dar334

“Rain makes corn, corn makes biscuits…..” echoes through the house from a wee little three year old.  Even though you can’t see her, you know she’s bopping to the music in her sweet little head as she snaps the blocks together in play.  And then you chuckle, because little does she know that in the song, corn actually made whiskey, not biscuits.  Innocence at it’s finest.  If only we could all be that innocent ………. for eternity.

I started some seeds in my Quiet Room Saturday morning, and yesterday was blessed with little sprouts coming from the soil.  The marigolds were the first to appear.   Preparation for the beauty of autumn.  Preparation.  Defined as something done to get ready for an event or undertaking.

Marigolds are at their finest after all the other flowers in my beds are done and you can smell the scent of autumn in the air.  It’s when preparations are being made for the long cold winter as the farmer is harvesting his crops and the squirrels are gathering their nuts.  God takes care of us.  He provides.  It is up to us to glean what we will need.

In preparing for the harvest, I’ve been in several studies of the Instruction Book.  I learned early on that God will cause ears to not hear and eyes to not see.  He will harden hearts.  In his time, he will allow the ears to hear and the eyes to see, and even the mind to understand.  In doing so he is preparing us for the harvest.  Preparation at it’s finest.

My mind was trying to understand something the other day and it caused my mouth to interrupt.  I’ve always had trouble keeping my mind focused and my mouth shut.  I’d like to think I’m improving in both areas, but sadly the old me pops out from time to time.  When that happened recently, I was verbally disciplined for it.  Thank goodness I was rendered speechless, mostly out of shock, because had shock not been my first response I don’t know what would have came in it’s place.  I hadn’t realized that my mind’s wandering and my mouth’s interruption had come at an inappropriate time.  The sad part is it won’t be the last time this happens.

As soon as my feet hit the floor of my Quiet Room this morning I was at the little greenhouse looking for more sprouts.  It brings me joy when I see that little seed I planted springing up to a new life, destined to bring even more seeds through it’s death and more life through their death.  And the cycle continues.

I sat down to begin my lesson in 1 Samuel involving the killing of Goliath.  After David had killed and removed the head of Goliath, he was taken to King Saul, head in hand, and the chapter ended with King Saul finding out that David was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem.  (As I was typing this, I had to stop and find the scripture from the Old Testament that tells us the Messiah would come from the town of Bethlehem.  It was Micah 5:2 that tells us:  But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.)  And this my friends, is a prime example of my minds’ wanderings ……. 

Next up was my required reading in the Easter Earthquake book.  Today I read from John, chapter 12.  This study guides us through the Lenten Season and today I read about Jesus explaining to his disciples why he must die.  When I read verse 23 and 24 I stopped ….. read them again ……. and was able to glean even more than I had before.

Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone.  But its death will produce many new kernels – a plentiful harvest of new lives.”

As my mind wandered back to the little marigold seed that died and then was planted in the soil, that has now sprung to life only to produce more little seeds to be planted ……. it also wandered to the many times its wandering has caused my mouth to interrupt, but this time there was no one to interrupt.  I was alone.  In silence.  It then wandered to Jesus dying on the cross and planted in the tomb only to sprout to new life, which would produce more believers, for the eventual harvest.  For eternity.

I planted another seed at work this morning, and now have found myself alone, in silence, and as I’m finishing this ponder up, I’m shaking my head because I started this ponder with corn.  The song about corn sprung from the word “kernel” in the scripture reading from the book of John.  Now as I’m typing, and proofreading, deleting and adding, my mind is wandering.  I have come to the realization that “kernel” in the scripture referred to wheat, not corn.  (In my defense, I grew up with a gardener, not a farmer.  So the kernels I am use to come from the cob.  My Mom never planted wheat.)

In closing, I sincerely apologize for any anger I may have caused when my mind’s wandering and my mouth’s interruptions directly affected you in a negative way.  It’s one of several things I need to work on, and coming from the seed of a talker, it will be a hard thing to break.  You can’t get corn from a kernel of wheat either, although I kinda sorta just did.

Always pondering,

-dar

We’ve all read them, we’ve cut them out and stuck them in safe places.  Sometimes we even dig them back out to settle a discussion on who their sister was, or even who their parents were.  Often times we can’t remember how many kids they had or who they married.  We drop what we are doing when we hear the music at the end of the news that indicates it’s time for the obituaries to scroll down our television screen and gasp when we recognize a name.  But today, today I had an obituary read to me that literally took my breath away.  I sat in utter disbelief of the reality of his life and death.  I’ve never met the man, but I’ve heard only good things about him.  I’d like to humbly share his obituary with you.

Jesus Christ, 33, of Nazareth, died Friday on Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. Betrayed by the apostle Judas, Jesus was crucified by the Romans, by order of the Ruler Pontius Pilate. The causes of death were crucifixion, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and loss of blood. Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham was a member of the house of David. He was the Son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted Mother. Jesus was born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem, Judea. He is survived by his mother Mary, his faithful Apostles, numerous disciples, and many other followers. Jesus was self educated and spent most of his adult life working as a Teacher. Jesus also occasionally worked as a Medical Doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Up until the time of his death, Jesus was teaching and sharing the good news, healing the sick, touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor. Jesus was most noted for telling parables about His Father’s Kingdom and performing miracles, such as feeding over 5000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing a man who was born blind. On the day before His death, He held a Last Supper, celebrating the Passover Feast, at which He foretold His death. The body was quickly buried in a stone grave, which was donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a loyal friend of the family. By order of Pontius Pilate, a boulder was rolled in front of the Tomb. Roman Soldiers were put on guard. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that everyone try to live as Jesus did and believe in Him. Donations may be sent to anyone in need.

-d

Last night after supper I sat down for some much-needed time to glean. These past few days have been a whirlwind of things and I’ve been left teetering on the edge. I needed down time, with the Instruction Book, specifically the section under “Troubleshooting”. Equipped with books, paper and pencil, my Kindle, and “Instrumentals for Studying” playing through ear pods ….. I began to glean.

When I opened the Easter Earthquake book by James A. Harnish, I found the bookmark size strip of white cardstock that I have a short prayer printed on asking God to help me keep mentally alert and spiritually sensitive, and to open my mind so I notice what it is He wants me to see. Also on the bookmark are these four instructions: Stop. Quiet your mind. Enter silence. Just listen.

I started the Fourth Week in Lent and when I arrived on the Monday lesson I was directed to read Numbers 21:4-9. In order to bring you up to speed, the book of Numbers was written by Moses. Moses was a pretty special guy, God was very fond of him. Moses had led Israel out of their four-hundred-year bondage in Egypt to take them to the Promised Land. On their way, they disobeyed Him so He was leaving them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. At which time all those that had sinned (disobeyed) Him would be dead and a new generation of Israelites would enter the land He had promised to Abraham.

The scripture in Numbers tells us that the people got whinny. They complained that God and Moses had taken them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. They complained because there was no bread, no water, and they hated the food. As any parent would, God got angry because they didn’t trust Him to provide and keep His promise, so he punished them. With VENOMOUS SNAKES! (It was at this point that I started to ponder the ways God may be punishing us today for disobedience, and I thought about those on my cancer list that seems to grow daily) After many Israelites were bitten by the snakes and died, they got their heads on straight and went to Moses to pray to the Lord to take the snakes away, they knew they had sinned and were being punished. God instructed Moses to make a snake and put it up on a pole and anyone who was bitten could look up at it and live.

Now this is where the light went on. Not literally, but the one that you see in cartoons that shows up as a lightbulb above someone’s head. My AH-HAH moment. My “why did you never get this before you fool?!” moment. (It is at this moment that I found myself wondering why Pandora would play the Linus and Lucy instrumental when I’m supposed to be studying. Because now all I can see is Linus and Lucy playing football, or trick-or-treating, or decorating a sad little tree, at which point I had to open the app and give it a thumbs down)

I don’t know how many times I’ve read about that bronze snake on a pole. I do remember in the first Disciple study one of the girls saying she writes on the inside cover of her Bible the studies she does. That way she has easy access to them when reminded of something. I thought that was a pretty good idea at the time, so I grabbed a sticky note and wrote 2013 – 2014 Disciple 1 and stuck it in the front cover of my Bible. Little did I know that at the end of Disciple 1 my daughter would inform me there were 3 more and she had committed to doing the Disciple Study so that meant 3 more books, 3 more years. I decided it wouldn’t hurt, and for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit compelled me to not only do the remaining 3 Disciple studies, but several other studies along the way, causing me to add 2 more sticky notes to my list, which drove me crazy because it wasn’t “pretty”, so I sat yesterday and typed them all out in an Excel Spreadsheet and printed them on yet another bookmark sized piece of cardstock.  There.  Nice.

And now ……… back to the snake. In the 15 studies I’ve done since 2013, I’ve read that piece of scripture several times. I had learned early on that the snake on the pole represented Christ on the Cross. I knew that if the people were bit by the snake all they had to do was look up at the snake on the pole and they would live. I knew that Christ died on the Cross as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. I knew that if we believed Christ died for our sins we would have eternal life. What my pea-brain failed to absorb before was we would be bitten by a serpent at some point in our lives and the significance I had failed to see in this scripture was the BITE and the NEED TO LOOK UP!  That’s why this scripture is so important.  Satan bit me last week, he was trying to drive a wedge between me and God.  I was ready to throw in the towel, ready to jump.  I was just plain tired.  T I R E D.  Tired.

As I sat there smiling and shaking my head, I was looking up. I suddenly felt a sense of relief. Of comfort. When I looked up, Christ crushed the head of that serpent.  Yes, cancer has hit and continues to hit several people I care(d) deeply about. My husband, who I imagined growing old with, my dear dear sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, a co-worker, two neighbors, two cousins, a friend, two nieces, and another I can’t mention here. And throw in to the mix my children that have been knocked down. One with Multiple Sclerosis, the other with divorce. All of this since 2006 ………… yet I felt comfort. We are not alone. And when those times come when we feel like we are, when we want to holler “MISDEAL!”, we need to look up. Just. Look. Up. Take a deep breath, enter silence, and listen. Open that door, let Him in.  He will crush the head of that serpent.

My closing prayer is that just one person sees in me what the Lord can do when you open the door. And then opens their door.

-dar

Funny thing about being in a circle, it seems like when you want out sometimes the boundaries are so strong you can’t break free, and when you want to stay in they will sometimes open right up and force you out.  And then there are the circles you want to be a part of and are not permitted access.  Sadly, I’ve experienced all three examples.

I went to Webster for the definition of circle and found he gave me nine meanings.  I chose #6 as it best defined the reason for my ponder:  a group of persons sharing a common interest or revolving about a common center.

In our Lenten Study this year we are using a book called “Embracing the Uncertain: 40 Devotions for Unsteady Times”.   A gleaning from Day 6 led to this ponder, although we are now on Day 31 it’s been bouncing around in my head for awhile.  In order to stop the bouncing, I need to put it words, thus opening up some space that hopefully will be used for good while also opening up a can of worms.

The writer of our study tells about a man that was facilitating a study with leaders from a wide spectrum of faith traditions.   As with any group of leaders with different views, the discussions quickly turned into arguments.  The facilitator was ready to throw in the towel when he came up with an idea using a flip chart.  He showed up the next day with little dots on the flip chart, each with a circle around them.  Now think if you will, about each dot representing a different faith.  A Baptist, a Catholic, a Methodist, an Adventist ….. you get my point.  The dots represented each of them, isolated from the others with a hedge of protection around them.  Then the facilitator drew a large circle around the all the little circles.  Determined to have a successful study, the facilitator then said “I may not be in your circle, but you are in mine, and there is nothing you can do to get out.  You can’t resign, walk out, or run away.”

Then writer then goes on to tell us that the bitterness and strain in the room evaporated as people recognized their own protective bubbles and remembered that God’s wide circle included everyone in the whole world.

Think about the circle you have around you, and the others circles you have with you in that larger circle.  There are some circles you need to break free of no matter how thick the walls are.  If the center of that circle is an addiction, a sexual immorality, if it’s the act of lying, or deceiving for example, stealing …… we should do all we can to break free.  But if the center of that circle is God, then all us little circles in there need to find a way to work together, no matter our age, color, religion, status, even income.

It is my opinion that secular society needs to stop pushing out the “uncomfortable” circles.   Circles that enclose things that may offend someone.  We have circles telling us we can’t do this or it will offend, we can’t do that or it will offend.  What we need to ask ourselves is who are we offending?  If the dot inside that little circle is not representing the Word of God, it is our responsibility as Christians to try and show them a better option.  After all, if they are right, they have nothing to lose.  If we are right, they have everything to lose.

I’m afraid what is happening in this cruel world today is because too many circles containing the word of God have been pushed out.  The outer circle with evil as the center seems to be getting larger and larger.

In wrapping things up, it’s not about what “you want“, it’s about what “He” wants.  

-dar*

PS.  Think about our government.  We, the people, should be the center, the core of their circle.  But we are not.  It’s all about them.  Again, take a good hard look at the core of your circle.

This morning, after popping my earrings in my mouth because I thought they were my calcium logs, thankfully realizing it before the coffee cup hit my lips, I kissed my husband as I was leaving for work. I told him I wished I could just stay home for a couple more hours and go in late. Then I laughed and said “I can’t. I don’t have an asterisk after my name.” As I was heading toward the door I started pondering that statement, I laughed again and said “I guess I do have an asterisk after my name. But if I stayed home a couple hours I would be taking advantage of my asterisk.”

as·ter·isk.
astəˌrisk
NOUN
1.a symbol (*) used to mark printed or written text, typically as a reference to an annotation or to stand for omitted matter.

In going through life, taking advantage of that asterisk after your name is one of my biggest pet peeves. I can’t do anything about the people that take advantage of their asterisk, but I can do something about taking advantage of mine.

When God created the world and chose his people, he required certain things of them to set them apart from others. He wanted the rest of the world to know at one glance that these people were special, they were His, they had an asterisk after their name. Israel*. He saved them from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and provided for them while they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Their sandals never wore out and they had food and water. Even when they took advantage of situations, even though God forgave them they suffered consequences. But He never took away their asterisk.

We are all human, we have a sinful nature. Jesus died on the cross over 2,000 years ago as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Gone are the days for animal sacrifice, blood needing to be shed for forgiveness of our sins, Jesus shed his blood for us. For. Us.

We still take advantage of our asterisk. But do we suffer the consequences? Consequences teach us the that what we have done isn’t okay, whether large or small, in order to learn from our mistakes we need to suffer consequences. As parents it is our job to teach our children what happens when they disobey, there will be punishment. Our Father in Heaven inflicts consequences, but he never stops loving us.

As I observe the comings and goings around me, the painful truth of what happens when there are no consequences comes through loud and clear. Without punishment, disobedience is like a snowball rolling downhill. It just increases with each rotation. I don’t think anybody can change my mind that there aren’t enough consequences these days and it’s causing the negative behavior to keep snowballing.

We all have rules, we all need to obey …… or suffer the consequences.

Watch how you use your asterisk,

-dar*

This morning the Lenten devotional took me to Matthew 25:14-30, the parable about a rich man going on a trip and leaving his money in the care of three of his servants.  To the first he gave five bags of gold, to the second he gave two bags of gold, and to the third he gave one bag of gold.  After some time, the man returned to settle accounts with his servants.  The servant that was given five bags of gold had ten bags for his master, the one that was given two bags had four bags for his master.  The master was pleased with these two servants, telling them they had done well and been faithful and rewarded them.  The third servant had hidden away the one bag of gold and had not gained any more, he returned the one bag to his master.  The rich man was furious and said:  ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

I struggle with parables.  I will admit, I read between the lines when I shouldn’t and when I should I can’t see anything there.  A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.  With this particular parable, I could not understand why he was angry with the servant that buried the bag of gold.  He made sure it wouldn’t be stolen or lost.  The others had “invested” their bags and luckily they increased.  Granted, they must have invested them wisely to have them double in size, but I still looked at it as a risk.  In going to the study note I found this:  ‘The bags of gold represent any kind of resource we are given. God gives us time, gifts, and other resources according to our abilities, and he expects us to invest them wisely until he returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us. The issue is not how much we have but how well we use what we have.’

Some versions refer to the gold as “talents”.  The author of the devotional went on to say that a single talent is worth over sixteen years of income.  That’s a lot of money!  This led me to do a google search where I found this definition:  tal·ent  noun  1. natural aptitude or skill   2. a former weight and unit of currency, used especially by ancient Romans and Greeks. 

I then found myself pondering the first definition.  As it takes several members to make up one body, it takes several talents to accomplish everything that needs to be done.  I’ve often wished I had a musical talent.  I wasn’t given the opportunity at a young age to learn to play a musical instrument, and as an adult have never taken the first step needed to see if I even had that talent.  Although I love to sing,  I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.  Our choir director once told me that when the sound gets to heaven, it’s beautiful in God’s ears.  I’m not convinced.

God gives us our skills too, our talents, as in the first definition.  Those that have a musical talent can share the news about God through music.  All you have to do is sit in a pew on Sunday morning and hear praise from the choir, tune in to a Christian radio station and hear God’s loved expressed.  People with the ability to speak in large crowds can spread the good news through ministry or evangelism.  People who can teach guide us through Bible studies, and people who can write have books published, movie scripts sold, or even ………………………… write blogs!!!

Deuteronomy 18 tells us “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”  

As my pondering continued, I thought about membership in our churches declining.  Social media and the internet have no lack of people sharing their opinions; most of which are not true, they are hurtful, critical, or even degrading.  Perhaps we should be flooding those areas with the good news, and stop giving people reasons to be angry.  We need to use our words for good in the places where the people are if you can’t get them in that pew.  It’s our responsibility to keep trying to get the word out, not bury it in the realms of our own mind.  I’m confident my need to ponder is God’s way of keeping my mind from the pain of this secular world.