“The Christian in Complete Armor” by William Gurnall

I’m actually rereading this Puritan classic for the second time. Written in the 17th century, Gurnall calls the gospel believer to a perpetual state of war against the forces that oppose him. Moving beyond merely describing the six pieces of the armor as Paul does in Ephesians, Gurnall begins by summoning weak hearts to courage. He describes dozens of practical scenarios we might face in daily life, how to wrestle effectively, and how to stand firm until victory comes.

I’m always amazed at how classic literature seems to capture the essence of modern life. That’s because human nature and the shades of human experience are not that different from one generation to another. Gurnall is gritty and straight-forward in his approach: heaven is not won by the cowardly. It is won by the strong. But this strength is not our own, it is “borrowed” from God, and He can always call back that which He graciously lends to us. In the first chapter, he points out that to “secular reason” the child of God on his knees is a pathetic sight. But to those who know the great power being accessed at that very moment – it is the position of gaining access to indisputable and limitless power. It’s not an easy read, but it’s worth it.

This book is powerful, but because it was originally written in Olde English, make sure you get the modern abridged version, Volume 1. At some point I hope to read Vols. 2 and 3.  Why would someone so young be fascinated with such a text? Because it’s got substance. It tells me what life is really about and isn’t relativistic. It seems to say, in the words of Elijah the prophet, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If God is God, follow Him. If Baal [or whatever else the world has to offer] is god, then follow him.”

Living Life to the Fullest

What does it mean to live life to the fullest? Does it mean “he who has the most toys wins?” I don’t think so. King Solomon tried this, and after gathering all the horses, gold, power, wives, properties, wine, entertainment, and servants he could obtain, said, “all is vanity and chasing after the wind.” Wow. He proposed that we should enjoy the fruit of our labor, not forgetting to fear God, for this is our ultimate and encompassing responsibility. And then there’s that small matter of individual accountability in judgment.

Living life to the fullest means choosing battles carefully, not yielding to the fear of risk, and getting the most from relationships with the Creator, the planet, each other, and even our pets. (I always marvel at how great it feels to walk through the mountains before everyone rises, when the sun is just rising and the dew is just lifting from the grass… or to sit on the shore and listen only to the waves and seagulls… I feel keenly that I am a microscopic part of something infinitely larger and more majestic. I also sense that even with all the skills and resources in the world, I could never live long enough to seach out all their beauties.) God is speaking… He is always speaking through all we see and experience. Hopefully we don’t get so busy or caught up in ourselves that we miss the message.

A Tale of Two Kitties

Since I’ve been married, I’ve had two pets. The first was Spooky. The second is Torpedo.

Spooky belonged to my husband, and came with the package when I moved into his apartment. At first I was afraid of her, because I really didn’t grow up with pets and thought she might scratch me. But she never did, and we developed a friendship that involved her jumping for turkey slices and running from my black shoes. Jet black with bright green eyes, Spooky lived under a folding chair in our hallway until we had to put her down at nineteen years old. It was a very emotional day, trudging through the snow with her in a pet cage… She usually whined when traveling, but that day, barely a sound. The vet brought her out wrapped in a blue towel so we could say goodbye – she couldn’t eat and had developed a tumor we never knew was there. I wept at the transitory nature of life…when my husband came home late, she kept me company. With the void she left in our lives, it was not long before I wanted another cat.

About a year later, after silently praying for another cat, a little kitten was heard howling in our stairwell. My husband caught him and picked him up, but then turned him loose in the building. He probably just wandered in off the streets. For the next five days, the kitten kept coming back. On the sixth day, he met me at the front door and followed me to our apartment. I fed him. We finally let him in – but planned to turn him over to an adoption agency right away. But he grew on us, and pretty soon, our boy Torpedo was part of the family. He likes to sleep in our shoes, run, jump, hide in the tub and play catch.  He’s really quick! I just love him!! Especially the tiger stripes in his forehead.

 I wonder whether these two felines could have coexisted. It would have been tough, I think, given one’s great penchant for action and the other’s demand for peace and tranquility. How much more in a marriage, when you’re trying to blend two completely different types of people together? But it can be done. Indeed, for happiness at home, it must be done. Just food for thought this Sunday morning.

Tribute to A Friend

Someone called to inform me several years ago about the death of a college friend (we had fallen out of touch for a while). There was always a part of me that did not believe it, for she had tremendous faith that the cancer would not prevail. She went to a televangelist’s crusade looking for healing and came back sick, also exposing their fraud to my friends and I. I just got the bright idea to put her name into the Social Security Death Index, and up she came, eight years gone. And now, real grief has touched me.

C.A. was more than just a friend. She was a mentor. I am so happy that in our last telephone conversation, I was able to tell her how much she blessed my life – to tell her that she was a beacon of light for the Lord in a dark world. I wanted her to know just in case she didn’t make it. And I never heard from her again. (With another friend, J.S., I was not so fortunate. Still, they are both in the same better place.)

This woman looked at me and saw greatness when I saw nothing. Twenty years my senior, she taught me to praise the Lord no matter what, told me that I would be a leader. And now, now that the hurt is fresh, I dedicate this blog post to her. She helped mold me to be who I am today, and though I still need work, it’s that initial push toward success that often counts the most.

I love you. I miss you.

Blind Faith: No Such Thing

Have you ever had someone tell you that believing the gospel is taking a leap of faith in the dark? Love, they say, is blind- and so is faith. You kind of shut your eyes and believe but deep down you know there’s nothing there but a myth of the collective unconscious. It’s like wishing on a star, or dropping a penny in a wishing well. It takes the edge off, but there’s nothing substantive behind it to back it up.

I respectfully disagree. Faith is substantive and evidentiary to those who have it. What is unseen and intangible is more real than the material, tangible universe. Truth and facts are not necessarily the same. Faith has got to be in something; in someone. Faith for faith’s sake doesn’t make any sense. Away with inspiration that says “believe” and then offers no definition as to what or whom we should actually trust in. If it’s yourself you’re trusting in say so. If it’s other people, then say so. But I knew an old mother who told me shortly before she died, “The arms of flesh will fail you, you dare not trust your own.”

When we step out on faith, we’re standing on the the infallible word of an invisible, immutable God who runs an inconquerable kingdom out of His infinite might. As we walk, He creates the ground under our feet to keep us from falling. Sort of like following the yellow brick road, one brick at a time. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

Faith is a leap, but it’s not blind. We can see just fine. Faith is about believing what cannot be perceived by the natural eye or mind and conducting oneself in the light of that conviction. Without a vision that propells movement and a confidence that defies the odds, you might have ritual, hope or luck, but you haven’t got faith.

In Short

The gorgeousness of the English language is being laid to rest.

Yes, modern writing skill is still about good craftsmanship, but the tools of speech are shrinking.  Not only does the writer need to be able to express every thought in terms of a few keywords, to appease the search engine algorithms, but she must also mind the fact that words can be property. I daresay the dictionary ought to include ownership notes next to its entries. Folks are literally racing to see who can buy up all the good words first. Sure, it’s great business – but isn’t it still a bit bizarre?

In this vein of pet-peevish venting, the how-to article comes to mind. After reading quite a few, their helpfulness level is about “B-.” They invariably oversimplify everything. They suggest things like, “hire a lawyer.” You then realize you need a different how-to article for each of the steps listed in the initial piece! Is it worth it for a few knowledge-biscuits? Sometimes it’s good to have a full course meal–so you end up with an understanding and not just the jist.

Don’t you ever wish you could retract a click?

The Storm

We share knowledge of the storm.

In times of light and gladness we can almost forget that a storm is brewing- a perfect blend of our fears, heartaches, idiosyncracies, failures, or dashed hopes. A sudden wind hits, threatens to pull us under the current, and of course, we look for the Master to walk on the waves and put out His hand for our rescue.

Though the clouds are thick and it seems it will remain that way forever, the sunrise is coming again! We are a hopeful people, a resplendent people, a resurrected people! Experience has taught us that we are not exempt from pain, suffering, or tragedy. We are not even exempt from making mistakes! (At this I was especially disappointed!) But there’s hope! LIGHT PREVAILS. The blessing in the storm is that when its over we’re stronger, better. The blessing is that we get to draw nearer to Christ.

The Lord has set the world on an axis to show us that neither season is perpetual as long as we’re on this side of eternity. Day, night; cold, heat; light, darkness – all as the world turns. So the storm will come. And the storm will pass. The key is to keep our eyes on what’s positive. It’s raining, but God is an umbrella and a raincoat–He’s a bonnet for our heads, golashes for our feet–and no matter what comes, we will be all right.

Wee Morning Hours

In the early hours of morning, the sunlight spills over the banister of heaven and creeps its way into subway cars, windows and onto the sharply angled corners of skyscrapers. The noise of  traffic is still at a lull, and the sounds of people brawling in the streets after a long night of mischief have given way to sparrows’ prayers. No one knows it, but this is the hour when many men and women rise up to the great ministry of prayer and intercession – asking the Lord to watch over our city, our nation, our world. We do not know what a day will bring forth. It is also the best time to write. One’s thoughts are clear as a crystal sea – inspiration comes in waves, like strands of amber, blue, and pink in the fleeting moments of dawn. It is then when my thoughts are most pristine; I feel that I can make a difference in this world, and I can succeed in my endeavors. I am determined to praise the Lord for “He is good, and His mercy endures forever.”

On Being Yourself

Recently asked to participate in a fashion show, I wondered, is there not a danger in rolling out the red carpet of your soul for public view? Allowing people to see the varigated nature of oneself is as high risk as it gets – and yet, somehow, you are compelled to yield. To refuse is to deny yourself the life you seek.  To put it another way, all situations come to God’s children through His wise providence, and even the press is for our own good. If we look carefully, sometimes the press brings a push with it as well – a push toward something new, different, and fun. A girl with her head hung low can look forward and walk straight ahead, knowing that freedom of being is worth the investment. It’s wonderful when you think about it. We take our cues from One who knows what it means to be a Lily in the Valley of life. When we are weak, that’s when we’re the strongest, because the power of Christ is on us…abiding.

Thursday at Three?

There’s a growing trend in which doctor’s and dentist’s offices are allowing patients to make their appointments online.  There are several reasons why this is a great move toward better effeciency. First, it takes away the telephone holding times, and the website alone with a properly prepared FAQ section can alleviate a lot of patient frustration. In addition to this, at the time the appointment is made, the patient is able to submit any special notes or concerns for the staff to review and bring to the doctor’s attention if necessary.  Third, it makes planning ahead easier for everyone involved – including the doctor, who can block out times on the calendar for which he or she is just not available.  Then, if there is still an issue, that’s where reception would come in – so no jobs need to be cut.

I wish that my health care practitioners were this up to date. Most of them don’t even have a website and a few don’t even have a computer with the internet in their reception areas. Strange but true.

On the flip side, human beings don’t know how to take a good idea and leave it at that. Somehow,  any step we take toward modernizing health care is going to result in serious breaches of privacy and may lead to forcing people to receive RFID chips in their arms as is already the case with some pets and wandering seniors. Can’t have it both ways.

Sci-Fi Reality Show. Guess What? We’re It.

I’m thinking about what kind of world it will be when human interaction becomes nearly extinct in exchange for the more mechanical, technological way of doing things. I can totally see George Orwell’s prophecies of 1984 coming to pass (I’m not even touching eschatology, that’s a given). New world order? No doubt. But I take it all in stride.  I’m thinking about college history professors and how they live to find these really old documents, handwritten diaries of famous or not-so-famous people.  They read them to find out about their times, their ancient lifestyles. I wonder what the historians will dig up in 200 years about us? Will it as easy as popping in a thumb drive, rescuing a zip-disk, or rebuilding a “dinosaur” touch screen phone as the new microfiche machine? Or will they be able to scan the foreheads of our descendants to retrieve their earliest memories? You laugh, but is this not less far fetched than it was 20 years ago? The science fiction reality show is here: and guess what? We’re it. Question is, whose watching?

Inspiration

You do not need anyone’s permission to be the person God created you to be (or the person you were born again to be).  Your purpose will be revealed through the nature of the tests you face, the trials you overcome, the battles and victories along the way. Shadows on the pathway are an indication that light and truth is upon you. You have only to turn, gaze upon it, and be transformed.  The truth can lead a man one step closer to fulfilling his purpose.  I am moved to pick up this pen and write. Write for my life. Write to weave together the loose ends of four generations. Write to encourage the advancement of spiritual freedom. The blessed life is the life that finds grateful people planted by the rivers of living water, bringing forth fruit in due season.