we’re still sharing time together ‘In The Garden’, only now we are three…..These last days I have spent hours with my friend and God. We have talked and walked together for years and many times discussed death, however, he and I have never been face to face.
Our lives are relived when crisis knocks…It is never ‘our turn’ when we awaken each day. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, 8 to 5 at work, then to the gym, then home for supper, a little house upkeep. TV, and on to bed. Kids are well, bills are paid, car is running, and our parents are fine…..until one day when there is a sequence of events that changes everything. No problem, we are Christians, we know where we are and where we are going. Right…..just wait til your sequence of events becomes even more….perhaps an accident, a disease, divorce, or job loss.
God, where did you go? What’s happened here? I’m unstable and seem to be losing my way! I knew things like this happened, but to me!
It’s time to remember our walk in the garden….the moments spent in preparation for the wonders and disasters of living. Stop, wait, breathe deeply, and go to your garden. God is waiting, patiently, always thru the good and bad, just waiting for you to come home. The door is always open to share the peaks and valleys with the one who loves us regardless….
Fly’in by the seat of my pants on this one…..My friend is close to dying, in a hospital far away.
Sometimes he wants to go and sometimes he says out loud “I want to live, I don’t want to die!” and then he struggles to breathe. I’ve been thinking of him, about what I’d do, if it were me, etc….all day.
He has been sick for about 4 years. He is a Christian. He teaches it, he believes it, and is joyous to be a disciple. His cancer has come and gone, again and again. He musters himself to the cancer center for chemo, tests, talks, suggestions, and promise. Then he returns home to face his demons with strength from his God, his family, his church, his friends.
His walk with God is friendly, as a long married couple, who seems to know what the other is thinking. And yet, like all of us, he loves his life. He enjoys what God has provided all …finches announcing the rising sun on a summer’s day; the smell of orange blossoms, the hugs he receives at church, the ability to help in healing services and offer communion; the joy of a son, the burst of beauty as fall comes to New England, the Gulf of Mexico cooling his feet during an evening walk, and just knowing, in spite of it all, God is with him,in him, around him, thru him, as He is with everyone.
As a friend, I want him in peace and without pain. As a friend, I don’t want to lose him. As a Christian, I know it is all ok.
This is not my first friend to come close to death, or to die. My first was a good friend in my church who died when we were in our early 40’s. I hurt for her then because her death was an a health accident. She was so brave. I had another friend who died of ovarian cancer. She had it for years and no doctor ever caught it. We were in our 50’s then.
Now I am 70 and it is hard to even type the number. Losing those friends of 10, 20, 50 years will become more common…and I will, once again, see and feel great bravery, just as I see right now.
So on this June day, I to feel lost in time…not knowing whether is peace will come with death, or with a rejuvenation to live on, ready to continue the fight….so the songs of finches can awaken him tomorrow morning.
Peace be with you all, in whatever chapter your life is in.
And if you have an old hymnal around, read the words of ‘In the Garden”….it serves me well in times like these.
Today….we look at the church by using two words…..Two words that can overwhelm any church/parish or attendee. These two words come out of the dictionary….and their definitions are variable When it comes to seriousness. What I’ve found is that the degree of this seriousness is one of the main pitfalls in how churches act and react. This is our challenge…..
Word #1…..CONDITION/conditional….
Subject to or depending on a condition; not absolute
Existing state
Situation with respect to circumstances
Restricting, limiting or modifying a circumstance
(as in ‘only under certain conditions’)
Stipulation that would alter an agreement or an event
A diseased state of the body
To make something a condition
Word #2…..UNCONDITIONAL
Not limited by any condition…..absolute as in God’s love
Ever see those wonderul pictures that come from our friends’ email…cuddly, cute pets,….the artist that lays newborns in a flower, or in their father’s hand. Warm and fuzzy to the max.
Where does that go…we grow up, that’s where it goes. Like the line in South Pacific….’You have to be carefully taught’ to become conditional. If these thoughts make you sad, imagine how God feels.
We do live conditional lives, some conditions more degrading than others. “She’s divorced”…..”Unmarried and 2 kids and on welfare”….”They were baptized in _________ church but not here”…….”He always smells”……..”They just come on holidays”……”They only gave $_____last year”……..”Their son just got out of jail”…… and yes, it goes on and on.
But living conditionally doesn’t make it right…..it’s the ‘everybody’ or ‘they’ where we get this syndrome. “Well that’s the way we’ve always done it”…..”Everybody feels the same way”.
Now is when we spend some alone time wondering how we got this way…this lifestyle of condition. Paul wanted his new baby churches to work together….some did, but some felt it better to try to outdo one another….better food, better giving, better crowds. They missed the point didn’t they…..their church going became conditional. Baby churches also contended with new members not quite standing up to the “Christian way”….some were having affairs, some sill loved those idols, and on and on.
Paul was in the same mess then with new churches as we are today….
Not every new Christian was falling in line when it came to Christ’s teachings….Dang! (and I honestly think that’s what Paul said)
But Paul … in his frustration, along with his love of God….rose to the occasion. He did not what was necessarily the easiest, nor the most moral (conditional), but what was right in God’s eyes…he reminded his newbies that God’s love is UNCONDITIONAL and ABSOLUTE… There are no rooms in God’s house where conditions apply…..except that we do unto others as we expect others to do unto us….. and that we love our neighbor as ourself.
Imagine what would happen if our churchd decided to follow this idea? Now I know there are other rules about all kinds of things in the old and new testament, but loving your neighbor and doing unto others….seems to cover it all. I’ll give you a ‘for instance’……..I attended a Disciples of Christ Church in a small town in central Indiana….I had grown up going to a Disciples of Christ Church with my family, but in my late 20’s married and moved to another town. Little did I know, they had a ‘closed membership’. I’d never heard of it….wasn’t a rule in every church, but it was in this one. If one was baptized in other church, they had to be re-baptized again! I CALL THAT A CONDITION! I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now, 50 years later.
Funny, but I bet some of you are not agreeing with me…and this is just ONE itty bitty condition…..
So I’m leaving…..for now…..Think over God’s way of loving everyone and everything, and then take a look at how we love everyone and everything. MMmmmmmm
It ain’t over til it’s over….there’s still time to live and love’
UNCONDITIONALLY.
Well, I’m here to say, there is seems no end to this spring party in the Gulf….One doesn’t hear much, but the beaches are jump’in..yes, even ‘in the air’ jump’in.
Now that the little guys have arrived, their extended family have received their invites. It is time for sprucing up the digs, so many hermit crabs are up sizing. Yes, they do outgrow, their studio type homes, so searches go on constantly. People (nice humans) who visit the Gulf, know they should only take one live shell away from the beach each visit……what a shame they are allowed even that.
(another ‘be that as it may’) So it is proper etiquette to lift gently and peek in to these shell homes first, before plopping them into your bucket. If they have set up housekeeping, it is then necessary to put them back, and apologize for making thier little hearts skip a beat.
As spring progresses, many empty shell bodies are found. The tides give us a new view of what the Gulf has to offer, and the waves gently deposit the new, old, and empty shells of life in it’s beautiful waters. It is a fact of life, life and death, and the Gulf of Mexico shows us how the grand plan was put into place. I still wonder, at almost age 70, why things are the way they are, so don’t feel alone, if you wonder the same, now and then.
Discarded shells from other generations do provide exquisite art that cannot be duplicated. Their color, their shape, and their design are the architecture of God. Each is made to house the life inside…and is done so to perfection. Take note…..and know it is a simple joy to ‘stop’ and look at these treasures….they will move you and replenish your soul.
I spent the evening at low tide, picking and choosing my next gallon of shells….What a wonderful and inexpensive habit I have. The warmth of spring, the waters of the Gulf, a good friend, and a bucket. These are the days to remember. Thank goodness I’ve been allowed to realize these moments. Just take 60 seconds…and stop to look around…then take 70 seconds and then 80. Take in all the gifts God gives us each day..for free!!
Wow….or maybe it should be WOW!! It is party time in SW Florida and the city is not one you regularly party in on Fri. night…well, at least not all the time. IT’S THE GULF OF MEXICO, of course. It is springtime in the Gulf and on the Gulf and the place is jump’in.
Everyone who is anyone in the Gulf Kingdom is coming home to reunite with some and partner up with others. It seems they’ve spent the winter in the deeper waters of the Gulf for safety and warmth, but now the beach waters are 80F and the welcome mat is out.
Mother Nature/God sure set it up right. The breezes are mild, the bugs are few and the snow
birds have gone north. The beaches are relatively quiet as big and little couples come to be a part of the large guest list. As in the order of things, there are some who depend on the lunching of others to keep this arrangement in harmony. I plan to ask Mother Nature/God about this when I visit the other side. If I ever come back, I’ll write about what they say.
Be that as it may, these wonderful creatures come home with great folly. There are schools of little fish…just new babies who stay close to each other or Mom/Dad. Some come from long egg pods that look like snake skeltons…and are they a work of art. Others look like the rubber seals that keep canned peaches tasty.
In the sky, parent and child Osprey glide and squawk during daily lessons. As in our species, many children carry on something terrible when mom quits bringing the daily meal. Goes to prove that leaving the nest is not exciting for everyone.
The skates come to visit for the summer in April/May of each year. They definitely add a ‘shuffle’ to our step when we take our daily walks. You see, they love to nestle in the very shallow waters of the Gulf….looking for tasty morsels. After finding a spot, they wiggle/shiver into the sand and do whatever….maybe take a nap.
However!!
When someone or something comes by unannounced, these tiny darlings become a little startled and whip their tail around to barb whoever is nearby. Well, dang, I can vouch for the fact that THAT HURTS!! Keep in mind, however, I’ve been coming here for 35 years and have only been stung once…and it was my fault….not shuffling in a skate zone. No ticket given, but 45 min of pouring super hot water on the spot to ease the toxins, taught me well.
More later…….your correspondant, from the beach says tootle
Sleeping til 9….hubby and kitty both purring…..
Opening the blinds to an ocean blue sky with cotton clouds…
Ten cups and 3 measures offer up a delightful aroma to begin the day…
Outside the news waits patiently….some good, some not…
And life is good…
Clothes peak out of the hamper, ready for a wash…
Plants lean toward the sun and wait for their faucet drink…
Kitty paws me for his morning treat and then heads to the front porch…
Soaking beans soften up to a ham hock for tonights supper…
And life is good….
A wodpecker looks for his meal in the Florida oak…
Squirrels scamper thru palm and frond, falling in love one moment, and digging up acorns the next…
Herons and gulls correspond as the sun rises further….looking for the baitfish to fattent their bellies…
And life is good…
Neighbors await their grandchildren, coming from the frozen north….
Wagons, sand pails, and cribs come out of storage, as the family comes together…
Snowbirds come and go, feeling lucky they are here to bask in the sun where coconut palms flourish…
And life is good…..
Blessings are acknowledged and health is never taken for granted….
Our 70 years have come so quickly, we sometimes lose count, until we look into the mirror…
Friendships are stronger, deeper, and longer than ever imagined….
A 50th high school reunion puzzles us to this very day…..
And life is good…
We carry on with our day, and smile that we no longer rise to be in the office at 7…
Our kind…..retirees, sift thru life’s memories and rejoice that children are grown and have jobs….
Their paths, beginning to march to the chorus of promises, dreams, sometimes stumbling as they find their way ……
And soon, one morning, they will find themselves, waking at 9, hubby and kitty purring, and the news of the day….. right outside…..
And life is good…..
“You may have a medical problem”……runs shivers up and down your spine. Even in the movies, those words make us tremble. We are all act brave, showing that ‘devil may care’ attitude, but deep inside our gut is churning and the sunny day goes to turbulent winds with the threat of rain.
It is checkup time…..an ultrasound for me and a colonoscopy for him. Been there more than once and yet it still creeps into our daily living, like the fog from the Pacific. Warm winds of serenity touching the cool winds of change…..cause us to become solitary, even though there is no prediction of doom.
So the bootstraps are pulled up…..as we become nonchalant in the face of our inner fearfulness.
We then begin to rationalize, and examine…..what are the odds…I take good care of myself….it doesn’t run in my family, and on and on. We do begin to feel better, and our sleep goes undisturbed.
The day comes for our tests…..and the phone rings for each of us…..”sure, we’ve done everything, we’ll be there, no problem”. The medical facility is warm, and friendly, and we are ushered to our rooms. We look into the eyes of the staff, watching as they take pictures, in hopes of finding reassuring glances that all is well. The procedures are over almost as quickly as they begin and we welcome the lifting of the haze of marking time.
The phones ring the next afternoon….and with certitude, we answer. “Just calling to say your test was negative and all is well”…..”We’ll see you next year”. The phone rings again. “The results of your procedure are negative”. We’ll see you in 5 years”. And the sun shines once more.
I read two papers this AM with 3 cups of coffee…..let me say it again, I READ TWO NEWSPAPERS this morning with 3 cups of coffee. My kids tell me I’m really ‘out of mainline journalism’…..I’m in ‘mail-line journalism…and that is further out. I’m sad if it is the truth….that the days of newspapers are fading. Yes, the word ‘sad’ is appropriate.
The better part of my 68 years I’ve shared with a newspaper…..When I was learning to read….the newspaper was always in my home. Mother and Dad read, and then I read. Sure, at the age of 10 I wasn’t all that interested in the front page, but there were always the ‘funnies’. Kind of like learning to iron…..first you start with the hankies and then you move onward to more difficult pieces of clothing. That’s how the newspaper and I made friends.
Then, in high school, sometimes things in my small brain began to gel….I would read something in the paper and low and behold…we’d talk about it in government or history. Dang!
And now, after all these years, I’m more of an avid reader than ever. I learn every day…whether it is a joke, a piece of history, a sale, a divorce, a birth, a death, and on and on. LIFE is the newspaper and the newspaper is life. It tells me the weather, the high school basketball scores, the time of the July 4th parade, the mass at church, the sale at the local dress shop, the fishing report for the local lake, and the local police beat…often and thank goodness, more humorous than scary.
I would be foolish to say the Internet has not proved to be another great spot for the news….I know we can hear it all on local TV stations as well as CNN and FOX, but that’s not the news I long for….We all live in little areas..they may be inside large cities or on farms, distant from neighbors, however, we all desire to be close to one another….The local newspaper, whether it is weekly, bi weekly, in the morning or in the evening, binds our hearts, our lives, our dreams, and it extends the hand of friendship to all.
When traveling thru Tennessee, I read about the lives of folks in Nashville, Knoxville, and all the little towns in between. I look at their housing, their taxes, as well as their squabbles with local, county and state government. It truly does my heart good to see that we are pretty much the same, regardless of our proximity to one another. Soccer might be hot in So. California, but football is the game in Louisiana. High school football barely makes it in some western states, however, in Indiana, and the Ohio Valley, the homes are empty on Fri. night cause they are at the game. In the assisted care facilities…..everyone is in their room…..not cause they feel bad….but in season….it is basketball and football that keeps the lights on late into the night.
And last but not least…I love the ads…Where am I going to find so easily…..the for rent and for sale section, the used car section, the misc. for sale section, the legal announcement section, the inside ads for carpet, granite, hot dogs. 2 for 1, picking fresh blueberries, and the editorial section, including all the letters to the editor. So much entertainment, so much knowledge, so much life…..and all available in the paper.
So go ahead, read the Internet, learn that Tiger won his 74th, that the Supreme Court did or did not make the right decision, and the high in Las Vegas will be 104…..but for me, I’ll use it as backup only…..cause it is the paper…..I truly love.
Here we are, bumping along. There are ‘up’ days, ‘medium’ days, (normal) and ‘down days’. (Really all three are normal, right) So here we are, bumping along, and then……there we go. Exit bumping. Exit normal days. Exit life..we’re dead!
Now what shall become of us…..woulda, coulda, shoulda thoughts ‘should’a’ occurred prior to the ‘exit’ sign above us, but sometimes our ducks are not just ‘all in a row’, if you know what I mean.
Wait, what about that little card? I had that somewhere…dang where is it, my wallet, my purse, my top left drawer in the bedroom, with my passport, dang!
Well, not to worry now……as in ‘Elvis has exited……”. But, for the sake of this article, you do (or did) have that nice card. This card is way past nice, it is the best of the best, the cat’s meow, the Taj Mahal, lotto, and more. “Why”, you ask? Simple……If you only have one kidney that works, if you are blind, if your liver is shot, if your heart only pumps because of a machine, or heavy medication, this little card will be all the above and more.
You, the one newly exited, offer the gift of life, with this little card. People and organizations world-wide have come together to offer those in need, a new chance at life, and you, my friend, are the integral part. It is you who have, at one time, usually when you renewed your driver’s license, made the choice to donate your useful organs. Of course, at that time, death was at least 10 light years away, so it was not thought about prayerfully, but now!!!!!…….as you move on to the beautiful place you chose….that decision made in life is making life for others possible.
The stuff worked for you while you had it and needed it, but now, it is surplus. For that child needing a new kidney, it is beyond words. For the soldier, blind from serving his country, it is the open door to life and work and family. For these thankful recipients, it is not surplus, it is opportunity………
a light rain is washing off the earth this morning, leaves are letting go of their life and fluttering to the ground, blanketing my yard in yellows atop the green carpet. It feels good.
seriouslyscorpio 