I have been reading a little Henry Ward Beecher and I ran across this piece on "fear". His description is about as thorough as any I've ever read. The chapter is on the comfort of God, but this part of it simply describes one of the emotions where we need comfort.

“This view of comfort which is contained in our text, (2 Thess. 2:16,17) may be carried out in many particulars. Christian life is ordained to comfort us in our struggles, for instance, with fear. “Fear hath torment.” It is a tormentor. It haunts men, night and day.

Great fears may come seldom; but the poison emery, the dust of fear, comes in, as it were, at every crevice, and settles down upon every fair thing in life. There are innumerable petty fears. There are ten thousand little hauntings. How full is life of fear which takes away from men the enjoyment of their prosperity! Fear stands by the cradle, and threatens the mother; and all her love and thankfulness cannot make her happy while fear scowls and threatens. The specter of fear hovers between lovers, and they dread and suffer. It shoots like a meteor along the twilight meditations of evening. It hides the sun at noonday with clouds. It threatens health with sickness and sickness with death, and death with numberless terrors. Cares are the offspring of fear. They sting like noxious insects in tropical nights. Fear discourages poverty. It takes ease away from riches. It is the persecutor of ambition. It is the parasite of conscience. It plants upon conscience its own evil growth, until sometimes conscience is but an inquisitor, with a whip of scorpions. Fear perpetually exaggerates. It is always changing, and coming up in new forms, and always dread forms. It is full of illusions. All the way through it is undermining, undermining, the joys and hopes of life. And all this, too, in the realm where Christ has been revealed. Go from house to house and mark down how large a play there is of fear; how much of motive is fear; how largely men work for fear of more suffering than they choose to have. And see how men are restrained by fear, standing in the place of conscience. See how fear is like broken glass, every particle of which cuts the foot that treads on it. How is fear the destroyer of men’s peace, perpetually rasping them, and beating them with small whips, or large ones; as the case may be. One would think that the name of God who governs this world was Fear.

Right over against the gloomy face of fear stands the Lord Jesus Christ, and these words of ineffable cheer: “Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts!” That is just what hearts that are sick want – comfort; and they have it in Christ Jesus, and in the fatherhood of God, and nowhere else, in such measure, or with such pertinency of application”.

Photo from the Internet

"I asked the rock beside the road what joy existence lent,

It answered, "For a million years my heart has been content;"

I asked an angel, looking down on earth with gaze intent,

How man should rise to larger growth. Quoth he: "Through discontent."

Inspired Words For The Inspired Life - Photo by Rauly Sonia

"They never taste who always drink;

They always talk who never think."

Matthew Prior

Don't you just love this picture? You must enlarge it just to gaze at it. When I ran across it I hoped that I could find a great quote to go with it but for some time now I haven't found one and I just want to share this photo by A. Read titled, "Dream of sleep".

I have a book titled "The New Dictionary of Thoughts", so I looked up the word dream to see if there was anything that struck my fancy. I ran across this quote which I think is very interesting --

"We have in dreams no true perception of time - a strange property of mind! -- for if such be also its property when entered into the eternal disembodied state, time will appear to us eternity!" Winslow.

Now I never considered that in my dreams there is no perception of time but it is true, and somehow I find that so interesting.

How to concentrate and expedite

I ran across the following list of 9 tips to truly help one become more productive. If it weren't for these principles at work I would be lost in a sea of distractions. I think by the time I was 50 I became pretty good at applying these, so simple but so important.

1. Cut out non-essentials. 2. Don't hesitate; when done with one thing begin on the next.

3. Do the nearest, and, other things being equal, the hardest things first. 4. Finish one job before beginning the next, and don't pause between. 5. Do your thinking while you are acting. 6. If you have assistants use them, and do yourself what they can't do. Then help them out. 7. Do things right the first time, so as not to have to do them twice. 8. Don't look out the window, but keep thought and eye on the thing you are doing. 9. If a thing is important don't put it off; do it now while you think of it.

Author unknown - Photo by Jose A Gallego

I ran across this little saying by Alice Cary, and thought it is a nice verse for children to memorize; adults too.

"Kind hearts are the garden, kind thoughts are the roots,

Kind words are the blossoms, kind deeds are the fruits."

Photo by Margret Woodall - Shark.

I've been re-reading from Isaac Watt's book "The Improvement of the Mind," which is just filled with good suggestions on discoursing with people, especially those with whom you differ. This little piece is so practical --

"As you should carry about with you a constant and sincere sense of your own ignorance, by taking all proper opportunities to ask and inquire for farther information; whether it be the meaning of a word, the nature of a thing, the reason of a proposition, the custom of a nation, etc., never remain in ignorance for want of asking.

Many a person had arrived at some considerable degree of knowledge, if he had not been full of self-conceit, and imagined that he had known enough already, or else was ashamed to let others know that he was unacquainted with it. God and man are ready to teach the meek, the humble, and the ignorant; but he that fancies himself to know any particular subject well, or that will not venture to ask a question about it, such an one will not put himself into the way of improvement by inquiry and diligence. "A fool may be wiser in his own conceit than ten men who can render a reason," and such a one is very likely to be an everlasting fool; and perhaps also it is a silly shame renders his folly incurable.

"If fools have ulcers, and their pride conceal 'em;

They must have ulcers still, for none can heal 'em."

Photo by A. Small

I ran across this poem about freedom from generational curses by E.W.Wilcox, and I just love it. It kind of goes along with the post below about removing the tree roots and all.

I care not who were vicious back of me,

No shadow of their sins on me is shed.

My will is greater than heredity,

I am no worm to feed upon the dead.

My face, my form, my gestures, and my voice

May be reflections from a race that was,

But this I know, and knowing, I rejoice:

I am myself a part of the Great Cause.

I am a spirit! Spirit would suffice

If rightly used to set a chained world free,

Am I not stronger than a mortal vice

That crawls the length of some ancestral tree?

Statue from the Internet

I watched a movie titled “Sometimes in April”. It was a moving show about Rwanda and the struggles and plight of the Tutsi during the 1994 genocide.

It haunted me in worship today as I longed to see an end to the madness and oppression of man against man. For the most part the world watched as nearly one million people were murdered in Rwanda, and at the very beginning of the movie they displayed the following quote –

” In the end, we will remember not

the words of our enemies

but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King Jr.

As we sang about the glory of God and His power over the whole earth I just couldn't reconcile what I witnessed the night before with the songs I was singing.

How can we be more effective in stopping the horrors in our world, why don’t we care more?

As I sat in church my eyes landed on a passage from Mark 8 verses 22 -25 and I saw it in a different light, and I’m sure it is not theologically correct but it helped me understand our blindness a little better.

“And the disciples brought a blind man to Jesus and entreated Him to touch him.And taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes, and laying His hands upon him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I am seeing them like trees walking about.”

Then again He laid His hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.”

I wondered about the method that Jesus used to heal this man’s sight, and it is a stretch, but I could see the eyes of Jesus begin to well up with compassion and those tears, some of which ran down his face and some entering his mouth by way of his tear ducts, and he placed his finger on His tongue and applied them to the man’s eyes where his vision began to be restored, but incompletely; he saw men as trees. I thought that this is where my problem lies, I see and hear of the needs of the world but because I remain distant and uninvolved, they are not clear enough to move me to action. But Jesus repeated the process and the man saw clearly. This reminded me of growth in God’s grace where we begin our walk with Christ largely self-centered, but with more anointing we begin to see the needs of others through His eyes and His anguish which leads us to action.

Picture from the Internet

I was talking to one of the guys in the program the other day and he was explaining why he came to Teen Challenge and not some other drug rehab. program. His answer was that all the other programs he inquired into presented drug addiction as a disease that can be overcome but will be with him forever. When he talked to them at Teen Challenge they spoke of being set free from addiction in Christ and that it was a choice we make and there is hope of total recovery. That message of hope struck him so deeply he immediately chose Teen Challenge.

It reminded me of the words of Christ – “If you had faith like a mustard see you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.” The tree is not cut down, but it is pulled up roots and all; this was the hope this young man saw. Bless God forever.

Photo from the Internet

".... But we have a Shepherd full of care, full of kindness, full of power, who has said, " I will seek that which was lost, and bind up that which was broken, and bring again that which was driven away, and will strengthen that which was sick."

How tender are these expressions, and how well fulfilled! His sheep feed in the midst of wolves, yet are preserved safe; for though they see Him not, His eyes and His heart are upon them. Do we wonder that Daniel was preserved in the lion's den? Why, it is a common case. Which of God's children have not cause to say, "My soul is among lions"? But the Angel of the covenant stops their mouths, or only permits them to gape and roar, to show their teeth, and what they would do, if they might; but they may not; they shall not bite and tear us at their own will.

Let us trust Him, and all shall be well."

I want to add something to this but because it is a common case to be among lions I'll just say amen and thank you Lord.

John Newton - Awesome photo by James Pan

"Wesley's inspiration was a belief that no human being lived on earth, so base, so stupid, so worldly, so utterly corrupt and worthless, but that if could believe it, God was ready to kindle in his soul a fire of love which would wholly consume his evil."

Mmmm, here in lies our hope!!!!!

Photo by Michael Menekis

One of my granddaughters was telling me about a foreign exchange student from Denmark she has befriended and took to church last night; she could tell the friend was uncomfortable and later her friend commented it was "too religious" for her. My granddaughter was disappointed and was considering how to beautify religion for her new friend. The two following quotes I ran across address the situation as clearly as anything that comes to mind.

"Jennie, the working girl, brings to me

Hope and trust and a gentler grace,

Though her words are few and her manner shy,

I can read a sermon in her sweet face;

For Jennie, the working girl, makes it plain,

That to live for others is richest gain."

"To be full of goodness, cheerfulness, sympathy, and of helpful hope, causes one to move on human life as stars move on dark seas to bewildered mariners. - author unknown

So we concluded the discussion by simply agreeing that if she will just be herself and live out her faith freely, and speak her words sparingly, her impact on her new friend may well be the sermon that wins her heart.

Poem Jennie by Harriet F. Crocker - top photo by Anna Pagnacco, bottom photo by Sune Wenelboe.

I've been reading a little from St Francois De Sales and I really like the two following paragraphs.

"Everything St. Francois said, even the most casual word, to all his pupils, was aimed, by his extremely subtle approach, at eliminating all traces of fear and anguish. That is why gentleness was his keynote. Scarcely had he spoken to anyone before he knew their temperament and disposition and natural traits. He also had the ability to conform all that he had to say to the capacity and capability of the listener so that everybody, from a simple maid to a Jesuit theologian, from an unassuming widow to an argumentative Calvinist, could understand him. He served one kind of meat to the strong and another to the weak; he used one language for the extrovert, and another to the introvert........

Is not the real challenge of the spiritual guide to know the place where the person he is guiding happens to be - physically, intellectually and spiritually? So many spiritual directors write or speak from a point of view which is rigidly fixed on a particular path which they themselves have traveled. Even though they may be well advanced they frequently speak in light of some condition which they alone have experienced and often without realizing that others are not at their stage, and perhaps not even meant to experience what they have experienced, or might not ever be destined to travel the same way".

I just love the last paragraph! So often I have heard people speak without taking time to listen to the hearer, almost as though they have a one size fits all gospel. Often I recall Jesus asking a question to people that inquired of Him; "do you want to be healed?", "what does the scripture say," are just examples of Christ seeking the underlying issues. We have the gospel presented to us by four authors, each to a different audience; Jews, Romans, Greeks, Gentiles. I think this is further example of changing methods to differing people.

Photo by Tom White

Here is another section that I thought was especially good from St. Francois De Sales.

"Our dear Father (writes Camus) had a great respect for the old imperial motto - Make haste slowly; as also for the saying, "Soon enough, if well enough." His favorite words were "Little but good," and he continually warned people against supposing that perfection is to be found in a multiplicity of religious exercises, whether internal or external. If one questioned this as contrary to that insatiable love of which the masters of the spiritual life tell us -- a love which never says "enough", which never counts itself to have attained, but is ever reaching forward to greater heights, he would reply: "You must grow in this love by means of the root rather than the branches": explaining himself to mean that a multitude of spiritual exercises, imperfectly done, often superfluous, or not to the purpose, resemble the useless tendrils of a vine, which must be pruned away if it is to bear good grapes; whereas the real life or root is nourished and strengthened by a few good works very carefully performed; that is to say, done in a spirit of very fervent love of God, wherein all true Christian perfection consists."

"a very few good works carefully performed," this verse stuck out to me because it is easy to be influenced to become involved in many things when we really have barely enough time to do the necessities well. We each have spiritual gifts where we can devote ourselves to God in this 'carefully performed way'; but if we get our plate too full then we lose what we had and gain nothing.

Photo from the internet

"In a word, let us endeavor to keep close to God, to be much in prayer, to watch carefully over our hearts, and leave the busy warm spirits to make the best of their work. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him and wait on Him continually; to these He will show His covenant, not notionally, but experimentally. A few minutes of the Spirit's teaching will furnish us with more real useful knowledge than toiling through whole folios of commentators and expositors; they are useful in their places and are not to be undervalued by those who can perhaps, in general, do better without them; but it will be our wisdom to deal less with the streams and be more close in applying to the Fountainhead. The Scripture itself and the Spirit of God, are the best and the only sufficient expositors of Scripture. Whatever men have valuable in their writings, they got it from hence; and the way is as open to us as to any of them."

Don't you just love that? The Lord can take one line from the Bible or one comment from a sermon and shed His light on it making it stand out as though written exclusively for us, at that very moment. Oh for more light!

John Newton - Photo by Sheri Doty

I've posted quotes on this topic many times but it always speaks to me and as I work with many young Christians and from the mouth of these babes I find a great source of inspiration.

None are theologians, none have in depth Bible knowledge, but what they do have is a simple faith burning within them; a great hope they see in Christ, and it is contagious.

"High speculations are as barren as the tops of cedars; but the fundamentals of Christianity are fruitful as the valleys or the creeping vine. For know, that it is no mediation, but it may be an illusion, when you consider mysteries to become more learned, without thoughts of improving piety.... It was a saying of Aegidius, " that an old and a simple woman, if she loves Jesus, may be greater than was brother Bonaventure."

Lack of learning and disability to consider great secrets of theology, do not at all retard our progress to spiritual perfections."

Jeremy Taylor - photo from the Internet

The following picture is very graphic and I always get a twinge when I post things like this; but I end up considering that this is the world we live in and this woman is living it, so I think we can deal with looking at it. Her story is posted below and sadly it is one of countless stories that go on in our world. These photos tell us why we serve Christ, preach His message of peace, why we go to the mission field, why we work for justice and seek to overcome oppression wherever it is found. Lord Jesus, give us courage to do battle, because the enemy seems to rage on at every opportunity.

On August 26th 2009, Burma Army troops and soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) shot and severely wounded Ma Kin Kyi, 34, a woman from Htee Pa Doh village in Thaton District, west central Karen State. According to our local FBR relief team, the troops, from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 214 and DKBA 333 Brigade surrounded the house in which Ma Kin Kyi was staying and fired into it, severely injuring her in the neck, jaw and mouth. According to the team, Ma Kin Kyi, who has a 2 month old baby, is not likely to survive this injury because she is unable to drink or eat. The team reported that the troops entered the village and suspected that the house in which Ma Kin Kyi was staying contained soldiers from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The FBR team is now in the area, giving Ma Kin Kyi emergency medical treatment and trying to help her survive as best as they can and will continue to report on the situation.

Post by Free Burma Rangers, courageous, love filled people supporting those in war torn Burma.

Going away

It is in the little things I'll miss,

Far lights upon the hill

That I can see here from my door,

The flowers on the sill.

Nasturtiums that are blooming bright,

I shall remember them

And vision them as they blow now

Entangling stem on stem.

The wind as it comes through the pines

Far from across the plain;

The sound upon my low tin roof

of softly echoed rain.

My heart will find new scenes, but oh,

It will come back to these

In many quiet times and seek

Known paths, old dreams, loved trees.

---George Elliston

Last Gift

Serene in his narrow coffin

The little Father lay.

The church was hushed for a moment;

Then a great throng knelt to pray.

Grave priests and censer-bearers

In the chancel softly trod,

While music and the incense

Rose like a flower to God.

All at once, along the transept,

A little figure sped,

Laid something on the casket,

And then, in a panic, fled.

There on the sombre velvet

Lay an offering, not planned --

A bunch of dandelions,

Warm from the little hand.

A kind priest found the youngster,

Who raised his hanging head.

"He was good to my sick Mamma,

And prayed when she died." he said.

--Charles Ballard -photo by Taci Yuksel

I never tire of this gospel story, and I especially like Jeremy Taylor's presentation.

"When Jesus had ended his sermon, one of the pharisees named Simon invited Him to "eat with him"; into whose house when He entered, a certain "woman that was a sinner," abiding there in the city, heard of it; her name was Mary: she had been married to a noble personage, a native of the town and castle of Magdal, from whence she had her name of Magdalen, though she herself was born in Bethany; a widow she was, and prompted by her wealth, liberty, and youth, to an intemperate life, and too free entertainments. She came to Jesus into the Pharisee's house: not, as did the staring multitude, to glut her eyes with the sight of a miraculous and glorious person; nor, as did the centurion, or the Syrophoenician, or the ruler of the synagogue, for cure of her sickness, or in behalf of her friend, or child, or servant; but (the only example of so coming) she came in remorse and regret for her sins, she came to Jesus to lay her burden at His feet, and to present Him with a broken heart, and a weeping eye, and great affection, and a box of nard pistic, salutary and precious. For she came trembling, and fell down before Him, weeping bitterly for her sins, pouring out a flood great enough to "wash the feet" of the blessed Jesus, and "wiping them with the hairs of her head"; after which she "brake the box," and "anointed His feet with ointment." Which expression was so great an ecstasy of love, sorrow, and adoration, that to anoint the feet even of the greatest monarch was long unknown....."

Sculpture by Antonio Canova

I ran across this paragraph and believe it to be true, it betrays an independent spirit but I think it is wise counsel about following the teachings of one person too closely --

"I endeavor to avail my self of the examples, advice and sentiments of my brethren; yet at the same time to guard against calling any man master. This is the prerogative of Christ.

The best are but men; the wisest may be mistaken, and that which may be right in another might be wrong in me, through a difference in circumstances. The Spirit of God distributes variously, both in gifts and dispensations; and I would no more be tied to act strictly by other's rules than to walk in shoes of the same size. My shoes must fit my own feet."

John Newton - Photo by Shane Willi

This picture of Albert Finny the actor, is taken from the movie Amazing Grace. He has a concerned look on his face as he plays the part of John Newton, ex-slave trader and the author of the song Amazing Grace. I post it because this last week at work I had my first confrontation with one of the students at work. It was my first experience with a student resisting me and giving me attitude. I think I handled it as well as I could but it left me somewhat discouraged and the following morning I needed some encouragement from the Lord and asked for a blessing. I decided to read one of the letters John Newton had written to a friend going through some difficulty and I'll quote the first lines I laid my eyes on ---

"The work you are engaged in is great, and your difficulties many; but faithful is He that hath called you, who also will do it......... He will plead our cause and fight our battles; He will pardon our mistakes and teach us to do better."

Call me a fanatical mystic, but I took that as from the lips of Christ Himself.

The following piece by Jeremy Taylor, after the loss of a son, imprisoned for his theology during the turbulent times in the 1600s, where he more than once lost all, writes the following paragraph about his remaining blessings.

“I am fallen into the hands of publicans and sequestrators, and they have taken all from me; what now? Let me look about me. They have left me the sun and moon, fire and water, a loving wife, and many friends to pity me, some to relieve me, and I can still discourse; and unless I list they have not taken away my merry countenance, and my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience, they still have left me the providence of God, and all the promises of the Gospel, and my religion, and my hopes of heaven, and my charity to them too; and still I sleep and digest, I eat and drink, I read and meditate, I can walk in my neighbor’s pleasant fields, and see the varieties of natural beauties, and delight in all that in which God delights, that is, in virtue and wisdom, in the whole creation, and in God himself.

And he that hath so many causes of joy and so great, is very much in love with sorrow and peevishness, who loses all these pleasures, and chooses to sit down on his little handful of thorns.”

I looked at a lot of photos for this piece but decided on these two because the top one by Seema, captures for me the bliss and simple pleasure of one of natures gifts to us-water.

The second picture by Maciej Dakowicz captures the essence of the post, we can be happy in nearly all circumstances if we enjoy what God has abundantly provided for all.

In reading through a section of "The Unsearchable Riches of Christ" by Brooks, he addresses the importance of a genuine, living faith in the heart of the preacher. The entire chapter is good but I will just share a few nuggets tucked within.

"Talk not of a good life," said the heathen, "but let thy life speak." Ministers should be like musk among linen, which casts a fragrant smell, or like that box of spikenard, which being broken open, filled the house with its odor.

Gregory saith of Anthanasius, that his life was a continual sermon and wooing men to Christ.

A painter being blamed by a cardinal for putting too much red upon the visages of Peter and Paul, tartly replied, that he painted them so, as blushing at the lives of those men who styled themselves their successors. Ah how do lewd and wicked lives of many that are called and accounted ministers, make others to blush!

The highest mystery in the divine rhetoric, is to feel what a man speaks, and then speak what a man feels.

Praxiteles exquisitely drew love, taking the pattern from that passion which he felt in his own heart.

It was said of Luther, that he spake as if he had been within a man. Ministers must so speak to the people, as if they lived in the very hearts of the people; as if they had been told all their wants, and all their ways, all their sins, and all their doubts.

And lastly -- "Ministers must preach feelingly, experimentally, as well as exemplarily. They must speak from the heart to the heart; they must feel the worth, the weight, the sweet of those things upon their own souls that they give out to others." 1 John 1: 1-3

Well that's a tall order and in these days they may be more rare than ever, but I can't disagree.

Photo by Steiner

"The name of a Savior is honey in the mouth, and music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart." Saint Bernard.

I read that the other morning after a particularly sweet time of devotion and wanted to commit it to memory so I embellished it this way -

I ate of the word and I still taste its honey; I called to the Lord and my ears still hear His melody;

I cried to the Lord and now my heart is in jubilee.

I was reading some of Thomas Brooks and ran across this in his epistle dedicatory, where he gives his reasons for writing the book. As he describes his purpose I realized it is the reason we all are drawn to Christ, and it is a simple but clear description of the Gospel.

“…….You that are weak may, in this treatise, as in a glass, see your weakness, your mercies, your graces, your duties, your privileges, and your comforts. You that are weak in grace may, here find many questions answered and doubts resolved, that tend to the satisfying, quieting, settling, and establishing of your precious souls in peace, joy, and assurance. You that are weak in grace, may find here a staff to support you, a light to direct you, a sword to defend you, and a cordial to strengthen you. And you that are strong in grace, may here see what is your way, what is your work, and what at last shall be your reward. Here you will find that which tends to the discovery of spirits, the sweetening of spirits, the uniting of spirits, the healing of spirits, and the making up of breaches.”

I especially like the last line, and in particular "the discovery of spirits". I thought one application of that is as we meet people we should be on the lookout for the Godly spirits that they are graced with, so that we may better learn of Christ from them and better serve and encourage them.

I chose this delightful picture because it made me think how readily we would seek to know and learn about someone like this vibrant looking girl; so approachable, delightful and energized; but I have heard it said that, often men look upon another man they do not know as a potential threat, and I can't help but agree it is often the case.

Photo by David Larson

I was talking with a friend about the thing most needful, and I ran across the following quote by John Newton. I think it reduces things down to its essentials.

"The longer I live, the more I see of the vanity and the sinfulness of our unchristian disputes; they eat up the very vitals of religion. I grieve to think how often I have lost my time and my temper in that way, in presuming to regulate the vineyards of others, when I have neglected my own; when the beam in my own eye has so contracted my sight that I could discern nothing but the mote in my neighbor's. I am now desirous to choose a better part. Could I speak the publican's words with a proper feeling, I wish not for the tongue of men or angles to fight about notions or sentiments. I allow that every branch of gospel truth is precious, that errors are abounding, and that it is our duty to bear an honest testimony to what the Lord has enabled us to find comfort in and to instruct with meekness such as are willing to be instructed; but I cannot see it my duty, nay, I believe it would be my sin, to attempt to beat my notions into other people's heads. Too often I have attempted it in time past; but now I judge that both my zeal and my weapons were carnal. When our dear Lord questioned Peter, after his fall and recovery, He said not, Art thou wise, learned, and eloquent? Nay, He said not, Art thou clear, and sound, and orthodox? But this only, "Lovest thou me?"

An answer to this was sufficient then; why not now? Any other answer, we may believe, would have been insufficient then. If Peter had made the most pompous confession of his faith and sentiments, still the first question would have recurred,

"Lovest thou me?"

Photo by J. Gao

So, my son Eric and his family came down from Spokane to visit and we had a great time. Always, if the weather is hot, we head to water. I grew up ten miles from the beach and had a swimming pool in my back yard as a boy so I love water! I have passed this love on to my children so when Eric and his four children came we went to the Lewis River where there are lots of cliffs and rocks to safely dive from. My son Matt made a comment about this one, which is me diving off a cliff ( it's hard to make me out but I just left the top and I'm mid-air head first in a dark shirt). My Granddaughter Jordan is in the water having just jumped in. I won't repeat what my son Matt said about this picture but suffice to say it had something to do with age.

If you click on it you should get a better look.

What I love about reading is finding my indescribable feelings, described. Whether some poet has captured longings, or some intellectual has unpacked emotions and laid them out clearly on paper. This is the case with the following quote by Addison. He describes many of the difficult emotions I experience when I see human drama. In this quote he is walking in a cemetery and jots down his thoughts.

"When I am in a serious humor; I very often walk by myself in Westminster Abbey; where the gloominess of the place, and the use to which it is applied, with the solemnity of the building, and the condition of the people who lie in it, are apt to fill the mind with a kind of melancholy, or rather thoughtfulness, that is not disagreeable....

I could not but be very much delighted with several modern epitaphs, which are written with great elegance of expressions and justness of thought, and therefore do honor to the living as well as the dead.

I know that entertainments of this nature are apt to raise dark and dismal thoughts in timorous minds, and gloomy imaginations; but for my own part, though I am always serious, I do not know what it is to be melancholy; and can therefore take a view of nature, in her deep and solemn scenes, with the same pleasure as in her most gay and delightful ones. By this means I can improve myself with those objects which others consider with terror.

When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow. When I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read of several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries and make our appearance together."

Photo taken from the Internet

I was reading in my book Treasures New and Old, when I came upon a chapter of epitaphs.

There are quotes taken from the tombs of children, men and women. Some of them really got to me. If you have ever strolled in an old cemetery and read tombstones you know how sobering it is. These speak to those who have left an indelible imprint on the lives of those left behind.

The first, and the shortest on a tomb named "Nellie" -

"She flung but one shadow, and that only when she died."

That short epitaph is fleshed out further in this one on A.B.P.'s tomb --

"Thy greeting smile was pledge and prelude

of generous deeds and kindly words;

In thy large heart were fair guest-chambers,

Open to sunrise and the birds;

The task was thine to mould and fashion

Life's plastic newness into grace;

To make the boyish heart heroic,

and light with thought the maiden's face."

I just love that, her greeting smile was a pledge of goodness to come; what a wonderful thing to say about someone. And what a heritage, to inspire the young to heroism and enlightenment.

And this line from a tomb simply inscribed H.B. - "The friend of man, to vice alone a foe

'For e'en his failings lean'd to virtue's side."

I'll leave off with this tender epitaph about "Lottie" -

"Ah, can we live and bear to miss,

Out of our lives, this life how rare?

Tender, so tender! an angel's kiss

Hallowed it daily unaware;

Gracious as sunshine, sweet as dew

Shut in a lily's golden core,

Fragrant with goodness through and through,

Pure as the spikenard Mary bore;

Holy as twilight, soft as dawn,

She has gone."

Photo of "Asleep in Christ" from the Internet.

"You cannot expect that a man while he is struggling to get out of the water and on the shore, will practice a dancing master's paces."

This quote captured my attention and I think it speaks well to us when we are in whatever situation that has ensnared us. A new Christian will produce fruit, but not until they have been established in grace and laid the foundation of repentance. To judge them because they lack certain graces is out of place. We learn 'line upon line' and at first we need only to find solid ground and escape the clutches of the world; fruit will come, but it grows in the summer season.

Photo by Miguel Pappan

I'm so eager to share but my new work schedule has been so demanding initially, that I have found little time to blog. That being so I do want to share the story of one of the guys at the center. I have some misgivings about sharing because it is so personal; but he will remain anonymous, but even so it gives me a tinge of discomfort. I have been talking with as many guys as I can to get to know them so I can better serve them. I began a conversation and this young man was very open as we talked on the floor. He began to tell me of his drug use and some things that had happened in his past; he mentioned he was very close with his parents, and had a happy childhood when his father suddenly left the family and could no longer stand to be married, he went on and then told me he was driving down the road one night and a girl who apparently was trying to commit suicide, had laid down in the street and at 65 miles an hour, he ran over her and killed her; as he mentioned this his face grimaced and I immediately asked him to come to my office and talk further; the floor was nowhere to discuss this.

I asked him to go on with his story and the last significant piece was after he had reunited with his father, who he loved very much, he visited him and lived with him on and off as I recall, but his father's health began to dwindle. His father had good days and an equal amount of bad days, but on one day in particular his aunt was visiting and was alarmed how sickly his father looked, and suggested he take him to the doctor. He had seen his father look poorly many times and told her he felt there was no need to take him to the doctor, it was just another bad day for him. Later that afternoon, he went to the store for a quick purchase, but when he returned his father had died.

I wanted to talk with this young man because I noticed that he had difficulty making eye contact and I didn't know if this was because he was guilty about something or ashamed; I realized that it was shame. I talked with him about it in detail and he poured out his heart. I sensed a close presence of God as we talked and I believe Christ gave me the encouraging words that He wanted this man to hear. Needless to say my heart went out to him and I was so gratified to hear the next day, as he approached me, that the things we discussed were of great comfort to him.

I have never been around so many men who have suffered so grievously, and each one has a story, and in that story a starting place where hurt began a destructive course. This organization is a life blood for these men and Jesus is the center of the ministry, and He is there with all His tender mercies and full glory.

Picture of the beginning of a new life by Guenter Eh

The following quote by Addison caught my attention; he is describing a dream in which he saw a golden scale and it weighed the values of different virtues, vices. This is pulled out of a whole chapter but I think this part will stand on its own --

"There is a saying among the Scotch, that an ounce of mother-wit is worth a pound of clergy; I was sensible of the truth of this saying when I saw a difference between the weight of natural talents and that of learning. The observations which I made upon these two weights opened to me a new field of discoveries; for, notwithstanding the weight of the natural talents was much heavier than that of learning, I observed that it weighed a hundred times heavier than it did before, when I put learning into the same scale with it.

I made the same observation upon faith and morality; for, notwithstanding the latter outweighed the former separately, it received a thousand times more additional weight from its conjunction with the former, than what it had by itself. This odd phenomenon showed itself in other particulars, as in wit and judgment, philosophy and religion, justice and humanity, zeal and charity, depth of sense and perspicuity (clarity of thought, explicitness), of style, with innumerable other particulars too long to be mentioned in this paper."

So, after I read this ten times to finally understand it, I was taken by the truth of it. For example, in God's scale, justice without humanity weighs little; and zeal without charity leads to who knows what? And if one has a depth of sense and is sensitive to emotions, but lacks the ability to put those thoughts into words, it has little value.

"I have often thought if the minds of men were laid open, we should see but little difference between that of the wise man and that of the fool. There are infinite reveries, numberless extravagances, and a perpetual train of vanities which pass through both. The great difference is, that the first knows how to pick and cull his thoughts for conversation, by suppressing some, and communicating others; whereas the others let them all indifferently fly out in words.

This sort of discretion, however, has no place in private conversations between intimate friends. On such occasions the wisest men very often talk like the weakest; for indeed the talking with a friend is nothing else but thinking aloud."

I agree with this quote as a generality; I think often young people think that older people are of a completely different mind set and because of that, they are reluctant to engage them in conversation. This is not to suggest that there is no maturing, no developing tastes for higher interests; but rather to point out that all mankind is in a struggle to leave behind foolish things, and if we knew the hearts of men like an open book, we would be surprised to see how little difference there really is. It makes me smile to catch an old couple talking when they think they are alone, the guard comes down, minds are unfettered, and their youth is on display. But once you enter the room, their conversation is culled and picked for general audience :)

Addison, photo by Marco Ruggiero

I ran across the following quote, author unknown, and I have read things similar to this many times but somehow this one captured the thought more dramatically for me. I think this is the kind of quote I will hang around the Teen Challenge Center. All of these men and women have gone from the "I won't" to at least "I will try" stage.

I won't, is a tramp.

I can't, is a quitter.

I don't know, is too lazy.

I wish I could, is a wisher.

I will try, is on his feet.

I can, is on his way.

I will, is at work.

I did, is now the boss.

Photo by Budiarto Gondowijoyo

On May 3rd I posted an incident that happened in the nursing home, where I noticed a woman who was so lost and calling for her husband and couldn't understand where he had gone and the more I talked with her the more she cried and suffering from apparent dementia, I finally left her, not being able to comfort or aid her. Well, today that same woman came up to me before the service and asked if she could share something with the group. When everyone gathered she began by explaining that she had recently been given the news that her husband had died as well as her sister, and she was under a cloud of depression, confusion and grief; but God had come to her aid and spoke His confidence to her heart that they were with Him, and just trust Him and she will see them again. She spoke with perfect clarity and with God's peace radiating from within. I was slayed by the loving Spirit of God, how He so mercifully heard her cries, and applied His healing balm to her soul. I realized when I first saw her she had just received the news and was in emotional trauma, and what seemed to be dementia was actually shock.

These simple testimonies of how God rescues the souls of the desperate are what makes me love Him all the more.

"The heart may embrace Christ with an enthusiasm of love, though the intellectual perception is imperfect and vague. It is better that the intellectual perception should be full and clear; nevertheless, a man can embrace Christ by the heart without the help of the understanding, far better than he can embrace Christ by the understanding without the aid of the heart. Thousands and thousands there have been, I believe, who have loved Christ, and have lived on their love to him, and have died by the power of that love, and have been translated to glory, though they could not have defined the divine nature, nor reduced their faith to any intellectual expression. There have been multitudes of children, poor uneducated persons, into whose teaching never entered even the technics of philosophy, who understood nothing of mental science, but whose hearts have seen Jesus Christ, and out of whose hearts has gone an enthusiasm, an allegiance, a fidelity, that has led them gloriously through life and through death to the blessed Master. They would have been larger and happier Christians, doubtless, if they had added to the heart element the intellectual element also; but it is possible for one to take hold of Christ with the heart. It is possible for one who has but slender endowments to take hold of Christ.
And that is the peculiarity of Christianity." Henry Ward Beecher

I like this piece, and I like the "peculiarity of Christianity" that reveals the heart of God, who looks only to the heart and not the intellect for salvation.

"Oh Mother! because you are in the household, it does not follow that you are not also in the pulpit. There are these open pulpits; there are these domestic pulpits. The candle that is lit for your table in the cottage, and gives its light there first, shines out of the window also, and throws its rays far down the road, and the weary traveler sees them, and plucks up courage, and says, "There is succor at last!" and follows the light, and finds your house, and is rescued. And while you are giving yourself to your children in sweetness, and love, and prayer and trust, a light shines down the road, to those that have lost their way, and many a soul may be brought, by your example, home to Jesus.

Do not be discouraged because you have not an ampler sphere of testimony. Live, love, trust, and wait, and ere long forever and forever triumph and rejoice!"

When I ran across this quote my heart wed to it. I know so many mothers who have a heart that burns for the Savior; longs to serve Him in the fullest way, and at times feels as though motherhood abbreviates their service. Oh but it is not so. Where will the strong Christian leaders be formed if not from devoted mothers. And as this quote states, during this season of service to Christ and family, the home is a pulpit and your mission is not limited in scope, but may reach across the world with your devotion and sacrifice to your family. It is a light, and a light so needed in these days of crumbling home life.

Henry Ward Beecher, and tender photo of motherhood by Jose A. Gallego