Dark Alleys

His 12 year old daughter was dying – the light of his life. Although he was a respected, religious leader, he could do nothing to restore his child to health.

She had been to every doctor possible. No one could help her. She was weak from twelve years of bleeding and an outcast in her society.

Their brother was dead. He had been in the grave 3 days. They couldn’t understand why their best friend hadn’t come when he heard of the illness. He might have been able to help him.

He had everything a man could want – wealth, grown children who enjoyed being together, the blessings of God. All was taken away from him in one day. Then his physical health plummeted, and his friends concluded that it he brought all this upon himself.

She was down to the last bit of food for her son and herself. There was nothing in the pantry and no hope of any food to come. She had used every ounce of resources she had.

The city was soon to be attacked and captured by a foreign nation. Two men from that nation had promised her and her family protection and freedom. As she huddled in her home, waiting for her rescuers, she wondered if she had been foolish to trust their words. What if they had lied to her?

In every situation, a person has come to a dead end – an alley with no escape. They have exhausted all their options. They have used up all their resources. There is grief, sorrow, fear, anxiety, and little if any hope. These situations are God’s specialty! This is when his glory shines the most. This is when we see the power and might of the God whom we serve. He shares his glory with no one.

O, child of God, he wants to bless us with his power and might, but we need to be willing to go to the end of the alley where there is darkness and no hope of escape. He will not abandon us. He will walk down the alley with us and wait with us. He knows all about dark alleys. Remember Gethsemane? Remember the cross? I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be in a dark alley with than Jesus.

Dark Alleys

His 12 year old daughter was dying – the light of his life. Although he was a respected, religious leader, he could do nothing to restore his child to health.

She had been to every doctor possible. No one could help her. She was weak from twelve years of bleeding and an outcast in her society.

Their brother was dead. He had been in the grave 3 days. They couldn’t understand why their best friend hadn’t come when he heard of the illness. He might have been able to help him.

He had everything a man could want – wealth, grown children who enjoyed being together, the blessings of God. All was taken away from him in one day. Then his physical health plummeted, and his friends concluded that it he brought all this upon himself.

She was down to the last bit of food for her son and herself. There was nothing in the pantry and no hope of any food to come. She had used every ounce of resources she had.

The city was soon to be attacked and captured by a foreign nation. Two men from that nation had promised her and her family protection and freedom. As she huddled in her home, waiting for her rescuers, she wondered if she had been foolish to trust their words. What if they had lied to her?

In every situation, a person has come to a dead end – an alley with no escape. They have exhausted all their options. They have used up all their resources. There is grief, sorrow, fear, anxiety, and little if any hope. These situations are God’s specialty! This is when his glory shines the most. This is when we see the power and might of the God whom we serve. He shares his glory with no one.

O, child of God, he wants to bless us with his power and might, but we need to be willing to go to the end of the alley where there is darkness and no hope of escape. He will not abandon us. He will walk down the alley with us and wait with us. He knows all about dark alleys. Remember Gethsemane? Remember the cross? I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be in a dark alley with than Jesus.

The Seemingly Insignificant

We have always had a love-hate relationship with the honey bee. Honey is a delight to our taste buds, but getting stung by the producer of this sweet liquid can be a traumatic event. For most of us, our knowledge about this insect revolves around the bees gathering pollen to make the honey for their hives, and we’ve learned how to harvest that honey over the centuries. For centuries, monasteries engaged in beekeeping in order to utilize the beeswax for the many candles they needed and the honey for food preparation and medicinal purposes.

Recently, there was a documentary on PBS that examined a troubling trend around the globe.

In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers -- and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further. – PBS, Silence of the Bees

Most of us would be saddened upon hearing this, thinking that we might have to give up one of our favorite culinary delights. But the impact of this global extermination goes far beyond what we put on our toast in the morning. The agriculture of the entire world depends on this tiny insect. No pollinators – no plants – no food – worldwide famine. If you thought our planet was fragile before, well, the ice just got a little thinner.

I can’t help but be (no pun intended) amazed that God would create such a small creature that would have such an enormous impact on all of creation. For the most part, we go about our lives completely oblivious as to the role of the honey bee’s contribution to our “daily bread”. Such unawareness of the delicate balance in God’s creation is a reminder to me that He often uses the very small, the very weak, and the seemingly insignificant to have a tremendous impact in His kingdom. We are easily impressed with the strong, the verbally gifted, the over achiever, the highly intelligent. We may feel we don’t have much to contribute and that no one sees our efforts to reach out, to love, to show kindness to others. In God’s kingdom, no one is insignificant and even the smallest gesture or word can have eternal consequences in the lives of others.

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matthew 13:31,32)

The Seemingly Insignificant

We have always had a love-hate relationship with the honey bee. Honey is a delight to our taste buds, but getting stung by the producer of this sweet liquid can be a traumatic event. For most of us, our knowledge about this insect revolves around the bees gathering pollen to make the honey for their hives, and we’ve learned how to harvest that honey over the centuries. For centuries, monasteries engaged in beekeeping in order to utilize the beeswax for the many candles they needed and the honey for food preparation and medicinal purposes.

Recently, there was a documentary on PBS that examined a troubling trend around the globe.

In the winter of 2006, a strange phenomenon fell upon honeybee hives across the country. Without a trace, millions of bees vanished from their hives. A precious pollinator of fruits and vegetables, the disappearing bees left billions of dollars of crops at risk and threatened our food supply. The epidemic set researchers scrambling to discover why honeybees were dying in record numbers -- and to stop the epidemic in its tracks before it spread further. – PBS, Silence of the Bees

Most of us would be saddened upon hearing this, thinking that we might have to give up one of our favorite culinary delights. But the impact of this global extermination goes far beyond what we put on our toast in the morning. The agriculture of the entire world depends on this tiny insect. No pollinators – no plants – no food – worldwide famine. If you thought our planet was fragile before, well, the ice just got a little thinner.

I can’t help but be (no pun intended) amazed that God would create such a small creature that would have such an enormous impact on all of creation. For the most part, we go about our lives completely oblivious as to the role of the honey bee’s contribution to our “daily bread”. Such unawareness of the delicate balance in God’s creation is a reminder to me that He often uses the very small, the very weak, and the seemingly insignificant to have a tremendous impact in His kingdom. We are easily impressed with the strong, the verbally gifted, the over achiever, the highly intelligent. We may feel we don’t have much to contribute and that no one sees our efforts to reach out, to love, to show kindness to others. In God’s kingdom, no one is insignificant and even the smallest gesture or word can have eternal consequences in the lives of others.

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matthew 13:31,32)

Life's a Blur

At the pace we travel, rushing about, there is very little that we actually see – or that we see for more than a blur. The Scriptures tell us that the pure in heart are blessed for they shall see God. We are not the pure in heart – nor is our heart slow enough to even begin the process of becoming pure. – Father Stephen Freeman, Orthodox priest

Consider the phenomenon of the movie. Traditional films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, the viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, i.e., the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. The result is a perception of motion due to a psychological effect. If you slow the film down, you can actually see the spaces. Our inability to see the flickering doesn’t negate the existence of that reality.

There is a spiritual realm that exists and surrounds us constantly. Scripture has quite a lot to say about this other realm and the fact that it is more authentic and relevant to our lives than the world in which we employ our five senses. We think that we are observant and aware of most everything around us as we navigate through our strenuous and demanding days. Even our efforts to pursue righteousness through spiritual disciplines – prayer, evangelism, bible study, fellowship, church attendance – can result in an impressive “showing”, but caution is advised – you may be merely speeding up the film. The only way to become aware of this parallel world is to slow down enough to be able to see it and then respond to it. We need to take the time to become aware of God’s presence and allow him to speak to us in the “spaces”.

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" – I Kings 19: 11-13

Life's a Blur

"At the pace we travel, rushing about, there is very little that we actually see – or that we see for more than a blur. The Scriptures tell us that the pure in heart are blessed for they shall see God. We are not the pure in heart – nor is our heart slow enough to even begin the process of becoming pure." – Father Stephen Freeman, Orthodox priest

Consider the phenomenon of the movie. Traditional films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, the viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, i.e., the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. The result is a perception of motion due to a psychological effect. If you slow the film down, you can actually see the spaces. Our inability to see the flickering doesn’t negate the existence of that reality.

There is a spiritual realm that exists and surrounds us constantly. Scripture has quite a lot to say about this other realm and the fact that it is more authentic and relevant to our lives than the world in which we employ our five senses. We think that we are observant and aware of most everything around us as we navigate through our strenuous and demanding days. Even our efforts to pursue righteousness through spiritual disciplines – prayer, evangelism, bible study, fellowship, church attendance – can result in an impressive “showing”, but caution is advised – you may be merely speeding up the film. The only way to become aware of this parallel world is to slow down enough to be able to see it and then respond to it. We need to take the time to become aware of God’s presence and allow him to speak to us in the “spaces”.

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" – I Kings 19: 11-13

Off the Leash

We have never had a dog like this. Mason is a Golden Retriever who doesn't like to go for walks. I truly think he has agoraphobia. He is afraid of every leaf that falls, every person that walks by, any gust of wind. But, because his desire to be with my husband and me is greater than any of his fears, he will go with us. As we walk the neighborhood, you can sense that he is eagerly looking for the way back home - "is it this house?...is it this house?". We could take the leash off and he would stick close to us, just because he is so afraid of the unknown. There is no fear of him running off. Mind you, previously we have owned an Irish Setter who would scale six foot fences in order to get out into the world and another Golden Retriever who practically ripped your shoulder out of socket with her pulling on the leash. Perhaps it has something to do with Mason being a "rescued dog". We will never know what fears and anxieties he endured as a young puppy that affect him even today. He is terribly afraid of thunder and hides under the bed shaking whenever the slightest rumble occurs.

My husband and I are at a point in our life where the slats have been pulled out from underneath us. His position was scaled back and he needs to look for full time employment elsewhere. It was unexpected and emotionally painful. Thankfully, God's presence through this shaking of the snow globe has been very real and powerful. We know he has shut one door, but we're in that long, dark hallway waiting for another door to open. My fearful dog, Mason, is a good reminder to me. Outside is a scary place for him, but he is happy knowing that he is with us. He knows us well enough to trust us to get him safely home. That's all God asks of us - to be content to walk beside him, trusting that he will guide and direct our paths. We don't need to see the map. He will take care of us. Enjoy his presence, learn from him and give him the glory.

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:28-34