Stumped

 For He is like a refiner's fire.

--- Malachi 3:2 (RSV)

Remember the half-dead tree of which I spoke?  (See June 7^th – A Truncated Fall).  An arborist successfully removed it last month, leaving behind a large stump.  

Taking matters into our own hands, we lit a fire to the useless lumpy mass of dead pine.  It has been smoldering now for 24 hours, slowly eating away the dead wood.  

Sometimes we are stumped by hard times, but God will use them to refine us.  Fire can destroy in a bad way, but also can be helpful to get rid of dead wood.  Is there dead wood in my life that needs removal? 

Lord, allow me to submit to Your purifying fires in order to remove the dead wood in my life.

Reflecting the Light

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

--- II Corinthians 4:6

There was a wedding across the pond last night.  Festive reception music echoed out over the water in celebration of the bride and groom.  As darkness set in, the lights took on a hallowed glow, shining upon the water.  Their image reflected perfectly to double the impact of the light.

I hope and pray the newlyweds were people of faith.  Then, in the same way their wedding lights gleamed out into the darkness, they can radiate hope into a dark world.  Together, their impact will be doubled. 

Lord, let us shine Your light into dark places, reflecting hope to those who see us from near and far.

When the Heart Cries

Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!  Give Your strength to your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant.  Shew me a token for good.

--- Psalm 86:16,17 (NKJV)

I reconnected the other day with an old friend.  Recent years have been difficult for her.  Her husband died from cancer following years of stoically fighting Crohn’s Disease.  His anticipated retirement date from work came a mere three days after his death.  Her husband’s absence necessitated a move from their beloved homestead, which had been a place of warm, comforting memories.  In the midst of it all, her cherished pet became sick and died – also from cancer. 

After repeated losses, one is left with empty hands and a trampled heart.  When tempted towards cynicism and despair, the Psalter provides the words with which to cry out, and also gives license to our deepest feelings.  Located in the very center of the Bible, the Psalms give voice to the human heart cry. 

Please, show me some token of good this day, dear Lord.

Simple Words of Kindness

 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

--- Proverbs 16:24 (RSV)

“He always thanked me,” she said. 

That was the memory the clerk, at the local fruit and vegetable market, had of my father.  After his sudden death, I told her of his passing.  She knew of him immediately, and said a few times, “He always would say thank you.”  I could picture Dad, smiling, leaning in a bit towards her as he expressed his gentle words of thanks. 

That clerk wasn’t the only person with whom Dad had contact in simple business doings, who remembered his pleasant ways.  The agent who managed his car and home insurance said, “I always enjoyed talking with your father."  A similar comment was made by the office manager at his home heating oil company. 

Dad left his indelible mark of kindness in each simple daily contact.  As he did with me. 

Lord, thank you for the sweetness imparted through simple words of kindness.  

A Dumpster Devo

 He lifts the needy from the ash heap.

--- I Samuel 2:8

"Their whole family is a dumpster fire."  

Someone said this to me recently, describing a hurting person whose life was crashing and burning.  Not only was this individual causing self harm through unwise choices, but the person's family appeared to enable the problems.  

Is there hope?  Yes.  Even if the fire is never actively put out and is left to burn, eventually it will leave ashes. God can lift the needy from the ash heap.   

Lord, when my life is on fire, please rescue me.  When I see a dumpster fire nearby, show me how to help.

Two Birds and a Twig

                                                       

But let every one prove his own work.

---Galatians 6:4 

I never would have noticed the stray twig floating in the harbor.  Neither would I have known an osprey was huddled within the small grouping of sticks atop the channel marker.  

What I did see: a strong, beautiful osprey dipping and soaring about.  When he touched the water with his talons, I assumed it was to catch a fish for breakfast.  Instead he ascended, holding a sizable twig which then was delivered atop the post.

Then I saw a smaller bird busying itself to properly weave the stick into the growing pile.  After deposit, the delivery bird rested for a time atop the post. Occasionally his beak would meet that of the bird nestled down amidst the twigs and branches.

Each osprey was busily tending to its tasks.  Even a seemingly forgotten branch once colorfully alive with leaves and now broken, floating in the water, had a purpose.  Before long both the birds and the twigs would be providing a home for new life.  

Lord, you have given me work to do at this stage of my journey.  Help me to recognize that work and willingly do my part.    

                                                

Parable of Beloved Bamboo

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.            

        --- Galatians 2:20

This ancient Chinese parable encapsulates Galatians 2:20.

        Once upon a time, there was a beautiful garden. There in the cool of the day the Master of the garden would walk. Of all the denizens of the garden, the most beloved was a gracious and noble Bamboo. Year after year, Bamboo grew yet more noble and gracious, conscious of his Master’s love and watchful delight, but he always was modest and gentle.
        Often when Wind came to revel in the garden, Bamboo would cast aside his grave stateliness, to dance and play right merrily, tossing and swaying and leaping and bowing in joyous abandon, leading the Garden in the great dance which most delighted the Master’s heart.
        Now one day, the Master drew near to contemplate his Bamboo with eyes of the curious expectancy. Bamboo, in a passion of adoration, bowed his great head to the ground in loving greeting. The Master spoke:
         “Bamboo, I wish to use you.”
        Bamboo flung his head to the sky in utter delight. The day of days had come, the day for which he had been made, the day to which he had been growing hour by hour, this day in which he would find his completion and his destiny. His voice came low: “Master, I am ready. Use me as you will.”
        “Bamboo,”  the Master’s voice was grave: ”I will have to take you, and cut you down.”
        A trembling of great horror shook Bamboo. “Cut me down? Me, whom you have made the most beautiful in all your garden? Cut me down? Oh, not that! Use me for your joy, Master, but please do not cut not me down:”
        “Beloved Bamboo,” the Master’s voice grew even more grave. “If I do not cut you down, I cannot use you.”
        The Garden grew still. Wind held his breath. Bamboo slowly bent his proud and glorious head, and he whispered, “Master, if you can’t use me unless you cut me down, then do your will and cut.” 
        “Bamboo, beloved Bamboo, I will have to cut your leaves and your branches from you also."
        “Master, spare me. Cut me down and lay my beauty in the dust, but would you also take from me my leaves and my branches also?”
        “If I do not cut them away, I cannot use you!”  
        The sun hid his face. A listening butterfly glided fearfully away. Bamboo shivered in terrible expectancy, whispering low, “Master, cut away."
        "I also will have to cleave you in two and cut out your heart, for if I do not cut so, I cannot use you.”
        Bamboo bowed to the ground in sorrow: “Master,” he whispered, “Then cut and cleave.”
        So the Master of the Garden took Bamboo and cut him down and hacked off his branches and stripped him of his leaves, and clove him in two and cut out his heart, and, lifting him gently, carried him to where there was a spring of fresh, sparkling water in the midst of his dry fields. Then, putting one end of  Broken Bamboo in the spring and the other end into the water channel in his field, the Master laid down gently his beloved Bamboo.  The spring sang welcome, and the clear, sparkling waters raced joyously down of channel of Bamboo’s torn body into the waiting fields.
        Then the rice was planted, and the days went by, and the shoots grew, and the harvest came.
        In that day, Bamboo, once so glorious in his stately beauty, was yet more glorious in his brokenness, and humility. For in his beauty he was life abundant, but in his brokenness he became a channel of abundant life to his Master's world.*  

Dear Lord, in my pain and brokenness make me a conduit of Your love. 

*This rendition of the Parable of the Bamboo was taken from Surprised By Truth, by Patrick Madrid.