The Day We Rue May Be Today

While reading this morning I was reminded of these three truths that underscores a greater truth;

1.     As we have relinquished God’s sovereignty to the government;

2.     The government has continually tried to marginalize God;

3.     God didn’t join in.

This reminder came as I was reading Daniel and one of God’s angels issued this proclamation to Nebuchadnezzar of his impending fall, “The purpose of this decree is that all the world may understand that the Most High dominates the kingdoms of the world…!”

However, it was later while reading a commentary on Samuel and his dismay at God’s people demanding a king that Truth was brought home to me which made the three truths mentioned above poignant.  The commentator wrote, “Samuel’s prophecy about what a king would do to the people reaches down to our own day.  It seems almost to imply that when a state becomes too highly organized it assumes its omnicompetency.  It is then no longer a government but a state.  The abstraction “the state” becomes an entity with being, powers, and functions of its own.  Then the people exist for it, rather than that it should exist for the people…Vehemently he (Samuel) promises them that they will rue the day when the first made it possible for the state, with a centralized government, to assume the right to use everyone and everything for its own ends.

The Foolishness of Love for Tomato Plants and Sparrows

Life, in every form, seems to draw out the sincerest sympathies in us.  Life, by that I am referring to the essence of being alive, is seen as wholly natural and right whereas dying, the fact of the ultimate fate of all things that are blessed enough to be alive, is seen as wholly unnatural to the point of being mean.  To explain this let me share a brief story.  As part of the quarantine, I have begun to raise tomatoes.  I first germinate the seeds, heirloom, in a wet cloth hung on a window.  I watch them closely day by day hopefully seeking the small white thread of root, no bigger than thread and ultimately more fragile, before carefully removing them, gently placing them in soil, adding a few drops of water and placing them in a warm place in the sun.  Then for the next few days, I closely monitor them, their lives clinging precariously between life and death, willing them to live to the point of prayer.  I am 2 for 5.  And this is the point.  When one dies I often go and look at it, its tiny stem, an inch or less topped with two leaves laying shriveled atop the soil until it finally disappears into soil itself—and I grieve.  I am not overwhelmed by grief nor weep or cry or despair at the loss—but I do grieve.  This story may sound foolish to many but it must be understood in the context of what might seem even greater foolishness, “What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Matthew 10:29  What then—If God, God Almighty, is aware of every sparrow’s death, the leap of mine to a tomato plant is infinitesimally smaller.  And therein lies the point, or better stated, the miracle, the grace of the knowledge of the sanctity of life is a gift from God and is, by grace, a growing love, which like life is meant never to die but to be an ever-present growing, integral part of being truly alive. Lean living!!!  

One that didn't make it.  It just dawned on me that I am doing
all of this in my studio which is a statement of truth in itself. 

On Teaching Art--Or Anything For That Matter

One of the great difficulties of old age is that the mind, so informed by time and life, filled with the glories of being with and molded by God is never truly shared with the younger mind.  So much of life and life with God must be experienced first-hand in order to truly be known much less blessed by the knowing.  It makes the personal in the personal relationship with God, critical to the knowing of God and in knowing Him in the particulars of living.  Teaching art with God at its foundation, is thus handicapped. 

PS:  I have found that the young mind awakened to its natural tendency toward curiosity is one, if maybe not the only route, to the eventual enlightenment of wisdom.

trail flower

The Mississippi Can Carve God's Love

Yesterday was the Sabbath, a day to rest in the ultimate ecstasy of meaning that God loves us.  The earth was conceived, designed, and made to demonstrate that love and point us to Him.  It will never save us to be aside nature but it will certainly nurture a worshipful heart filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.  Yesterday, as has been our habit since moving to West Tennessee, we spent the Sabbath afternoon picnicking beside The Mighty Mississippi River.  Its spring might was laid out topographically as flood levels were traced in long paralleling lines of mud brown down its banks buried now in the green grass of spring.  It was still rain-swollen as many of the massive cottonwoods lining its banks stood with their trunks buried in the swirling water while their crowns softly sang a towering song of companionship far above the heaving surface of their ancient friend.  There is the Nile in Egypt, the Amazon in South America, and our beloved Mississippi that carves our continually changing western boundary.  I often challenge my freshman students to go jump in this great river and the few most alive take me up on it.  My children have grown up beside this river and it will forever be a part of their formative Christian years always beaconing them to spend a part of their Sabbath marveling not that they love God but that He loves them and “demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”, and the Mississippi carves that on the boundary of their heart. 

Your Size Beside The Enormity of God.

Often the time alone with God expands your humanhood, your heart, and your mind to the extent that you are overwhelmed with the reality that you are alive.  It is at that moment that one of the monumental miracles of your life occurs, your smallness is clarified by the total enormity of the wholeness of all time and space that is your God being with tiny you. 

Oh what the forest's hold. 

Live So You Are Always Barefooted

            Earth’s crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

And only he who sees takes off his shoes—

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Barret Browning, Aurora Leigh, Bk. VII

Buckeye tree in our yard.

Don't Sell Your Family Traditions For Money

I read today from an old 1900’s commentary, “Materialistic standards of success control to many parental (personal) hopes, and consequently bring ruin upon distinguished family traditions.”  It made me think about what are the distinguished family traditions of our clan?  I will list some of my treasured ones.

-I kiss all my family when we meet. 

-We have “Bible Story Time” every evening and close by getting on our knees to

            pray.  Betty and I still do it every night.

-We often share the Lord’s Supper together as a family.

-We build altars to God everywhere.   

-We hike, camp, travel, and picnic with very little separation from the wilderness. 

-We never allow any of us to take ourselves seriously.

-We play seriously, we are very competitive. 

-We are loud cheerers and easy criers. 

I think this is the first altar we ever built on our first farm in Plesant Hill Tennessee.

Don't Live To Be The Victim Of A Robber's Story

On one of the many backroads my wife and I travel there is a historical marker that identifies its place as where the last stagecoach holdup occurred in Tennessee.  On the marker, three men are identified as the robbers and one as the driver.  None of the victims are mentioned.  I hope my life is not overshadowed by the meanness that goes on around me.  Reminds me to be the driver of the faith, kindness and vision stagecoach in the unlikely event my life is part of a historical marker. 

The Greatest Danger To You--Is You!!!

I was raised in the age of freedom, the ’60s and ’70s were a free for all freedom to be all that I wanted to be.  I was an utter failure at being Lee.  I am reading a great book my wife gave me, New Morning Mercies, by David Tripp, as part of God’s morning time with me.  This morning I read, “When I acknowledge that I am a danger to myself and submit to the authority, wisdom, and grace of God, I am not killing any hope I have for freedom.  The opposite is true.”  I can remember the day this stark absolute truth came to me.  I was laying on a hospital gurney in the hallway of Saint Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville TN, July of 1986, staring up at a florescent light on my way to another surgery, the latest in a long line of failed surgeries.  At that moment I realized what a failure I had been at trying to be Lee Benson and I just gave up.  Everything in me had warred against me giving up.  I was not a quitter, losers never win and winners never loose, go for the gusto!!! and I had almost killed myself.  We are all the ultimate danger to our self, and if we give our self free reign we will ultimately kill our self.  Freedom to be me was my ultimate goal I just had for years refused Him, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  I had found at last the way to be Lee, albeit “dimly”, and finally “came to my senses.”    

"Free at last. Free at last.  Thank God Almighty I am free at last."

The Gift of Light

We are focusing on the element of light in my 3-D class.  It is so real this morning as massive lines of black clouds race overhead with breaks of blue sky in between.  As the black rolls over me opening up to the blue sky the sun’s light is allowed a long aperture which creates a golden glow to Long Island in front of me.  The world is alive with the kindness of God.

An Orange Letter Day

I was eating an orange the other day and the first slice awakened my mouth to the full joy of being a being with a mouth full of buds that taste.  I thought about God’s first thought of an orange, back when all was “formless and void.”  What an unbelievable moment of conceptual creativity to, from nothing, think up the flavor of an orange.  That day was a red, orange letter day in heaven.  But perhaps, because God our Father is so kind, he allowed all the angels who have no need or thought of food, to have their mouths momentarily be filled with tasted buds and then gave each one a slice.  I imagine it took a year for all the praise worship to die down.  That is our Father, Abba God, who not only can conceive of the taste of an orange and then has the power to make them but he then fills our mouths with buds for tasting with the assumption that we will be grateful enough to thank Him.  Thank You, Thank You, Thank YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  

A Loss of the "Fullness"

Let not Easter be lost to us by the passing chime of one day to another but let it be a constant in our hearts that every day animates our life to love, service and good hope.  We lost a good friend at 3:12 this morning.  She had been hurt in the last tornado 10 or 15 years ago and had struggled and limped along gaining strength and stature with every year.  Two days ago my wife and I sat in the yard and talked about how she had seemed to turn the corner this year and was showing renewed vitality as she once had.  We were pleasured by her progress and heartened by her determination to hang on until she could thrive once again.  She was our friend, a Grand Tulip Poplar, the honored tree of the Great State of Tennessee.  She was felled by the storm that came through last night and as grace is carried in grand elegance, she gently fell into a neighboring friend who supported her from falling to the earth.  One clarion call of Easter is that the love He so gifts us with is born to all living things for, “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.” Psalms 24:1

"Good Morning!" For All of Us

I was welcomed this Easter morning by Mary Magdalene introducing me to our risen Lord, “Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” * and then by Jesus himself, “Suddenly Jesus was there in front of them! “Good morning!” he said.”” *  I awoke early as is my habit and was somewhat apprehensive and not at all in an Easter frame of mind.  Severe storms or forecast today and most of mine are in the path.  I made coffee, sat in my normal place and began to read the scriptures, the prayers, the devotionals and then the Lectionary for Easter Sunday which is where I read the above passages.  I was moved by Mary’s announcement, I needed to meet someone who had seen the Lord this morning and was even more discipled by Christ when he told me “Good morning!”  Any time Jesus says “Good morning!” you can bet it is because He knows what He’s talking about. He made it so He should know.  Another verse I read this morning, “This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” *, helped me to see this Easter, not in light of the weather being fallen, but in the joy that comes from a mind that is enslaved to do another verse, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” *  Let’s all be careful out there and above all else, let our hearts and minds be stayed upon our Risen Lord who once again says to all humanity, “Good morning” and after being dead He knows what a good morning it actually is—for all of us. 

*John 20:18

Matthew 28:9-10

Psalms 118:24

Philippians 4:8

When There Is No Bread And There Is No Wine

It was Good Friday, the 31st  day of our quarantine, late in the afternoon and I was working in my studio.  My youngest daughter, Blessing, called from inside the house wondering if I was going to join them for the Good Friday service broadcast from her home church in Knoxville.  We had agreed earlier that we would do this but I will confess I was slightly put off by this interruption but I hurried in any way so as to be present with her and my lover, her mother, for this service.  It was anointed, a message from God’s own heart about His most beloved Son in Whom He is so pleased.  We were prepped to host the Last Supper, the Lord’s Supper with whatever we had, it was His body, His blood, His supper and the remembrance were what mattered.  We spent the better part of an hour worshiping as His church, the three of us, three gathered together and lo He was with us.  We listened to Ricky Skaggs daughter sing “Ain't no Grave”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGncW_ueyHA

 and the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir sing “Thou O Lord” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y284YvkYrZo

We had The Supper together, a Ritz cracker and a glass of water, it was meager and as I prepared it I was hurt and humbled.  No time before had I so wanted the bread, the grape, the tradition, the way it is supposed to be, the way it was, the way it always was…. but it was not the round cracker, it was not the water from an aquifer deep under Jackson served in a simple homemade cup.  No, it was His Body, His Blood, weeping out all over humanity, the three of us included, washing all sins away for the accepting, those that will and those that He longs to will.  The deed is almost done, it is 6:50 p.m. and sunset is in 34 minutes and He will be closed in the grave and then comes Saturday, long Saturday, as we await Sunday.  And a child led me, Blessing, aptly named.  And it wasn’t a cracker, it wasn’t a sip of water, it was Him, broken and dead, for us!    

Holy Friday

It is Holy Friday!

"What Is Truth"

Love American Style

It is Maundy Thursday, the day we celebrate Christ’s new command that we love one another.  What a great day, where we are to focus on loving others especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.  You’ll have to be creative, social distancing, but that just makes it all the more meaningful.  Reach out, give your love a creative twist, a great break from love as usual.  And don’t forget your spouse, oh boy howdy!!!  And above all, love God well today and we do that by loving others even outside the faith well.  And for you old people like me, it’s Love American Style, our new normal.    

The Hardest Things In Life

I heard someone say the other day, “There is no history unless we remember.”  That is what Holy week is all about, a way to remember.  It is never enough to have salvation because what God desires is that you know Him so that you can become like Him and the only way to know Him is to know His Son—of which salvation is the beginning.   Often the hardest things in life are not big things, like a virus, but the small things, like coming to know Jesus by spending a little time with Him.  It is Holy Week, a perfect time to begin remembering by spending a little time with Him and His-Story. 

Let Your Nose Help

Holy Week, the holiest of the year, the week leading up to Easter Sunday, has begun.  Today is Holy Monday where we focus on Mary anointing Christ’s feet with expensive perfume and wiping it off with her hair.  I’ve often wondered how long the fragrance lingered on Jesus?  Did it perhaps linger until Friday?  Could he smell its sweet reminder while hanging on the cross?  Did it help him?  It reminds me of the verse, “For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” 2 Corinthians 2:15. It is said that smell is our greatest long-term memory provider.  What a great gift, our nose, to remind us all day today that God loves us, has a plan for each of our lives and that plan often is to remind Him of His Son, Jesus.  One of the first things I did this morning was light a candle so that our home will be filled with evergreen scent as a reminder, it is Holy Week, Christ has come, and this week, and our nose, is a reminder of why! 

Self Meet Your SELF

Is this current situation causing you to slow down?  Is it reordering your thoughts, life and longings?  Is it opening your eyes to beauty and your heart to love?  Do you see the lone dandelion, the color blue in the sky, the sweet bent body of your bride?  Do you hear the birds, taste your coffee, smell dinner, and linger your hand on that of your lover?  Do you find yourself reaching for your phone more, wondering about those old friends, thinking prayers of safety and good health for ones you haven’t seen in years?  Is this spring special, the new leaves like balm, the dogwoods and blooming cherries medicine for your soul?  Do you wave more, do you look to see who you can see, do you walk your neighborhood looking for bears and keep thinking you need to see if there is a long-abandoned one in one of your grown children’s closets?  Is music more important, warm water wonderfully kind and your lawn needing to be mowed a gift?  Can you feel your heart more, tears closer to call, your hands longing to hold, do you want to help more, serve more, reach out more, share, be kinder, more forgiving and wish you could do more?  Do you get a sense you are coming to know the real you more, the one you had not known in a while or ever and want to be always more like that person?  If so welcome to what life with Christ is and can be, ALWAYS.  He longs to know you and you to know Him. He doesn’t seek to change you but help you be you.  This just may be His way of showing you, you—in Him. 

brutal: PERSIST AND RESIST!!!

BRUTAL!  That is the way President Trump’s Counselor described the next two weeks.  I have done brutal—twice.  We are up to this.  We will have to “resist” it.  Do not allow it to be any part of your faith, life, home, hearth or loved ones.  If you have loved ones outside of Grace then do what you must in your personal quiet time to beseech God to spare them for another day.  We can do brutal on our ear—for if He is for us then brutal cannot be against our overcoming in Him.  There is a thief, the evilest one, but Christ came and will come again so that we can, in the next two weeks “have life and life abundantly.” and afterward and forevermore.  Do not give in to fear.  Do not give in to this covid 19.  It is of the evil one and The Word says “RESIST”   Calmly but with persistence ask God all day to intervene, to allow His loving kindness to help and spare.  I so encourage us, please resist and pray.  Talk to God and ask Him to help.  Resist and persist in prayer.  He is for us.  

On Your Mark! Get set! GO!

Ok here we go, 4 days of mostly sunshine.  Who would have ever thought that four days of sunshine would cause any of us to pause and praise but these are new times?  What can one do with 4 days of sunshine?  Do Good!!!  I believe that God is so hurt by how we ignore all His gifts that he might withhold a major one, His star (our sun), just to get our attention.  Gifts like how much joy all the sensor cells on the bottom of our feet bring us, think walking in grass, putting your old, hot, tired, dogs into a nice cool stream or what about your cold feet next to your lover's warm ones or even kinder, vis versa.  Who puts that much thought into the bottom of our feet?  We don’t even do that.  But Someone did.  And what about this glory crop of green magically happening all over the world?  Can you imagine making that much green, putting it everywhere and no one saying, “thank you?”  If you can’t; imagine you were the one that only put the new green on the trees in your neighborhood and none of your neighbors stopped by or even waved and said “Thanks neighbor!”  It would hurt me.  Or what about this one; what if it were your job to push your part of the earth a little closer to our (His) star so that Spring begins and you pulled it off, not every year but just this one and everyone you saw not only didn’t thank you but didn’t even acknowledge you, didn’t even wave or smile at you?  I am glad, and so should you, that I am not God because I wouldn’t be hurt, I would be mad and probably push the earth right back into winter…and if I could do that I would probably push it a little further so that all my neighbors would have icicles on their noses.  Maybe to begin my 4 days of sunshine I need to thank Him that He is God and not me because grace abounds to us all but abounds towards me—THE MOST!  WE have 4 days!  On your mark.  Get set. GO.  

 

My wife and I built this altar to God for giving us our first grandson.
Years later our family hiked there to show it to him and as soon
as he saw it he ran up and hugged it.  Knox Lee Benson.