Moments

  The man stops at the top of the stairs every morning after waking, holds on to the rails, and lifts his head in a prayer of gratitude.   He can smell the coffee brewing, or maybe too, some pre-breakfast snack to go with the coffee.  He embraces the day by going outside on the porch, where he pets his cats, who eagerly await his attention.  He breathes deeply, taking in the sounds and smells of the field and woods, and the fog gently rising from the earth. One more day;  thank you, Lord, for this day and all you have in it for me.  If it be my last, so be it.  I will be with you. Come, Holy Spirit, and pervade my thoughts and direct my paths the way I should go. The short prayer, followed by coffee and a closeness, and a certain gratitude.  Closer to Jesus already.  It's going to be a great day, says the man. He's right. Praise God. Amen.

  Easter morning thought -  in the song "I've Just Seen Jesus," by the Gaithers the setting is the empty tomb and Mary crying about the Lord being gone.  And she supposed the man outside the tomb to be the gardener who asked why she was crying. The song goes, "As I sobbed in despair, my Lord is not there.  He said Child, it is I.  I am here . I've just seen Jesus, I know that He's alive---." How many times have we, have I sobbed in despair in a sense at all the heartaches and disappointments life can inflict upon us?  How many of these times have I "sobbed in despair," not realizing the antidote to despair and that the  Giver of hope was standing right before me?   How precious are those times when I finally saw Jesus for who He truly is and realizing, "Child, it is I.  I am here?" What a comfort. The tomb is empty: "Death has lost and life has won." Jesus is very near.  Praise God for Easter Morning.

  Life is slippery sometimes, and sometimes, the comfortable, safe, and easy things grease the hands to such an extent that real life  can become hard to hold on to. It slips away moment by moment, attending to maintaining the status quo of an easy life. It becomes a continuing personal, physical, and even spiritual degradation process. Instead of honing skills toward peace, performance, and personal improvement at some risk, we became proficient at quickly making excuses. Self-deception and denial can become our sport and greatest skill.   Small aches become perceived as big pains and small issues can take on the appearance of major problems.   We try to give it a value it doesn't have. But self-deception never really works. Deep down, in quiet moments, we know the truth. We just can't confront it directly. It is just too hurtful to our comfortable little lives built on illusion.  We are scared.  So, I guess I want to be fearless.  The Bible...

  "What's the major difference in the Old Testament and the New Testament?' "The Old Testament is about the fall." "And? "It is like the verse from the hymn says: 'Christ has regarded my helpless estate,'  Old Testament. 'And shed His own blood for my soul,'  New Testament. "For God so loved---"  Praise God.

  Spring- the trees have started budding, promising a full, vigorous foliage.  Why? A simple, even slight turn or tilt of the world, changes things to winter or renews growth.   So I have found in the Christian walk.  Salvation comes in like springtime, all fresh and budding, holding promises of the abundant life with Jesus Christ.  But it doesn't end there.  Life is not all blooming roses and sunshine.  Plants need light to grow.  So do we.  We need the Light with a capital "L."  We need the Light of the world.  We need that Light within us for, unlike the trees and other plants, sometimes our faith has to grow in the dark.  Some time in the dark, all we have is that faith in the eternal springtime as promised by our Lord.  When the world turns dark, the light God put within us is all we have to find our way through the storms and disasters life inflicts upon us. T "Faith is the bird that sings in the dark."  Tr...

 I felt compelled to pray as we left for this fishing trip on the coast.  It wasn't a natural thing to do as my two fishing partners were not especially faith-driven.  But, they complied and I prayed with them over our safety on this venture. The trip went well until coming back we came upon a large barge, going the same direction down the canal we were traveling.  My friend with the boat pulled out and began to pass this large vessel and as soon as he had cleared the barge, he immediately cut in front of it. That's when our engine sputtered, stalled, and quit, right in front of the oncoming barge.  Our engine wouldn't start and I got out the paddles and one friend and I began to paddle furiously to get out of the path on the barge.  It was getting closer.  We paddled harder. I wasn't sure we could get out of the way in time.  Meanwhile, my friend continued to try to start the engine.  It seemed a moment to exercise my faith in whatever might...