'Dog' spelled backward...

There is a profound reason that 'dog' is 'God' spelled backward.

This is just one of them...

~~~

Israel: The Miracle Soldier

On Facebook, I'm 'friends' with the organization United with Israel.

Their June 12th post tells the story of a "fresh groom named Aharon Karov, sent to the frontlines of the Gaza war in 2008* a day after his wedding. He was critically injured by a bomb blast during the first days of the war...'The injuries were very bad, but in the end there was no injury to the brain,'...Today Aharon is healthy and his recovery has been hailed as nothing short of miraculous, especially in light of early predictions he would not survive at all."




For most of us, war is an utterly remote concept about which we fancifully form opinions - sometimes based on the whims of pop culture. We have no idea what it's like living your life in a daily battle for the very ground under your feet. Young Mr. & Mrs. Karov do, & I stand with them.

~~
May God bless & keep the people of Israel.

~~~

*Original post read "2006," which is a typo, as the Gaza war was a 3 week conflict which began-ended in 2008.

Depth Perception

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about a time of personal struggle. I didn't have 'answers' to why the struggling happened, & had no evidence of the 'good' that God would bring from it. But slowly, and with certainty, I'm gaining perspective on that difficult 'season' in my life. I have begun to catch glimpses of the fresh, clean growth that results from a severe pruning performed with precise and sure timing. . .

There's growth still to be gained, & depths yet to be plumbed. But there comes a time we simply must release our efforts, & let time and distance carry new perceptions into view. I realize not all the answers are at my disposal, and may never be. And that's okay, I think, somehow.

Laura Story's "Blessings," speaks with extravagant tenderness, as to why . . .



The singer/song writer's own words:

~New depth. Fresh perceptions~

Thanks be to God.

~~~

~Easter~

~Easter is accomplished, friends~

The stone is rolled away; He lives!

Stand in fresh hope; step forward into new Life.

We are Easter People.

~~~

Soothing words on Forgiveness

Found this Henri Nouwen quotation in two different places recently. Maybe that's 'a sign' nudging me to share...


"Forgiving does not mean forgetting. When we forgive a person, the memory of the wound might stay with us for a long time, even throughout our lives. Sometimes we carry the memory in our bodies as a visible sign. But forgiveness changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. When we forgive our parents for their divorce, our children for their lack of attention, our friends for their unfaithfulness in crisis, our doctors for their ill advice, we no longer have to experience ourselves as the victims of events we had no control over.

Forgiveness allows us to claim our own power and not let these events destroy us; it enables them to become events that deepen the wisdom of our hearts. Forgiveness indeed heals memories."

~~

Your thoughts?

~~~

Plain, simple, praise:

Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is & is to come...

With all creation I sing,
praise to the King of kings,
You are my everything,
& I will adore You~


(Curtsy to commenter Craig. Thanks.)

amen?

~~

Amen.

~~~

Glorious Craft...

From the ends of the earth -- to my back porch, we all know what this is...

Could it be a message to the world, spoken in the universal?

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

"Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.



"There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world."
~Psalm 19:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands...

~~

indeed

~~~

Happy New Year!

Hi friends~

Here's hoping y'all had a safe & happy Christmas season, & are enjoying the start of a fresh year. For me, there's an uncommon sense of renewal, of 'beginning again' that the season has brought.

Maybe it's the age of our children, so engaged in the full spectrum of life: "If I didn't believe in Santa Claus before, I really believe in him now!" -- to -- "All I want is a 5x5 Rubik's cube, because the algorithms of the 3x3 are a snap." (Wha...? Really? Wow.)

Or maybe it was the fun of playing Santa; the phone calls between my husband & me, "Barbie Party Cruiser is in hand," or "Piano keyboard in the scope. Sale price verified," or "Rubik's cube secured." (Then there was the White Christmas, like something out of 'Narnia'...)

Or maybe it was the past year of exploring new activities, new people, new relationships that has ushered in a sense of rising to a plateau -- with the morning sun peeping over the horizon to greet me. Whatever the reasons, I'm grateful, because I often need time to 'gather in' & make sense of my life.

We all need a time for pause. Only then can we look back across time, admire the goodness, observe what needs attention, & resolve to press forward. Only then can we proceed with a crisp & deeper understanding of who we are, & where we're going.

Somehow though, this year's pausing & 'gathering in' was done by a Higher hand, while I tended to earthy, more prosaic tasks... then it arrived to my sensibilities like a joyous, surprising refreshment; a spontaneous, yet natural celebration of the 'full spectrum' that life offers those who are truly living. (Glory, & thanks be to God!)

I suspect, knowing myself, that more reflection is forthcoming, & I'll probably belabor it too much. But for now, I'm enjoying the plateau; this pausing, resting. It's what I needed. Considering that the One in-whose-image & by-whose-Hand I was created paused & rested too, I figure following the shadow of that Company ain't half bad.

Happy New Year, indeed.

~~~

a 'Facebook' Christmas

A very dear take on the Savior's birth...

~Merry Christmas, one & all!~

~~~

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

So I get this email from the "Grade Mother" of my 2nd grader's class...

**Pause for disclaimer**
Grade Mother: a position toward which I've never entertained aspirations; a mantle which I am most grateful is not draped across my reluctant shoulders, and a post for which I am decidedly unqualified, as it requires the corralling of parents (whom I wouldn't know even if they rear-ended me in the car line) into doing things they'd rather not...but for the sake of their sweet cherubs, and getting in good with the teacher. HOWEVER, some dig it, & don the mantle as a potentate would her Royal vestments. So grateful am I to not be the Royal designee, that I gleefully contribute to whatever project is being conjured (as it benefits my cherub & makes her teacher a happier person), while thanking HRH for her benevolent corralling.

...until...

I get this email which says:
"Ms. X is in the process of filling out a 'Favorites' form for me...I will use this list to buy her a nice gift for the Holiday. If you would like to contribute to her gift this year...(blah, blah)..."

I'm not sure exactly what about this particular watering down of the Christmas Season struck the nerve with me, but without pausing (long) for a deep self-reflection on the matter, I replied-to-all,

"This is fine w/ me, but is there some reason we can't call it her Christmas gift?"

From the Royal Throne: *crickets*

Then, from the huddled masses, a voice replying only to me:
"...I'm with you it's a darn Christmas gift!!! I suggested to the grade mother we buy one BIG good 'Christmas' gift.. Then she sent out the email about a 'Holiday' gift…I thought I was the only one who would ruffle a few feathers for what is RIGHT!"

"Well, thanks...sometimes we feel like we're drowning in a PC swamp..."

6 days later, by Royal decree:
"I apologize if I offended you by not calling it a Christmas gift, but I was trying to be sensitive to the fact that some families celebrate differently than you & I. Again, my sincere apologies. I am only trying to take into consideration all of the traditions of every family in the class."

...at which point my uprising continues:
"I understand your intentions are sincere...The question, at least in my mind, is how does Ms. X celebrate the season? If she is Christian, then our gift to her should honor her tradition, regardless of how you or I, or the other families celebrate...If she's Jewish, then we could honor her in that tradition, or if she's Jehovah's Witness, not at all...Just because the school system & the culture at large attempts to sterilize the Christmas season of Christ, does not mean we should with the gift to our 2nd grade child's teacher..."

"...for Ms. X it will be a Christmas gift...I have to follow certain guidelines when sending out emails to all of the parents...I have to be sensitive to all when I send these emails...For the sake of correspondence, I will continue to send emails and notes home in this manner..."

OK. So I realize that the "Royal" metaphor drips with sarcasm, but I'm just having fun (& just read the latest Ann Coulter piece ). I hold no personal feelings against this Grade Mother, & I should say (lest I be guilty of inappropriate bias) that she was diplomatic & respectful of my 'issue,' even when she refused to adjust her tone to her audience.

But, ya know, sometimes it's just the principle of a thing; and one has to illuminate said Principles, when those around have gone into the dark.

So, am I sending $$ for the 'Holiday-even-though-we-know-Ms.X-is-Christian-Gift?' Of course not. Unlike with confiscatory taxation that's leading to the demise of my society, with this I have a choice how my $$ will be spent. It will be spent honoring a good teacher, who celebrates Christmas, with a Christmas gift from the hands of my sweet, 2nd grade Cherub.

As for my rapport with the Grade Mother? It's nothing personal; I wouldn't know HRH if she rear-ended me in the car line. But after this, I should keep an eye-out over my shoulder; she might just want to.

~~~

The Cove, BGEA & the great shalom...

Hi friends~

'Been away for several days; my husband & I were out of town.

See, my brother & his wife gave us this gift certificate, like 2 years ago, for The Cove -- the BGEA Retreat Center in Asheville, NC. We tried to go last February, and had to cancel. But in August, we got an email about a "marriage retreat" featuring Chip Ingram , so we jumped on it! It was a weekend focusing on our age group (people under 45), so we would have lots in common with everyone there.

We'd never heard of The Cove prior to my brother's gift, & didn't know Chip Ingram either. But man-o-man do we know now!! 330 people were in attendance from 19 different states, & Canada.

It was a wonderful weekend, with a deeply refreshing spiritual message from the speaker. Also though, the fellowship with other Believers - some struggling in their marriages, some not - was priceless.

Mostly, what I'll 'take away' from the experience is how much I appreciate my husband, the blessing of knowing others are out there striving to live a Godly life - that we're not alone in the fight against our culture, & that God's design for marriage/family is part of His 'great shalom' :

“I will bring health and healing to it: I will heal My people and will let them enjoy abundant Shalom and safety...I will cleanse them from all the sins they have committed against me…Then this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations of the earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and Shalom I provide it,” -- Jeremiah 33: 6-9

And so, we're thankful to my brother & his wife for affording us the opportunity. But even more, thanks belongs to God for His ministry among His people, & His hand at work in our lives - leading us toward His Great Shalom.

Wow.

~~~

Hey, what's the problem?

I've been over @ Z's blog . (She always has something going on over there.) Lately, the discussion was about outsourcing: actions which forced (or didn't force) American businesses offshore. Democrat/Republican policies? Unions? Corporate Greed? A commenter friend over there insisted that our troubles are rooted in the nasty, horrible monster of Corporate greed & the equally demonic Bush Trade policies. So I asked myself, and then him, what's the real problem in our country?

I'm no philosopher, but I did comment & offer what I believe part of the answer is, as to what's the "problem" in our country.

For better or worse, I feel like sharing today, so here goes:

This is a complex issue [why America is in the shape she's in].

I submit that, in part, the issue is one of expectations. The government REGULATES companies, to force them to 'clean up after themselves;' Unions get in lock-step - driving up wages (b/c 'Fred' can't be expected to actually WORK for such a small pittance). And then they EXPECT the Company NOT to respond by providing fewer jobs for people who EXPECT more $$$...

But now the 'worker' is entitled, see? (Because the Gov't/Unions/lawyers said so - "nyah, nyah" - AND b/c their kids HAVE to have the 3rd Generation ITouch, X-box 360, etc., etc.) After all, they're American kids & they're entitled, even if their parents can't afford it; and never mind if I can't afford my kids -- "I'll have another one if I want, b/c the Gov't will take care of me" (true quote in my office years ago), b/c I'M ENTITLED...

Right?

NO! It's insanity, this pervasive ENTITLEMEMT attitude - on EVERY level of our society! If corporations are guilty of greed, then they're NO MORE GUILTY than American GOVERNMENT, no more guilty than UNIONS, no more GUILTY than American Media, lawyers, no more GUILTY than families, than the INDIVIDUAL who brings home the millions, OR the INDIVIDUAL who covets the millions of the latter.

See, when you reduce it all down, friend...when you siphon off all the surface arguments, the irrelevant (but arguably important) issues...what you distill it down to the very heart of the matter, what we have is a SPIRITUAL PROBLEM.

We are a nation so far afield of our moral & spiritual center (aka GOD) that we don't even recognize that the LACK of God in our discussions is an issue, never mind the open HOSTILITY toward anything sacred. And the simple fact is, ultimately there's only one remedy...

I know, friend...your response is gonna be some schtick about 'separation of church & state.' Go ahead...you'll just prove my point further...

And now, we have a President of our nation-far-afield who drops 'under God' from the Pledge, and repeatedly eliminates 'endowed by our Creator' when quoting our Founding Documents...and yet, and still, almost half of our country asks, "Hey, what's the problem?"

That's (also) the problem.

~~~

(Anti)apology tour at Joe's

Hi friends~

Something has been niggling at the back of my brain...A few weeks ago @ Joe’s blog, he was entertaining a lively discussion about AZ Senator Jon Kyl’s visit w/ president BHO. Joe expressed his exasperated opinion about BHO’s political chicanery, and I agreed by quoting Joe in my comment. One would think that would be that. Well, no.

See, bloggers who’ve read any of my stuff, know my Christian world-view. I’m quite clear about it, & don’t even hint at apology (I hope). Sure, there are mockers & scoffers, etc. Only in Joe’s spirited discussion, one of the former fashioned her mockery into a weapon. She tried using my faith against me - to neutralize my ability to take a passionate stance on the issue of the day.

Were I younger, more naïve & eager to please, I might have acquiesced to the guilt laid upon me, apologized & hoped we could be more amicable. But not now, with the benefit of a bit of age under my belt, & just a smidge more maturity than I had @ 17. Or 23.

So, nothing-doing this time…The following is what happened (It’s what I’ve come to, & it might be just a little dangerous. But hey, ‘danger’ sounds like a nice middle name; he## of a lot better than ‘politically correct’):

Commenter:
I don't think "heaven" listens to people with such mean-spirited hearts and who denigrate God's creations.Whether you like it or not, Miss Susannah, Mr. Obama is God's creation. How loving of you to trash His creation from the bottom of your loving Christian heart. LOL!

My response:
Interesting, Joe. Some folks don't understand that being a Christian does not neuter one's ability to make assessments of character based on observable fact; that discerning character is neither an attempt to judge/condemn one of "God's creations", nor does it "denigrate" or "trash" the soul of said creation. It's simple honesty.

Folks like our friend here would rather Christians be weak, flaccid, impotent wimps who won't speak the truth for fear of being criticized or disliked. They'd rather we just shut up & go to church, or something.

Sorry, but there's a guy I've read about who made a big mess out of a Temple when he saw people doing wrong, & screamed at people - calling them what they were - when they made a mockery of Truth.

Call me crazy, but I'm guessing people wanted Him to shut up & go read the Torah or something. I'm also betting that Heaven was indeed listening that day - with a keen ear - and rejoicing.

And you know...I'm hoping against hope...I wanna be like that guy.

~~

Some day I want to be more like Jesus; more willing to act with a mind for defending Truth over defending my ego, with a heart for seeking Justice instead of self-preservation.

Folks can try as they might, pushing us back against the wall of complacent Christianity, but for those of us who are no longer wallflower Christians, there’s no turning back. And there will be no apology, either.

~~~

Why I support Israel - via Helen Thomas...

I am a Christian. My life is dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (though that's not as evident as I would hope it some day will be...).

Jesus is my favorite Jew. He is 'of the lineage of David,' whose God is the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. I believe what the Bible says about Jews being the Chosen Ones of God, and that I (a Gentile) am considered among the 'chosen' only because of Jesus, whose sacrifice allowed for the rest of creation to be reconciled - grafted - into the People of God, the Father...

Thus, I will always support Israel, God's original chosen People...I believe that if America backs away from supporting Israel, then she backs away from the God's favor. Therefore, I maintain that America MUST remain Israel's ally, friend & encourager...

Please, friends, read this article that I found @ my friend Nicki's blog . It came originally from Sara Eisen's blog, where the comments are fascinating.

Get the Hell Out of...My Face

Here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about poor Helen Thomas, who I believe was probably just saying what everyone thinks and has therefore been made a scapegoat. Not that I really care, because we ought to share the scapegoat status once in a while. It’s the least we can do to dispel the stereotype that we are stingy, us irritating Jews.

Irritating enough, apparently – like the too-talented and bossy fame-hog Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) on Fox’s Glee – in our discovery of the written word, monotheism, modern physics, psychology, vaccinations, and the film industry, that every country that has ever “hosted” us has found it necessary to tell us to get the hell out, like Thomas did. (Ironically, the aforementioned Jewish character Rachel, in a particularly annoying moment in one episode, was told by classmates to move to Israel. I doubt the writers coordinated this telling joke – Jews do equal Israel in the eyes of the world, sorry J Street – with the State Department.)

Anywho. Helen, you know why we were in Germany and much of Eastern Europe in the first place? (And by the way, if I follow your advice, do you think the nice old ladies who got my grandmothers’ large houses and farms from the Nazis in what was once Czechoslovakia will kick the property back two generations? That would be cool because I’d love a vineyard and an agricultural estate.)

…We were in Germany and Hungary and Czechoslovakia and Russia (where we were regularly just plain killed by Cossacks), and also, for many centuries, Poland (ditto), cuz we were told to get the hell out of England, France, and Spain. (Or, you know, just plain killed by handsome and heroic fairytale knights.)

And you know why we were in Western Europe to begin with? Cuz we were told by the Greeks and the Romans – wait for it – to get the hell out of “Palestine,” where we had been living since the beginning of recorded history.

We also ended up in Babylonia (Iraq) and other Middle Eastern and North African countries, where we stayed as second class citizens for hundreds and hundreds of years, till the Arab world finally caught up with the pagans and the Christians in their hatred of the Jews. Amazing how the student has now far surpassed the teacher. But I digress.

(By the way, I am aware that the Arab narrative has us Ashkenazi Jews as descendants of the Khazars, but the actual facts have it different. See this new DNA study linking European Jews with their Middle Eastern counterparts, all stemming from one original population of Holy Land Jews predating Roman times. Never mind our own texts that say the same thing; I know they are inadmissible in the international courts of the mind.)

In any event, there is no way around it: Jews being asked (usually not by old ladies on the White House lawn) to get the hell out of anywhere and everywhere is just the way it goes.

So it came to pass that about 200 years BCE the Macabees got sick of it and established a Jewish state in Palestine, within the Roman Empire, which lasted till about the time of Jesus (another Pesky Jew) and the destruction of the Second Temple.

And it also came to pass that Jewish settlers began arriving in Ottoman Palestine in the late 1800’s, after the Russians and the Poles made it clear that Jews were persona non grata in Eastern Europe. Palestine was as good a place as any to escape to, since it was the last place, about 2000 years before, that the Jews had a sovereign state (see above). Never mind Jewish liturgy and texts pining for Jerusalem, since I know these, too, are inadmissible in the international courts of the mind.

Anyway, nowhere else wanted European Jews any more than Russia did, not even America really, where there were very strict quotas, although the Americans, again politely, refrained from all the messy European killing, which was apparently in vogue until after Hitler. Besides, those Ottoman Turks, as now, were known around the world for their amazing human rights activism and the Jews were excited to see it first hand. (No, not really. But…they were better than the Polish peasants. Unless you were Armenian.)

It is true that there were people in Palestine before the Jews arrived en masse (for there was always a handful of Jews that remained here….), not *A People*, but rather a group of assorted regional Arabs (think Native American tribes in North America…who by the way were treated much worse by the Colonialists…) who had settled the area with not much agricultural success and had endured various rulers over the millennia.

But when the *Jews* came back, it was suddenly necessary, once again, to tell them to get the hell out. There was no living side by side, even though that was an express Jewish desire right up until 1947/8, when the Partition Plan was summarily rejected by the Arab League, who started the war that Israel won. If keeping land you win in a war others provoke (when you wanted to make peace) is called occupation, Helen, the world’s axis of furious justice has a lot bigger fish to fry than shitty little Israel.

The Arab desire to kick the Jews the hell out of Palestine did not begin in 1967, and not in 1948. It began the moment the initial groups of Jews arrived and started to make the land flower and produce crops. That’s when the attacks on Jews began, and when the Arab world decided a new Jewish presence in the land would not do, back when there were about half a million Arabs and just under 100,000 Jews in the Holy Land, in the early 1900’s. 20% was too much, apparently, to bear. (The Hebron Massacre of 1929, where marauding Arabs killed nearly 70 Jews and wounded countless others, took place long before a single house was built over the Green Line.) I can only imagine how awful it was – probably for both the Arabs and the British – when it became clear we were here to stay and grow to much further percentages. We are that annoying, what with trying to get rid of malaria and tuberculosis and everything.

At any rate, it seems that every time a Jewish minority starts to make a society too successful – so annoying!!!! – the indigenous people start to feel very uncomfortable, and tells them one way or another to get the hell out.

But now, alas, there is nowhere left for us to go, except the eternal place Ahmadinejad wants us to go, and Haniyeh and Nasralla, and Hitler before them, and Chemilniki before him, and Haman before him, and so on. And, I suspect, in her heart of hearts, perhaps Thomas and the likes of her, who, the pesky Jew Freud may have observed, seriously let her slip show.

Let me make it clear: I know that Israel has made mistakes over its 62 years, some clumsy and inept (was there no intelligence regarding the terrorists aboard the Mavi Marmara?!?), and some borderline immoral. But none worse than every other democracy on earth has also done, and most much better than the large majority of the UN rogue nations which condemn Israel daily have done…daily. There is MUCH to improve in the way we govern, I will be the first to say it. I will also be the first to say that various Jews of the Bernie Madoff and Greed-is-Good-Goldman-Sachs ilk make me want to crawl under a rock. I know that the world is only waiting for these guys to emerge in order to pin their crimes on all of us, even though everything they do is in direct contradiction of actual Jewish values.

But let’s be honest: the international community’s human rights crusades on behalf of the Palestinians are just the latest Crusades, and the ones who REALLY suffer are not the Jews or the Israelis but the poor occupants of the Third World who are ignored while the enlightened First World castigates the Jews… and yes, of course, the Palestinians, who are kept in misery *by their own leadership* in order to provide the polite Jew haters with a media club to beat them with.

So here’s the thing: We are not going anywhere this time, Helen. We totally get it: Ya’ll pretty much hate us. It’s just the way it is, like a natural law. Nothing we can do – not giving away pieces of Palestine / Israel (witness our evacuation of Gaza in 2005, and handing over the keys to army bases and greenhouses- a new economy! Food for the children! – which were summarily torched as property of the infidels); not donating billions annually to global charity, nor discovering a cure for Polio or the Theory of Relativity, or writing revered legal and religious texts, or co-founding Google, or manufacturing the microprocessor in the majority of laptops that spew Jew hatred to the Internet, or founding Christianity itself, or championing women’s rights and gay rights in the US and helping to bring about a *human rights revolution* in America in the 60’s, …None of those things will absolve us of our real sin: Existing and overcoming.

I’m really sorry they told you to get the hell out of the White House, Helen. It really wasn’t your fault that you thought you could say what you said. It’s not like it’s a secret: That’s what people think.

But this time, seriously. Getting the hell out is not in the cards. We’re just sick of moving all the time.

I know. Irritating.
~Sara Eisen

~~

Fascinating.

America, stay grafted.

~~~

NO MORE SILENCE! Anti-Christian Bigotry must STOP.

This article says most everything I would like to say:

Comedy Central's uneven irreverence
By L. Brent Bozell III
president, Media Research Center

Comedians often pride themselves on being irreverent, and in today's popular culture a favorite thing to ridicule is religion. The network Comedy Central has made laughing at religion its bread and butter. Their irreverence has limits, however, and it has nothing to do with taste. When radical Muslims wrote ominously online that the creators of "South Park" could end up like Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh - shot eight times on the street - mockery of Muhammed was formally and publicly censored.

Within weeks of that very public retreat, Comedy Central announced plans to work up a series laughing at Jesus Christ called "JC," a half-hour animated show about Jesus trying to live a normal life in New York City to escape the "enormous shadow" of his "powerful but apathetic father." God the Father is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ is the "ultimate fish out of water."

Beyond the glaring double standard there is this question: Where is the market demand for an entire television series dedicated to attacks on Jesus Christ? What did Jesus Christ do to Comedy Central that they must relentlessly mock Him by portraying him defecating and talking about his "yummy, yummy crap" on "South Park" and roast him on specials titled "Merry F--ing Christmas"? Why the visuals of Jesus Christ being stabbed to death? Of the Blessed Virgin Mary menstruating? To call these attacks "juvenile" is an insult to juveniles.

Enough is enough. Citizens Against Religious Bigotry, a coalition of some 20 organizations and leaders, some Christian, some Jewish and some secular, in all representing millions of Americans, has come together to demand that the advertising community withhold their sponsorship dollars from this show, based on Comedy Central's documented history of anti-Christian bigotry. To sponsor this show is to support that anti-Christian bigotry. In reply, network spokesman Tony Fox declared that this show is only a vague idea and perhaps our group "should save their energy for the moment if and when this series ever makes air." But if "JC" is too vague to deserve comment, why did Comedy Central announce it with flagrant God-bashing fanfare?

It's amazing that the Comedy Central folks consider this putrid material to be "art" and wrap themselves with the blanket of artistic freedom of expression. Said programming head Kent Alterman: "The beauty of working at a place like Comedy Central is you can empower people to actualize their vision in a really unfiltered way.

"Unless, of course, the "vision" is an attack on Muhammed, in which case there will be immediate self-imposed censorship.

Comedy Central loves the idea that irreverence is the highest value that inspires the biggest laughs. Christians are called to love the opposite idea: that reverence to God is the highest value. We are called to take up the cross of Jesus daily, and that as a result people will "utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account."

We will not be silent. This anti-Christian bigotry must stop.

L. Brent Bozell III is founder and president of the Media Research Center.

~~

If you want to ACT against this cowardly, disgusting tripe, go the Family Research Council site.

~~~
Curtsy to Lisa for the blog food...

Musical Interlude...

Hi friends~
I'm writing little snippets in other places, thus today's post.

I was inspired by Z's blog a few days ago. So Z, this is for you, sweet one!

Jesus loves us, this we know.

~~~

Of Mentors, Voices & What comes 'After this...'

Feeling the need to step out of the grind of politics for a few moments, friends. It does get rather grueling, no? Let's switch gears...

I am taking a delightful writing course taught by author Susan Woodring. In one of her recent blog posts she posed questions, "Who is your writing mentor? Have you ever met him/her?" After knocking this around, I offered a comment: "Distilling my answer to 2 'mentors,' they'd be Peggy Noonan and Beth Moore . Peggy for her deceptively 'easy' style that holds such beautiful wisdom, & Beth for the way my spirit responds to her 'teaching.' Wow."

While I've met neither of these women, I have had a snail-mail exchange with Beth Moore, because it was essential that she know how the Holy Spirit spoke to me through her. See, this piece of writing came to me partly as a result of her ministry. I sent her the following letter, along w/ a copy of that piece:

Dear Beth,

It was me.

We’re doing your Revelation series. Last week we viewed session 4 during which you quote Rev. 4:1. You stopped, looked into the camera and said, “‘After this…’ Somebody needs to hear this today: there is an ‘after this.’ You do not have to stay where you are.”

That somebody was me. I needed to hear those exact words from my Father, to be assured that ‘this too shall pass,’ there is an ‘after this.’

Beth, this ‘season’ has been a very difficult one for me...[ed. for personal content]

So. Here I am. I know that I know that our Lord is working. And then I wonder, ‘Will I ever move from here? Will I ever be free of it?’ And then I hear your voice saying, “Somebody needs to hear this today: there is an ‘After this.’” Imagine my surprise at such a clear & direct answer to this intensely personal question! Beth, thank you for your sensitivity to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, & for repeating His words: ‘After this…’

I’m sure others needed to be assured that with the Lord there’s always an ‘after this…’. But I am convinced that one was in a Methodist church on 2-23-2010. And it was me. And I heard, & I know that there is an ‘after this…’ Thanks be to God!

Jesus loves us, this we know...

A few weeks later I received a lovely letter from "Nancy," of Living Proof Ministries . Because of the scope of Mrs. Moore's influence, I did not expect to hear from her. Noting the personal, specific nature of Nancy's response, I know that Mrs. Moore had, indeed, heard from me. That was all I was after.

Back to 'writing': Mentoring is not about the celebrity of another person, it's about using their influence to help 'hear the voice.' As Mrs. Woodring has said, "I can't begin a story until I hear its voice."

Indeed.

And for me so far, the 'voice' shows up in odd & surprising places: like when conversing with my holly bushes, or when someone I'll never meet stops on a dime at a prepositional phrase.

I don't know where my story is going, but I know there is a Voice, & I am listening.

~~

"1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." ~ Rev. 4:1

~~~

Long Winters, Hard Pruning & Spring Fever

I’ve been learning some things lately, one of which came to me as I pruned the hollies in front of our home just the other day. These bushes were remarkably overgrown when we first bought our house, necessitating an immediate sharp trimming. Since then, I have only snipped off the new growth yearly, trying to keep their size down. The time had come though, toward the health & future of the plant itself, for a severe & harsh pruning. The overall aesthetic of our home required it, but also the plants had become infested with some sort of mold or other, the healing of which only a cutting away of affected pulp would accomplish. So, out with the electric saw.

I happily sawed & cut, clearing away mounds of what appeared, at a distance, to be healthy limbs. And, as happens when I’m lost in the garden, thoughts floated in and out of my loosely focused mind. As if offering the plants an explanation for their sudden & severe nakedness, I heard myself thinking, ‘I’m pruning to improve your health. This cutting away will insure a future vitality, & a usefulness that’s in line with my plan for this home.’

Did my holly bushes hear my thoughts? Did they know why they were being reduced almost to stubble? I highly doubt it. Did they even care? Not likely.

And then it struck me: it wasn’t me thinking thoughts toward my bushes, it was the Holy Spirit – using measures He knows I will perfectly understand – speaking to me about my own life, my own struggles with change and search for purpose.

See, the past few years have been a bit of a struggle; sort of an existential wrestling with who I am, why I’m here, & the purpose for my life. Like my hollies, this has been a season of the loss of what appeared, at a distance, to be healthy ‘limbs.’ I’ve felt exposed at times, vulnerable & shorn, but also felt a sense of humility and openness to possibility that I’ve never experienced. There’s an urgency toward creativity that has been surprising & fresh – having never really thought myself creative. Through all of this: my wrestling, my mistakes, losses & gains, I’m gleaning a tender understanding of the process of life, discovery, & the nature of forgiveness.

I’m at a turning point, in a manner of speaking, having been cut back almost to stubble. I’ve felt the severity of that naked vulnerability, and yet the assurance of the Gardener’s wisdom. I don’t know why, or what it was, but there must have been a mold of some sort afoot, which could only be cleared away with the cutting away of pulp. I know that some things can only be grown healthy after a severe & harsh pruning. But unlike my hollies, I have heard the voice of the Gardener, and I know that after this, there is vitality, health & usefulness. I know, too, that it’s all in line with the Gardener’s plan for this ‘home.’

Never before has winter seemed so long or so severe, but I know there is a Spring coming. And I know it’s coming for me.

~~~

In which Peggy Noonan Speaks Truth.

Some of you know I've been writing for years, but never really knew I was a writer. Here's a handwritten piece I found from May 2001, though I could have penned it yesterday. Humor me?

5-30-2001:

"So I'm reading this book by Peggy Noonan. Those who know me well, know that I'm a real fan. Only this book - Simply Speaking - is relatively mundane, or so I'm thinking. After all, it's a book about speech writing...

So, I'm reading along, enjoying her easy style, underlining points that I find interesting & smart. And then I am deeply touched & moved...Here's why I'm such a fan (Simply Speaking, p. 53):

'I think that to achieve true adulthood is to understand the simplicity of things. We're locked in a funny arc, most of us, in terms of what we know. When you're goony and fourteen years old you think the most important thing in life is love. Then you mature, become more sober & thoughtful, and realize the most important thing in life is achieving, leaving your mark - making breakthroughs in the field of science, or winning an Academy Award in recognition of a serious body of work, or creating security for yourself and your family through having a good house and sending your kids to good schools. And then you get old and realize...that most important thing in life is love. Giving love to others and receiving it from God. All the rest, the sober thoughtful things, are good and constructive...but love is the thing. The rest is just more or less what you were doing between fourteen and wisdom.'

And that out of a book about speech writing."

~~

...in which Peggy Noonan speaks the truth.

~~~

Best laid plans of mortals & Kings.

I like order. I like to have a plan & know what to expect. I’m not great at flying by the seat of my pants. It’s one of those weaknesses I have to work on every so often…like today.

See, I was asked to deliver the “Congregational Prayer” during our Praise & Worship service this morning. Today was “Christ the King” Sunday, the close of the Christian calendar: a day set aside for proclaiming the Kingship of Christ. Established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, it was designed to counter the rise of atheism & secularism that was absorbing early 20th century Europe. (Sounds like our current culture, no?) So our Pastor focused on ‘Christ the King,’ blending in touches of the Thanksgiving holiday, & needed a prayer to mesh, at least loosely, with his outline.

Back to my penchant for order…As is my nature, I had pre-written a prayer, weaving in elements of the chosen scripture (John 18:33-37) & Thanksgiving. In my haste to get out of the house though (failing at promptness - another weakness), I left my scripted prayer at the laptop, waiting to be printed.

My first thought when I realized what I had done? ‘No time to turn back now! I’ll have to wing it.’

Then came the corollary, “Maybe you’ll just have to trust my Holy Spirit for the words, Sus. Hmmm?”

So, we struck a deal, God & me. I would improvise, uncomfortable as that is, & He would supply the Prayer. (Didn’t have a choice really, late as I was.) But also, I’m learning some very important things about my God: my weakness is immaterial to Him, in fact it's when I am weak that He is strong. And, when He says He’ll be there, I can count on it.

So the time for our prayer came, & so did the words. It opened quietly with ½ of a verse of “Come Ye Thankful People Come,” a capella, then flowed into words coming from nowhere. I don’t remember exactly what they were (not that it was enraptured spiritual amnesia or anything). But the words I do remember were exactly what my heart needed (& perhaps the hearts of others?) on this day; at this time when so much is uncertain, & the powers-that-be seem out of hand.

The words were something like this: Christ Jesus is the King of kings, & He is my King. No person, no group & no Government can supercede His authority in my life…Christ Jesus is my only King &, Glory Hallelujah, that’s all that really matters.

Amen?

Amen.

So, I just have to ask. Who is your King?



Do you know Him?

~~~