Moments

  As I ponder whether or not to act my age and give up vigorous activities, I somehow think that if I just stop doing these things, then I will be safe from all that COULD happen to me.  It's an apple in the Garden of Eden.  It is a tempting thought to kick back risk nothing and wait to die on time.  But the apple is rotten.  Safety in this world doesn't exist.  It is an illusion. You can lock all the doors in your life, set your alarms, and still have a tragedy befall you.  And I think making yourself safe and depending on our conservative, noncommittal, and cautious approach is a departure from an abiding faith. Our Hope, our safety, is in Jesus Christ only.  "All other ground is sinking sand," the song goes.  We cannot find security in the natural and secular world.  We find security only in the arms of Jesus.   And yes, we can lose everything in a disaster and yes, we can get hurt or even killed out there trying in the worl...

 Early morning in the county and there is a peace wisped in with the thin fog. It is quiet, serenely quiet, and the feeling is of a massage of the soul.   The silence is slightly broken by coyotes howling close by.  The wildness in their cries is not an interruption but a different verse in the song of morning peace.  The coyotes howl again in defiance of the civilized world and now the neighbors' dogs bark back their excuses.   The faint smell from a fire built last night is coming through the open window with the cool air. My world is at peace.   Thank you, God, for being here. Praise God.