Failed Rescue Attempt

Yesterday while swimming laps in the pool, I discovered a large, winged, stinging thing doing backstrokes in my lane.  He was clearly in trouble as he was lying on his back, flopping around with wings too soaked to fly.  I don’t normally take pity on stinging things, especially since a wasp bit me a couple of months ago while I was standing on the pool deck minding my own business.  I can still see the spot where he bit me.  However, this guy was in my lane, and I didn’t want him to end up in my hair the next time I came by doing the backstroke.  So, I guess my motivation wasn’t entirely altruistic.

I went to the edge of the pool near a bed of ornamental shrubs which was nicely mulched and found an adequately sized wood chip.  It took about a dozen attempts to get the creature on the wood chip and have him stay there.  A couple of times, he tried unsuccessfully to fly away, but his wings were just too wet.  Finally, I got him on securely and got to the edge of the pool before he fell off.  I left him near the shrubs where he could dry his wings.

I went back to swimming my laps feeling quite righteous for my compassion on this lowly insect who could easily bite me someday.

But, a couple of lengths later, there he was floundering about in my lane again!  By this time, I was the only person in the pool, so I just moved to a different lane and left him to his own devices.  If he was suicidal, it was just tough luck.  Perhaps a bird swooped down and made a meal of him, or maybe he got sucked into the overflow drain.  I was hoping he would survive and tell his friends not to sting that nice lady.  At least he won’t be the one that stings me next time.

Window Pane

Condensation blurs the world outside,

Droplets running down,

Create wobbling streaks,

Intermittent rivulets of clarity.

 

Jack Frost’s busy fingers painted,

Crystal fantasies as I slept,

Beauty that distorts,

But ironically enhances.

 

Within the sanctuary,

Viewing through stained glass,

Various colors interpret the landscape,

As spectrum beams stream inward.

 

Through whose lens shall I peer?

Through whose pane interpret

The realm outside my home,

Thoughts outside my own mind?

A Penny for Your Thoughts

If I had a penny for every one of my thoughts in a day,

I would have a sack of coins I could not carry.

 

If I had a drop of water for every tear I have held back,

The tub would overflow and spill onto the floor.

 

If every sigh were combined into a puff of air,

There would be hurricane force winds.

 

If I had everything I have ever wished for,

I would have less than I have now.

 

If I lit a candle for every prayer for those I love,

Someone would be calling the fire department.

Ode to a Wad of Gum

Last Sunday evening, I found a wad of gum stuck to the arm of the chair in church.  This is a bit surprising as the church is in our retirement community, and there are rarely young people in our church services.  I was amused thinking about how the gum got there and who might have left it behind…someone in their second childhood?

Last evening when I went to prayer meeting, I had intended to take something with me…maybe a kitchen knife…to scrape the gum off, but I forgot.  I decided to use the flat edge of my apartment key, which did work just fine.  Bill went and got a couple of paper towels, one of which was soaked with hand sanitizer.  I wrapped up the wad of gum in the dry towel, and cleaned my hands, the key and the arm of the chair with the wet towel.

On the way home, I began to sing in my mind…”Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?”

Then this resulted:

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the chair arm between Sundays?

Do you wonder where you’ve left it, when you think of it on Mondays?

Did you stick it there because you could not both sing and chew?

Did you think no one would notice even tho’ it was bright blue?

Just why did you stick that wad of gum to the chair?

Well, better that than in some poor old lady’s hair.

Recognizing His Voice

It struck me recently that there are two types of individuals at the extremes who recognize Jesus Christ.  One group is His sheep who hear His voice, know it, and follow Him. (John 10:27  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.)   The other group are the demons.  There are several examples in the Bible of demons or demon possessed individuals who know who He is and declare it. (Luke 4:33-34  In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon…he cried out at the top of his voice…I know who you are…the Holy One of God.)

What about the mass of humanity in the middle?  Why do so many have no genuine perception of who He is?  I suppose in some cases they just lack spiritual discernment.  Others may be capable of spiritual discernment, but they are too busy or too distracted by other voices to recognize the voice of Jesus calling them.

There used to be an ad for RCA of a dog listening intently at the open bell of a gramophone.   (That was an old-fashioned way of listening to music for those of you too young to know.) The caption was “His master’s voice.”  Why are so few people listening for and recognizing the voice of The Master?

Sometimes children run away when their parents call to them, because they do not realize that they are in danger.  They ignore their parents voice thinking it is all a big joke.  It scares me to think of what can potentially happen in these situations in both the literal and figurative sense.

When my son was about 10, he and a friend were playing happily in our backyard.  I was sitting at my sewing machine in front of a large second floor window which faced the street.  I glanced up from my sewing and realized that a group of police were spaced out across the street and sidewalk going through the neighborhood methodically with weapons drawn.  Some had pistols, and some had rifles.  I knew it must mean that someone dangerous had been spotted in the neighborhood.  I dashed downstairs and out the back door.  I called to my son and his friend, “Come to the house now!  Run!  Don’t ask questions.”  Both boys came running as fast as they could.  I was relieved to see their immediate obedience to my voice.  I later learned that someone had been seen in the neighborhood brandishing a gun.

Contrasting that…when I was about 6 years old, I had a dog who didn’t mind well.  As I waited for the bus one morning at the side of the road, the dog danced around me.  I saw a dump truck coming and called to the dog patting my leg for him to come to me.  Instead, he danced merrily away from me and in front of the truck.  He was hit.  The bus came, and I got on it not knowing if the dog was dead or alive.  I sat in school all day in misery.  The dog did not survive his disobedience.  I was sad when I got home and learned he was dead, but I learned an important lesson.  If someone wiser than you calls and beckons, you need to respond in obedience.

I am afraid that a great many people, some of whom I know, are dancing around the voice beckoning to them.  They have no idea there is a dump truck speeding toward them.

When Jesus calls, even the demons recognize His voice.

If you are not one of His sheep, because you haven’t responded yet, please listen for the call and run to Him.  Something worse than a dump truck is headed your way.

Resurrection Dawn

If I had stood at Calvary and viewed the darkness there,

Looked up and seen my dying friend and felt the deep despair,

Of seeing helpless him on whom I thought I could depend,

I surely might have cried out, “O God, this is the end.”

 

If I had stood outside the tomb and seen the dreadful stone,

That sealed in the kindness man that I had ever known,

I might have thought, “He wasn’t God…he was only a friend.”

And in my grief, I would have sobbed, “This is indeed the end.”

 

But a new day was coming.  There was sunrise near at hand.

There would be a glorious morning; new life was in the plan.

For Christ conquered death and rose again upon an Easter morn,

And just as surely as he lives, we too will see the dawn.

 

So, if today you’re feeling so overwhelmed by life,

If you cannot make sense of the confusion and the strife,

Put your faith in him who conquered death; eternity you’ll spend,

In lifting up your praise to him...this life is not the end!

 

For a new day IS coming.  There is sunrise near at hand.

There will be a glorious morning; new life is in the plan.

For Christ conquered death and rose again upon an Easter morn,

And just as surely as he lives, we too will see THE DAWN!

 

                                               

                                       (adapted from something I wrote about 35 years ago)

No way out, but through...

A friend with several children told me that during her first experience with childbirth, she was sure she was going to die and was resigned to it.  The second time, she knew she wouldn’t die and wished she could.  As a pregnant woman nears the time of labor and delivery, she realizes there is no way out of the experience except through it.  There is going to be pain, but she choses to look beyond that to the joy of a newborn baby she will hold and love.  If she focused too much on the experience of birth or on the work of raising that sweet little child, it would be frightening and overwhelming.

I wonder if women understand better than men do what Christ must have felt as he looked forward to the cross and then beyond it.  We know that he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is recorded in Luke 22:44 that he struggled so that “his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”  He pleaded that if it was in the Father’s will, he could be spared what he knew lay ahead.  His picture of what he would endure was very clear.  Because he was with the Father from the beginning, he was part of the planning of this horrible event, and completely understood its necessity.

But, just as a woman looks beyond the painful experience to the joyful one…for the joy set before him (he) endured the cross, scorning its shame…(Hebrews 12:2).

We can imagine only a tiny portion of what Christ must have endured.  His pain was not just physical.  The anguish of bearing the sins of all of us is beyond our capacity to understand.  But He knew the joy on the other side.  He knew his oneness with the Father would be restored and that he was purchasing joy and reunion for all of us.

As we are confronted with various types of trouble and pain in this life, we can be thankful for a Savior who understands and who endured.

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Since there is no way out but through, let us keep our eyes on Jesus.