A Real Connection

Tonight I attended a wonderful study at Speedwell Presbyterian led by Reverend Rebecca Taylor.  We learned about the writing, copying, translating and printing of the Bible and how it came to the form as we know it today.  It was quite a journey, incredible in its magnitude and scope, relying on the expertise and dedication of thousands of scholars over approximately 1400 years.  We touched on the many versions of the Bible now in print:  NIV, KJV, The Message, and so on.  And there are so many study Bibles out there--those designed for women, teens, college students, children, devotional, and many more.  For so long, the common person could not read, much less own a hand-copied Bible.  Now the market is inundated with the most read book in history.  Consider for a moment if we had no Bible at all.  Consider if none of those incredible writings had ever been committed to print.  Would it change anything about our relationship to and with God?  As precious as the works of the Biblical writers are to us as Christians, the poetry, the history, the stories of Jesus' ministry, they are all extraneous to the "real connection."  The true connection to God is the inherent desire we feel to commune with the eternal.  We are a part of God and He is the pure love that brings us into relationship with Him.  I love the language of the Bible, but I understand that without it, my relationship with God would not miss a beat. 

Daylight Savings Time

It is now that period of time when I cannot go to sleep, yet I know that I will "lose" an hour and have to get up early tomorrow.  It's a harbinger of spring.  Extended daylight in the evenings gives me more time to get things done, and I'm a doer.  Warm weather is around the corner.  Yesterday I wrote about preparations, and this is a time of preparation for outdoor activities.  At our house, we'll be painting the deck, planting flowers, mulching the flower beds, and giving the patio furniture a fresh coat of paint.  Our very bodies urge us to action following the downtime of winter.  Although my heart is nagged by sadness over recent life changes, I feel renewed at the prospects ahead.  It's called hope.  Where there is hope--that gift from God--there is a means to accomplish.  Earthly life goes on in the face of loss.  Just one step at a time will prevail.  Holding onto God's hand is how we get lifted out of despair and set aright again.  Blessings, and feel the renewal this third day of Lent.

Making Preparations

This morning's news carries the horrific words and pictures from Japan.  An earthquake triggers a tsunami and loss of lives follows.  I am merely preparing to go to work this morning.  But for most of life there is truly no preparation.  Natural disasters occur regardless of our attempts to be ready for them.  Some of these tragic events come with little or no advance warning, despite our best early warning equipment.  We can make ready for our routines as creatures of habit, but what happens when a routine is turned upside down?  When lives are shaken or destroyed?  If you watch the aftermath of a natural disaster, you will see rescue efforts, desperate attempts to restore life to normal.  We clean up the mess and try as best we can to move on, because that is what life does--it goes on in spite of our losses.  Perhaps the only beauty that comes of tragedy is that it moves people to work together and to show care and concern for one another.  We come together in a way that reveals the best of humanity.  Let us strive to do that on a daily basis.  Let us come together and work for the best of all of us when there is NO tragedy involved.  We prepare for life's hardships by first understanding that God is still the creator, the life giver, the one constant in our lives.  Then we can look to one another, His creations, His earth, and see that He instilled in us this need to serve.  We please Him and we are at our best when we serve others.  Yesterday I wrote about abundance.  When we can truly look beyond what we think we lack, then we can give to one another out of the abundance that God provides.  Blessings and hope for a reflective, healing Lenten season to you all.

A Welcome to the Lenten Season

For the first time, I am observing the Lenten season.  I do make New Year's resolutions and the only one this year was to have a closer walk with God.  This time of year, springtime, approaching Easter, is the perfect time to earnestly invest in that closer walk.  Last evening I attended the Ash Wednesday service at Speedwell Presbyterian Church and savored the candlelit atmosphere.  The minister invited us all to reflect upon the areas of our lives where we are separated from God.  We worshipped together, but the service was a preparation for our hearts to seek forgiveness and a renewal of relationship.  I believe we do tend to hold God at arm's length , including Him in the parts of our lives where we are willing to open the gate just a little.  In fact, He should flood our lives with every breath we take.  Perhaps for humans that isn't possible.  Perhaps there was only one human, His own son, who was able to withstand being constantly in the presence of the Divine.  For the rest of us, we can seek Him and praise him and ask His forgiveness.  How often do we really ask to be forgiven for the daily diversions that separate us from His will?  I read the provided devotional for Ash Wednesday (2 Corinthians 9:8) and immediately found one of my many failures:  focusing on those things I lack rather than the bounty I have.  "And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work."  My prayer today, this second day of Lent, is that I be forgiven for not being more grateful for the abundance God provides for me every day.  God bless you all and keep you close to Him in every way.