 Grand parenting is probably the most wonderful vocation in the world! I have two wonderful Grandchildren, who keep me busy and hopefully young, if only in spirit! Together we spend as much time as possible in the back yard each day, playing tag, swinging or just pushing the youngest around in the stroller, (won’t be long and he’ll be too big for such a thing, he’s just turned one) anyways, when I have time I also like to garden, since my main focus is on the Grandchildren, you know where it hasn’t been! So now you know the condition of my flower beds.
Being a New Englander, fall is a beautiful time of year, the cool air, the beauty of the brightly multicolored foliage, I love it, but I must admit that I’m always sad to see the flowers stop blooming for the year. I try to prepare myself for this sad reality every year as the temperatures drop especially when we’re entering November, but to no avail, however, this year something almost miraculous has occurred, something I’ve never seen before, not that it couldn’t have happened prior to this year, it’s just that I have never noticed it. While I was playing with the children I noticed my dianthus was actually blooming well after they should be sleeping, hearing that the weather was going to bring snow, I took a picture of it for face book, assuming it would die because of the snow. Yes indeed, we’re facing snow but the flowers fight on! Who would believe that we still have flowers in N.H. in November! I was inspired! I went looking for more and found this blue flower blooming out in the woods!
Taken Nov 8, 2012
Assuming the flowers died in the snow, I was pleasantly surprised this past week as I walked around my yard, what did I find?
Yup that’s right the Dianthus was still fighting for its life, then I noticed the feverfew was also fighting the elements to survive! (See picture below) How awesome is that? As I took the pictures I was so elated to see such life in the Garden this time of year, I soon began to realize it’s a life lesson. How many of us will fight the elements of this world, everything that is thrown at us in the daily storms of life, like, anger, greed, lust etc. the financial instability of this world and sometimes weathering the mundane aspects of life to be the ambassadors of God in this world? I wondered if I had what it took to battle through the difficult times reaching, stretching, struggling for the one who created me and called me by name, who gave his only unique son for me? For all of us, allowing the rays of his Love to warm me and cause me to bloom in the midst of overwhelming odds? Would I be willing to fight through anything to blossom in his presence, to represent him to those who surround me? I most certainly pray I do and will.
This seems to me to be a modern day living example of that Parable told by Jesus/Yeshua a long time ago! The Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:8-23, who spreads his seeds onto different types of soil and how they grew. Even as in Jesus’ story only a few grew into the fullness of what they were called to be, so you will notice only a few of these flowers bloomed through the most difficult of circumstances, when all the other flowers said enough, they persisted in living, they fulfilled their calling, one of beauty in a time of desolation, one of inspiration, reaching towards that which gives them life. May we all be good soil for Yeshua/ Jesus seed! “To Life”!
Children are amazing to watch, as my Grandchildren are playing I am fascinated by how in-tune they are to each others emotions, the three year old is screeching into her microphone then laughing and her 9 month old brother is laughing along with her every time, this is not a tiny laugh, he is laughing with a full out, body shaking belly laugh, I’ve noticed that, his normal good nature changes as soon as she begins to cry, even if it’s a temper tantrum of her own choosing, he will suddenly switch from his usual big smile to a pout to full fledge tears and wailing. However, as soon as my Grandson starts crying, my Granddaughter will immediately go and comfort him, telling him “It’s O.k. everything is alright, I’m here”.
It seems to me that children naturally fulfill Paul’s directive to the Church in Rom 12:15&16 Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. …..
Jesus is quoted in;
Mat_18:3 and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Could it be that this empathy children seem to be born with is what Jesus refers to in Matthew and the Apostle Paul seems to be enjoining in Romans? ”? [see (Zahn-Waxler et al. 1979) on prosocial behavior],
Is this how we Christians should be operating as reflections of “Your kingdom come”?
Jesus in his earthly life gave us examples of this type of empathy, sympathy, compassion, (whichever word you might prefer), in Matthew 20:34; Mark 6:34 and 8:2; Luke 7:13, as he is the initiator of the Kingdom of Heaven/God.
It seems to me that it all boils down to this;
Luk_10:27 and he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
Who is our neighbor? , Well, Jesus answered the question with a story about a man who was on a journey attacked and left for dead, there were 3 people to come to the scene, the first to come by were the people we all expect would help, but they just walked on by, last on the scene came a man who was considered an enemy, but he was the one who stopped to help, he took care of the wounds and then brought the victim to a place of safety and care and paid for everything. Jesus concluded the story with a question? Who was being the neighbor? Which one would you choose? Interestingly enough this is still a very valid question in today’s world, so, let’s use the nursery, for example, it’s the baby crying in the next crib to you, or using my Grandchildren’s example your brother or sister (immediate family). There are numerous scenarios.
I know you’ve heard this a million times, so what’s so different this time? Well it seems to me that being a neighbor is up to the individual who sees the need of another, including someone who might have snubbed you, hurt you, or isn’t in your social network. The application of the neighborly principle is the most difficult to implement, we want others to be neighborly to us but to actually be a neighbor that’s where many of us particularly myself fail. Jesus was a neighbor in action & in Luke 4:18 & 19 takes his mission statement from Isaiah 61:1- 2, which he fulfilled in all he did. John says it best, Joh_1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, …As I desire to be more like Jesus, I have interpreted part of the Lord’s Prayer Matthew 6:10 … Thy will be done in earth, as in heaven. As, Lord please make me so heavenly minded that I am able to do some earthly good! What’s your prayer?
For thousands of years Israel & her offspring have celebrated Passover (Their deliverance from Egyptian Slavery [Ex. 12: 22]).
Some 2000 years ago Yeshua (Jesus Christ) became our Passover sacrifice (I Cor. 5:7) [Deliverance for all who believe in him, from the slavery of bondage to sin and this world, just as it was in the beginning, Ex.12:22; Heb 11:28] that we might enter into a relationship with God through Jesus, knowing he has cleansed us and set us apart for his use. (Psm. 4:3; Heb. 10:22)
Over time the division between Judaism with Christianity has become so prominent that, we Christians have almost lost the link between what we call “ Good Friday” and Passover; We forget that the Passover Seder celebrated by Jews was the last supper shared by Yeshua (Jesus) and his disciples in Jerusalem. The symbolism of the Passover Seder is rich toward all that Jesus accomplished and what is written about in the New Testament, it points to the “Passion of the Christ” the Lamb that was slain. At the first passover those who believed were saved from death by the sprinkling of blood on their homes, likewise, we are saved by the Sprinkling of the blood of Yeshua; the Matzos (bread of affliction) Yeshua (Jesus) was afflicted (Isa 53:7; Matt 16:21) He is our bread (John 6:48), in the Jewish Seder the bread is put into a bag with 3 pouches, the middle one(called Aphikomen) is removed, broken and hidden, later to be found and used, that is so prophetic of the suffering servant Jesus, who would be in the grave 3 days and on the third day Rise again (Mat. 12:39; Jonah 1:17)! The Passover Haggadah is also forward looking to Messiah with a cup of wine reserved for Elijah the coming prophet who will prepare the way for the Messiah (Mal. 4:5), for Christians this is the fulfillment of John the Baptist (Mat. 11:14) and also the equivalent of Rev 11:3 where God sends 2 witness who will preach 3.5 years, before Christ’s return, Elijah is thought to be one of those witnesses.
So this year as we celebrate this Season of Passover, let us keep our Seders (the order of things) (1Co 5:8) remembering the history from whence we’ve come and the promise of what is coming! Resurrection Sunday!
I have been blessed with the privilege of assisting my daughter, by being her day care provider! One of my Grand daughter’s favorite games to play is Hide and go Seek, which is typical of most 3 year olds, She is now old enough to hide herself and Grammy has to find her. Now, what makes this game so unique of an experience at least for Grammy, is that; my Grand
daughter needs my help to get into the Closet in which she has chosen to hide, so she asks me “Grammy you want to play Hide and seek”? “Open the door for me” and as I do, she commands me “ go and count and find me” all the while I know exactly where she is. Off I go and count to 10 or more and I always say, “ Here I come ready or not”!
As I come around the corner I say something like “Where are you, where could you be, you were here just a minute ago”? And invariably the closet door swings wide open and she jumps out, yelling in her little -three -year old giggling voice, “ Here I am”! or “Surprise”! Her eyes
glisten with joy, her body barely contains her excitement as she queries “You wanna go again”? And of course we play until she’s done playing!
Playing Hide and go seek with her reminds me of what I call the first game of Hide and seek, which wasn’t really a game, it occurred in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, (after eating of the forbidden fruit and realizing their nakedness), when God came to spend time with them, he already knew what they had done and where they hid. The problem was, their actions damaged their perspective of God and his love for them as well their relationship with each other and so being afraid and ashamed of themselves, they hid. Adam and Eve didn’t jump out and shout “Surprise” or “It’s us"! when they heard God's voice call them (If God were human that could have been quite the surprise)
Most of us have hidden from God or our friends and family out of fear at least once in our lives. This type of response, either, shows an already dysfunctional relationship and or continues to damage the relationship we desire to have. What’s so awesome about this story is that God didn’t walk away from Adam and Eve; there were consequences to their choices but God stayed through it all. I’d like to be more like God in those circumstances when my friends
hide on me, to be able to seek them out and be willing to restore our relationship. How about you?
It seems to me I hear this expression everyday, from watching Sesame Street with my
Granddaughter to believe it or not, the people who are going to seal our drive-way
“The Word on the Street” is, that they’re the best!
This phrase has got me thinking (I know, dangerous thing to do).
Brainstorm! How about, we the Christian community have a “Word on the Street” too?
What should it be? Hmmm,.... I think each group can make up their own
“Word on the Street”. God brought each group together for different purposes, however, no matter what our differences are, we all have the same calling or vision that is; to manifest the Kingdom of heaven, here on earth.
Sounds good Right?
Here’s my Conundrum; I love the concept of having a “Word
on the Street” yet I lack the ability to implement such an idea. Why? Well, it
seems to me that the problem lies herein; how is the community at large going
to hear the “Word on the Street”? If I’m not out there sharing it, but how do I
share it? Perhaps door to door (I tried this approach in my youth (many moons
ago) and discovered my neighbors considered it an unappreciated intrusion into
their lives, in other words I offended many people, I’m sorry for that). In
today’s world we can tweet, blog, buy Radio, Television time or Billboards and
Plaster them with our “Word on the Street”, but will the community at large
even hear those words, if they can see by our actions we aren’t listening for
God’s “Word on the Street” to us?
The Hebrew word Shema means hear/ listen to, obey,
so how do we carry out God’s “Word on the Street” which we hear? Perhaps someone
reading this will have a better answer than I.
I just returned from the Grocery store; while there I was
praying about my “Word on the Street” the first one that came to my heart and
mind was; God loves you! I found myself wondering how that would come
across to the person at the register or the person who bagged my groceries? So
I smiled and thanked them & wished them a great rest of their day! Somehow
that seemed less awkward to me, then to say, “God loves you”, perhaps if I had
thought faster I could have said, by the way, did you know that the “word on
the street” today is, God loves you? Maybe that would have made the difference.
Maybe I’ll try that next time.
I think I’ve discovered what my “Word on the Street” is;
Make sure my actions speak much louder than my words!
I like what St. Francis of Assisi said, “ It is no use
walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching” and “Preach the
gospel at all times and when necessary use words”!
That’s the way it seemz2me!
This week while making bread, things were going along
just fine, however as I was adding that last ingredient into the bread machine,
things changed, as I placed the yeast on the counter suddenly yeast was all
over the place! (“Oh no, not again”). 23 hours earlier: I decided the
make bread for our Hebrew class (a little end of year party) and I needed to
open a new package of yeast, I noticed the package was too small to contain the
yeast once opened so I decided to pour it into another container. Upon emptying
the new yeast into the new container, the container moved and yeast went
everywhere! “Damn what a massive
mess”I said. I cleaned and cleaned, vacuumed, cleaned some more and thought; “ I
got it all”! Pleased with my accomplishment I continued on with my day
Present Day: How did this happen again? Yesterday
I cleaned so carefully, what had I missed? a hole in the container? Upon careful
inspection of the current mess, I realized yeast spores had clung to the
outside of the new yeast container. Their color blended in with the container.
You see I was so careful in cleaning the counter, the
draws, the floor, and the cupboards that I had missed the primary source of the
mess, the yeast container itself.
Life often imitates messes!
Paul talks about deception in Galatians chapter 5 and in
verse 9 he says a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
I now have a new perspective of this scripture, the
typical bread illustrations are good, but they don’t really get down to how
destructive and messy deception can be, either in an individual, family or in a
corporation such as a church.
A person, family or corporation can clean up mess after
mess and maintain a decent image, but those little spores of deception are
hiding, lurking in corners, and crevasses, biding their time for the day in
which they can cause another mess. Maybe not today or tomorrow but someday and
soon! So it seems to me that the
next time we’re in a mess we need to seek God’s wisdom as to where the mess
began and cleanup the source as well as the periphery.
Tuesday marks the Holiday of Shavuot for our Jewish friends, some of you might ask yourself what does that have to so with Christianity? Well, it seems to me, there will always be Judaism without Christianity but there can never be Christianity without Judaism.
This is a Holiday that Jesus would have celebrated with his family & disciples .
Shavuot celebrates the coming of Torah, in Biblical times it was and probably still is amongst certain sects of Judaism one of the 3 time a year when all the men of Israel were to present themselves before the Lord in Jerusalem. It marks the 7 weeks from Passover to the Festival of First Fruits also known as Feast of the Harvest.
The Rabbi's around the 2nd or 3rd Century CE connected the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai with Shavuot.
What really has received my attention this year is the reverberation of this revelatory process
Beginning in Genesis God reveals himself as creator, author of all we see and are;
In Exodus he reveals himself to Moses giving the law.
In John he reveals himself as creator, the word, Yeshua.
In the Book of Acts, he reveals himself through the Holy Spirit, with visual impact to those around.
Interestingly as on Mt. Sinai Ex 24:17 ....the Glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire....
God revealed himself in fire, Acts chapter 2:3 shows God once again revealing himself in fire, this time cloven tongues of fire sitting upon the 120 some odd people who had gathered waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
And it seems to me that yet again we will experience the same type of imagery of the power of God in the end times. God will dwell amongst us revealing himself as the Bridegroom and Jerusalem his Bride
So this week as the Jews celebrate Shavuot, let's not forget that Pentecost is that same Holiday and let's all celebrate God revealing himself to us!
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