Hard -- Soft

         

         "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle
 at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  (Jesus, in Matthew 11:29)

      Let's face it: according to the world's standards, it's usually more acceptable to be tough than tender, strong than weak, hard than soft. Movies about superheroes, commercials about winners, songs about the strong surviving all encourage us to strive for strength or toughness.

      It occurs to me that all my efforts all my life to "toughen up" have been futile. How much time and energy have I wasted trying to be something I'm not? For I am, to be perfectly honest, a fragile, tender soul looking around at others whom I perceive to be so much stronger than I, but truth be told are probably more like me than not. Admit it: I bet most of you, like me, are your own worst critic! If I see the world as unfriendly and prickly, then who am I to say others do not feel the same way?  I have a friend who says, "Let me do nice things for you as much as I want; just don't be nice to me!" Why? Because she's afraid of "coming apart" and finds it extremely difficult to accept kindness from others. 

      Why are we SO hard on ourselves? Maybe Heaven will be the ultimate "soft place to fall" where we all just cuddle up to our gentle Savior and "rest." This Christmas was another extraordinary lesson in grace (See October 4 entry "Coincidence -- God's Incidence"). God seems to be speaking to me about receiving tenderness, not just giving it. 

    
    Pictured above are four Christmas presents I received this year from special people in my life who are truly "gifted gifters"-- you know what I mean-- people who just seem to choose gifts exactly suited to who you really are. A, who is hot-natured, is very conscious of my cold nature, especially when I visit her house. She chose for me the softest, cuddliest sweater to keep me warm through the winter months, indoors or out, or even in her house! K picked a robe of fabric as soft as a whisper and covered with hearts, "to remind you that you are wrapped in love," she said. And daughter Lisa, whom I've always dubbed World's Best Gifter, sent pajamas and a lap blanket as velvety as a cloud, both of which have been swaddling me since Christmas morning! 

      I'm cherishing these gifts as another clear reminder from God that it's okay to accept "charity"-- that is, LOVE-- when it is so freely given. After all, isn't that what Christmas IS? It's also perfectly okay to be "soft," especially since that's the way God made us!  As He promised, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26 NIV) 

       My friend J closes her emails with "Gentle hugs," demonstrating understanding that always makes me smile. And so, dear reader, whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray you'll accept from me this Christmas some "Gentle hugs" yourself, because who doesn't need that gift! 💕
      

Darkness -- Light

         Sometimes this mysterious illness puts me in a very dark place. During an extended period of pain, a couple of weeks ago "Dr. P" reminded me, "Whenever you're feeling bad, just remember there are better days coming." Well, today is that day, and I am rejoicing in the ability to move freely around the house, think somewhat clearly, and accomplish a few long-neglected chores, including this blog! How many songs have expressed the same sentiment? In the folksy sixties the Mamas and the Papas crooned, "The darkest hour is just before dawn." Bob Marley wailed, "Every little thing is gonna be all right." Noah saw the rainbow of promise. The circlet around my neck given by my dear "sister" Linda, worn every day for the past 2 years, reminds me, "This, too, shall pass away." 

         But isn't that what Advent is all about? Isaiah promised, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine." (Isaiah 9:2 NLT) The children of Israel waited some 800 years after that for their Messiah, the Light of the World, God's Son, to make His appearance: that's a VERY long time to hold on to hope!

       I've decided my byword for 2020 is going to be "Hope," and isn't that what Christmas is all about? Hope came at Christ's birth (even though admittedly he was more likely born in Spring or Fall than in December). Shouldn't every day be "Advent," awaiting His coming to gather His bride, the Church, to His throne in Heaven? And in that light, shouldn't we be anticipating Messiah's coming again every minute of every day?

      But what do we do in the meantime? How do we keep waiting and hoping? Look back at the Isaiah passage and you'll see it! Just like the moon reflecting the sun's light, we must shine with the Son's light! After all, He is the original light source; without Him, there is no light or life. John tells us, "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:4-5 CSB) And in Matthew we are instructed, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven." (Matthew 5:16 CSB)

(Image: "Bogue Sound Moonrise" by Phil Stith)

      Ann Voskamp expresses it so beautifully in her Advent devotional The Greatest Gift:

            "Christmas whispers there is always hope. It doesn't matter how dark
            the dark is; a light can still dawn. It doesn't matter if the world whispers,
            'There's not a hint that help will come from elsewhere,' telling us that
            nothing will ever improve, get better, change. God favors the darkest 
            places so you can see His light the brightest."

      Just remember (I remind myself)-- 800 years! Meanwhile, SHINE! 

P.S. For you amaryllis-watchers, leaves have grown long, but no bloom-- maybe next year. There's always HOPE! 😉
      

Dead -- NOT!

      I know -- this amaryllis looks kind of pitiful right now. But you should have seen it two weeks ago: take away all the green, focus on that dried up bulb that isn't very appealing, and you'll have what I saw when I pulled it out of the closet. I truly almost threw it out, but decided it wouldn't hurt to give it some water and see what happened. Not more than three days had passed after the watering when I looked, amazed, and saw a tiny touch of green! So I kept watering. We'll see if a lovely bloom follows-- I promise I'll keep you posted!

      This morning I belatedly began my Advent reading of Ann Voskamp's The Greatest Gift. In the introduction she speaks of the root of Jesse (David's father)-- the family tree, if you will, of Jesus Christ. So why does my apparently dried-up bulb make me think of our Savior's lineage? Listen to the prophet Isaiah: "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of His roots.... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a Banner to the people, for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious." (Isaiah 1, 10 NKJV) You see, at the time of Jesus' birth the Davidic line of kings had pretty much dissolved, and Israel was under Roman rule. Jews, however, still kept strict genealogical records, and Jesus' genealogy tracing back to David's is recorded in both Matthew and Luke. Matthew's account is believed to be through Joseph, his earthly "father," while Luke's is through Mary, his mother. This ancestry was necessary to fulfill numerous Old Testament prophecies:

      Isaiah prophesied, "For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.... He will reign on the throne of David...." (Isaiah 9:6, 7b CSB). Micah 5:2 (CSB) tells us, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times."  Prophecy even precludes Messiah being born after the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., since all Jewish genealogy records were lost at that time. And all the way back in Genesis 49:10 (NKJV) in Jacob's last words we read, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [another word for "Messiah"] come." 

      As stunning as is Jesus' undeniable fulfillment of at least 44 very specific Old Testament prophecies, it takes my breath away to realize that the Bible assures me that I have been "grafted in" to this Holy Branch! I urge you to read all of Romans, Chapter 9, and rejoice with me especially over the truth of Verse 19: "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." (CSB) 

      Thank You, God, for the assurance that one day, though my body will shrivel and die, like my amaryllis there is a Life in me that will remain vibrant and grow ever more beautiful as I enter my eternal home with You! And all because You came in the form of that tiny baby to lie in a manger in the humble village of Bethlehem. 

🕇

      

Shadows -- Light

       Last Sunday afternoon Bill took me for a drive through our beloved Morrow Mountain State Park. It's been an unusual autumn-- cold, warm, wet, dry--  and so the colors around our house have been muted at best. We hoped gaining a little bit of elevation might make a difference. As we approached the gently rising hills not much change was evident, yet we enjoyed the familiar curves in the road, the paths through the woods we had hiked so often in years past. We shared memories of lying in the fallen leaves gazing straight up through brilliantly-colored trees to a sapphire sky. We caught glimpses of the nearby lakes -- such an explosion of God's artistry abounds in our little-known "neck of the woods"! Yet even from the top, the colors still disappointed. 

      As we turned around and headed back down, rounding the same turns, we both shouted, "Look!" at the same time. There, among the dusty-brown shadows, a golden glow drew our eyes upward, ever upward. Bill stopped the car as we gazed at the sight: the angle of the sun, just so, was backlighting trees that from the other direction had appeared dull, making us think they were dead, past being beautiful to our eyes. As he snapped the  picture below, Bill commented, "Now isn't that just like us? We're dull, even dead, until we let the light of the Son shine through us!" Now how's that for Truth?!

      My life has seemed pretty brown the past couple of years, but yesterday we had a glowing Thanksgiving, thanks to the presence of beloved family bringing the Light of Life and Love into our home. It wasn't a fancy meal-- we ate on paper plates. No roasted turkey came out of my oven-- Johnny's barbecue from the microwave filled our tummies just as well. But oh, the joy that filled my heart, making me smile even now. Love, hope, and the Light of Christ shining through. What more could I possibly need or ask for?

   "Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes."  (Ephesians 3:20 TLB)

      "Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father."  (Matthew 5: 15-16 TLB)

    

      

The Gift -- Grace

      I remember as if it were yesterday, though it must have been some sixty-five years ago. It was an ordinary visit with my cousin with the extraordinary red hair. I'm sure we had played dolls all day, while our mothers shared their sister-lives through sign language. We must have let our Tiny Tears dolls exchange clothes during our play, but now it was time to gather my own things and go home. I'm sure I carried on about how much I loved a particular yellow dress belonging to my cousin's doll-- perhaps because it matched a favorite yellow dress my mother had made me. Seemingly without a second thought or regret, my cousin said, "You can have it, Charlanne." 

      Even then, my eight-year-old self tried to reject her sweet offering, the sacrifice seeming too much, but she insisted, and I rode home in mild disbelief at a child's atypical unselfishness. As you can see, the dress has faded with age, and well, Tiny Tears is somewhat broken like all of us, one rubber leg having fallen off. But it was a lesson that never left me, as I held onto that dress all these years-- that totally selfless, spontaneous offering, given for no other reason than love. I had done NOTHING to deserve the gift, given nothing in return except my awe and gratitude.

      Now isn't that the perfect picture of God's Grace?! The widely accepted Christian definition of "grace" is God's unmerited favor, as explained in The New Dictionary of Theology (Komonchak at al (eds), 1990): "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved." No matter how many prophets had foretold the coming of God's Messiah, throughout hundreds of years, how few accepted the Gift, have accepted the Gift of Jesus until this very day! I could have stubbornly refused that yellow doll's dress, so freely given, from my dear cousin. What I would have missed, even more than the pleasure of seeing it on my own doll, was the overwhelming awe and gratitude that stays with me to this day for the gift of love it symbolized. The dress will one day disintegrate, just like our our bodies, but the LOVE will never end.

      I know this with all my heart and soul!

      "Long ago the Lord said to Israel: 'I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.'"  (Jeremiah 31:3 NLT)

      "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." (1 John 3:1 NIV)

      "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus."  (Romans 8: 37-39 CSB)

Lament -- Praise

   











  I find myself at a loss for words this week in the midst of an extended period of pain and weakness. I am sure there are others of you who are or have been in the same position. And so today I'm leaning into King David's song of lament, followed by praise, in Psalm 22 (NLT). Please ponder these beautiful words with me and rest in the assurance that God knows and will relieve all our suffering! 

      1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
    Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
      2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
    Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.

      3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
      4 Our ancestors trusted in you,
    and you rescued them.
      5 They cried out to you and were saved.
    They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

      6 But I am a worm and not a man.
    I am scorned and despised by all!
      7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
    They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
      8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
    Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
    let the Lord rescue him!”

      9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
     10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
    You have been my God from the moment I was born.

     11 Do not stay so far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and no one else can help me.
     12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
    fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
     13 Like lions they open their jaws against me,
    roaring and tearing into their prey.
     14 My life is poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
    melting within me.
     15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
    My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
    You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
     16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
    an evil gang closes in on me.
    They have pierced[a] my hands and feet.
     17 I can count all my bones.
    My enemies stare at me and gloat.
     18 They divide my garments among themselves
    and throw dice[b] for my clothing.

     19 O Lord, do not stay far away!
    You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
     20 Save me from the sword;
    spare my precious life from these dogs.
     21 Snatch me from the lion’s jaws
    and from the horns of these wild oxen.

     22 I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.[c]
    I will praise you among your assembled people.
     23 Praise the Lord, all you who fear him!
    Honor him, all you descendants of Jacob!
    Show him reverence, all you descendants of Israel!
     24 For he has not ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy.
    He has not turned his back on them,
    but has listened to their cries for help.

     25 I will praise you in the great assembly.
    I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who worship you.
     26 The poor will eat and be satisfied.
    All who seek the Lord will praise him.
    Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.
     27 The whole earth will acknowledge the Lord and return to him.
    All the families of the nations will bow down before him.
     28 For royal power belongs to the Lord.
    He rules all the nations.

     29 Let the rich of the earth feast and worship.
    Bow before him, all who are mortal,
    all whose lives will end as dust.
     30 Our children will also serve him.
    Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.
     31 His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.
    They will hear about everything he has done.

 “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 7:17; 21:4).

      

Broken -- Restored

     I wept today over a brief glimpse on a PBS show of an art restorer painstakingly applying gold leaf to a Seventeenth Century work of art in Italy. The time and care it must take to return something so old and damaged to its original beauty astonished me. I have struggled the past few days with hopelessness, feeling the deep loss of a suddenly broken body. Earlier this week I learned of a sweet friend looking on helplessly as her two young dogs drowned each other in a freak accident. Not many years ago that same friend watched her severely handicapped sister slip slowly away. When she learned about the dogs, the girls' mother said, "We'll just have to think of your sister playing joyfully with your dogs in Heaven! The Bible does tell us, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)"

      I needed both of those reminders. Kristen had no idea her tragic story would somehow give me hope, but isn't that God? If we could only remember how temporary our time on earth really is: "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!" (2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT)  And yet, we are His crowning creation, the one thing He breathed His very life into: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it." (Berean Study Bible)

      My friend, the Creator of the Universe, the All-Powerful Jehovah, cares about you and me that much! He has immense patience with us, even on days of doubt and fear, and He WILL restore us to glory beyond our imagining, if only we accept the free gift of His Son, the ONLY perfect sacrifice for all our sins. 

       " For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV) Now THAT'S Good News!