Whatever Cathedral you happen to be building in this season of your life, "let's pray that our work will stand as a monument" to our great God.
Be encouraged, friends, because nothing is invisible.
Amen & amen.
~~~
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Me, Invisible?
A word of encouragement for any 'Cathedral builders' out there - especially mothers. Remember this when you feel somewhat 'invisible' or insignificant:
Whatever Cathedral you happen to be building in this season of your life, "let's pray that our work will stand as a monument" to our great God.
Be encouraged, friends, because nothing is invisible.
Amen & amen.
Whatever Cathedral you happen to be building in this season of your life, "let's pray that our work will stand as a monument" to our great God.
Be encouraged, friends, because nothing is invisible.
Amen & amen.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
In which the Obamistake becomes fun...
Sometimes, I have a hard time separating myself from the enormity of the mistake that my countrymen/women made in November, 2008.
I want to stand on the roof of the tallest building I can find & scream at the top of my lungs,
But that might not go over so well.
It tends to make people (who know they've been made a fool), well - defensive. Best to try & get those people back on your team. Best to give them a way to save face while admitting the error of their ways...
I want to stand on the roof of the tallest building I can find & scream at the top of my lungs,
"I TOLD YOU SO!!"
But that might not go over so well.
It tends to make people (who know they've been made a fool), well - defensive. Best to try & get those people back on your team. Best to give them a way to save face while admitting the error of their ways...
While pointing the harsh finger of incrimination, it's best to
try a little humor:
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
From tedious adulthood to the faith of a child...
Lately, a blogger that I've just discovered & I have been having a discussion (he's young & fancies himself athiest, but even he says he's not quite sure). In a recent post he asks,
"Who is God, who made God? Can such a complex and all powerful being just come into creation? How was God made? Who decided God should be the Alpha and the Omega? Why not me? Please don't say God just is...Because I can easily say the universe just is & then we're back to square one..."
I like this new blog friend. He has an openness to conversation & a gentleness to his young spirit. But one can see the tedium with which he approaches the Almighty.
Then just today I was hearing all about my first grader's day at school. She is quite a talker, & one might think she's rambling-on until you stop to listen to what she's "rambling"...which is almost always something that makes good sense. (It's mentally exhausting sometimes, let me tell ya!)
"Who is God, who made God? Can such a complex and all powerful being just come into creation? How was God made? Who decided God should be the Alpha and the Omega? Why not me? Please don't say God just is...Because I can easily say the universe just is & then we're back to square one..."
I like this new blog friend. He has an openness to conversation & a gentleness to his young spirit. But one can see the tedium with which he approaches the Almighty.
Then just today I was hearing all about my first grader's day at school. She is quite a talker, & one might think she's rambling-on until you stop to listen to what she's "rambling"...which is almost always something that makes good sense. (It's mentally exhausting sometimes, let me tell ya!)
So it went like this,
her: "...learned about the solar system...the line that goes around the earth...God gave us all the languages so we can talk to each other...we live above the equator...God gave us all the names so we can name our children something different...days to get around the sun..." and then...
her: "I've always wondered why God doesn't have a wife."
(Do you see why I always have to be listening?)
me: "Baby, God doesn't have a wife, because God isn't human. God is God."
her: "God has to be part boy & part girl, because boys talk to God about boy stuff & girls talk to God about girl stuff."
me: "Very wise & observant thing to say. A lot of adults don't even understand that about God, baby. Good thinking..."
It was so simple to her. No worry about the origin of God, the gender of God, sexism superimposed on images of God, etc., etc. To my precious 6 year old daughter, God just is. And you know what? She's right.
And this new blog friend? He would be right too...so is the universe.
~~~
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:15
~~~
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Remember?
The fervor over Pam’s recent post (about 9-11 & Remembrance thereof) started me thinking…Dear one that she is, Pam & I exchanged some email, sharing bits about our own 9-11-01 experiences. Yesterday, as I typed my last few lines to her, a nagging sense of familiarity tugged the back of my mind…Then like the pop of a broken light bulb, my memory jolted alert: I’ve written a piece about this!
At the end of this month, "Get the Big Idea" will turn 1 year old. In my first post, Primary Perspectives , I told the blog world that I’d been “writing for some time with a sense of discovery & anticipation, & with a notion that perhaps I have something to say.” Back in early 2007, (pre-blogging) I wrote a piece for a little 'contest' that was supposed to be a 'personal memoir.' Today, the irony of that "memoir's" timely subject is not lost on me, & I’d like to share it with you, very close to its original form, edited only for length/clarity:
Here and now, this may seem a tired incident about which to speak. It may even seem cliché. Some may believe it’s not ‘fresh and new,’ that it’s been overdone, that it’s now passé. My perspective is different. As I examine the brand it has left on me, I hope that God and reason forbids we ever become the hardened, soulless people who could forget the world-shattering shock of it, the cold, calculated, slithering evil of it. God forbid that we dismiss the lasting impressions of what that day did to us, in favor of the next new thing. Surely we won’t. Please tell me, someone, that we’re a people who can cull and sift wisdom from the wreckage and allow it to sear our souls. Tell me that we can become a more convicted nation, looking deeper into ourselves and each other than surface reflection permits.
It all seems, in a way, like a gathering thunderstorm. There was, or must have been, the low rumbling growl. I didn’t hear it, but someone must have. I never saw the approaching thunderhead. I never heard the snarling undertone. But when the onslaught came, there seemed no shelter left to seek.
It could not have been a more splendid day. In my home two little boys dressed for swimming, and I was busy with the machinations of early morning. Daddy had been gone for hours.
Our trip to the Y was commonplace. We were late, at 9:05 am. Another mother slid in beside me on the bench, “Did you hear anything about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center?” she asked.
“What…? Um, no. I didn’t hear,” was my response.
“My husband called me in the car,” she said. “He says a plane crashed into the towers…pilot had a heart attack or something…”
“Hmm. Strange,” was all I offered.
Swim lesson over, & on our way to the library, we stopped for gas. The attendant gave a warning, “Ma’am, you’d better fill up. We may not get any more for days.”
“What…?” I heard echoes of my own voice, an eerie déjà vu snaking up through my awareness.
The radio, ever tuned to news-talk, was crackling with bits and snatches of a story too confusing and unbelievable to be real. The whole dial was swarming with reporters reading fluttering press releases. Descriptions of scenes came from stammering, bewildered voices sketching out the implausible, unimaginable carnage.
“My God...” My gasp was not an expletive; it was a guttural plea. “Oh, my God…”
I drove home through the debris-field of talk radio, trying to make sense of it, with two very normal, oblivious boys in the back seat. Our library, a government building, had closed. Our airport, where my in-laws were to have flown out just that morning, was closed; air traffic locked down. Our own small city --our life-- had suddenly shrunk in around us.
In my own home, unfathomable images violated my TV screen, piercing the heart of our quiet, safe life. Images of destruction, annihilation, and death billowed into our home. My husband & I sat watching in silent awe. Nothing we had ever known had prepared us for this.
The following days and weeks revealed desperation, searing grief, and truly valiant heroism. Officials from all political angles displayed a unity never seen in my lifetime. With remarkable determination, they laid aside agendas to collaborate with angry solidarity for the greater good. For the first time in my thirty-three years, I got it. Along with the tragedy & bitter-sweet heroism, these days revealed the hidden portrait of our American Republic in its purest form. We were, in September 2001, through terrible tragedy, remembering who we are.
I watched my America & our people in action: political enemies embracing; politically correct labels falling away; men, women, & children on their knees seeking God. These things filled me with a love for my country and her people that I had never before experienced. I was never more proud to be American.
Here and now, in the time since 9-11, do we still remember how incredibly exceptional our America is? From that horrible wreckage, what wisdom have we culled & sifted for her? Our Founding Fathers could never have envisioned her modern predicament, but their inspired wisdom laid the foundation for who she is. Have we remembered? Will we allow the lasting impression of that day to instill in us a remembrance of who we’re supposed to be? Oh, I hope so. Someone, please tell me so.
As for me? I am insignificant in a sea of harsh realities. But I am one, & have been branded nonetheless. The imprint of 9-11-01 drives me to live the change that I want to see. I will hold up hope toward each day humbly, & with deep, soul-aching gratitude. I will fiercely cherish those whom I love, knowing that today’s breath could be tomorrow’s memory. I will be gracious to strangers who cross my path, mindful that I, too, am a stranger. And I will add my voice to the conversation of our time, because its dialogue invokes the gravity of our very survival.
On 9-11-01 all pretense was stripped away, and what remained was naked principle. Thus, as a child of the exceptional Republic, an American woman, I will no longer remain silent in my convictions. I will be thankful; and I will remember who I am.
At the end of this month, "Get the Big Idea" will turn 1 year old. In my first post, Primary Perspectives , I told the blog world that I’d been “writing for some time with a sense of discovery & anticipation, & with a notion that perhaps I have something to say.” Back in early 2007, (pre-blogging) I wrote a piece for a little 'contest' that was supposed to be a 'personal memoir.' Today, the irony of that "memoir's" timely subject is not lost on me, & I’d like to share it with you, very close to its original form, edited only for length/clarity:
Remember Who You Are
“My husband called me in the car,” she said. “He says a plane crashed into the towers…pilot had a heart attack or something…”
“Hmm. Strange,” was all I offered.
As for me? I am insignificant in a sea of harsh realities. But I am one, & have been branded nonetheless. The imprint of 9-11-01 drives me to live the change that I want to see. I will hold up hope toward each day humbly, & with deep, soul-aching gratitude. I will fiercely cherish those whom I love, knowing that today’s breath could be tomorrow’s memory. I will be gracious to strangers who cross my path, mindful that I, too, am a stranger. And I will add my voice to the conversation of our time, because its dialogue invokes the gravity of our very survival.
On 9-11-01 all pretense was stripped away, and what remained was naked principle. Thus, as a child of the exceptional Republic, an American woman, I will no longer remain silent in my convictions. I will be thankful; and I will remember who I am.
~~~
Thank you friends, that so many of you have listened as I’ve told some of my story. Thank you that we’ve wrestled together through our principles, & with any luck we've emboldened our convictions. I am in your debt for your wisdom & your encouragement, & I am grateful. And I will keep remembering.
~~~
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Joe Wilson, SC: Hero of the week.
Some say his sense of decorum was blurred, but he spoke – er shouted – the truth. Last night in his ‘health care’ speech, Mr. Obama said that the health care reform package would not cover illegal aliens. From the side of the room, Representative Joe Wilson, SC shouted, “YOU LIE!”
I. LOVED. THAT.
President Obama had been prattling on about the “misinformation” that Americans “have grown nervous about,” & was addressing “some of the key controversies that are still out there.” (Listen, good American children. He really is the caring father, & health care reform is for our own good…We shouldn’t be ‘nervous’ about gifts from the father’s hand…that we didn’t ask for…that we don’t want…that we know are poison to our gut.) So, Mr. O began w/ the “bogus claims” (yes, he said ‘bogus’ – were Bill & Ted in the house?), “bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost.”
I. LOVED. THAT.
President Obama had been prattling on about the “misinformation” that Americans “have grown nervous about,” & was addressing “some of the key controversies that are still out there.” (Listen, good American children. He really is the caring father, & health care reform is for our own good…We shouldn’t be ‘nervous’ about gifts from the father’s hand…that we didn’t ask for…that we don’t want…that we know are poison to our gut.) So, Mr. O began w/ the “bogus claims” (yes, he said ‘bogus’ – were Bill & Ted in the house?), “bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost.”
'Quick study: that ‘agenda’ sounds like we-the-people putting pressure on our government KILL this bill. But this entire speech was designed to KILL the opposition, & put PRESSURE on the PEOPLE. Mr. President, a lesson: in the United States of America, We-the-people put pressure on the Government to makes changes…NOT the other way around. That’s the way it works in a free Republic. You’re not listening. We know you’re still flying high from your watershed win last year, but we DON’T WANT the CHANGE you’re pushing.
We don’t trust you; we don’t believe you, & Mr. Wilson called you out for what you are. Congressional Chambers or not, decorum becomes a luxury when you’re trying to save the Republic. It’s a luxury we cannot afford. Mr. Wilson knows that, & threw caution to the wind. He shouted the truth, & he is my HERO for it!
God bless Joe Wilson. We need more of him.
We don’t trust you; we don’t believe you, & Mr. Wilson called you out for what you are. Congressional Chambers or not, decorum becomes a luxury when you’re trying to save the Republic. It’s a luxury we cannot afford. Mr. Wilson knows that, & threw caution to the wind. He shouted the truth, & he is my HERO for it!
God bless Joe Wilson. We need more of him.
~~~
addendum: send Rep. Wilson an email telling him Thank You.
addendum: send Rep. Wilson an email telling him Thank You.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Obama Youth??
Friends, by now you've probably heard about the "address" that the President will deliver to the nation's public school children - simultaneously - while they're in school - on Tuesday. For some children, it will be the start of their year. For others, it's the first day back after a Labor Day break. Either way, parents will be caught unawares, uninformed & unable to give/deny permission for their children's participation in this unprecedented 'Presidential address' to the captive audience of our nation's school children.
A few days ago, I went to a luncheon sponsored by Freedomworks where author Mason Weaver & Fmr. Hs. Majority Leader Dick Armey were speaking. They said a lot of things about the state of our government, but the main point that each man stressed? Decide today, Act tomorrow! I had arrived decided (that we must act), but was still perplexed as to what I could actually do...
Next day, I answered my phone to a voice speaking with agonizing urgency, "Have you heard?...This is how these things get started...look at history...Hitler Youth..." It was time to act...
What follows is the exchange I had w/ my school Superintendent. I share it in hopes that, in the slender window between now & 9-8, anyone who can use it & ACT on it, will:
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 1:59 PM
Subject: President Obama to address school children
Dear Dr. M & Board Members,
Just today, I learned of an address that President Obama is scheduled to make to the nation's public school children on Tuesday, September 8th.
President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
I would like to know if our School System in taking part by having children K-6 (or older) watch/listen to this address. Please let me know.
From Dr. M: We are working on that using an internet link. I haven't heard whether all the logistics have been worked out. We will be posting something about this on our website home page.
From Dr. M.: It is my understanding that the student message (duration is supposed to be in the 5-7 minute range) will be broadcast at noon next Tuesday. Obviously many of our students will be at lunch and will have to miss it. I am certain that this speech will not be partisan in any way - it will encourage students to do well in school so that our country can remain competitive. I think that you would approve of his message and I would encourage you to watch it on C-Span or come to school. If your children are eating lunch at noon, they won't be watching it.
From me- final response:
Dr. M,
Thank you for your prompt response to my email, and I appreciate your anticipation of my concerns. Whether the President’s “address” is partisan or not is not at issue. (I assume it will not be, having read the curriculum that accompanies it.)
Our country’s current political climate has produced unparalleled Government control in our society, and has raised to high alert suspicions of socialist motivations (& worse). In such a climate, for the President to deliver an unprecedented “address” to every child in the nation’s public schools (w/o parental informed consent, on the day after a holiday break) is inappropriate. It further ignites fears of an intrusive Government “Nanny State”. It also demonstrates abuse of the station of his office against parental authority. Our public school children are a captive audience whose parents have not chosen, nor been informed, nor given permission for their children to participate in this event.
Our family respects the Office of the President, but we demand that the man who holds this office respect the reach of his authority and influence in our daily lives. Further, we find offensive the school system’s lack of the due diligence of informed parental consent in this matter, regardless of the content or duration of the address. Therefore (because we happened to stumble across this knowledge), our children will not be in their school buildings during the President’s “address” on Tuesday.
Thank you again for your timely response to my inquiry...
I'm thankful that my friend came upon her information. I'm thankful that my mind & posture had been prepared by those two fine speakers toward doing something. Mr. Mason had asked of our lunch group, "Are you frightened, or are you motivated? Decide now what your country is going to be, then act to make it happen.
This is our country, friends. It's time to take it back.
A few days ago, I went to a luncheon sponsored by Freedomworks where author Mason Weaver & Fmr. Hs. Majority Leader Dick Armey were speaking. They said a lot of things about the state of our government, but the main point that each man stressed? Decide today, Act tomorrow! I had arrived decided (that we must act), but was still perplexed as to what I could actually do...
Next day, I answered my phone to a voice speaking with agonizing urgency, "Have you heard?...This is how these things get started...look at history...Hitler Youth..." It was time to act...
What follows is the exchange I had w/ my school Superintendent. I share it in hopes that, in the slender window between now & 9-8, anyone who can use it & ACT on it, will:
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 1:59 PM
Subject: President Obama to address school children
Dear Dr. M & Board Members,
Just today, I learned of an address that President Obama is scheduled to make to the nation's public school children on Tuesday, September 8th.
President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
I would like to know if our School System in taking part by having children K-6 (or older) watch/listen to this address. Please let me know.
From Dr. M: We are working on that using an internet link. I haven't heard whether all the logistics have been worked out. We will be posting something about this on our website home page.
From Dr. M.: It is my understanding that the student message (duration is supposed to be in the 5-7 minute range) will be broadcast at noon next Tuesday. Obviously many of our students will be at lunch and will have to miss it. I am certain that this speech will not be partisan in any way - it will encourage students to do well in school so that our country can remain competitive. I think that you would approve of his message and I would encourage you to watch it on C-Span or come to school. If your children are eating lunch at noon, they won't be watching it.
From me- final response:
Dr. M,
Thank you for your prompt response to my email, and I appreciate your anticipation of my concerns. Whether the President’s “address” is partisan or not is not at issue. (I assume it will not be, having read the curriculum that accompanies it.)
Our country’s current political climate has produced unparalleled Government control in our society, and has raised to high alert suspicions of socialist motivations (& worse). In such a climate, for the President to deliver an unprecedented “address” to every child in the nation’s public schools (w/o parental informed consent, on the day after a holiday break) is inappropriate. It further ignites fears of an intrusive Government “Nanny State”. It also demonstrates abuse of the station of his office against parental authority. Our public school children are a captive audience whose parents have not chosen, nor been informed, nor given permission for their children to participate in this event.
Our family respects the Office of the President, but we demand that the man who holds this office respect the reach of his authority and influence in our daily lives. Further, we find offensive the school system’s lack of the due diligence of informed parental consent in this matter, regardless of the content or duration of the address. Therefore (because we happened to stumble across this knowledge), our children will not be in their school buildings during the President’s “address” on Tuesday.
Thank you again for your timely response to my inquiry...
I'm thankful that my friend came upon her information. I'm thankful that my mind & posture had been prepared by those two fine speakers toward doing something. Mr. Mason had asked of our lunch group, "Are you frightened, or are you motivated? Decide now what your country is going to be, then act to make it happen.
This is our country, friends. It's time to take it back.
~~~
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