Withholding good things...

I know a woman who is very afraid of running out of money.  She is old.  She is facing medical issues... she has over three million dollars.  Will she run out of money before her life is over?  Who knows... we seem to create what we fear, so my guess is, she will die penniless.  Perhaps it would be the best thing for her.  The thing is, while she clings to what she has in fear of her future woes, her children muddle through their own very current woes unaided... sad.

Matthew 7:11 says, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" 

Hmmm, do we know how to give good gifts to our children?  In context Matthew 7:7-11 says this:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"

The assumption there is that we know how to give good gifts to our children.  If my child asked me for bread.  I would buy bread.  It's true!  I would not buy a stone instead.  But in our society where we live only one generation at a time, we are more likely to miss the point.  If we do in this generation what has been done in the last three will there be any bread for our children?

I think it is important to know what a good gift is.  It might be a loaf of bread but perhaps it is land that is clean, rich and fertile that is ready for a strong crop of wheat to grow so that our children have something to bake into bread.

Maybe it's a clean ocean, one that has been fished with our children in mind.  Leaving all we can behind so that there will be fish for many generations to come.  

Perhaps this isn't the point.  Jesus is begging us to ask Him.  For what exactly?  Is this a carte blanche to ask and receive anything I want? Hmmm, I'm thinking of James 4:3 where it says,

"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

Which pleasures?  Isn't eating bread also a pleasure? When are we withholding bad things and when are we withholding good things from our children? Does God withhold good things? Or... hmmm If God never withholds good things from His children... what are those good things?  Food?  Clothing?  or is it peace, hope, and rest?  

Why does He ask us to ask? to knock? to seek?I wonder if He is egging us on to ask for today's things... bread and fish.  Like the Lord's prayer, give us this day our daily bread.  I wonder... 

I know many who say, "ask for the big things"... great things like houses, wealth and prosperity.  But sometimes I feel more like a tiny bird... waiting for just the next morsel, perhaps He asking for something more intimate and personal.  Like the next bite... the next breath.  Maybe...

Random Kindness

I am on the road once again.  “Gypsy girl” they call me.  Oh well, it gives me new perspectives.  :)

I took the train to Chicago and then, after a layover, headed west.  There was an older lady getting on at my stop.  She had a huge suitcase, seemed almost as big as she was and she was struggling to get on the train.  I made way for her to go in front of me thinking that if I was behind her I could shield her from passengers being pushy from behind.  I asked if i could help her get her suitcase onto the train.  She studied me for a minute, awkwardly declined and then muscled her case into the luggage rack and headed upstairs to sit down.  I followed shortly afterward to find my own seat.  We both unloaded in Chicago and I again motioned for her to climb out in front of me so that I could define the pace for the people behind her.  This time she seemed very grateful for the  spot in line and lack of pressure getting off.  After getting off the train, she muscled that big ol’ suitcase all the way into the station and headed for a place in line to check her bag for the next leg of her trip.  When she did so she stopped and notice me and said, “well I guess I should let you get in front of me this time.”  

Isn’t it interesting how kindness is “catchy?”  Yes, I think cruelty is too, but think about what you might be doing by being kind.  What kind of an effect can you have on two, three people down the road?  What if this lady decides to pay it forward by being patient with the ticket counter clerk?  And what if the ticket counter clerk is kind to the baggage guy in response? And what if the baggage guy was super depressed and thinking about hurting himself?  Can one act of kindness save another’s life?  Does that seem a bit far fetched?  Well…  I remember a time when one act of kindness literally saved my life.  Maybe, just maybe it’s worth the effort?

Times have changed.  There is so much happening in our days that there isn’t sufficient time to process it all.  Who can even remember what it is like not to be stressed?  When was life carefree for you?  Has it ever been care free?  In the midst of that pressure, I think we have become a society that has forgotten how to “see” others and really care.  

There are two sides to that.  On the one side I just want to weep because of our cruelty to each other.  On the other, kindness is so rare that it has a big impact on those who receive it.  Try it, let me know what happens.

Receiving what comes... being content.

We had an interesting time traveling this week.  We were scheduled to leave at 3:00pm and arrive at our destination around midnight.  It was a west to east flight with a connection in the middle.  We arrived early, almost two hours early, only to find out our plane was delayed.

When your flight is delayed it can be for a bunch of different reasons.  Weather is the most common. If your plane is late because of weather, it is your tough luck.  Whatever issues weather causes, you will have to take care of yourself.  But if it is mechanical, then this particular airline pampers you well.  They feed you dinner, maybe give you a night in a cushy motel room and buy your breakfast.

On this particular day, our airline host went the extra mile in every way.  They bought pizza and pop for everyone  (For those of us who need gluten free they gave vouchers for whatever we could find to eat in the airport).  They made motel reservations and had all our tickets and meal vouchers printed and ready when we finally landed in the first leg or our flight and couldn't go any further that day.

But, as we waited in line to get our motel room keys, I overheard several complaining about our treatment... really?  Who can predict a mechanical failure?  Who has extra multimillion dollar planes laying around to replace one that isn't functional?  What could they have done better?

Yes, it was a very long day.  but sometimes I think it is important to receive what comes.  Rather than reject it.  It is what it is... but more than that... it is an opportunity to look beyond ourselves and see the big picture.

Ephesians 5:14-16 well and 13

 For this reason it says,

"“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

For this reason? What's the reason? Verse 13 says, "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." That's an interesting thing to say.  Everything that becomes visible is light?  What does that mean? (listening) 

I've had people quote passages like this and it sounded almost like the song "Santa Clause is coming to town" "He sees you when your sleeping, He knows when your awake, He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for heaven's sake"  Pretty scary guy wouldn't you say?  Especially since your biggest dreams coming true depend on this guy Santa thinking you are good!

That song says to me that the whole concept of Santa is very shame based.  But I wonder if we are putting Jesus in the same box.

Jesus says in Mark 10:18, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone." That makes the Santa Clause proclamation even more ominous!  He knows when we've been bad or good and... well... it's never really "good"!  When I see Jesus as waiting around to see if I am "good enough"  or behaving even... I feel pretty hopeless.

But think of it on the other side.  "Everything that becomes visible is light"  Sweet!  You mean that if I reveal to you my ugly side.  It becomes light?  So is that light as in not dark?  or light as in not heavy?  Either way it's pretty cool!.  

I'm thinking the point is to move as close to the light as we can get.  That the exposure we all fear is a good thing and brings about more light.  Maybe expands the light?  I'm wondering if voluntary exposure by definition brings power to heal and escape the darkness?  Maybe eliminate the darkness which is what light does eh?  

Awake, sleeper!

I just want to listen, hear from the LORD.  Be still it says, and know the LORD.  Be still... still.  It's not so easy.  When still before the LORD I hear, "Wake up!"  I'm thinking of that passage in Ephesians 5:14

“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”"

It goes on in verse 15-16 to say

"Therefore [j]be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

Making the most of your time.  Hmmm, I think that is the call for the day for me.  Making the most of your time.  We are out of work.  I REALLY want a garden this year... I want to plant it and I want to harvest it.  That may seem a weird thing to say but we work contracts.  Most end in October... harvest time.  I spend a lot of time searching out the areas that we might end up in.  Too much time.  What can I do here... today?  How can I make the most of my time?

Today is doing some work for my family but it is also getting off the web and writing, seeking and listening instead.  God knows where we will end up.

Day Seven:

We spent most of the day driving north today.  At the beginning of the day it was 80 degrees… now it is back to 45… oh well, We spent the day mostly driving with a few small excursions.  We talked a lot of what we are to do next.  I am still full of compassion for the homeless.  I read an article about a city north of here that tried to allow parking zones for homeless to park unmolested.  The one and only taker for the project was a church in a smallish neighborhood on the east side.  It was supposed to be a quiet transaction between the city and the church.  Just a place for people to park.  There was cry of outrage.  People living close to the church fearing for their lives and property… funny the only person who was to park there was a young woman… and her children… 

I keep asking, God what are we to do?

Day Six:

The ocean!  The Ocean!  I don’t know why it has such significance for me but to me there is nothing that screams louder of the existence of God.  He is expressed so clearly in the power of the waves and the vastness of the water I am surrounded by Him when I rush into it’s torrents.  Like the explanation of Aslan in the “Chronicles of Narnia” The sea is so not safe… but it is good.  It is big and strong and massive… and you can fight with the current or let it wash all over you.  So unpredictable as it rushes up and to you and dashes away.  I LOVE the ocean.  

I’m not sure what was significant about today.  We plunged into the waves.  Rested and relaxed.  In the camper next to us was a young boy who was clearly autistic.  He was verbal.  He asked for our names many times.  And we talked to mom.  She was very grateful that he had finally started talking!  Who cares if he repeats himself… a lot.  He was talking and starting to socialize with people around him.  It was a big deal.  

So many times we miss that fact that we are blessed.  We have a different picture of what being blessed is or should be.  We are in a van… with no idea where we are going to end up… but we have a van.  It runs.  We enjoy each other and we have a Father more vast than the ocean… and more overwhelming than it’s waves.