Friday, March 28, 2008

The Pulse

The pulse fades and then pumps fresh blood throughout. Life comes at us in waves and the life that we live has moments where the impulses that come at us are quite strong and very difficult to control.

Kaboom. Kaboom. The sound heard from within the internal walls of the heart. Also heard from within the internal walls of our soul. Sometimes not knowing exactly what to do when we are within a spot of ourselves. A spot that is very comfortable and comforting at times. But not within the transplanted heartbeat of the Lord Jesus who is deep seated within our very being.

Help us to keep within your rythym, within your ryrhymn of life.

Crescendos building up to a rhythmn and crashing in unto itself. gently washing away from the hard rock that is being etched away with time.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36286923@N00/1737633787/
http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com


Here is a couple of links to a cool website by an up and coming author.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Our Easter Pilgrimage

To we Pilgrims who travel afar from our land of Nod, our land of sin that may seem overwhelming at times, to the land of Golgotha where on a hill, God has accepted our lives through His son, Jesus.

From various videos and dramatizations that I have seen over the years, I reflect on how God has covered our sins so well. the Psalmist states that God has removed our sin as far from the East to the West. Leaving a shadow of His presence behind and before us just as it was portrayed in the famous Footsteps poem.

Let us remember therefore as Hebrews states, to throw off all that hinders us from the journey of faith and to run the race with the goal of the heavenly crowns in mind. Given not because of how talented we are but because of the great love that the Father has lavished upon us.

We are victors in Christ. So look to the Hills of Zion and see the Lord mighty in our battles as well.

Praise be to God.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Look up!!!

God is all powerful and all strong. He came from His throne in heaven to be with us men and women on earth for 33 years. A small number of years. Some could say that He was struck down before His prime.
God knows a lot. Yet, experientially, He never experienced humanity until His spacesuit arrived through the virgin conception 27 weeks before Christmas. Yet Jesus handled the battle of humanity and Godliness of being 100 percent of each. I desire to have that blend. Yet, I ooze too much of myself in the process.


I am going to tell a personal parable re temptation. Some rocks came tumbling down around me today. I was still and calm and had the usual encounter with the devil. When my mind and spirit had been " shut off so to speak." I was reminded of the encounter Jesus had with the devil before His ministry began. One of the tests the devil presented to Jesus was the full command of the world offered before Him. Yet Jesus said, scripture says.
I am offered tempting realms sometimes and right now, the close physical intimacy that I crave has not been offered to me through another person yet. I know God's standard and am toeing one part of the line to the tee. Yet, the pull from the tides of desire is too strong. I can not fully reign them in. Just as the moon and the earth are counterpart magnets, the Holy Spirit is supposed to be my counterpart magnet as well. I just need to LOOK UP and see Christ walking alongside me on the beach. Offering the intimacy I desire in the flesh while being engaged to Him for the wedding supper in Heaven. Yet this rehearsal dinner of life seems to be taking so long between courses.

Yet, God you made the menu and the feast will be stupendous-beyond compare. let me just look up and sense what you are doing around me. May these words bless others as I make the strides to be like Him.

And splash with others along the way in holy huddles of humor and endurance while awaiting for the Messiah to appear today in my life.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

an irresistible journey

Life has for itself an irresistible journey. To jump into the pond with both feet first getting wet and making a real big splash.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

temptation 2

I am not going to be held by the demands by the hostage taker of the enemy Satan. Lord help me to stand firm to Jesus instead,

Monday, March 17, 2008

His wounds cover up our tears

The body of Christ is in the e.r. Rush. Scalpels, Needles, stethoscope, gyroscope, ekg, gps, ... the list goes on.
Wounded at Calvary Hill. Multiple lacerations, beatings, floggings. Left half naked on the cross. Too grim to bear.

Code Blue. Get a doctor in the house immediately. We must rescue Him. We are losing His vital signs.


That is what the scene probably would have looked like if played on a modern C.S.I. detective series. 'But it is a good thing that Jesus went the way he did. And the detectives in this case keep changing to try to win the case to their side, but God has covered up the wounds by our tears. It is the involvement of sharing in the suffering that we will all draw closer to Him. No matter what the personal struggle or pain you have experienced. glory to God.

temptation

all the way from Genesis to James and Revelation, the scriptures warn against temptation. It may feel like a relief from whatever one experiences. Looking back at times of temptation brought me to a verse from Genesis in which God looked at what He created and remarked about man, "now that is very good" I applied that to my particular temptation which I thought was fairly cool but it did not satisfy and was not very good. So, a good analogy I draw from this is that I need to respect how God created me and focus more on Him and less on me which is very hard for me to do since I like to see life fully mapped out with all the pieces along the way. I do not like surprises.


In James, it compares the tongue to a fire. A very small part of the body that can consume the parts of the world that it touches. Other small insignificant parts of the body can have a strong effect on ourselves and can consume our waking thoughts and essences of our lives.

So in faith, I am bringing the issues on my back side of my blog to the front so I may bless the community I have been blessing anyway so that I can become more of what Christ intends me to be.

And several times this morning the verse which states we all must give an account for how we have lived at the judgement seat of Christ for believers. For every careless and worthless deed. Yikes. I hope to be in the 12 items or less line. I don't want to hold others up for their rewards. But thank you Lord that you already redeemed me and I am in your thank you line. Let me live in a way worthy of my calling.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

between the sinews and marrow

a phrase that i like is between the sinews and the marrrow. That is where much of Christianity takes root. In the very recesses of our crevices in our brain, in our guts where we often have to make gut-wrenching decisions. Not an easy place to navigate but Jesus did that as he bounced between Pilate and Herod as to exactly what would happen to Him on Good Friday. So whenever any of you readers feel like you are bouncing off the walls, Jesus has already shown the way of how to do it. May the Glory be to God.

I am left alone

I am left alone. Alone at first to get me used to living on my own. Tethered to the phone line. To keep a watchful eye on their son. When I first began to be left home alone, there were the periodic check-in visits to make sure all was okay. I used to hide in my room at times for fear of the constant b....ri..n....g of the phone. Then I ran down the stairs or up the stairs to catch the ringing phone. May sound silly, but to a 13 year old left alone for the first few times, that was the reality of it.

But as time went on it became a ritual and looking back on it now, maybe it is kind of silly. But then was the reality of that very moment.

At times, Lord, I forget that you are there. watching out for me and checking in on me with your b...ri..n..gs from your Holy Spirit. I am sure that I will be getting a ring from you soon since I misbehaved and broke some of your 10 commandments. But Lord be gracious to me for I know how to behave. Lord, grant me patience to trust you to provide for me what you desire. And let me take the back seat in patience for the lady that you will provide for me. All in your perfect timing. But for now Lord, I have you and that is all that I really need for a godly way of life.

Allow me Lord to see you clearly in my life so that I will have no other idols or gods before you. Let me see you in all the mundane moments of my life.

Monday, March 10, 2008

I am in the pot

I finally heard from chicken soup for a piece I submitted for consideration in the new book that they were planning for the 20 something soul. That issue is not going to be released but they may incorporate the story I submitted in another way. so at least I got my first official response from a company for possible submission. Hopefully, I will be on the front burner soon with a release date and signature to boot. Now it is a wait and see approach.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Wow two weeks til Easter day

Two weeks from today will be Easter Sunday. Early. But always Easter. A day when triumph won over the trouble for the day. When looking back over the history of civilization, many touch points existed for the celebration of the joy of Easter. Jesus walked the week before the streets of Jerusalem, trodding some of them in pain as he faced the cross. And then in the quiet of the tomb, he arose victorious. No large choir of heavenly angels singing, no loud voice of John the Baptist announcing the arrival of the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. This was an arising from the grave. A triumphal entry into history. Arising from the weekend of despair in hell. Breaking off of the fetters of the sin that entangled each one of us.

So as the weekend of Easter approaches, let us each celebrate the rebirth of Christ in our hearts. Just as the buds will be doing. opening gradually one by one. To a full blossom of green and colors. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Watching the sunset from a rocking chair.

After dinner, mom, dad and I would head out to the front porch in Maine and conclude our days watching the sun set.
As we sat in the enclosed portion of our Pratt's Island cottage front porch, we had a front row seat to the show of the sun's gradual descent to the horizon.
Mom wore her light-blue boat jacket and had her sunglasses perched on top of her head of white hair. Dad had his dark blue sweater and boat jacket on and furrows could be seen etched into dad's forehead and tufts of hair were on the sides of his face.

As we sat in our tall back green rocking chairs with tightly weaved cane going across the bottoms of our seats, we could feel the tightly-knit cane against our backs and we would occasionally have to get a cushion and place it on the chair to make it more comfortable. We often moved from side to side to try to find some comfort as we rocked in these heavy rockers, which were sometimes quite difficult to move around.

When we rocked on our front porch, whenever Dad , mom or I would walk through the door, it creaked. We would often bring out some Rocky Road ice cream in our white plastic bowls , a few cookies and some sprinkles to enjoy. And if we closed the screen door fast, it made a loud snapping sound since our cottage lay exposed to the salt air all the time and was getting quite old indeed . Making gentle maneuvers rather difficult.

Looking down from the porch, the balding fir trees were seen. They lined the edge of some of the craggy rocks. When one got close to them, some of their roots lay exposed to the air.

At the right side of our porch, we saw The Hendricks Head Light. Its red beacon atop the rectangular base could be seen rotating and flashing slowly. A little house was attached next to it to store supplies that may be needed in its upkeep.

Out to sea, we saw the faint glimpse of a white light flashing. It was the Seguin lighthouse situated atop a large cliff of rocks 6 miles out into the ocean. Six miles is quite a long distance since I once walked that on land while on the very island of Southport, Maine. Also, some of the bell buoys had flashing lights on them and the bells could be heard on them as they rocked back and forth.

We looked across the Sheepscot Bay and saw Georgetown Island stretched out across the horizon. The small port of Five Islands lay quiet from our viewpoint. Ships resting from a busy day out to sea. The coastline of Maine has many fingers that reach out into the ocean and Georgetown Island was one of them and the nook of Five Islands Harbor nestled within its reach.

Above Georgetown Island, the sky began to change colors and gradual hues of color began to emerge. Reds and oranges were painted into the clouds and the purple hues intersected with the red hues as well. An occasional contrail from an airplane sometimes could be seen around the clouds as a dark stripe of white light. The sunsets always took on special meaning for us and were prime shows when the clouds were just the right size and thickness. Hard to actually describe in words. They actually were the viewing of the night since television was not included in our excursion on the coast.

The evening air was becoming crisp and took on quite a chill. The breeze gradually brushed across our faces. Gently wrapping its tendrils around us. We heard the cry of the gulls as they headed to Gull Rock and the their shadows silhouetted against the sky. They flapped their wings and swooshed overhead. Almost looking like they would land next door to us. One year, George the seagull frequented our front lawn and was a topic of conversation amongst us. Mom would often comment, "What does he want from us now. Doesn't he have a place to stay and not just hang around us. Where is his family? Doesn't he have one?"

Other forms of wildlife on our porch were a source of amusement for us. One summer on this very front porch, we had a family of swallows that built a nest in the eaves of the porch and lay their eggs and raised their family. Each day, we could hear their morning chirps and the parents swooping down from the nest and going out to forage some food and bringing it back for their youngsters. It was a treat to get to see that during one of our inaugural summers on the coast of Maine.

One form of wildlife that we were always battling was the pesky mosquitoes. We often would pass along the orange bottle of off and spray it on ourselves. The fresh tingling of the moisture from the spray lingered in the air. It usually kept our mosquito friends away for a little while. Yet, every now and then, we heard somewhere in our hair or behind our ear,"Bzzz. Bzzz. Yet it was always hard to find exactly where the noise came from. Yet, after several large white bumps on the skin came to the surface, the trespass became rather evident.

Then it was time to retire from the porch and go to our living room where Dad and I laid the evening fire. Taking the read newspapers and crumpling them up under the crate in the hearth and placing the kindling sticks on top with two larger logs. Then Dad reached into the drawer and lit one of the matches to the fire. The flames quickly ignited the papers and then spread to the kindling sticks-their flickers dancing along the spine of the twigs. Then engulfing the logs and producing a great roaring fire of warmth and light for us to enjoy the last moments of the chill of the evening that came upon us.
As we watched the fire, we sat on the wicker sofa and rather hard cushion backed chairs and played some games of gin rummy while mom read her New york Times paper or worked on some double-crostics.

Then it was off to our bedrooms which still had a sense of chill lingering in the air marinated by the warmth of the evening fire. Basking in the coolness and calmness of a day on the rugged shoreline of Maine.

A couple of odd phrase combos.

In the morning, I was flipping between two phrases.
1. In the weather these days, we have been talking more about buckets of rain than feet of snow. It sure is heavy to carry a bucket but should not be too hard to carry some feet of snow. Some people have described clumsy people as having feet of clay.

2. Another series of phrases that went through my mind getting ready entering the office was typing versus writing. I like to write but when I am typing, I am not actually using cursive handwriting to get the message across. I am hitting keys from memory from when I was taught in typing 101 from Uncle Frankie.
Yet, one would not want to enter the egyptian era and see my hyrogyphics or one might feel very old indeed.

Amazing Time Management Secrets: Secret #58 Take a Vacation!

Amazing Time Management Secrets: Secret #58 Take a Vacation!

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Selling the banana plant

I read in today's Connecticut Post, that the banana plant in Bridgeport, CT is being sold. When I shared that with Linda, my Milford transit driver, she said, a banana plant. I did not realize the subtle different meaning of a growing plant. Yet, the Cilco terminal that helps unload the bananas from the South is now going to close and leave Bridgeport. And our participation within the tropical world will cease to exist. Due to declining economic conditions. Let us hope a bigger and stronger plant will soon take its place within the great city of ours.

The circumstances can always change for the better for anything. I finished watching the faith based movie, One night With the King. The old time story of Queen Esther and how she saves the Jewish people from slaughter. All the while having faith going against odds that she could get killed in the process. The movie shows how people have strong faith not to resist or bow down to evil, but only to bow down to the King of Kings. It showed great courage on Esther's part and how she treasured David's battle with Goliath. There was a quote in the movie that went something like this, "To win a battle, it is not about performance but in believing well." Thus going against our giants when we can not face them alone. We have God before us.

And the same can be said for the city of Bridgeport, That it will rise above its sleeping state when the right people will step forth to make the needed changes. Just as Queen Esther did in the movie and got to rule within her dad's family and heritage where now Purim will now have new meaning when I see it on the calendar from now on.

Glory to be to God for those brave enough to stand up to Him at all costs. And especially as Good friday is approaching two weeks from now as well.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Word Play

I combined two words together-one from my reading and one from my mind. I came up with nimble nuance. the two words are actually pretty alike to each other.