Moments

Inspiration can be for all of us who hide behind our list of excuses. Inspiration can call us out from under the rock we have felt comfortable hiding under. Inspiration can change people and the direction of their lives. Really? Can we be sure? Seriously, can people really be inspired? Isn't inspiration a form of judging in that we are making an the assumption that our way is the best way? and it would be better for that person to become inspired to change? Is the motive for inspiration a concealed form of ego; that is, trying to inspire people to be more like us? No, no - I don't want to inspire people to be more like me. I would have them be more like Jesus: I am not the model, the pattern to follow, not me, an old sinner saved by grace. But, I have found the missing coin, the Pearl of Great Price, and want to share it, not because I am judging but because I know it is a better way, the better way, for me, for anyone. This direction, this journey is not ...

Our small outboard pushed hard against the strong current but we were making slow progress. A large piling stuck out int the middle of the river ahead of us: a metal I-beam. They were building a large dam on the river here and the river had pushed back progress and destroyed some structures but left the I-beam in the middle of the river. For some reason we wanted to tie a line on it. It had already been bent over by the force of the water and we motored right under the leaning piling. My father stood up and bear hugged the piling to hold us steady so he could tie on. A sudden swirl of the vicious current, a stall in our small motor, and we were pushed backward, leaving my father dangling from the piling in the middle of the river. Anxious moments were spent trying to get the boat back up the river under the piling, and under my struggling father. Finally, his feed touched the boat and he released his death-grip on the piling. We moved on to quieter waters. Since then, as I ...

The place looks great: mowed and our old garden taken out...sort of nostalgia there...raised lots of food in that plot of ground. I can remember when it was a thicket you could not walk through but I cleared it, pulled out the roots and such, broke the new ground and made the earth say potatoes, beans, cabbage, spinach, etc instead of bushes and weeds. Now it returns to grass to be mowed. When we have coffee in the morning watching the sun rise through the trees, the pungent smell of mowed grass will complement the morning freshness. "Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall remain."

My Mother, one hundred years old, tired, and confused, sat alone at the table in the nursing home dining hall. There was little emotion in her face only acceptance, patience, and resignation. This was the best it could be for her. I'm sure she feels very alone: unable to see much, or hear much, or understand much about what she is doing, and even where she is. After all she had done; all she has been; and all she has been through; this is how it ends? Is this the sum total of life? Back home it brings me down when I conjure up the vision of my Mother sitting alone and numb in that nursing home dining hall. What's the sense of it all? Then my gaze takes itself out the window to a tree: Mother's tree; a tree my she pulled out of the ground when it was just a sprout, put it in a container, and nourished it. She gave to me when it was time, and I planted her tree there when it was scarcely knee high. Now Mother's tree is taller than the house with long branc...

A preacher once remarked that if you like his children, treat children good, you would have about won him over. My Mother is a hundred years old and in the nursing home. And once I thanked one of the many dedicated nurses aides there for treating my Mother so well. I went on to say that as she treats my mother well she treats me well. As we treat others well, we are indirectly treating Jesus well too - not a bad thing. How many of those who are the "least" have I treated well? How well have I treated Jesus today? And the King shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40

Out there in the pasture four to five deer were grazing. I noticed that they looked up, ears aright, occasionally to check for danger, then it was back to searching and nibbling; finding the next tasty tidbit; looking for the next acorn. And I wondered what they get out of life but this: living in the moment; finding the next acorn; watching for danger. For deer, perhaps that is enough. But what about people? How often do we find ourselves living only in the moment, on guard for danger, trying to find our next acorn? But God has breathed into us His Spirit and we are called to do more and be more. In the words John Baille, "Thine was the Spirit that first led them out of their brutish estate and made them men." We were called higher from our momentary satisfactions from the beginning. My belief is that God would like us to find our way past the moment into His eternity; to live the enlarged life He has prepared for us.

Mother is a 100 years old and often says when I ask about her recent weakness - I will be OK. I'm fine. While acknowledging her recent and somewhat rapid deterioration mentally, and physically, she seems to have that peaceful, "I will be OK" attitude about it all. I believe it is true. I believe her. I believe she will be OK. Coming soon is healing, Coming soon is eyesight, hearing, capability, and joyful eternity. It is like the John Phelps song says, "There will be no more night, no more pain, no more tears, neither crying again." I love that song. I believe it. So, I understand my mother's meaning when she says she will be OK. Better than OK even: she "will live in the light of the Risen Lamb." The song is mine as well. The best is yet to come. I will be OK.