Thanksgiving
"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." Ps 16:6 This is one of my favorite verses from the Psalms. The "lines" are boundary lines and the picture David is painting for us is that of a beautiful and fruitful field or farm. The farm can be seen as our lives. As children of God we can look around at our lives and see countless blessings and abundance. It is for these that we are called to be thankful and full of peace and joy. I think we are also called to be discerning with respect to those things in our lives which are not easy for us — things that are hurtful, even devastating. A farmer knows that his farm is good and productive even though it may have a sinkhole or two; a boggy area unsuitable for crops; or a rocky field that is impossible to plow. There can also be droughts which are severe enough to dry up our springs for a season. Yet, the farmer is still thankful for this pleasant place for he knows the drought will pass and the bounty will return.
I am very thankful today and see God’s blessings in so many places in my life. I have walked through a few boggy spots this year but today I stand on the firm Rock and know that Jesus calls me his friend. Though I am thankful, I am also grieving with my friends. Luke and Christy Davis lost their son, Jordan, this week. Eric and Kelly Scherrer lost their infant son, Beau, this week. Allen and Gillian Peabody lost their son, Joseph, in August. These are the sinkholes we fall into and which God, by his grace and comfort, pulls us from. We know because we have been though it ourselves.
This week as I have reflected on all this sorrow I remembered our son’s homegoing service and the song one of our pastor’s sung. It’s an old Red Foley song (Steal Away) and it captures so clearly the message God would have us hear during these "sinkhole" times. I found a video of Foley singing it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czvX07wZUy8
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
We See So Little Yet Desire So Much
"If only the veil could be torn away and our eyes strengthened to bear the luminous brightness of divine glory! It is so plain, from what we know so well of ourselves, that this would be a hopeless dream. What are our bodily eyes to demand such a vision when they miss so much of things as obvious as the unclouded sparkle in a child’s eyes, the freshness of sky and countryside after a spring rain, or even the triumph of artistic coloring in a single petal of a rose? We see so little of the bodily things for which our eyes were made; we can hope for nothing from them of the invisible and unlimited splendor of God. Our minds plunge easily, even eagerly, beneath the surface of physical things to the intangible realities that enrich and nourish our minds; yet how much we miss of the courage of little men, of stubborn hope, of dreams, regrets, loves too fine for the rough wrappings of words. These things our minds can see for they fit into the finite limits of a concept — the wedding garment essential for every guest of our minds. Not so for the infinite perfection of divinity." — Thomas Aquinas
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The Demise of Journalism
My cousin uses a quote from Mark Twain as a tag line in his emails: "If you don’t read the newspaper, then you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." This Twain-ism has taken on new meaning during the 2008 election cycle. Journalism, in the classical sense, may have completely retired from the field. I remember one of my "vacation things" when the kids were growing up was to purchase a copy of the New York Times daily and read a good portion of it. While I did not agree with the editorial policy of the NYT, I did enjoy the depth of the articles and the high standard of English composition and grammar. Even twenty years ago, our local newspaper was full of typos, misspelled words, sentence fragments, poor grammar, and a general disregard for the King’s English. Reading the NYT daily was a refreshing break from all that sloppy writing and editing.
Today, those vacation memories seem like a myth. Other than the Wall Street Journal I have not picked up a newspaper this year that did not look and feel like a tabloid. I’m not saying that there is no good reporting to be found in newsprint — its just very hard to find. More importantly, the subtle bias of yesteryear has been replaced by in-your-face political propaganda written into almost every article. Maybe the worst, (I say maybe because there was so much other stuff I just refused to read) were the attacks on Sarah Palin. These went beyond the pale in every respect.
It was announced a few weeks ago that the Christian Science Monitor will cease producing a newsprint copy of their publication in the near future. The publication will still be available online but the only thing you can hold in your hand is your laptop. Our local paper, the Tennessean, shrunk its page size a couple of weeks ago and it is beginning to look like some third world rag. The response of the journalist establishment to decreased circulation is to "dumb it down another notch." Sounds like the same approach our professional educators apply to the school system. All this seems like we bidding farewell to a thinking America. (Check out this blog http://www.twistimage.com/blog/ )
My cousin uses a quote from Mark Twain as a tag line in his emails: "If you don’t read the newspaper, then you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed." This Twain-ism has taken on new meaning during the 2008 election cycle. Journalism, in the classical sense, may have completely retired from the field. I remember one of my "vacation things" when the kids were growing up was to purchase a copy of the New York Times daily and read a good portion of it. While I did not agree with the editorial policy of the NYT, I did enjoy the depth of the articles and the high standard of English composition and grammar. Even twenty years ago, our local newspaper was full of typos, misspelled words, sentence fragments, poor grammar, and a general disregard for the King’s English. Reading the NYT daily was a refreshing break from all that sloppy writing and editing.
Today, those vacation memories seem like a myth. Other than the Wall Street Journal I have not picked up a newspaper this year that did not look and feel like a tabloid. I’m not saying that there is no good reporting to be found in newsprint — its just very hard to find. More importantly, the subtle bias of yesteryear has been replaced by in-your-face political propaganda written into almost every article. Maybe the worst, (I say maybe because there was so much other stuff I just refused to read) were the attacks on Sarah Palin. These went beyond the pale in every respect.
It was announced a few weeks ago that the Christian Science Monitor will cease producing a newsprint copy of their publication in the near future. The publication will still be available online but the only thing you can hold in your hand is your laptop. Our local paper, the Tennessean, shrunk its page size a couple of weeks ago and it is beginning to look like some third world rag. The response of the journalist establishment to decreased circulation is to "dumb it down another notch." Sounds like the same approach our professional educators apply to the school system. All this seems like we bidding farewell to a thinking America. (Check out this blog http://www.twistimage.com/blog/ )
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Post Election Short Thoughts
1. I’m glad its over. Even as an old cynic I was disgusted with much of what occurred during the campaigns — and that includes both parties.
2. My New Year’s resolution (a couple of months early): no more talk radio!
3. God remains firmly in control of His creation (I guess this one should have been #1).
4. My gut feeling is that an era has passed and we may never be able to return to an America many of us thought existed. It may not have existed for a long time but some of us were unable to discern the signs of the times.
5. I am going to pray for our new president and give honor to him and his office.
6. I think its time for Christians in America to stop chasing moonbeams and focus our energies on doing the work of the kingdom: worshiping in Spirit and truth; feeding the hungry; comforting the grieving; visiting the sick; and, living like we are the light on the hill.
1. I’m glad its over. Even as an old cynic I was disgusted with much of what occurred during the campaigns — and that includes both parties.
2. My New Year’s resolution (a couple of months early): no more talk radio!
3. God remains firmly in control of His creation (I guess this one should have been #1).
4. My gut feeling is that an era has passed and we may never be able to return to an America many of us thought existed. It may not have existed for a long time but some of us were unable to discern the signs of the times.
5. I am going to pray for our new president and give honor to him and his office.
6. I think its time for Christians in America to stop chasing moonbeams and focus our energies on doing the work of the kingdom: worshiping in Spirit and truth; feeding the hungry; comforting the grieving; visiting the sick; and, living like we are the light on the hill.
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