THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE

(happy Valentine's Day, MC)

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:21‭-‬24 ESV

It was noticed, "Nobody for the man ..."

Surely, this is not the ideal plan?!

Provide a remedy for this, "I surely can!"

And this is how romance, amour began!

Named all the beasts from all the world wide.

But sitting alone, the silence, I cannot abide.

My rib is gone! There's a pain in my side?!

No longer alone; naked? where can we hide?

Laughing, in the garden, together we play.

Never an option, from Him we would stray?

Then came the Snake; lies he did say!

"Take a bite; there's no need to obey ..."

Together we wander, somewhere east of the gate.

The thorns, the pain, the heat are our cursed fate.

To our garden, will we ever return? Or, is it too late?

Let's stick together! Forever, you are my mate!

Through the darkness and in the cold,

At least we have each other to hold!

He blessed us with, at least this, in days of old.

There's a refuge ahead, or so it is told.

Towards the light on that far away hill,

Hold my hand! Make it there we will!

Look into my eyes, hope, the love will instill.

Together, what one lacks, the other will fill.

A song will again resound from our redeemed voice!

Hold my hand, onward together, the only sound choice,

By and by in paradise we will dance and rejoice.

Our cups filled with heavenly nectar, together we'll hoist!

THE JOURNEY

Three and four generations of family and friends, fellow believers, a caravan, like Jacob, his sons, and their families, we are on a journey.  Egypt is but a stopover, not the Promised Land.  Keep us faithful, journeying through this wilderness to the Promised Land!

Sometimes we fuss and feud over trails, campsites, even firewood.  But, we are headed in the same direction, mostly.  Lord, bless the strugglers and the wanderers and the quitters!

There are daily foraging tasks and water carrying.  Sometimes kids get to throwing apples or berries.  Worse, occasionally the water trips turn into skinny-dipping mistakes.

There have been a few that went off on foraging assignments, and they kept on going, collecting barrels of food that they just keep rolling along, but not sharing.  They just wandered away, and forgot about the journey.  We hear from them; they write notes to us, rarely, but they are going a different direction.  Really, they have just squatted in the wilderness.  What can be done?  They have lost sight of the destination towards which we journey.  No amount of urging or waving goodbye seems to help.

A few have gotten so busy playing at waterholes, that they refuse to move on, when we break camp to continue on the journey.  They were last seen splashing around and lounging on the sandy banks.  We had to stay focused and moved on.  We called and pleaded, to no good results. But, rarely a swimmer walks up from behind us on our trail.  That is such a joyful day!

We need daily bread, and cups of cold water, for sure.  But, the journey must be kept in the forefront of our life?!  Sidetrails lead nowhere good.  As we sit around the campfires, looking up into the night sky, gazing at the stars, awed at the rare shooting star, we sing songs about the journey.  Lord, tune our hearts to sing your praise!  And, Lord, bless the strugglers and the wanderers and the quitters!

"Here we are but straying pilgrims ..."

Here we are but straying pilgrims;
Here our path is often dim;
But to cheer us on our journey,
Still we sing this wayside hymn:

Refrain

Yonder over the rolling river,
Where the shining mansions rise,
Soon will be our home for ever,
And the smile of the blessèd Giver
Gladdens all our longing eyes.

Here our feet are often weary
On the hills that throng our way;
Here the tempest darkly gathers,
But our hearts within us say:

Refrain

Here our souls are often fearful
Of the pilgrim’s lurking foe;
But the Lord is our defender,
And He tells us we may know:

Refrain

https://hymnary.org/text/here_we_are_but_straying_pilgrims

https://youtu.be/oRmZJ0O2swY

WHERE IS SHE?

What a lonely man he surely must be.
That could have, just as well, been me?!
His grandkids on Facebook pictures I see.
But, if it is really him, where is she?!

Her picture, there she is; it's surely them, then!
but, then, captioned, "Happy Birthday, in heaven ..."
In this life, he will never hold her again.
Invading my soul, "such for me? Never! maybe? when?!"

This FB thing suggests possible friends, a long list?!
Some forgotten, some not even missed.
Life has moved on with many a twist.
Life, but vapor; too soon gone, a morning mist.

Enjoy the friends that He gives, while you can!
Too soon it washes away, footprints in the sand.
What is it all about? But dust is man?!
He writes our story with His own hand.

So, take the time to enjoy, deeply, the best.
Shove aside the wrong , and all the rest.
The clock is ticking on this earthly test.
Give thanks for much; He has surely blessed!

ARROGANCE

(just some mmmmm)

ARROGANCE

Arrogance is three leaps past confidence.
It is based upon false evidence confused with providence.

From it we have built between you and us a dividing fence.
Forgotten is the common source of royal and others born whence.

We proclaim ourselves such, but are we really so dense!?
Our Father must look down and just frown at our lack of good sense!

THEOLOGY

THEOLOGY

Sometimes I feel like a blind man being escorted through a museum by self-declared, know-it-all experts who are explaining, with unchallenged confidence, the nuance of color and light in the artwork, undetectable to me?! And, in the background I can clearly hear others who are contradicting their conclusions. And, some are even laughing?! Others are just getting angry. Surely, though, there is a master behind these pieces, reproductions, being discussed, since these pieces are only prints of originals!?  

The C's and A's opine endlessly.  The PM's and AM's rant and rave.  "I am of so-and-so; I am of him ..."

An old hymn comes to mind, "Open My Eyes"

https://youtu.be/ZYjr9CsqHvQ

2020 VISION

2020 VISION -- A prayer for the New Year.

(only once, in the history of mankind, will it be 20/20?! if you don't count BC?!)


Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” 
So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, 
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  2 Kings 6:17

Lord, in this new year, give us eyes to see, clearly, fully, joyfully ...

to see Your undeserved, unmerited, unconditional, incredible love.

to see Your sovereign power and control over the least detail and the most important.

to see Your care and concern for all, from least to greatest, from closest to farthest, from holiest to vilest.

to see Your "glorious little ones" Your "fiery flaming ones" the mighty myriads on the mountains around us, the charioteers ...

to see Your footsteps in the sand, Your whisper in the calm, Your peace in the storm.

to see the invisible, the joy and hope and love, that surrounds and infuses us.

to see the Babe, the Child in the Temple, the One walking on the sea, the compassionate Healer, ..., the crucified, risen Lord.

to see the Matthew-25 "least of these" ... and see the blessing to respond with a touch, a cup, a kindness.

to see Him who sits at your right hand, ever interceding and pleading for us, sinners saved by His sacrifice.

to see the Place being prepared, far beyond what has been seen or imagined. 

MALL OF CHRISTIANITY

I had a waking dream about the "Mall of Christianity"?!  You know, a shopping center you can walk around in, whether you buy anything, or not.  So, I went into the maze and stumbled around in wonder and confusion!

There were five or six Anchor Stores.  They were the biggest and main part of the mall.
1. Catholics. Oldest franchise in the mall, and proud of it!  Baroque atmosphere, pomp, aristocratic, bluebloods  But, why were they playing "Mother, may I?". Not a lot about Jesus?!   There seemed to be a lot of Mexicans there too?!  I would have expected to see more Italians and Irish.  I guess they were at a different mall.  It is an interesting place.
2. Calvinists. Weird place.  Terminator-Borg-AI atmosphere?! Robots checking to see if they were model E or D?!  Cold as hell in there.  Staff really unfriendly about answering any questions.  A lot about the sovereignty of God, but little about the loving Savior?!  It was kind of stuffy in there?!
3. Charismaniacs.  They had several sections in the store, but they were a lot alike.  House of distorted mirrors with smoke blowing, and with the Joker and the Medusa pastoral couple running around?!  A lot of lip about tongues, and the "Holy Ghost" -- but little about the Head, Jesus the Son of God.  I walked around in there for a while, but left shaking my head.
4. Community-Churches-R-Us.  Loud. Flashy. Avant-garde.  Songs that were "7-11" and little depth.  There were a lot of sheep, but many had been stolen?!  A lot of shoppers in there.

(They all had guards to keep out the others, or maybe to keep in their own?!)

5. Orthodoxs. Not sure about them. Never went in. Foot doctors?! Orthopaedic surgeons?!  Just kidding.  They seemed a lot like the first place I went through?!
6. Copts. Old franchise, but another place not well known to me. Maybe they are "Hellycopts"?! Ha!  I peeked in the door, but walked on by.

Many small shops selling their speciality.  The smaller stores can be quite personal, but often peculiar.
1. Seventh-dayers.
2. KJV-ONLYers
3. End-of-worlders
4. Vegans
5. Essential-oilers
6. ...

Shoppers seemed bewildered.  Some were there just to visit, or exercise. 

Down on one end was an interesting group.  The Salvation Army was feeding homeless folks and running a thrift store?!

Nearly empty parking lot.  Most stores empty.  Food court was busy though!

I got a coffee and sat at the edge of the food court, just watching desperate derelicts walk into the Salvation Army Store looking for a sandwich, I guess.