Rick and Grace

 September 7, 2021

I had no reason to be sad. Linda and I are healthy, we have more than enough of this world’s resources, our marriage is strong. And yet, there is a hazy cloud threatening to obscure the sun. We have so many people in our lives who are struggling. Friends facing life-threatening illnesses, grandchildren growing up in a world gone crazy; if not navigating renewed measures fueled by panic about COVID, our society has decided that gender dysphoria is no longer a psychological aberration, but rather an identity to be celebrated. Friends in other parts of the world are facing hunger and oppression, the news stations blast bad news hourly. Other people’s problems begin to weigh on me.

After awhile, I begin to feel guilty for the blessings God has poured out on me. Jewish folklore tells a story that when God created the world, he started with two great sacks of rocks. One of them broke over Israel. I feel the same way about my blessings: God’s sack broke over me, and it makes me ponder the mystery of grace.

Grace is a hard gift. As someone taught from childhood to work hard and carry one’s share of the load, I’ve often wondered if I were doing enough. Have I wasted time and resources? Have I made the most of whatever gifts God has bestowed on me? Could I, should I have done more? Of course, the answer is that I always fall short. “All have sinned and fallen short,” Paul says in Romans 3:23. No matter how much I try, I will always fall short, which is According to Scripture, where grace kicks in: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

—Ephesians 2:8-9 

The problem is, emotionally, I tend to live by works. If I’m not accomplishing something, I feel like I’m wasting what God has given me. Living in grace is not easy; It’s one thing to believe in grace; it’s another to actually receive it. All of which leads me to a revelation God gave me today.

Last night as I was pondering some of these matters, Linda asked me what makes me happy. I thought about it, but couldn’t come up with an answer. More stuff doesn’t do it; new experiences are fleeting, accomplishments always fall short, so what makes me happy? This morning I visited my friend Roofer Rick. I’ve known him for twenty five years, walked with him through good times and bad. He is one of the most generous men I’ve ever known. He never had much of this world’s goods, but what he had, he freely shared. He was a loyal friend when friends were hard to come by. Some years ago, during open heart surgery, he had a stroke that paralyzed his right side and left him unable to speak. I try to visit him every week or two, bringing coffee and a donut. In a necessarily one-way conversation, I fill him in on what is happening in my life, tell him once more how much he means to me. I pray for him, say goodbye, and leave. 

Rick has taught me more about faith and grace than anyone I know. He cannot accomplish much of anything these days. The possibility of good (or bad) works is out of the question. But he is to me, a valuable friend. I love him as a brother, not because of what he can do, but for who he is, and has been for me. I came home from visiting him today, able to answer Linda’s question. What makes me happy? Being a friend to Rick does it every time because he reminds me, it’s not about what we can do; it’s all about grace. 

Sorrow and Joy

 September 6, 2021

“Those who sow in tears 

Shall reap in joy. 

He who continually goes forth weeping, 

Bearing seed for sowing, 

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, 

Bringing his sheaves with him.”

—Psalm 126:5-6 

It’s easy to give thanks when everything is going the way we want it to go. It’s somewhat more difficult when the clouds obscure the sun. The sun has shone brightly upon Linda and me for most of our lives, but we look around us at friends who are struggling with serious health or relationship issues, at those suffering deprivation and oppression, and feel weighted down with sorrow for them. This world is as the ancients said, “a vale of tears,” and sorrow is a constant companion of many.

I’ve not always handled these matters well. For years, I struggled with melancholy that only began to loose it’s grip on my soul when I began giving thanks, no matter what. I’ve learned that if I am to avoid being swallowed up in a black hole of despair, it is imperative for me to begin my day with praise and worship, with the reading of the Scriptures and prayer. Only by keeping my attention riveted upon Christ can I maintain the perspective I need to be productive. I must choose each day to do this, or the darkness begins to creep in around the edges of my soul. 

So whether or not I feel it, I choose to give thanks, to praise, and to worship. The Scriptures assure me that despite what I may see all around me, having risen from the dead, Christ is victor, seated at the right hand of the Father, from whence he shall someday come in final victory over sin and evil. This is my hope and salvation; I may sow in tears, but someday, I shall harvest in joy.

Autumn

 September 5, 2021

According to the almanac, it’s technically still summer; the equinox doesn’t occur for another fourteen days, but meteorologically, autumn arrived suddenly just a few days ago. It seems we went from unseasonably hot and muggy nights to cool almost overnight: Boom! And we were there. The gratitude prompt I’m following suggests three things autumn, but I’m only going to mention one.

Autumn is the reward for the work of spring and summer. Last April and May, fields were plowed and sown, gardens were planted. Through the summer, those same fields were mown, gardens weeded and watered, a lot of sweat was expended. In autumn, roadside stands overflow with apples, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and whatever other produce is available. Summer’s bounty is on display in autumn, and we stock up for canning and freezing, knowing that winter’s snow is just around the corner.

If the actuarial tables are evenly approximately accurate, I’m in the autumn of my life. Seeds sown years ago have had time to grow and mature; the sweat and strength of summer has yielded whatever harvest there is to be had. I consider myself blessed; I have a wife who loves me, children and grandchildren of whom I can be proud, a healthy church I was able to turn over to my successor a few years ago, and a few lives I’ve seen transformed by our preaching and living the Gospel. 

I don’t know how deep into autumn I am. It could be September; it could be early December. Whichever it is, I am thankful for this season of my life. I can look around me and see like the roadside stands the bounty of my spring and summer. As Frank Sinatra used to sing, “It’s been a very good year.”

Simple gifts

September 4, 2021

Yesterday, someone I know and respect commented simply that she loves my gratitude posts, so I got to thinking that in these present times when it seems all we ever hear is bad news, maybe I ought to step back occasionally from my Biblical musings and look around me. In doing so, I won’t be abandoning my perspective; after all, if I’m thankful for some blessing I’ve received or seen, I am thankful to someone (or Someone). I know the atheist and agnostic can be thankful, too, but it seems a bit odd to me to give thanks when you don’t know who to give it to.

That being said, here’s my thoughts for tonight: “A gift cool, warm, sun-soaked.”

1. This evening, like the past three or four evenings, has cooled down to a pleasant seventy degrees F. The sky which this morning was bright azure blue with only a few wisps of clouds floating overhead, is now completely overcast. I’m sitting on the patio enjoying the stillness in the air and the sound of the peepers and crickets chirping just audibly above the creek’s laughter. After the recent hot days, this evening is a real treat.

2. Linda has been in the kitchen most of the day, cutting and dicing the ingredients for her homemade beef barley soup which she will give to a friend in need. That being done, she just finished baking cookies for our granddaughter who last week began her college career. Izzi won’t get to eat them warm out of the oven, but I’m sure they will be appreciated nonetheless. 

3. Last week’s hot, dry weather has been perfect for our area farmers to get their hay in. Mowed and turned, it cured in the sun till it’s safe to bale and store. Grassy energy, sun-soaked and waiting to release its power to the cows, sheep, horses, and goats who depend upon it through the long, cold winter. 

All three are God’s gifts, two of them directly, and the other through the agency of the loving and giving heart of my wife. The troubles of this world cannot extinguish the simple blessings I receive every single day.

 

Yellow

 September 3, 2021

Yesterday, Linda asked me why I don’t write about gratitude anymore. I don’t have much of an answer except I write mostly about what I am reading in the Scriptures. Occasionally however, my reading falls a bit flat, at which time I revert back to my gratitude calendar, which for today prompted me to think of three things yellow for which I am thankful. So here goes:

1. This morning was pretty cool, and since we haven’t fired up our furnace or wood stove, it made for a much more comfortable reading time to light the little gas heater in our entry way. I was quite thankful for the yellow flame that danced in the stove as we sat to read and pray.

2. The goldenrod is in bloom and my bees are in full stride gathering nectar. Goldenrod is the biggest source of nectar in our area this time of year. Spring gives us locust and apple, but goldenrod has been the biggest producer for me in the past, and I expect it will be so this year also. When I kept bees before (pre-2000), my anticipation of the goldenrod was almost palpable, and in the years when I didn’t have any colonies, I would drive the countryside bemoaning all that goldenrod nectar going to waste. I am glad to be back in the business, and will check my colonies tomorrow to make sure they have enough frames and top bars to accommodate the harvest.

3. Outside our front door and cascading down the back terrace is a wild profusion of Black-eyed Susans. They are one of Linda’s favorite fall flowers, and grow with such wild abandon that we have to thin them out every so often. It’s nice to have a few flowers that don’t require a lot of attention, and these fit the bill.

4. Bonus gratitude: We don’t have a large vegetable garden. A couple raised beds that contain a few rows of green beans, three tomato vines, a couple Bell peppers, and a couple squash. The yellow summer squash are some of our favorites, especially sliced and fried. And although we don’t grow it ourselves, the home grown sweet corn we buy from our Amish friends can’t be beat! This time of year, the fresh vegetables and fruits make for a special blessing, and provide the produce for canning and freezing that will sustain us until the next harvest. The promise God gave Noah still sustains us today: 

“While the earth remains, 

Seedtime and harvest, 

Cold and heat, 

Winter and summer, 

And day and night Shall not cease.” —Genesis 8:22

Our God Reigns

 September 2, 2021

Psalm 47. In light of our disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, pundits are speaking of a post-USA world, where domination shifts to China. It’s hard to imagine a world without the USA in a leadership position, but historically, every superpower that ever existed has waxed and waned. If the pundits are correct, our hegemony is on the wane, i.e., our influence is slipping, and our leadership is beginning to become a shadow of what we once had.

In this light, it is good to know as this psalm says in verses 2, 6, and 7, that OUR God is King over all the earth.” The USA may no longer hold the ascendency, but our God has never relinquished his. Best of all, our Ki”ng knows and loves us (v.4). We Christians in America have for too long walked with one foot in each world; trusting in Christ is relatively uncomplicated when our country is strong and supports our values. Living faithfully doesn’t necessarily make us stand out from the crowd. Those days may be ending, and while I don’t relish the thought, it means we have the opportunity to actually live by faith in a way we have not had to do. 

God still reigns, even if we do not, and he will not forsake his own. For that, I am thankful tonight.

Power

 September 1, 2021

“Saul was afraid of David…,” “he was afraid of him…,” Saul was still more afraid of David…” (1 Samuel 18:12, 15, 29). Why was this king who had absolute power so afraid of this one he himself said was but a boy? Saul may have held absolute power, but he always felt in danger of losing it. The one thing people in power fear is the prospect of losing that power, of anything that in their mind threatens it. Fear is why people go to such lengths to maintain power, and why any challenge to it, no matter how slight or even innocent, is met by such fierce reaction. The Scripture says, “Saul became David’s enemy continually” (1 Samuel 18:29). So what was there about David that Saul saw as threatening?

1. He knew the LORD had left him and was with David. (v. 12) No matter that it was his own rash decisions and rank disobedience to God that caused this shift, Saul knew. Power has a way of knowing, and Saul knew. His violence towards David was measure of his fear.
2. David acted wisely. (v. 15) Power fears genuine wisdom because power is often built upon the ignorance of those under its control.
3. Saul’s daughter loved David. (v. 28) Genuine love is threat to power because it cannot be influenced by it. Love cannot be manipulated.

Saul was afraid, and his fear led to attacks upon one most loyal to him, who refused to retaliate in like manner. Saul was perceptive enough to recognize the threat to his reign, but blind enough to not know that the solution lay within his own grasp. Had he been willing to humble himself, his kingdom may have endured. The true threat to illegitimate power is rarely external; it is internal. That which is good, genuine, and holy exposes the rotten core of illegitimate power. The presence of God, genuine wisdom, and unconditional love are always a threat to power, which is why earthly powers have always attacked God’s people, beginning with the Jews, and continuing with Christians. Faith,Truth, and Love are always the targets of those who fear losing power because faith, truth, and love are the only forces on earth strong enough to topple the power structures erected by the powers of this world.