Intentional Cuddling

Today, I found a sunny spot in my house, moved the furniture so that I could "curl up in the sun", and . . . curled up in the sun. And as I curled up, my thoughts went to cats and how that is what cats do - they find the most cuddly of spots and cuddle with themselves and with the sun. And when one observes cats snoozing in sunny spots, contentment seems to ooze from their furry paws.

With cats, it comes naturally. With humans, it doesn't come so naturally. We bypass a hundred invitations to cuddle or we fall for a hundred cheap imitations of cuddling. Jesus says if you choose to be an Intentional Cuddler with Him, the Son won't be taken from you (or at least, that is my rough translation of his conversation with Martha and Mary - Luke 10:40).

Surely Goodness and Mercy . . .

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the courts of the Lord forever." Psalm 23

How do I know that Goodness and Mercy are following me?
By turning around and looking behind me.

Why do they follow me? Why don't they walk beside me?
They do, but in the Present, they often walk in disguise.

When they follow, they lose their disguise, especially if you gain perspective and maturity and wisdom and a little bit of revelation.

Fleshing Out the Essence

As I was reading the Bible this morning, I read, "The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined from ore and purified seven times in the fire." Psalms 12:6. Anything that has been refined 7 times in the fire has been reduced to its essence. The Scriptures are the essence of truth. It is each generations responsibility to give the essence flesh and in doing so, will flesh out the essence.

Or you could say that the words in the Bible are written in code. Code is an easy way, a shortened way of expressing a complicated truth. If you mistake the code for the sum total of its meaning, you will stumble.

In addition to all this, have you ever been around friends who have been around each other a long time? Have you ever noticed they almost talk to each other in code?

Maybe the Bible is a book for friends from Friends..

The Way Home

Every Saturday night I have the supreme pleasure of having my 2 year old granddaughter spend the night with me. Last night, when I tucked Tavish in bed, she said to me, "Pray, Mamie". Something inside of me wondered why would praying be important to a 2 year old?  How does a 2 year old know what praying is? How does a 2 year old know who I'm talking to? Would her response be the same if instead of saying, "Dear Jesus, I pray that Tavish will know You and love You and obey You," I said, "Dear Santa Claus, help Tavish be good so she can get toys at Christmas!"? Would she say to me every Saturday night, "Talk to Santa Claus!"?

I don't think so. And yet, at this point, in her little mind, the words God and Jesus and Santa Claus can't possibly have any meaning to her - they are just sounds and names she has heard spoken.

And yet, she wants to talk to Jesus. Maybe something else is going on. Maybe the God Spirit in Tavish loves the God Spirit in Jesus, the God Spirit present in praying. Maybe there is Something in Tavish that recognizes the name of Jesus and recognizes her first Parent, her first Home and is wanting to find her way back Home through prayer.

Is that too much of a stretch? Cognitively it is, but Spiritually? No. Two year olds are closer to knowing The Way Home then we'll ever know.

Inevitable Fall(s)

Sunday, we sang a song in church that said something to the effect that God keeps us from falling. That is shorthand for . . . we never fall so far that we can't be retrieved and brought to a level of life that is worth living. (See, it's a lot easier to say, "God keeps us from falling").

And even though it is easier to say - God keeps us from falling - if taken literally, it can become a real stumbling block when the inevitable fall comes.

We all fall. We either stumble because we are clumsy or we are pushed. And so the reality is, He doesn't keep us from falling. But what does He do? No matter how far or how long we fall, He is able and willing, on the other side of the fall, to bring us to a level of life that is worth living. Falls can not take away from us a life worth living.

God keeps us from falling.

Serenity

Often, days and weeks after I go somewhere or read something or am with a friend, I find that some of the oddest things "stay in my spirit". Of course, at the moment, they meant nothing to me. But afterwards, I notice a "presence," a "remembrance," as I said, of the oddest things.

One of those "remembrances" was the memory of two older ladies sitting on a bench at the Rembrandt Exhibit. I saw them and what registered on my brain, was their serenity. I wondered what their journey to serenity was. But the thought went so fast and I was with others and had already lingered behind and so I hurried on.

But as the days went by, my mind went back, not to Rembrandt's genius, but to the serenity on those two older ladies' faces. I haven't nurtured serenity enough yet, for it to ooze from my face, but I'm facing the right direction.