Joy!

I heard this song again today, for the first time:

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

And that, friends, is the excellent gift of Christmas!

Thanksgiving?

I am troubled by the direction that our culture is spiraling in. If it continues, we will need to rename the holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. "Tailgate Thursday" or "The Pre-Shopping Fuel-Up" both seem more appropriate as we are rapidly shifting away from "giving thanks," to just gorging on food, football, and more stuff to fill up our attics (and those of the ones we love.) This year, I was especially dismayed by a news story that showed employees of one of the big box chains based in Minneapolis petitioning their employer for the day off to be able to spend time with family. The company responded that they were unable to satisfy the employees' request because they "needed to stay competitive." Another chain, out of Arkansas, always seems to lead the skirmish. The five O'clock news reported five separate incidences of violence, at five separate stores, in five states; all part of this dubious chain. It seems that in addition to watching out for "falling prices," one must also be on the look out for tasers, guns, and overzealous discount hunters, in general. It's distressing to me that in a country where we have so much, we want so much more.

I am thankful that my employer recognizes the values of the holiday and allowed us the day off, with pay. I am thankful that after a long job search, my husband is again employed, and was also granted the day off. And, I am grateful that we have been able to remain in our house, which was warmed last Thursday by a furnace that was recently repaired, and by the love and laughter of family. For these small blessings and so many others, I give thanks.

"I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1

Monopoly

I have been thinking about the economy of our consumer culture compared to that popular board game introduced by Parker Brothers. My sister and I certainly spent countless hours of our childhood rolling the dice in pursuit of acquiring railroads, passing "Go" to collect two hundred dollars, and avoiding the luxury tax. But even though we were enraptured in the game while we were playing, I am not sure that our attention spans ever allowed us to play until someone actually won the game. After a while it became tedious, and one if not both of us grew bored beyond the desire to finish. At that point, we would pack it up, and moved on to something else.

In the economy, as in Monopoly, there are those that set their sights on Boardwalk and driven by the lust for vice, power, and control, will stop at nothing to get and remain there. The other players are usually in their debt and at their mercy. Others-who normally reside in Marvin Gardens- "Occupy Park Place"- railing against the inequities of the Boardwalk execs, despite planning their demonstrations using the technology and fueled by the coffee produced by the group against which they are demonstrating. If they don't want a piece of Boardwalk, they certainly don't want to be indebted to it. Yet they enjoy and consume amenities birthed by those corporations, perpetuating the status quo. Still others are a renting a place on Baltic Avenue looking to the lotto- Community Chest- or some other such windfall for help in acquiring what they want. While they may also often possess the lust for the things in the hands of the first group, the game has not been in their favor.

No matter where my sis and I found ourselves in that continuum in any given game, on any given day, of the many games that we shared, one thing was always the same. For me, once that board was folded, and the blue, pink, and green money was rubber banded together and put away, none of it counted. In the end, none of it was legal tender and the little green houses and red hotels were seen for the cheap plastic that they had always been. Outside of the game, none of my temporary acquisitions had any lasting value whether I had been the Scottie, the top hat, the iron, or the shoe.

"Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mathew 6:19-21

Guest

On a recent morning when the house had emptied out and was quiet, I was considering how I would spend the day. This is what occurred to me:

Today (nor any other day for that matter), was not my idea. This is God's doing. I neither commanded the sun to rise, nor allowed my body to exit the state of rest that it entered into last night. I am merely an invited guest. As such, it behooves me to ask my host what he had in mind when he graciously invited me to participate. I am confident that his plan for the day is wonderful and, in addition to the invitation, God will also extend sufficient grace to overcome any obstacles that beset my path in fulfilling his purpose for this day.

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with his hand." Psalm 37:23-24

Sci-Fi

I watched part of a documentary on PBS about hummingbirds the other day. Those tiny birds have always fascinated me and I wanted to learn more about them. Before seeing this film, I hadn't realized that there were so many different types of hummingbirds, some exclusive to certain regions of the planet, with subtle variations in color, body, and beak shape. The narrator explained these differences in each bird as the result of evolutionary processes by which the flowers, in an effort to survive, had enticed the birds to dine. The birds, in return had adapted the shape of their beaks to feed off of specific flowers. Michael Pollan presented the same argument in his documentary The Botany of Desire which aired several months ago. He blushingly admitted that, while he didn't believe that tulips had cognitive abilities, they had somehow communicated their desirability to the human race and we in turn, fell for them, and continue to cultivate them since our initial infatuation. Wow!

Is it really easier to believe that tulips and fuchsias, though lacking the abilities to either think or reason, can somehow hatch a scheme to gain advocacy with humans and the animal kingdom, than it is to see the evidence of a master plan repeated over and again throughout the known universe? Is there more comfort in supposing that we exist as the result of some happy accident that produced the perfect environmental requirements for our existence and can just as easily, and randomly, alter the physical environment to adversarial conditions that result in our demise? For me, the answer is a resounding, no.

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Luke 12:27

9/11

Like most of America and probably others abroad, I am remembering the event of the September 11, 2001 today. During that time, my husband and I resided on the East coast with our little ones just 45 minutes from the Pentagon. It was a surreal day in our lives.
Besides having to pick up the children early from school, and hearing rumors that nearby Ft. Detrick had also been struck, what sticks with me from that day was the courage with which the rescue workers rushed into that dire situation to save the lives of the folks in danger. Those individuals were trained to deal with hazard and likely didn't think twice about putting themselves in harms way to carry out the mission for which they had been called.
The people of God have been called to satisfy a similar directive: To go into all the world and help those who haven't heard how, to make a successful exit from peril. I pray that we seize upon our mission with as much grace as those rescue workers exhibited at ground zero.

"Slacker"

I realize that by cyberspace standards, I have been a slacker. But if you are reading this then you haven't completely given up on this blog. For that show of loyalty, I thank you.
I have simply been enjoying the more leisurely pace of the summer and haven't really felt the need to compete with the other members of my household for internet time--not when the sun is finally shining in all its splendor. Summer is a feast and I am a glutton for its bounty!
I pray that you are enjoying the season, as well.