Making a Joyful Noise

Happy Robin

Purest Song

Singing Praises
All Day Long

Worship

Those of you who observe the church calendar know yesterday was Pentecost Sunday.  It is the day marked in Acts 2, fifty days after Christ's ascension, when the Holy Spirit descended upon and infilled the disciples, marking the grand entrance of our Comforter, Helper, Guide, and Powerful Person of the Trinity.

When we entered for worship yesterday, we were overwhelmed by the art hung from the sanctuary ceiling:  a moving portrayal of the beauty and presence of the Holy Spirit. At one point in time a gentle breeze wafted the fabric, for me the utter wind of the Spirit.  What a celebratory morning with anthems, scripture, homily, communion, and last, a magnificent organ postlude on "Crown Imperial," a fitting title for Pentecost.

Prayer For All Times

This is a quote from Gene Stratton-Porter's A Girl of the Limberlost:

"To the extent of my brain power I realize Your presence, and all it is in me to comprehend of Your power.  Help me to learn, even this late, the lessons of Your wonderful creations.  Help me to unshackle and expand my soul to the fullest realization of Your wonders.  Almighty God, make me bigger, make me broader!"

A Book to Treasure

I say “Fie” on the present-day novels that have the reader wallow, descend with the author to lives of depravity, unhealthy introspection, obscure meanings, four letter words, explicit sex, and the worst scraping of the barrel:  hopelessness.  I say “Fie” because I have just been treated, elevated, gratified, and raised to beauty by an old novel loaned to me by Judy, my fellow author and dear friend. 

This novel I hold in my hands was written by a woman whose literary sisters and brothers might be L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jean Webster, Harold Bell Wright, and others...please contribute to this list!  This novel, The Keeper of the Bees, might be fairly called a sleeper in Gene Stratton-Porter’s long list of accomplishments.  Not to be found in the library, not a free iBook, not in my own personal pile stacked high with many of her books, dog-eared from rereading.  In this book I have found death to be beautiful, life to be treasured, honesty and care for others to be valued, characters to emulate, wry laughter to spice my day.  I’ve found the things I like best about a book:  an enthralling mystery, the captivating beauty of nature, a belief in God that wafts in enough places to pin everything together, and to cap it all off, the giant four letter word that today’s novelists are afraid to touch with a ten-foot pole:  Hope.

Search on with me, oh readers, who desire the best in life.

Celtic Blessing

If minds had shelves, mine would have several, freshly stuffed, with Celtic blessings. Here is one for today.

I am bending my knee
In the eye of the Father who created me,
In the eye of the Son who purchased me,
In the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me,
   In friendship and affection.
Through Thine own Anointed One, O God,
Bestow upon us fullness in our need,
   Love towards God,
   The affection of God,
   The smile of God,
   The fear of God,
   And the will of God
To do in the world of the Three....

Older with Grace

Today I saw an elderly man crossing the street pushing his shiny red
walker, stepping out into traffic as if he believed the cars would
stop.  They did...this time.  I imagined him as a young man in a shiny
red sports car, driving with confidence, top down, defying the wind
and weather, taking chances he probably shouldn't have, but enjoying
life to the full.  I have a friend, not so old, who now walks with a
cane, back bent with osteoporosis, a woman who in her younger years
had a busy life with children and a career, never imagining this day
would come so soon.  I guess we can't take anything for granted, for
this day may come to us all.  At 70, it may come to me sooner than to
you, faithful reader.   Don't forget we older people weren't always
the way we are now.  Remember us the way we used to be and shower us
with patience.  Even though we're slower responding and recollecting,
we're still fast at reminiscing!   And don't call us Seniors unless
there's a hefty discount to go with it!   My personal calling card
might read:  Silver-Haired Woman of Wisdom.  Have advice, will
impart.  Here's to growing older with grace and courage!   :-)

Growing Up

I've decided it's time.  Now that I'm 70, I've been reflecting on
entries made in my old journals.  Come to find out my thoughts and
questions haven't changed much through the years.  I'm stuck.  Stuck
asking the same questions over and over, stuck in my habits, actions
and expectations.  That is not a good thing!  I should be growing,
changing, making progress.  Maturing.  But it seems to be one step
forward and ninety-nine steps right back to where I started.  I don't
learn a thing!  My beloved children, now forty-one and forty-four are
more wise in their thinking than I am.  My daughter writes that God
doesn't disappoint us, only life's circumstances do.  Having been
turned down for a barista job a few months ago and now seeing the help-
wanted ad in the paper again, she says, "If only they had hired
someone not qualified, but dependable, I'd have learned what there was
to learn and they wouldn't be looking for help so soon!"   My son
writes of 'the comforts of decay' and the 'beloved ailments of the
elderly.'  He remarks that 'runners run to cope with life's
uncertainties and to make sense of the senseless.' 

I'd been thinking about all this before our sermon on Sunday.  Then it
hit me right between the eyes.  Forgetting what's behind, pressing on,
eating solid food instead of Similac.  There was a statement at the
bottom of the sermon notes asking what God is challenging me to do in
this area.  The answer was loud and clear:  Grow up, Judy.  Replace
doubt with trust once and for all.  I'm still the light for your path
and I'll be hiding you in the palm of my hand.  The choice is yours.  
The results are mine.