Delightful

John, a friend of mine at work, is around 40, is married and has 2 children. He delights in telling me about how he's going to Greensboro to hear the "fastest guitar player " in the world and how he is going fishing the following weekend and what kind of tackle he's using, etc. I know God is giving me bits and pieces of His heart because when John is standing in front of me, radiating delight about guitars and fish, there is a corresponding delight in my heart about his delight. I can feel God delighting in John's delight. So I'm delighting in God . . . who is delighting in John . . . who is delighting in guitars and fish.

Great TV

Oprah is such a sweet heart, but she is definitely a product of her times. The way she goes about "loving" people is wonderful showbiz and she even says that what she (Oprah) does she does because it makes her feel good.

The other day, she "loved" a lady who worked at Starbucks by giving her a house and toys and furniture for her and her 9 children/foster children. All I could think of is, who is going to pay the taxes on that increased wealth when Oprah leaves?

That same amount of money could have been spent on college or tech schools for all of them which would have then enabled her and her children to give themselves (and others) houses and toys and furniture. She could have "taught them to fish".

Instead, Oprah "gave her a fish" - but it made great TV and it made Oprah feel good.

Count the Cost

There's a good reason why Scripture (Luke 14:28) admonishes us to "count the cost" before we go forward. One some level, we must think this admonishment is "just in case". But it is more likely because the chances are good we are going to have to pay that "cost".

I'm not sure why, when we end up "paying the cost" that that always catches us by surprise. On some level we must think that our good intentions will cause us to be immune to the viciousness of life.

Yes, dear one, the odds are in our favor that we will end up paying every penny and more, of the "cost".

A Little Perspective

I don't know which confounds me more, Nature or my response to Nature.

So again, I'm watching "I Shouldn't Be Alive" and again, I'm watching myself feeling aghast at "Nature's" response or lack thereof, to man's dire straits. Pelvic bones are smashed, temperatures are below zero, 8 miles have to be crawled etc. and Nature sends blizzards!

And it is slowly dawning on me why up till this last generation, mankind gladly and relentlessly strove to conquer and dominate Nature. After all, She (or He) was merciless towards man to the point of death. (And without remorse!)

Technology has just recently defanged Nature so that the Likes of Me could smile romantically at birds and flowers and clouds and katydids and breezes and call Nature Good and maybe even God. Maybe technology is what is Good or even God - JUST KIDDING!

 . . . just a little perspective.

"Strandbeests"

Theo Jansen builds "Strandbeests" and puts them on the beaches of Holland. He calls himself a kinetic sculptor and artist. He has developed his "creatures" to such a degree that they can move and respond to the environment without him. The creation does not need the creator in order to exist.

How like our Creator. He has created us in such a way that we can move and respond to our environment and can do so, without Him. Such is the essence of free will. Free will says you may exist without Me.

And . . . such is the backdrop for love. The Cosmic Setup says, now if you choose to come to Me, it will be from desire, not from lack of choice.