I’m Ashamed of Us

Not my usual “raindrops on roses" blog title, is it? There’s a reason. My blog on Monday, and blogs since then, have been very family-and-self-minded. My motives were pure in that I hoped to exemplify the blessings of enjoying God’s creation, family and family fun. As well, desiring to encourage others to slow down or to stop and be still so we can hear and see God’s goodness and mercy in full array. Seriously, our family uses that time to shut out the world and focus on us and Him.

But, that’s part of why I’m ashamed. My granddaughter, an avid Instagram follower and poster, on Wednesday, asked: “Nana, did you hear about the man that was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis?” I hadn’t. She proceeded to tell me the back-story to George Floyd’s death, perpetrated by the officer who had his knee on his neck and wouldn’t release him even when he was saying he couldn’t breathe. Maybe I expressed some sadness, but certainly not to the measure that this incident deserved. I casually dismissed it from my mind. I’m so ashamed.

I’m back home and the visibility of what happened is on all media. I watched three black ministers and one white minister detailing the incident and the shame of it all on a Christian talk show. The black host, Clifton Davis, former “Amen” actor, was compelling in leading the discussion. The white minister, Rich Wilkerson Sr., had little to say. He just cried and expressed, like I am, shame. The panel each spoke to the options we have as Christians, which includes operating in the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. One of the black ministers encouraged white ministers to start speaking up more about respect, honor, and dignity of the human race at large.

And, I agree. This is a human race issue. It is a “kindness” issue. It is a “love others” issue. It is a deep-look-inside-ourselves issue. We cannot just sit back, close our eyes and hope that everything’s gonna’ be alright. We can’t just let others “fight the good fight” or to offer a mediocre prayer. It's about all of us speaking up and out about daily choices.

We can live with the chaos and negativity and assaults on our brothers and sisters OR we can treat God’s children as the absolute priceless treasures that they are by speaking up and out for them. Enough is enough. We can be Good Samaritans. We can be good neighbors. We can be the peacemaker in the midst of family disagreements. We can walk away from a group that is telling inappropriate jokes and stories. Violence in movies, video-games, and tv shows we watch, the music we listen to, and the sensitive or insensitive conversations we have with others all determine which side of the camp we'll be on. Peace or anger. Love or hate. Philippians 4:8 says it best: "Keep practicing those things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy. THEN, the God of peace will be with you."

And, finally, back to this scripture which is for the pandemic, the chaos in politics, in conditions of the heart and soul, and conflict in our society and in our homes, please heed these words: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Lord, please forgive us. Please forgive me for my lack of concern, my lack of compassion, my lack of speaking up for my fellow man and woman. Tenderize my heart to be as loving, caring and tender-hearted as Your heart. We pray for a uniting of our hearts as Your children – as brothers and sisters in the Family of God. In Mandisa’s song, she sings: “We all bleed the same. We're more beautiful when we come together. We all bleed the same. So tell me why, tell me why, we're divided. If we're gonna’ fight, let's fight for each other. If we're gonna’ shout, let love be the cry.”
Hear our cry to love, oh Lord, we pray. Amen.

We Have Nothing to Fear Except Fear Itself

That was a line from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Inaugural Address in 1933. But are FDR's words true, especially when we hear about the coronavirus more each day? No question -- if we only thought, read, studied and listened to the news about it, we could seriously get ourselves into a world of fear.

I loved hanging with my #4 grandson (in order of ages), my #3 grandson and #1 granddaughter the last couple of days. #4, Brennan, from Austin, is here as his school is closed because of the coronavirus outbreak, and next week is Spring break for him. Word has it that officials from his school are already talking about home-schooling. He loves that idea!

In the midst of the chaos, we are having intelligent family discussions about the pandemic. Most of the discussions are about “having no fear” because we have been inoculated with God’s Holy Word. Jesus said this in John 14: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; also, trust in Me.”

But how can we trust, if we really don’t know what the Bible says? It’s time to get to the equipping station to power up on God’s Word. Look at what Psalm 91:1-16 says:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you FROM DEADLY DISEASE. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the DISEASE that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; NO PLAGUE will come near your home. For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

Those are words direct from Heaven Central. God ALWAYS presents reasons for us to TRUST in His sovereignty and power to keep us in peace when everything else in the world screams out for us to FEAR. Reality tells us that so much of what we spend our time worrying about never even happens. Living under the weight of the "what if's" is a hard place to dwell.

I struggled with fear and worry for years -- so much so that I developed acute colitis. My amazing Christian doctor coached me to healing by giving me the prescription of taking God's Word into my heart and meditating on it, when anxiety would come up. And, I did. I learned to call on the Prince of Peace (Jesus) to give me peace. Through time, I began to find that the things that once would have sent me down a spiral of fear, no longer had the same effect. I read words of life and truth like those above. I soaked them in, prayed them out loud, until they became so familiar, they replaced the other things in my mind that I had battled against.

Change happened. Anxious thoughts began to diminish. Worry let go of its constant grip. God's words became "life" words, soothing to my soul, calming my spirit, giving power to my days. It wasn't always easy, and it often came down to a choice. Choosing not to allow fear and anxiety to control my life. Choosing to guard my heart. Choosing to focus my mind on what is truth in the midst of uncertainty.

We are living in times when we can rationalize that it’s okay to be afraid, but not according to God’s Word. When we feel out of control and not able to make sense of it all, we can rest assured that God is IN control and already has a plan for keeping us safe and sound. .If FEAR has you in its grip, I urge you to take the same prescription that Dr. Gregory gave me. Over and over again, as many times a day as you can -- take God's Word in, speak it, pray it, meditate on it and be healed.

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

PEACE be with you!

Maestro! May My Eyes and Heart Be on You!

Maestro definition: Master Conductor, expert, genius, prodigy, pro, virtuoso, a great or distinguished figure in any sphere.

I’m sure you’ve been there when an orchestra is tuning up before their concert. All of those musicians are doing their own thing to check out their instrument – to be sure it’s in tune. Those players are not in sync or in harmony. How could anything beautiful come from what sounds so disharmonious and chaotic. But, in a matter of minutes, it is like a switch was flipped and the Maestro appears. He tap, tap taps his baton and, voila, the chaos turns into the most melodic, rhythmic, harmonious, sweet sounding and beautiful music. The appearance of the Maestro changed everything. Every eye and ear of the orchestra was set on their Maestro, and he guided them through a symphony of delight to all who were captured by the richness of their symphony.

If there were no Maestro, the musicians would continue to be doing their own thing that continued to result in an abundance of NOISE. Isn’t that similar to our world today? So much noise of anger, animosity, dissension and voices of “know it alls” – so much criticism of this and that in our world with CHAOS abounding.

On Ash Wednesday, last week – the day when many Christians went to church to focus on their MAESTRO and it was also the day when yet another tragic shooting took place in a Florida school. The perpetrator’s maestro was not God but the enemy of his soul. The reaction by the NOISY masses was “We need gun control. We need more mental illness awareness.” In the meantime, the ONE – the MAESTRO – our Creator – had been terminated from schools. Our MAESTRO was no longer welcomed in prayer or any other acknowledgement of Him. I can’t help but believe if God were still allowed in our schools, it would be very different today.

My point today is welcoming our MAESTRO to lead again because when He is leading – a spectacular symphony is heard. And in similar ways, our lives create a beautiful symphony of harmony and melodic music when we depend, rely, and fully follow the direction of our Maestro – our Master Conductor. There may be chaos, disharmony and disagreement on so many levels around us, but if OUR eyes and OUR ears are fixed on the peace, joy, and harmony that God represents in our lives and when we follow His lead, He will turn the chaos and disharmony of our life into a beautiful symphony of peace. That music will be a sweet, sweet sound in His ears and in the ears of those in our life. I think of the prayer of St. Francis as I type this post, "Lord, make me an "instrument" of your peace!" May peace be the song in our heart, in our mind, and in our mouth as we follow our Maestro's lead.

I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship You, oh my soul, rejoice!
Take joy my King in what You hear.
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

Psalm 57:7 "My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music."

Billows of Love

“Billows” isn’t a word that I use in my everyday speech. But, yesterday, on my morning walk, I looked up at the sky and saw the clouds in billows. An old song that I heard my mama sing so many times came to my mind. “Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever I pray, in fathomless BILLOWS of love.” And, right in the middle of those “billows” was the sun shining through. Of course, I had a “God” moment!

When I returned home, I headed to "Google" to be sure that I had “billows” in the right connotation, and sure enough, billows means a large mass of something, typically cloud, smoke, or steam. Aha! Billows of love and peace sweeping over my soul right in the middle of the storms I might be facing – love and peace that comes from the sun (the Son)!

It was such a sweet thought I had about my precious mother who – these many years later – I remember how she lived in God’s peace in the middle of tremendous chaos. My mom knew chaos. Her husband (my dad) was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was eight years old. After the surgery to remove the tumor, my dad was never the same. He had many seizures that I witnessed as a young child that created chaos and fear in my young mind. There was no back-up plan for any potential of something happening to Dad, so my mom had to work long hours to supply for us. He passed away when I was fifteen. I watched Mom, throughout those years, to be in peace. I never saw her anguishing about her “lot in life”. I remember that she had to sell her wedding ring at a pawn shop to get enough money to help make ends meet. Maybe, I saw tears on that day, but she would rise up and sing “Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever I pray, in fathomless billows of love.”

I, too, know that peace because of her example. I had my own times of chaos. I clung to the same peace during those times like my mama did. I’m in a 12-week Bible Study and this week’s lesson is “Out of Chaos; Into His Image”. I’d much rather ponder “peace” than “chaos” because chaos means “complete disorder and confusion”, turmoil, disruption, train wreck”. Train wreck? I read those words “train wreck” and I remembered my mom again. She could no longer have children and for that matter didn’t want any more since she already had three children of whom the youngest was 12. But she was in a train wreck and that “chaos” reorganized her insides and bada bing bada boom, I was conceived. At first it added “chaos” to her world, but she was so grateful for “her baby” because I was the one that would not only comfort her in her tough times, but, eventually, I was her caregiver. She had taught me well the way of peace. I was able to return the favor.

I have many dear friends in Puerto Rico who have lost everything in the disaster of Hurricane Maria. I have other friends and family going through tremendous storms and wonder if they’ll survive the chaos in their world. Maybe you are one of those that is suffering today for fear of what the future may hold for you because of the chaos all around you. Your own “train wreck” could be the catalyst for birthing new ideas, creativity, dreams coming true, and resurrection life.

Let’s turn the chaos into peace. Jesus did it when He spoke to the winds and waves, “Peace be still”. He’s given us the authority to speak to the winds and waves in our lives. May we all sing and pray with my Mom: “Peace, peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever I pray, in fathomless billows of love.”

Psalm 29:11 “The LORD will give strength to His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace.”