likely never actually happened. But the author has penned a powerful truth and painted for us a fascinating picture of life as a follower of Jesus Christ. Can you see it?
An enemy has taken what is not his. He is more powerful than we are. We cannot defeat him by our efforts, though we lay down our lives to the last man. As hard as we work, as much as we give, it will not win the battle. We will wear out and finally give out if something doesn’t change.
In the story, Arthur understood that, Merlin voiced it and gave critical insight and pointed wisely to the only solution: trust in the power of God, not the arm of flesh.
Now, you and I know we need to trust God in what we attempt in this life. If we are followers of Jesus Christ we have been called into the fight, made up of many battles, to advance the Kingdom of God, the rule of God on earth in the lives of people. No, no one will be forced against their will to enter the Kingdom of God. But we have an enemy which is adept at deceit, schooled and powerful in lies and deception. This enemy has deluded and blinded humankind. We followers of Jesus are carriers of the Light and as such we have the responsibility to let that Light of truth shine forth so that all may see, and seeing, have the opportunity to leave the darkness and enter the Light.
Prayer to God and reliance on Him must be our first line of defense and attack. Then we can sit back…. What? You say, no, we do not just sit back and watch God do His thing? We must act? Oh, yes, yes, of course. Of course! Our prayers are meaningless if we are not laying ourselves on the line to act, to do the right things to accomplish God’s goals.
On the one hand, we cannot win without faith in God. On the other hand, neither will we win a single battle unless we act, in faith and reliance on and obedience to the living God! These are not mutually exclusive realities. They go hand in hand, hand in glove, heart in chest, however you wish to say it. Faith without works is dead! Works without faith are ineffective!
We must build that wall of prayer, that “stronghold” of prayer surrounding the enemy. Then our “sword swinging” will be effective. We will gain the high fort walls and defeat the enemy. And that’s no Arthurian fantasy.
I don’t know about where you live (just kidding), but where I live there is much spiritual darkness, “there is distress and calamity here. The slopes are treacherous with torment, and disaster reigns over all.” The evil spirits in areas here are awake and busy at work. Do you see it where you live? It is there, make no mistake.
We at Mustard Seeds and Mountains are busy building that wall, that stronghold of prayer against the enemy which occupies the high ground. We cannot do this alone. Many of our friends, our partners in ministry, have joined us over the years in lifting those heavy “stones” of prayer to assist in building that wall around the enemy.
We at Mustard Seeds and Mountains are also busy “wielding the sword” of battle against the enemy forces, though we are far outnumbered, and fenced in by that very wall of prayer we have built. Our work with YEP, the Young Entrepreneurs Project-- mentoring/discipling youth as we teach them business skills; children’s after school tutoring, Bible clubs, girl’s group, guitar lessons, one on one mentoring; home repair for the needy, elderly and disabled-- building relationships and sharing the good news of Jesus while repairing homes; teaching and encouraging volunteer teams which come to share their lives, putting feet and hands to the good news; our faithful donors sending checks to fund the work; these are the “swords” wielded in battle! These are the physical exertions necessary to carry out the commands of Jesus Christ to carry the gospel to our world.
Just the other day Randy called me in to his office to view a video just posted by a church group which had been here for a week doing home repair and Bible clubs (if you are a facebook member go to facebook, groups, search "Soncoast Community Mustard Seeds Missions Trip: West Virginia 2009" Nexthttp://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=200000010&n=-1&init=s%3Agroup&q=soncoast#/video/video.php?v=1197275016291&oid=97188144460). As I watched it I got choked up and started to cry. I was seeing the ministry of Mustard Seeds and Mountains through the eyes of the volunteers who are Mustard Seeds for that week... and I thanked God I am a part of it. We are doing a good thing. We are doing the right thing. I am so happy to be part of doing “some thing” for the Kingdom of God!
Let’s all encourage one another to keep on. Keep building that wall of prayer, keep wielding the sword…“to win for the Lamb that was slain the fruit of His suffering”.
Jacque
For generations the Britons had been fighting the invading barbarians and there was no peace. The Romans had come to Britain and now were gone, leaving the Brits to fend for themselves. It was an age of Darkness. Local kings had to raise warbands to defend their holdings and their people. They would set a High King over them who would join all the forces of the combined kings, the better to defend the country. They were a nation used to war and bloodshed, to mighty men of war.
In the 3rd book of the series, “Arthur”, a battle is about to take place between hordes of barbarians holed up in an abandoned Roman fort, led by a traitorous British lord, and the warbands of Britain led by Arthur. His forces are woefully outnumbered by thousands. Nonetheless they storm the high sitting fort, its steep slopes strewn with thousands of stones, a deadly way to have to do battle. The barbarians run down upon them, sheer numbers pushing the Britons back and allowing no advancement in the fight. Thousands are slaughtered but the Britons cannot take the wall of the fort. After the first day of battle Arthur’s men retreat to their camp to rest. Things are not going well, not at all.
The second day is the same. At noon they retreat to take a breather and the lords under Arthur meet with him to discuss strategy. Some want to lay siege to the fort and wait for more men. Arthur, as their leader and knowing better, is against it. Merlin approaches (in this retelling he is a former druid bard who is now a Christian, the Soul of Britain, their spiritual leader) and quietly says, “The hill is cursed. There is distress and calamity here. The slopes are treacherous with torment, and disaster reigns over all.” He goes on to recount the tragic history of treachery and betrayal and the battles fought there, and the spirit of evil which has been awakened by the treachery of the current traitorous lord leading the barbarians against his own countrymen.
The quieted lords, hanging on his words, ask what they are to do. Merlin answers, “This battle will not be won by stealth or might. It will not be won by bloodshed alone. The spirit abiding here will not be overthrown except by the power of God.”
The lords are thrown into a dither. They are used to fighting for their right, using force of physical strength to win their battles. The sword and bloodshed is what they are trained in. But trusting God? “What are we to do about that?” they cried.
“We must pray, Lords of Britain. We must erect a fortress of our own whose walls cannot be battered down or broken. A caer (fort) that cannot be conquered. A stronghold of prayer.”
Arthur heartily agrees to do this very thing. The next day before dawn, Merlin is seen climbing the hill of the fort and starts gathering rocks. Arthur goes to bring him back, but ends up joining him in stacking stones. Other lords go up to stop what is going on and end up doing the same thing, and the warriors start flowing out to join them. A wall starts to take shape. When asked what they are doing, Arthur responds by lifting a stone over his head and calling to the men, “What do you see?”. They call back “A stone!”. “No!”, Arthur shouts, “I tell you it is not a stone. It is something stronger than stone, and more enduring: it is a prayer!” He called them to look at all the stones on the steep hillside and see them as prayers. He was gathering the “prayers” to build a wall, a “stronghold to surround the enemy”.
This “picture” of prayer as a stronghold was given physical form as they built the wall which surrounded the whole hilltop fort. Within those walls they fought the enemy. They were trapped within the shoulder high wall as much as the enemy they fought.
Yes, this is a make believe story, one which likely never actually happened. But the author has penned a powerful truth and painted for us a fascinating picture of life as a follower of Jesus Christ. Can you see it?
An enemy has taken what is not his. He is more powerful than we are. We cannot defeat him by our efforts, though we lay down our lives to the last man. As hard as we work, as much as we give, it will not win the battle. We will wear out and finally give out if something doesn’t change.
In the story, Arthur understood that, Merlin voiced it and gave critical insight and pointed wisely to the only solution: trust in the power of God, not the arm of flesh.
Now, you and I know we need to trust God in what we attempt in this life. If we are followers of Jesus Christ we have been called into the fight, made up of many battles, to advance the Kingdom of God, the rule of God on earth in the lives of people. No, no one will be forced against their will to enter the Kingdom of God. But we have an enemy which is adept at deceit, schooled and powerful in lies and deception. This enemy has deluded and blinded humankind. We followers of Jesus are carriers of the Light and as such we have the responsibility to let that Light of truth shine forth so that all may see, and seeing, have the opportunity to leave the darkness and enter the Light.
Prayer to God and reliance on Him must be our first line of defense and attack. Then we can sit back…. What? You say, no, we do not just sit back and watch God do His thing? We must act? Oh, yes, yes, of course. Of course! Our prayers are meaningless if we are not laying ourselves on the line to act, to do the right things to accomplish God’s goals.
On the one hand, we cannot win without faith in God. On the other hand, neither will we win a single battle unless we act, in faith and reliance on and obedience to the living God! These are not mutually exclusive realities. They go hand in hand, hand in glove, heart in chest, however you wish to say it. Faith without works is dead! Works without faith are ineffective!
We must build that wall of prayer, that “stronghold” of prayer surrounding the enemy. Then our “sword swinging” will be effective. We will gain the high fort walls and defeat the enemy. And that’s no Arthurian fantasy.
I don’t know about where you live (just kidding), but where I live there is much spiritual darkness, “there is distress and calamity here. The slopes are treacherous with torment, and disaster reigns over all.” The evil spirits in areas here are awake and busy at work. Do you see it where you live? It is there, make no mistake.
We at Mustard Seeds and Mountains are busy building that wall, that stronghold of prayer against the enemy which occupies the high ground. We cannot do this alone. Many of our friends, our partners in ministry, have joined us over the years in lifting those heavy “stones” of prayer to assist in building that wall around the enemy.
We at Mustard Seeds and Mountains are also busy “wielding the sword” of battle against the enemy forces, though we are far outnumbered, and fenced in by that very wall of prayer we have built. Our work with YEP, the Young Entrepreneurs Project-- mentoring/discipling youth as we teach them business skills; children’s after school tutoring, Bible clubs, girl’s group, guitar lessons, one on one mentoring; home repair for the needy, elderly and disabled-- building relationships and sharing the good news of Jesus while repairing homes; teaching and encouraging volunteer teams which come to share their lives, putting feet and hands to the good news; our faithful donors sending checks to fund the work; these are the “swords” wielded in battle! These are the physical exertions necessary to carry out the commands of Jesus Christ to carry the gospel to our world.
Just the other day Randy called me in to his office to view a video just posted by a church group which had been here for a week doing home repair and Bible clubs (if you are a facebook member go to facebook, groups, search "Soncoast Community Mustard Seeds Missions Trip: West Virginia 2009" Nexthttp://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=200000010&n=-1&init=s%3Agroup&q=soncoast#/video/video.php?v=1197275016291&oid=97188144460). As I watched it I got choked up and started to cry. I was seeing the ministry of Mustard Seeds and Mountains through the eyes of the volunteers who are Mustard Seeds for that week... and I thanked God I am a part of it. We are doing a good thing. We are doing the right thing. I am so happy to be part of doing “some thing” for the Kingdom of God!
Let’s all encourage one another to keep on. Keep building that wall of prayer, keep wielding the sword…“to win for the Lamb that was slain the fruit of His suffering”.
Jacque
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
