HIDING AT THE MALL

HIDING AT THE MALL

                “Jerry, this is a really neat hiding place.  Mama will never find us in here!”  “But, Steve, she told us not to wander off and to stay in sight.”  “Yeah, but she is not even watching us.  Let’s play a joke on her and scare her good?!”

                We kept peeping out between the dresses on the circular display rack.  Mama kept shopping away, slowly moving from rack to rack, until we could no longer see her.  Maybe some the other customers thought the two little boys, giggling behind the outfits, were cute?  Others likely thought we needed a spanking?

                “Steve, do you see Mama?”  “No, but she hasn’t noticed yet that we are gone!”  “Maybe we should look for her?”  “No, she will find us.”

                “Attention, Sears customers,” blared the P.A. speaker.  “There is smoke in the Tool Department; everyone please leave the store quietly and safely and orderly; walk; do not run; do not panic…”  Next, it was a regular stampede of panicked, screaming shoppers!  The crowd was mobbing at the exits, pushing, shoving, screaming.  And, thick smoke was filling the store.

                Across the store I heard, “Jerry!  Steve!  Where are you…?”  Steve was crying.  I was frozen in fear.  We couldn’t see through the smoke.  And her pleading voice was disappearing.  Mostly all we could hear was everyone else screaming – mothers, children…

                About that time, I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing hard, but suffocating.  I sat on the edge of the bed trying to stop the spinning room.

 

                “Father, it is so noisy and hazy here, that too often I feel alone and lost.  The chatter is confusing.  Disorienting and disturbing is the hellacious din.  Above the thunderous roar of this crowd, come to me in your still, small voice.  Keep me close to you.  Hold my hand.  Let me see your smile.”

THE WAY BACK

THE WAY BACK

                This place feels safe.  But, it is dark.  And, I am feeling the heat being sucked out of my body.  And, sometimes, it feels as if the walls are closing in on me, trying to suffocate me.  I am not sure how long I can stay here.  But, everything out there bites and stings.  In here, it’s cool, even if a little damp.

                I remember them talking about “the garden” and how peaceful it was.  But, all I ever knew was the squalor in which my folks raised me.  Thorns. Thistles.  And the snakes! agh!  And, we had to work constantly, just to survive.  When we’d get a little stored up, then came the rats and worms.  It was a losing battle.

                We brought Him an offering to “thank” Him for the “bounty” that He “gave” us; and, then He turned up His nose at mine.  That damned brother.  I showed them?!  Who’s the favorite now?  But, here I am now.  Alone.

                There are some camp fires I have seen down in the next valley.  I don’t know who they could be in the god-forsaken wilderness.  How could anybody make it out there?!  But, I am going to die if I stay here.  Maybe they won’t kill me.

                I am going to begin walking down there, tomorrow.  I sure cannot go back where I was.  There is no way they would take me back.  I am too far gone, anyways.  I am not even sure how to get back.  Odd!  The old man used to mutter that same thing?!  “…not sure how to get back…”

MEETING YOUR MAKER

MEETING YOUR MAKER 

  ¹¹ And he said, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.  (1 Kings 19:11-12 -- RSV)

                On a deathbed, or maybe in a bar-fight, one might hear the question, “Are you ready to meet your maker?”  The prophet, Elijah, had been sent to the mountain, to meet with the Lord.  In the grandeur of the mountain, in the fierceness of the storm, in the violence of the earthquake, in the destruction of the fire, God was not met.  But, a still small voice, then, told him that he was not alone.

                How does one best meet God?  The great commandment calls us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  So, is it in the mystical, or the mental, or the musical, or the manual?  (one might add: meeting, mass-marketing, management/organization …)  Does one go deeper? Or, delirious? Or, “duty calls” is the motto?  Or, the “disciplines”?  I must confess, I find some truth in each answer.

                But, which avenue is foolproof?  (keep in mind that fools can mess up anything)  It has been said that “you can’t fix stupid…;” to which one might add, “…selfish, or sinful, or sarkos” (“flesh” - KJV)  The studious theologian might begin to think himself incapable of error.  And, if one crosses the “shouter” he may meet a rebuke of “blasphemy…”  But, not all theologians see eye-to-eye; nor do all Pentecostals “speak the same language” (line up perfectly) in their views, on some basic, foundational points.  Personally, I know that I have moved, through the years, in my position on several issues.

                Humility and honesty are mandatory.  Prayer.  Meditation. Scripture. These are basics. Most importantly, Jesus is the visual aid.  If one can see Him, then one can see God!  And, if your view does not look like Jesus, then it is just wrong!

John records two invitations to “come see Jesus.” -- The first one is in John 1:45-49

⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

The second is in John 4:28-29 (RSV) 

²⁸ So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They went out of the city and were coming to him. 

Also, one cannot but hear the similar call of the writer of Hebrews!
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV) 

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

For a brief moment…

For a brief moment…

                A house trailer, home for some unknown neighbor, started spinning the wheels in my head.  For nearly twenty years she and I have shared a nice, ranch-style home on twenty acres.  From there our children left to find their own way on this spinning rock.  Under the stars over this campsite, somewhere east of Eden, we have taken refuge.  We have sought fellow-believers with whom we could fellowship, and find comfort and compass.

                Next, far too unbelievably soon, we will move on, maybe to sojourn, briefly, with grown children.  Then, we will step into “the next.”  Monuments.  Stones.  Markers.  All of these are forgotten too soon.  They are lost to the third generation, maybe even the second!  We are NOT just “dust in the wind”; but, we are but a mist, a vapor, soon gone.

                What remains?  In the hearts of family and friends we pass on what matters.  So, what will I leave behind?!  Will this place be a little darker and colder; or, please, a little brighter and warmer?  Will I pass on the heavenly glimmer of love?  or, the hateful meanness of the pit?  I choose love, joy, peace …

                Thank you for the light you have shown, the love I have known, the peace you give.  May they inherit this.  Lord, have mercy.  Sweet Jesus.