Category Archives: John’s Journal

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her. Gen. 16:1-6 New Revised Standard Edition, Updated Edition (NRSVUE.)
Last week, I complained about my constant but recalcitrant lack of prayer in a prayer/book study group that a pastor friend had invited me to join. To be helpful, some members suggested employing an ancient practice known as “Centering Prayer,” might enrich my personal prayer life. One of our members, a retired United Methodist Minister, teaches seminars on this practice. I have tried the practice before, but it didn’t seem to feel right for me.
Another member suggested an even older practice called “Lectio Divina.” The gist of the practice is to choose a short passage, read it several times, center one’s thoughts on the passage, and see what God reveals from it, usually a word or phrase that seems to predominate one’s thoughts or spirit. Then, one lets that thought “play out” in one’s mind or spirit.
It sounded like a great idea, so I downloaded a book with scripture passages arranged for the practice of Lectio Divina and tried it out. The authors of the downloaded book had arranged the book with passages from Genesis to Revelations.
They listed the passage quoted above, Genesis 16:1-6, as my first passage. As I read, I was thinking of a situation in my domestic life that I don’t know how to face or want to face but that I will eventually need to address. It’s weighing on me, and I know change is coming at some point.
I already felt bad when I started, so I pressed on until I came to verse 6. At that point, a pit the size of a grapefruit sprang, fully grown, into my stomach almost immediately.
Yes, I read the verse; however, I didn’t read the whole passage or didn’t read it closely because what I read was, “Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her . . .” as the NLT translates it.
“[S]o deal with her…” grabbed me. Straightway, as Mark the Evangelist would say, I thought, “I have this situation and must deal with this domestic situation now. That’s what the Spirit is saying to me.” That thought threw me into a panic and caused me to climb into my freaked-out tree. I didn’t want to face the situation now. I thought of and drew scarce comfort from a quote from W. C. Fields, who once said, “There comes a time in every man’s life when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.” But, I wasn’t ready emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, or any other ally to “face the situation.”
As I stewed in my own juices, providentially, Amy, my daughter, the family counselor, texted me on a different subject. I took the opportunity to unload on her in a reply text, giving an account of what had happened and unburdening myself at her expense – but then again, that’s what only children are for. I wrote the following missive (if the word “missive” can be applied to a text message.)
I don’t know if it’s physical or mental or spiritual. It would take a long time to explain; everybody doesn’t need to hear it, if you know what I mean. I have episodes of fatigue and mild cramps . . . I’m worrying about . . . myself and off on spiritual tangents.
I’m a mess. I’m lonely and scared. You’re the first person to whom I have voiced this. I try to do errands and housework, but I stay away from the house as much as I can until it’s time to go . . .
Amy took the hint and called me “straightway.” She suggested that I reconsider the supposed “guidance” from the scripture. Perhaps,” she said, “it doesn’t mean what you think it means. Maybe you have ‘jumped the gun – gone from A to Z without considering the letters in between.”
I took her suggestion, calmed myself, climbed down from my proverbial tree, and re-read the operative passage slowly and thoroughly. I picked up on the part stating, “Deal with her AS YOU SEE FIT.” Reading the whole passage gives it a different meaning entirely. Had I continued on the course I was contemplating, reacting rather than acting, I probably would have tragically “fouled in my nest” to the detriment of all concerned.
What a rookie mistake. Read the whole thing, dummy!
As I reflect on the situation and the passage, perhaps, as is usually the case with scripture, while it means what it means, how it applies can have applications within applications.
I jumped the spiritual gun. That’s a fact. But, in a different way, so did the actors in the passage ‘way up at the beginning of the post.
Sarai jumped the gun in suggesting a form of “surrogacy” to Abram. Abram jumped the gun in accepting her offer. Both of them jumped the gun, not waiting for God to act as He had promised. And they compounded their “gun-jumping” by hanging the now-pregnant Hagar out to die.
There’s a whole ‘nother lesson in this fiasco affair. That lesson harkens back to my original problem and “claws back,” a practice that has worked for me for years but that I stopped.
Why am I experimenting with methods of prayer that have not worked for me as they have for countless others before when I am, at this very moment, engaging in a practice that does work for me – journaling.
Back in the days of Covid (remember that?) I used to spend time almost every day journaling what I believed the Spirit was saying to me in a passage or even in a natural event, like a squirrel walking up to me to give me a message. But then I quit.
Since then, my prayer life has been, shall we say, “not up to acceptable standards.” (Read that, “non-existent.”)
Journaling’s not everybody’s thing, but neither are the myriad other practices of prayer and sitting with scripture, which do that sort of thing. But it’s my thing, and I think a lesson here is to do the thing God has blessed me to do – journal. Perhaps I’ll share some of my writings with you. Maybe they will speak to you, maybe not. But If a squirrel can bring a message, perhaps I can, too. (Come to think of it, I’ve heard messages from “two-legged squirrels” before.)
As we know, it’s not me talking any more than it is the squirrel; it’s the Spirit, or at least it should be. God works in mysterious ways, doesn’t He?
So let it be written, so let it be done.

A thought came to me last week. Perhaps, it’s more appropriate during Holy week; specifically, a Good Friday thought.

As Jesus hung on the cross, one of the Seven “Words” He said was, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34. KJV. Certainly, “they” did not know what they were doing. The Chief Priests were trying to prevent a revolt leading to a Roman coup. The Sadducees were trying to shore up their theological position on the resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees were trying to instill “holiness” in all of Israel. Pontius Pilate was merely trying to weasel his way out of a bad situation. Herod Agrippa was trying to “pass the buck.” The Roman soldiers in the crucifixion squad of  “hitmen” were just doing their duty. The citizens of Jerusalem were disappointed that, once again, another “messiah” had met his fate. The visitors in town for the Passover were just sorry that there was a disturbance during the festivities. The Eleven Disciples were just glad that it wasn’t them on a cross. Judas was – well, Judas wasn’t anything – except, perhaps dead. Yeah, nobody knew what they were doing, nobody except Jesus. He knew exactly what He was doing, and He forgave “they” all.

I wonder if today Jesus’ “cruxial” prayer might be different. If He were thinking about me – which He is – would His prayer be, “Father forgive him because he knows exactly what he is doing?” Everybody in the list of “usual suspects” delineated above missed the point – and the mark. Sometimes missing the point causes a bit of a misunderstanding. As the foreman says in “Cool Hand Luke, “What we got here is a ‘failure to communicate.”

But sometimes, missing the point gets innocent people killed. It killed Jesus (pretermitting the theological question of His Own Will – humor me, OK?) “They” did not have a New Testament and 2000 years of church history and teaching to guide them. I have no such excuse.

Do you ever have those days when you wonder if you, had you been in the sandals of one of the “usual suspects,” would have acted any differently? Would you have pled ignorance? Could you plead ignorance? Would you worry about it? Would you even care – on certain days, that is?

I’ve wrestled with those thoughts, and frankly, I don’t have a clue. But here’s the good part. It doesn’t matter. We all miss the Maker’s mark, and Jesus still prays for us, still cares for us, and would still give His life for us on Good Friday – or any Friday. That’s heavy (as we children of the 60s would say.)

Maybe I should just be grateful and say, “Thank You, Jesus” as many times as I can throughout this Passion Season – and throughout all seasons. Can I get a witness? (That’s a call for an “Amen” if you are one of my non-Pentecostal friends.)

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Dateline: Montgomery, Alabama. November 2, 2020

Tomorrow is election day across these United States. Perhaps today is a good day for reflection on how we go “here.” By “here,” I do no mean the tribalistic, divided, scared, and selfish people that the cynics among us believe that “We the People”[1] have become. Rather, I mean the great nation of people that our Founding Fathers may have envisioned. I use the word, “may,” because sometimes, it is difficult to know exactly what the Founders envisioned. The late Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. stated, “some uncertainty may attend an effort to identify the precise messages” of the founding fathers.[2] Further, Justice Brennan “rejected the ‘arrogance cloaked as humility’ of those relying on the ‘facile historicism’ inherent in the original-intent theory.”[3]

To the majority of Americans, the Founders were heroes who envisioned a nation described in the grand documents they penned.[4] To others, those who came here enslaved and against their will, those who came here “tired . . . poor . . . huddled masses yearning to breathe free, [homeless, tempest-tost,] the wretched refuse of [the world’s] teeming shore,”[5] only to be held incommunicado, in internment camps or outright turned away with or without their young children – not so much.

To some, the United States to a great extent was founded as a Christian nation based upon the Judeo-Christian ethic.[6] However, some historians suggest that the leading Founders (John Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Wilson, Morris, Madison, Hamilton, and Washington) were “neither Christians nor Deists, but rather supporters of a hybrid ‘theistic rationalism.”[7] Whoever these people were and of whatever religious belief they were seized the wrote words like this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.[8]

“Four-score and seven years” later, another Founder, Abraham Lincoln, penned these words by some accounts, on the back of an envelope while riding in a carriage on the way to the dedication of the Civil War cemetery at Gettysburg, PA, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War.[9]

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal”

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow, this ground– The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.

It is rather for us, the living, to stand here, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.[10]

Almost 70 years later, another “Founder,” amid the greatest economic collapse that the country had seen in “modern times”[11] cautioned us about fear. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared:

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.[12]

Have we so soon forgotten? Have we forgotten that an estimated 6,800 would-be Americans were killed in action, 6,100 wounded, and 20,000 taken prisoner in the cause of freedom during the Revolutionary War?[13]

Have we forgotten that between 618,000 and 750,000 died during the times surrounding Lincoln’s iconic address?[14]

And, can we forget that hope was lost but then regained after Roosevelt’s cautionary remarks during the Great Depression and subsequent world war?

People are born alone but with labor and travail.

They die sometimes with the “boom, whoosh, sizzle” of an atomic bomb, and

Sometimes silently in the night with but an unheard whimper.

Empires rise in grandeur with trumpets blaring

and fall in ignominy accompanied by a chorus of hisses and boos.

Nations parade into history at noonday elegantly mounted upon snow-white Arabian stallions,

Only to slink and skulk back out bedraggled and yelping like whipped dogs in the dead of night.

“We the People” are such a people, are such an empire, are such a nation.

Perhaps, the greatest failure, the most tragic forfeiture, the coarsest fizzle,

Of a people, of an empire, of a nation,

Is not the loss of their wealth, not the loss of their status, not the loss even of their lives –

But the loss of their memory.

Forgetting is easy, remembering is hard – depending upon that which you choose to forget, upon that which you choose to remember. The Italian poet, Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) famously remarked, “Memories are hunting horns whose sound dies on the wind.” Sometimes the sound of those “hunting horns,” is as Shakespeare might say, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,”[15] maybe best forgot.

But sometimes – but sometimes – but sometimes – there are things that must never be forgot.

As you step behind that curtain on Tuesday, as you pick up that pen, as you make your mark for history to record, I challenge you to stop and to remember. Remember the people that we, that you, once were, that we, that you, are, that we, that you, can be. The choice is yours – and yours alone.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

---

[1] U.S. Const., Preamble.

[2] The Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr. Address to Georgetown University, (October, 1985.)

[3] Kaufman, Irving J. “WHAT DID THE FOUNDING FATHERS INTEND?” The New York Time Magazine, (February 23, 1986, Section 6, Page 42.)

[4] E.g. The Federalist Papers, Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “Common Sense,” The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

[5] Lazarus, Emma. “The New Colossus” the second verse of which is inscribed in part at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

[6] Holmes, David L. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. Oxford University Press. (2006.)

[7] Frazer, Gregg L. The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution. University Press of Kansas. (2012.)

[8] Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (1776) drafted principally by Thomas Jefferson and edited by the “Committee of Five” chosen by the Second Continental Congress: John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. In later years, the Committee’s members, which took no notes, disagreed as to the exact meaning they intended and the process they followed. See Maier, Pauline, American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. (1998.)

[9] Rawley, James A. Turning Points of the Civil War. University of Nebraska Press. (1966.)

[10] Lincoln, President Abraham. “The Gettysburg Address.” (November 19, 1863.)

[11] Bondarenko, Peter. “Five of the World’s Most Devastating Financial Crises.” Encyclopedia Britannica.

[12] Roosevelt, Franklin D, “First Inaugural Address,” (March 4, 1933.)

[13] American Battlefield Trust, “How Many were Killed or Wounded?”

[14] Hacker, J. David. “Recounting the Dead.” The New York Times. (September 20, 2011.)

[15] Shakespeare, William, “Macbeth.” (1623,) Act V, Page 5, Scene 2.

The other day, I dragged through my exercise period and my prayer period, neither with much enthusiasm. Perhaps, I had a subroutine running in the back of my computer-brain. That subroutine is a visual display of all the things “wrong” with the world, our Country, and with me. Should you open the program, you’d find it strangely familiar, strangely boring, and strangely depressing.

God gave me the computer-brain, and He told me what programs to run on it. The Apostle Paul voices God’s choice of programs in Philippians 4:8,9.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice . . .

It appears, though, that I would rather choose to run my own programs. It also appears that such is a continuing theme with me. I suppose those aberrant subroutines could be likened to “bloatware” on your new “Samsung Galaxy X,” you know, those programs that you don’t want, and that eat up memory, but that you can’t get rid of unless you are a software engineer, which I certainly am not. According to one writer, on a new, out of the box, top-of-the-line phone from a major maker, he found 54 “bloatware” apps.[1]

To purge me of some of these subroutines, God sent me on a walk. At first, I didn’t want to go because I had already “slothed through” my exercises and was in no mood to learn anything. Honestly, I had no idea what God was “up to” in sending me on the walk, but I guessed that if I felt a strong impression from God to do it, I ought to go.

The walk wasn’t long, only about 20 minutes, and for most of it, I was just walking and thinking. As I walked and thought, I heard a bird sing, and then another, and then another. An unusual cloud formation blown by a brisk wind drew my attention to the autumn-blue sky, and I noticed a few hunter-green leaves turning red and yellow and then falling. As I heard and saw these marvels, I sensed that something was up.

As I rounded the clubhouse turn and headed for the home stretch, I imagined an old hymn, a hymn that could be found in most any denominational hymnal due to its universal nature.

This is my Father’s world. All nature sings, and round me rings, The music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, Declare their maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world; He shines in all that’s fair; In the rustling grass, I hear Him pass; He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world: why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! God reigns; let the earth be glad![2]

God said to me,

“In the Beginning, [I] created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1.) After that, I unveiled a grand plan for the universe, and I AM in the process of working out that plan. It will be as I say it will be. It will roll out as I say it will roll out. Along the way, a bunch of events that appear from your perspective to be bad, even catastrophic are, in actuality, only “small stuff.” Don’t sweat the small stuff.

The aforementioned Apostle Paul admonished in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22,

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

You know, viewed against the backdrop of creation, the unscrolling of God’s grand plan, and the anticipation of that plan’s coming to fulfillment, the bad things that occur are not as important as hearing birds sing, seeing clouds roll along, and feeling the autumn breeze. Perhaps, the point of this exercise was to show me that no matter how bad it seems to get in my “old man” mind, God is still in charge. 

So let it be written, so let it be done.

---

[1] Savov, Vlad. “Isn’t it time we Declared our independence from Bloatware?” The Verge, July 4, 2018. Accessed October 25, 2020.

[2] Babcock, Maltbie Davenport. “My Father’s World,” a poem published posthumously in 1901. Tune: Shepherd, Franklin L. Terra Beata (Blessed Earth,) 1915.

In a piece entitled, “The Astronaut,” q.v. I asked a series of questions to myself, and then I solicited responses from my faithful readers.

If I don’t spend time in prayer, I am sinning in unbelief, [thus,] do I not believe that God is there? Do I not believe that He is Who [He says] He is? Do I not believe that He will do what He says He will do?

There were many thoughtful responses, however, one both troubled and convicted me.

We are forever secure because of Jesus shed blood, His Resurrection, and [His] Ascension.  When we repented of our sin [and] were forgiven, . . . we are kept by the power of God. John 10:27-30. Could [a] lack of desire indicate one is not a sheep? (Emphasis added.)

Am I Not a Sheep? For an answer, I go to the Scriptures. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.” (NIV.) One whose counsel I most trust is that of my daughter, Amy. She is a Godly woman who is a wise counselor as her high school students will attest. When I am deeply troubled, I seek her counsel. I base this piece on her response to the question of whether I am, indeed, one of Christ’s sheep.

Amy reminds me, infra, that human relationships ebb and flow. Our human emotions, and thus relationships – because relationships are inextricably intertwined with emotions – run hot and cold. Sometimes our relationships sizzle like the sidewalk in downtown Montgomery in the middle of July, and sometimes they freeze as icy as the stare of your ex-spouse upon seeing you with your new one in a restaurant.

It is to humans that God has given time and the events of time. These events affect us. Some would argue that to some extent, these events, or at least our reactions to them, are what make us who we are. (That may sound a little like “psycho-babble,” but bear with me.)

For whatever reasons, I’m “feelings – challenged.” As relates to most everyone except Amy, I always keep an emotional distance out of an irrational fear of being rejected, told that I’m not “good enough,” or ultimately deserted. 

For better or worse, I learned from my adopted, single-parent mother that “to love is to do rather than to feel.” I’ve never gotten over that, and it has been a handicap in relationships with which I have had trouble. 

In reply to my query, Amy asked, “Would ‘Not a Sheep’ even be contemplating these things, asking these questions, praying for people, or holding [telephone] conversations with elderly church members?” She cites pertinent scriptures addressing the subject of doubt.

As for Our Lord’s dealings with doubt, Amy cites Mark 9:24. “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Jesus did help the man’s unbelief and healed his child. Further, Amy adds that Matthew 26:41 quotes Jesus as saying, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Weak, indeed. (KJV.)

The Apostle Paul wrestled with personal doubt in Romans 7:15-20, a doubt that he ultimately resolves, at least, theoretically, if not practically. Note his use of the pronoun, “I.”

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do. . . For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (NIV.)

“Counselor Amy” continues.

If our desire, or dedication, or faith never wavered, would we even be human? Or in a true relationship? Do we always feel a “desire” for our spouse? Does that make us any less married? Relationships ebb and flow because we are human. God does not . . . Yet, in His steadfastness, He is able to absorb/provide for/redeem our fickleness, and He desires relationship with us none-the-less. Jeremiah 17:9 provides, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?”

In a passage that is the subject of sermons from both of my pastors, Jay and Alan, Amy continues.

Are real sheep always concerned with the shepherd? No, they’re concerned with a hungry belly even when it leads them into trouble. Are they any less sheep? [The s] ame [obtains] with children, etc. However, the Good Shepherd [and] the Good Father love, lead, provide, and protect just the same. . . “His sheep know His voice.”

How many . . . times have you and I been loved, led, provided for, and protected by our God [even when] we didn’t feel especially interested in the things of God? How many times has He spoken truth to us through lots of different avenues [even when] we weren’t particularly asking or [even when] maybe we were trying NOT to listen[?] “Not a Sheeps (sic.”) do not experience these things! Without the Holy Spirit’s prompting, they don’t even care or notice. . .

She closes, “From one sheep to another, may your soul find peace and a renewed heart’s desire in the Truth” of the 23^rd Psalm, q.v. All I can add is. . .

So let it be written, so let it be done.

(The following is a sermon to myself. Though I’m sure it doesn’t apply to you, you are welcome to listen in if you like.)

. . . Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10. NIV.

The sign-off of a segment on the now-canceled Prairie Home Companion, a long-running radio program starring Garrison Keillor, “Guy Noir, Private Eye,” in a Phillip Marlow voice, intones, “A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but, one man is still trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions…..Guy Noir, Private Eye.”

One supposes that there are many of “life’s persistent questions.” “Who shot JFK?” “Did man really land on the moon?” “Who is “Q-Anon?” While these are answers “inquiring minds” would surely like to know, it goes without saying that they pale in comparison with my favorite question, “How does one stay tethered to God?” And the follow-up, “Knowing the answer, why don’t I do it?”

Perhaps, this author has watched ‘way too many science-fiction movies, but may I submit that the astronaut’s tether compares favorably with our tether to God – prayer. Marie Barnett’s iconic 2001 praise song, “Breathe,” recorded by Michael W. Smith,” asserts that God is “. . . the air I breathe. Your holy presence living in me. . ..” Prayer provides two-way (yes, two-way) communication with God. Further, prayer stabilizes us by giving us something to hold onto in a world that appears spinning out of control in a seemingly unconstrained “death-spiral.”

“Tethered,” a nautical term borrowed by NASA, conjures up images of countless, dauntless astronauts tied to a spaceship by an umbilical cord performing “space-walks.” The “tether” is truly a “life-line.” It provides O² for the astronaut to breathe, two-way coms contact for them to communicate with the ship, and stability – a mechanism to keep them from floating off into space, joining myriads of other dead items of “space-debris.”

Just as the astronaut will die physically absent connection to the tether, the Christian will die spiritually absent connection to the Source, God, through prayer. The obviousness of this truth, notwithstanding, it begs the question, “Knowing this spiritual fact, why don’t I (we) do it?”

The question slaps me up aside the head. It’s personal.  (This is ipse est sermo ego annuncioa, a sermon that I’m preaching to myself, remember.) 

What is my excuse? Busyness? Other “stuff” I gotta do? More important things? Fatigue? Guilt? Laziness? Distraction? Boredom? Disappointment? Inadequacy? Pride? Addiction? “The Pandemic?” Unbelief… O wait! Stop the bus – “unbelief.” Let’s examine that one more closely. Could all of these other excuses indeed be covers for, or manifestations of, unbelief?

For many years, I’ve thought that man’s first and greatest sin was pride. Recently, though, an article or book, the name of which I cannot remember, pointed out that “pride” was Satan’s first sin. It is true that the Prophet Isaiah, in a passage that has been interpreted as comparing Satan to the King of Babylon, prophesies:

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13,14. NIV.

But, assuming, arguendo, that Isaiah is, indeed, speaking of Satan, he is speaking of Satan – not Adam. In Genesis 3:1b, the serpent asks of Eve, “Did God literally say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” During the conversation, Eve entertains a doubt that God spoke as He did. That, my friends, is unbelief, and it is the beginning of my – maybe your – unbelief.

“So, Geraldine[1],” you may ask, “did the Devil make me do it?” The solution to that question is too easy an answer, and it quickly shifts the blame to something else. The hard truth is that if I don’t spend time in prayer, I am sinning in unbelief. Do I not believe that God is there? Do I not believe that He is Who He is? Do I not believe that He will do what He says He will do?

An astronaut on a space-walk must stay tethered to the mother ship if he has any hope of survival. No excuses will do. It’s simple, “Stay tethered or you will die.” May I submit that the same holds true for me – for us – in our spiritual lives? “Stay tethered to God our you will die (or at least dose off to sleep.”) God is the “mother ship” and prayer is the tether.

The last statement raises another one of those “persistent questions, “How do I (we) put unbelief behind us?” The question seems to require circular logic, but that may be one of those antinomies that we can never resolve. God, Himself is a bundle of such antinomies. Deal with it.

There are many “persistent questions” in life. The most important ones involve God as well as do the answers. The best news is that I – we don’t have to resolve the antinomies; we don’t have to search for the answers to “life’s persist questions.” We don’t have to decipher the code. We just have to believe God. The rest, including a longing for prayer, will resolve itself. Any questions? I didn’t think so.

 So let it be written, so let it be done.

---

[1] The late comedian, Flip Wilson hilariously performed the character of “Geraldine Jones” throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. The punch-line of the joke was always, “The Devil made me do it!”

. . . [I]t is appointed unto men [and women] once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27. KJV.

Montgomery, Alabama, October 4, 2020, 6:00 pm CST.

On Friday last, we all awoke to the news that the President of the United States had announced via Twitter® the news that he and Mrs. Trump had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the official name for the Covid-19 virus. As of this writing, while Mrs. Trump remains in the White House with mild symptoms, the President, a 74 y/o man with several risk factors for the disease, finds himself in The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, colloquially referred to as the Bethesda Naval Hospital. His condition appears to be stable and possibly improving, but details are somewhat obscure. His infection presents writers and readers a cautionary tale.

As one would expect, social media exploded at the news, some writers shocked and wishing the First Family well, others – not so much for such is the divided nature of our Republic, indeed, the whole world.

Citing 1 Timothy 2:2, Christianity Today recorded: “Several pastors and ministry leaders encouraged Americans that this was a time to pray for the president and the country regardless of their political stances.”[1] On Friday morning, I posted the following on Facebook®.

Concerning the news that the President and First Lady are infected with the virus that has scourged the world for 9 months, this is a time for those who consider themselves Christian to put away thoughts and emotions that come from the dark side and to truly pray, in good faith, for the health of our President’s body and soul. The same goes for the First Lady. We are all God’s creatures whether we like each other’s ways or not.

Unusually, there were quite a number of “likes” and a few shares leading me to believe that my post evinced a common sentiment for thoughtful Christians.

Of course, I suspect that there have been many less “thoughtful” posts – even by Christians. Without even reading, one can imagine what might have been said. The “cold open” of Saturday Night Live, on the air truly “live” for the first time in months, alluded to such. The crowd loved it. But, that’s what “the world” does, and, contrary to the popular song title, “We Are [Not] the World.”[2] Thus, the cautionary tale.

In Sunday school today, we were finishing up the Book of James. Of the several points in Chapter 5, of great note, is the fact that James finishes with an admonition to prayer.

As we discussed, a thought re-occurred to me, “Given the current situation, how can one pray for another if one does not honestly wish well for the other person? What does one say when one’s heart tugs to the contrary?”

“Surely not,” a stalwart Believer might inject. “Perish the thought.” Really? No one has asked himself that question in this or another situation? No “stalwart Believer” has wrestled with the conflict of will and Biblical teaching? Give me a break. Hang your nun’s habit, monk’s cassock, or even your “kāṣāya” on the nail by the door. Check your “Sunday School Mind” for cobwebs.

May I submit that the question is not whether we have ever entertained such aberrant thoughts, but what did we do about them. The answer to the second clausal question is complex but reduceable to five possible answers: a. Give over to rank carnality and enjoy the misfortune of others; b. Put self-will aside and pray for a favorable outcome (whether you mean it or not;) c. “Fageddaboutit;” or d. None of the above. Like so much in life, each answer is fraught with risks, rewards – and consequences.

There is, however, a fifth possibility, one of which the Apostle James would approve: e. Ask God for His wisdom in praying about the matter, and don’t pray anything else about until God has answered. Have you ever asked God for wisdom only to find that He did not provide it? I seriously doubt it – not if you were truly paying attention. This option, however, also comes with a caveat, though.  Once you have asked for God’s wisdom and waited for His answer, when He speaks, and He will, you’d better pray as He directs.

In my own life, all too many times, I have failed to take prayer seriously. That is a grievous error. Prayer is too great a gift to be wasted or used casually. Irish Gaelic folklore tells of Cóiste Bodhar, the silent “death-coach” that makes an appearance at the time of one’s death. In their mythology, once Cóiste Bodhar has been summoned, it cannot be re-called. Like the words spoken by the tongue about which the Apostle James writes in Chapter 1 that cannot be re-called, such is prayer. It has consequences. Neglected, it reduces the stalwart Believer to a quivering wretch, hiding from the shadows that permeate the world; Misused, prayer trivializes the greatest Christian; But, as James writes in Chapter 5, “. . . The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16 b. KJV.

The above and foregoing may be true, but how-in is it a “cautionary tale?” It’s not the one you might have thought. As Former Vice-President Biden might say, “Here’s the deal.” Truly, all men and women die, but our prayers live on after us. Consider them carefully. The Jacobite “much” of 5:16b carries consequences in this world – and the next.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

[1] Shellnut, Kate, “Christians Call for Prayer After Trump Tests Positive for COVID-19.” Christianity Today, October 2, 2020.

[2] “We Are the World.” USA for Africa, 1985.

---

Then Joseph said to his brothers. . . “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!  And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years, there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Genesis 45:4-7. NIV. Emphasis added.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20. NIV.

Last weekend, our niece, Lauren L’Etang, co-starred in an outdoor musical presentation in Tuscaloosa of the off-Broadway play, “The Last Five Years,” a 2001 play by Jason Robert Brown. The two-person play tells the story of the marriage and divorce of a couple over five years. There are some “wrinkles” in the storytelling.

The husband’s character tells the story in chronological order beginning as a struggling wannabe writer and ultimately becoming a successful author whose success has taken him well past the confines of the marriage relationship. 

In a “wrinkling” plot twist, the wife, played in fine fashion by Lauren, tells her “side” of the emotional events in reverse chronological order, beginning as a world-weary, still-struggling actress and finishing exuberantly, five years earlier as an aspiring musical ingénue. 

The couple meet on stage only once – at the wedding. In the end, the husband sings his woeful last “good-bye,” a bit of an apologia, and is joined in the song by the now ex-wife singing her first “good-bye” to him at the blissful conclusion of their first date. Their voices, sometimes harmonious, sometimes contrapuntal, fade as the ex-husband exits upstage into the orchestra (if there were an orchestra,) while the ex-wife, likewise exits but downstage and out the back door. At that point, the curtain, if there were a curtain (it’s outdoors, remember,) would drop. One is left with the melancholy of love found and then lost in a spring/autumn mélange of emotions, raising a myriad of perspectival questions.

The finale, in both musical and positional juxtaposition, struck me as a metaphor for life. Some of us begin life as the archetypal ingénue, living our “three score and ten” years in such a manner as to pass the saintly matriarch of the clan, beloved by all and mourned by many. Maybe, they name a Sunday school class after you, as they did my Grandmother.

Others of us scratch out our grime of a life finishing poorly in ignominy hoping that the undertaker can find six men to carry the coffin to lie in the veritable “potter’s field,” not long remembered, and not long enough forgot. 

Some of us commence life’s trek, or at least a five-year snippet of it, seeking to harm someone either volitionally or involuntarily, while others perceive what we do to be helpful but, in retrospect, find, rather that our actions have caused irreparable harm to others. (Then, there are those who never think about it at all, but that’s a subject for another day.)

Such was the case with the Patriarch Joseph and his brothers, noted hereabove. As you will remember, with good reason, the brothers plotted to kill Joseph but ended up selling him to Arab traders. Either way, they thought they were rid of him. As the late John Belushi, in the character of the Samurai, would say, “. . . But nooooooooooo.”

God has a way of turning evil intent into beneficial outcomes – despite our best efforts to the contrary. In Egypt, Joseph became the “Grand Vizier,” in charge of the disposition of all crops during a seven-year famine. Ignorant of any shenanigans, Father Abraham sends the brothers to buy grain, whereupon they discover Joseph, their hated enemy, to be the man in charge. As God frequently does, Father God, through Joseph, the “Grand Vizier,” extends grace to the brothers.

In my Niece, Lauren’s time – and ours – what did our “Last Five Years” resemble? Did we spend the aliquot of time in service to God and service to our fellow humans; or did we waste it in a riot of self-service, always seeking but never finding? (I hate retrospectives, don’t you?)

There’s a second mode in which Lauren’s play can be viewed. My review hereinabove sees the play from the standpoint of Lauren, the ex-wife, viewing life in the hard-to-swallow retrospective. The late Auburn football Coach, Pat Dye, famously said on the Paul Finebaum Radio Show, “Hindsight is always 50-50.” Be that as it may, as viewed in real-time by the husband (note that he is not the “ex” yet,) we can ask questions prospectively, “What are we going to do with the next five years?”

May I submit that the choice in points of view, if not in actualization, is ours. We can look at life backward and lament what we did wrongly, or we can view life prospectively, viewing it from what we may do. In my second clausal point, I am mindful of the caveat of James 4:13-17 that cautions us always to condition our intentions with, “If the Lord allows.”

Lastly, may I submit that if we spend our lives seeking, and living within, the Will of God, our prospective will merge with our retrospective, and we will “glorify God and . . . enjoy him forever.”[1] Should that be the case, how can we complain no matter the way it turned out?

“Last Five Years” or Next five years – the viewpoint is yours (but, it’s also mine.)

So let it be written, so let it be done.

---

[1] Westminster Catechism, the Shorter.

“20/20” used to mean, “Perfect.” One sees at a distance of 20 feet what one should see at a distance of 20 feet.[1] Enter AD 2020. These days, what one sees at 20 feet might well be what one would see on the “Dark Side of the Moon.[2]” 20/20 is many things, but one thing it is NOT is an excuse to get “Lost in the Weeds.”

There is a Spanish expression, “Es lo qué hay,” an ironic expression filled with resignation, usually meaning, “It is what it is.” Ever hear that?  In these weird times, if one were playing poker, one would have two choices, one can either fold or raise the ante. As Kenny Rogers says, ‘You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, known to walk away, and know when to run.”[3]

I confess sometimes to being “Lost in the Weeds.” No, I’m not blowing grass – not yet, at least. I’m one of a rare breed of “Theology Nerds.” As we all know, theology is literally, “the Study of God.” Further, we know that one can “study God” from at least two aspects. One can either seek to “know God” or one can seek to know about God. The former is a noble enterprise, crowned with glory and love for God and fellow man. The latter is an esoteric, academic enterprise that, I suppose, has its own reward.

The New Testament speaks to this dichotomy.[4]

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23,24. NIV.

One might paraphrase it as follows, “But woe to you, esoteric nerds – time-wasters! You worry about the exact shade of meaning the words state but neglect to do what the Word says.” RWV. I must plead, “Guilty as charged.”

Since changing Christian denominations about a year ago, for good, not evil, reasons, I have made a study of my new denomination’s history and interpretation of the Bible, based on the teachings of this new church. I’ve parsed the Parables, counted the Commandments, and broken-down the Beatitudes. I’ve digested the Disciples, entertained the Epistles, and applied the Apocrypha. Why, I’ve even torn-apart to Torah, singled-out the Sayings, and rehearsed the Revelations. Standing alone, these count excellent literary endeavors and academic exercises. But . . . to what avail?

Proper theology is important to one’s living the Christian life. Surely, if one doesn’t know what Jesus did, how can one imitate Him? And yet, there is a limit. If it were my job to teach the fine points of theology to eager young minds (my fantasy job,) such would be not only appropriate but, indeed, necessary.

Alas, and alack, such is not my job. I am neither seminary professor nor pastor, neither college academician nor Sunday school teacher. Instead, as all Christians are, I’m one who is charged by God, to minister as He leads me, where He leads me, when He leads me, and how He leads me. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, 20a, “. . . go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” NIV.

This is the call not to grand crusade, but to daily life. It’s neither “high-flying” nor grandiose-sounding, but it is over-arching. It’s a call to daily service sometimes among the weedsbut never lost in the weeds.

Academics are my “weeds.” I can spend hours pouring “[o]ver many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,[5]” trying, in vain, to distinguish the teachings of John Wesley from those of John Calvin; the sayings of John Smyth from those of John Knox; and the musings of John Piper from those of Pope John Paul II. But who did that help? Did it lift the spirits of one who is overcome with loneliness? Did it put a “Poor wandering one” back onto the path to righteousness after an unfortunate detour down the rabbit-hole of self-indulgence? Did it bring home a “lost boy” from a “Neverland” of well – Neverland?[6]

One day, Jesus came back to his hometown, Nazareth, and proclaimed something radical in the Synagogue. Paraphrasing and fulfilling Isaiah 61,

. . . on the Sabbath day, he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read,and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:18,19. NIV.

Isn’t that what He called me to do – not to try to know what the Messiah knew, but to be like Jesus, the Messiah; to see what He is doing and to emulate Him[7]? If I am “lost in the weeds” somewhere, how can I see what He is doing? If I am enthralled by the sound of my own words, how can I hear what He is saying? If I am doing something useless, how can I do what is worthwhile?

But, hey, it’s 2020. It’s total weirdness. OK, I admit to a bit of self-castigation. But, while you are enjoying the show, may I inquire, “What about you?” May I ask, “What and where are your weeds? Is your call from the Lord any different from mine? Are you working amid the weeds or are you lost in the weeds of your own making?”

Weeds are interesting things. They usually grow up quickly and choke out the grass around. They may appear masquerading as a lovely flower, (think the Goldenrod, former state “flower” of the State of Alabama) while performing as a pollen-spreading machine ready, willing, and able to blanket the world with yellow dust. Shoot, you can even smoke some of ’em – but “we don’t recommend that.”[8]

In Matthew 6:28, et seq., Jesus spoke of the grass of the fields clothed like King Solomon but that soon withers and is good only for fuel. Weeds. He’s talking about weeds. If we are lost in the weeds when the weeds start to wither and die, maybe we will, too.

Interestingly, Jesus concludes that passage with an adversative clause, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33. NIV. Since Jesus ended there, perhaps, it’s a good place to do so – I shall.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

---

[1] American Optometric Association.

[2] “Dark Side of the Moon.” The 1973 album by Pink Floyd.

[3] “The Gambler” by Don Schlitz, 1976 made famous by Kenny Rogers.

[4] RWV. “Revised Wible Version.”

[5] Poe, Edgar Allen, The Raven.

[6] See Barrie, J.M., Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. 1904.

[7] See John 5:17, et seq.

[8] A familiar saying of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.