In My Experience

No one lives or writes in a vacuum.  One writes from within their present reality, forged from past experiences, molded and shaped in ways that create the current experience.  From these experiences, he writes.  But there is also an overarching, encompassing foundation to his understanding of his life’s meaning.  “All things work together for (his) good,” regardless of whether he has the stamina to rise to believe this.  Sometimes his need for strength to believe is his greatest weakness.  In this experience, he finds it nearly impossible to write and focuses instead on staring into vast beauty, where he always finds God and His good working for him.   

 

Beautiful Feet

 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!"  I have received good news!

Smoke On The Water*

Sunshine, dawn, rain, blue skies, forests, rivers, pelicans, fire, coffee, music, The Word, time, lover, knowing, being, present consciousness; “We must be in heaven, man!”1  No, but it is a glimpse.  “The best of life on earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst a glimpse of Hell.  For Christians, the present life is the closest they will get to hell.  For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven. 2

1 Wavy Gravy MC at Woodstock

2 Randy Alcorn, Heaven

*Smoke on the water, God and Deep Purple

 

Indigo

Indigo is my favorite color.  It is the first color of assurance that morning will soon be broken.  

 

The Kindest Surprise

Nothing prepared me for being saved.  Nothing in my imagination was as wonderful as the life that was given to me has panned out to be.  I was wholly unprepared for God’s glory, His gift to me of His eyes and ears, His senses, His feelings, which He gave me to experience Him, life, marriage, love, work, parenthood, and the good works He has prepared for me to do.  I was made alive, so alive that it shocked me how dead I was before.  This good life is his gift to me, so that I am not boasting, but only giving credit to whom all credit belongs.  I am never prepared for this. It is the greatest and kindest surprise of my life.     

At Thanksgiving we have a tablecloth we bring 
out and everyone writes what they were most thankful for
this past year.

 

A Quiet Irony.

I have spent a lifetime collecting stuff.  Now I spend much of my life taking care of the stuff I have collected.  However, I collected most of my belongings when I was young, and now that I am older, I am less able to take care of the things I collected when I was young.  So I have found that I have used up most of myself taking care of the stuff I collected, and now I am having to pay others (doctors) to take care of me because I am too old to take care of myself, so that I can take care of my stuff.

There is a good reason Jesus never owned a home.  Owning a home is a full-time job, and he already has a full-time job, saving me from me.  

 

Family

Why is there family?  Family, to me, is the safest place in all humanity.  It is the towering fortress of security where all members can flourish, operating in an environment where flourishing is encouraged, aided, and expected.  Flourishing means to strive toward one's desired potential in any areas one is drawn to and/or naturally gifted in.  But above all, family is because of a common foundation, acknowledged or unacknowledged, where the above can be achieved and fully realized.  So the foundation becomes the most critical component of the family, the Cornerstone if you will.  

Our family was given this by two people who, though very unlikely, found the perfect and only true Cornerstone, Christ Jesus, Lord.  He, in turn, was passed down through the acceptance of his offer of salvation, generation upon generation, now at the third.  We are now left with only one of those two founding members, our matriarch and first responder, Mary Nell Gentry Benson, who was saved and, as commanded, became our ambassador of reconciliation, so that peace with God through His Son, Christ Jesus, is our only hope for our family.  We are an all-for-one and one-for-all family, saved by grace, humbled by the reality of our sins forgiven, fiery in defence, no quarter for pretense of betterness, loving in acceptance, proud in our heritage, we can all long to honestly pledge;

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give.

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

I surrender all, I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all. 

About half of us were able to celebrate
Christmas with our Matriarch, my mom.