A Town's Personality

Eleanor H. Porter, was a writer, and is remembered for her series of books for young readers, beginning with Pollyanna (1913). She is quoted as saying, “What men and women need is encouragement ... Instead of always harping on a man's [or woman’s] faults, tell him [or her] of his [or her] virtues ... The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town.”

I’ve shared the story about my great grandmother before in this column, but it bears repeating: As the town ladies gathered for tea after the funeral of the town nuisance, not a good word was said about this man’s life. No one could find anything good about this man. After all the other ladies were through beating up on this dead fellow, my great grandmother spoke up and said, “Well, you know he was a good whistler!”

Don’t we wish we lived in a town full of people like my great grandmother? A town’s impact on us and our families can be a blessing or a curse and most times both. Especially in smaller towns where everybody knows everybody, pain can be dealt relentlessly. There was a boy in a town that was not serious about his schoolwork in the 4^th grade. His teacher still makes negative comments about this boy some twenty-five years later, even though he has become a good local businessman and community supporter.

Some folks in our communities make bad choices in their lives. We are all susceptible to making bad choices in our workplaces, our families and in the things we chose to do in between. There are few or maybe none of us who have not made bad choices in our lives. Even though we all make bad choices sometimes, we tend to rate and organize bad choices according to our personal severity rating. Of course, there is a commandment that some of us have added to the Ten Commandments. That added eleventh commandment is, ‘Thou shalt not get caught.’   If we can live up to this self-added commandment, we think we are alright in the bad choices we make.

Oddly enough, those who have not been caught in bad choices in life can be very unforgiving and hateful to those who do get caught. This is where we are called to be a Christian community and must come together in Christ’s teachings. Our relations with one another are sometimes overlooked by us as we live God’s Word through Jesus.  Commands and teachings about dealing with other people make up a large part of the teachings of Jesus and His apostles. The Old Testament is also full of ways we should behave and treat each other. In dealing with parents, children, spouses, family, friends, co-workers, or even enemies, the Bible's advice is spiritually sound and effective for promoting peace and harmony.

Even though this commandment seems pretty clear and was taught in books of the Old Testament, the people of Jesus’ time just like many of us today, had trouble understanding what is meant by ‘our neighbor’.  They and we tend to pick and choose who we consider our neighbor.

Jesus gave us the “Greatest Commandment” that should certainly be clear to us. Unfortunately many Christians don’t practice it fully. Jesus was asked by one of the scribes, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12: 26-31.

The love Jesus talked about here is a mirroring of God’s love. The Greek word for this is Agape Love. God loves all of His children and does not want us to differentiate as to who we think our neighbor is. We are all neighbors. When we read and think about these two commandments, we should realize that the first commandment…”you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…” sets up our ability to fulfill the second commandment, “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no other commandment greater than these.” God gives us the strength to love everybody, if we give Him our heart, soul, and mind. With Him there is no picking and choosing.

The following is a list of ‘neighbors’ as contained in Matthew 25: 35,36,40;   “…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me….Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Begotten Not Forgotten

Have you ever thought about how complicated the fact of your existence is? Other than the fact that God created man, how many variables are there that led to the birth of each and every one of us? A guess would be that thousands of things had to happen in sequence for the spirit of each of us in these bodies to have ever been realized.  If we use the alphabet to represent our ancestry, we get a small example of what it took for us to be alive.

Let’s look at an imaginary man named Mr. Al Phabet. He exists in this world because his ancestor Z married U and one of their offspring P married E and one of their offspring Y married W and so on for thousands of years. In addition to who mommies, daddies and their offspring were in our ancestry, the circumstances and time of all the conceptions leading up to our own make a difference in how we came to be who we are. In the Gospel of Matthew we learn the lineage coming through the centuries up to Jesus:

Matthew 1:1-17:  “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,  and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.”

Wow! Do you think God’s hand is in all of this for His purposes?  Can you imagine how involved it would be if you could do something like this lineage leading up to Jesus, for each one of us alive today? Think of all the people of the past that have inspired and changed the world through their lives. Could we have done without them? What if somewhere in the linkage something went a different way and they were not born to us?

The question becomes, is this a random thing in how we have come to be or is this according to God’s plan? Are all of us His children even if He didn’t set out a plan for our existence? Maybe this is all God’s plan on God’s time and we are all eternal spirits whom are God’s children when we turn to Him and recognize Him. Without Him we lose our purpose and His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 reflects God’s message in saying, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

In Romans 8:28 St. Paul says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

In summary maybe we can believe that God is in charge and brought us to this life for a purpose that is His desire for us. We cannot fully know how He managed to get us here and why He chose us to complete His work in our time. We can be sure that He does not force us to fulfill His purpose for us. We can see within ourselves and all around us how His children ignore Him quite often. Seeking Him is our sure bet to be who we should be according to His purpose for each of us.

Remembering Can be a Beginning

Many of you know about and might have seen the long running Musical show, The Fantasticks. The show’s original “off-broadway” production is the longest running stage production in American history – 42 years continuously. It has been performed in high schools, colleges and local theaters across the globe.

The music was created by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics written by Tom Jones. There is a special tune used to set the mood of the story that is performed at the beginning and at the end of the show. The tune entitled, “Try to Remember,” sets the stage for the story and gets us older folks thinking about what our lives once were. It is a story of our vitality and foolishness in youth that moves to cynicism, disappointment and boredom as we realize what our lives could have been if our dreams had been achieved.

The “Try to Remember” tune reminds us about the young September time of our lives as well as the December time of our lives. It begins, “Try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so mellow…………when grass was green and grain was yellow……..when you were a tender and callow (naïve) fellow.”

The story is a reminder for older folks, like me, recognizing that some change is doable even in our later years. For youth it is a warning and for those in between it offers a chance to change complete direction. The song goes on, “Try to remember when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow………when life was so tender that dreams were kept beside your pillow…….when life was so tender that love was an ember about to billow. Try to remember and if you remember then follow.”

As we move into our December years, the tune tells us, “Deep in December it's nice to remember although you know the snow will follow……….it's nice to remember without the hurt the heart is hollow………it's nice to remember the fire of September that made us mellow. Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow.”

Psalm 25:7 speaks to us in saying, “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!”  It is the rare person that lives life near perfection from childhood. I’d guess no one is near perfection if I had a guess. Of course we know a man who lived among us as perfection and we try to follow His example as we live our lives. I guess “try to follow” are the key words here.

In 1 John 2:16 we see what the world offers that we sometimes take for the taking, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”  While most people experience flaws in their early life, is that a necessary thing? God’s answer is no, but he forgives us our sin and gives us a chance to turn around when we seek Him in our lives.

Matthew 7: 24-27 wraps things up for us as we know we are forgiven, but we know the result of our folly: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Choices, Loving & Forgiving

"Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious and it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17: 7-8) One would think that everyone knows when they make a choice in life that is bad. Our farmers know when and how to plant. Yet, our prisons are overflowing, society and politics corrupt, marriages and families are breaking apart. Why do we keep putting our roots down in the desert?

We know there is no hope of bearing fruit in the desert soil, but we keep trying to control the uncontrollable. Our history is full of stories concerning bad choices; poor human planting places. We just can't trust in the Lord in all things. It's like playing the lottery with a one in a million chance when we decide to test the dry soil one more time. What is it about our minds that allow us to continue to repeat bad planting times and places?

Jeremiah goes on to say in 17: 9-10. "The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse--who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings." We all slip away from the Lord in our lives and we all deserve a chance to return to the Lord and live a Godly life, even if our natural world punishment puts us in jail or prison.

I have been involved in Kairos Prison Ministry Int'l, Inc. for many years. A significant part of this ministry has been 3-day retreats held inside a prison with 40 some inmates per retreat. Our team-cooks prepare and deliver six terrific meals and lots of home baked cookies for the inmates and the team inside the prison over the 3-days. Our team bonds and trains in our specific retreat format beginning 2-months before the retreat with meetings (that include much prayer) totaling approximately 30-hours.

The team recruits lots of outside prayer partners as we prepare and for support during the time we are with the inmates. The team brings its love for God and for each other into the prison and directs that love to each of the 40-inmates. We never ask any inmate what he is serving time for. Many of them have never felt loved in their entire lives. They are shocked and blessed that our team members are willing to give up time with our families to come to prison and love them in the name of God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

By following Jesus' call in Matthew 25: 31-46 where He says, "I was in prison and you visited me..........Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me", our team provides a blessing and is blessed in doing so. Christian communities are building inside prisons all over our nation and the world.

God knows no barriers when He seeks to love and be loved by His children. While many in the world want to take God out of everything, many inmate lives are changed and the recidivism rate for those who participate in the retreats drops significantly compared to the general prison population. Jesus' Great Commission to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations", includes the least of His children.

A Man’s Letter to his Mother

Dear Mother,                                                        
I have come to know that I’m really going to die someday.  I hope that this doesn’t come as a surprise to you.  I know that you must have anticipated my dying when you and God brought me into the world.  You never told me that I was going to die, but I’m not mad or upset.  I realize it is something that I had to find out for myself.  Besides, who wants to talk about dying all the time? 

The illness that brought me to this place of thinking is mostly over, but I’m not over what it changed in me.  It made me realize down deep inside that I am not in control.  That God is in control of my life – my birth, my living, my dying and my salvation.  He is in control in the sense that He created me and that I am His when my life on earth is over. 

As for earthy living, He is in control only to the extent that I let Him control my life.  That’s right; I have veto power over God until I die.  If I trust myself more than I trust God, I can tune Him out of my natural life.  There is a gamble, however, if I choose to take control.  What happens to me if at the most critical moment, I weaken?  At the point when I must be sharper than ever before, what if I slip?  What if I can’t quite put things together?  What will I do?  The answer is clear.  I must seek God’s Grace with faith in His love and power. 

When we experience God, and He shows us the way and we see His light, then we have truly experienced death.  Death is seeing God, and this is a miracle, a surprise.  And so, this is the irony in the way we humans look at death.  The very thing that we fear as we work to prolong life turns out to be the greatest joy of all.

So we, in our lives can experience death years before it comes.  We can do this by giving up control and having faith that God will redeem all that might happen to us.  Of course, we must do our best to live our lives in our realities, by following the example of God’s Son our Savior Jesus Christ and all the Saints.  And we can experience God and His love and thus taste the beauty of death – that time when we become one with God forever. 

We are here in the natural life for a very short time.  In God’s eternal kingdom the length of our natural life is not important, nor is the way that we die.  Death is merely the doorway to a nearer presence of God.  If we can make our reality here on Earth more peaceful and joyful by seeking to know God, it makes perfect sense to do so.  Through God we are connected with all mankind, past, present, and future.  As a husband and parent now, I know that I must not fear my children’s death or my wife’s death whether or not it precedes mine.  I must not fear your death or my own, Mother. 

Above all Mother, I want you to teach me how to die and help me teach my children, your grandchildren.  Your love of our Lord is shining so bright that all of us may now experience with you the miracle of coming into the presence of God.  Armed with God’s love, our earthly reality no matter how long, will be a joyful experience.  God is patient.  He will wait for us.  And we will be joyful in Him, for he lives and reigns forever and ever. 

Faithfully, Your Loving Son.