chase
I knew they were launching them in the morning because the sky was a brilliant red as the sun slowly crept across the horizon and the air was still. When I saw the first one float sihouetted across the morning sky, I jumped on my bike and pedalled toward them. My balloon chase was invigorating and purposeful. Myself and others along the trails captured the hot air balloons in full flight on our cell phones, cameras and retinas. It was spectacular!
Police chase criminals, dogs chase balls and people even chase storms. The French word “to hunt or strive for” is “chacier”. When we follow or go after someone or something we want, we are chasing whatever it is in hopes of acquiring whatever that is. I was chasing balloons. Some chase words when they are writing and others chase after illustions and dreams.
Years ago I read a book called Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson. His book is based on 2 Samuel 23 where the warrior, Benaiah chases after a lion. Mark’s book is “a wake-up call to stop living as if the purpose of life was to simply arrive safely at death. Our dreams should scare us. They should be so big that without God they would be impossible to achieve. Quit running away from what you’re afraid of. Chase the lion! Change the world!”
Pharoah and his army chased the Israelites but they were swallowed up into the sea; Joshua chased and defeating countless armies and even David chased after God’s own heart and was rewarded for it. Jesus had a mission on earth to seek and save (Luke 19:10). He pursed the lost. 1 Timothy 6:9-11 tells us that those who chase after riches are constantly falling into snares and temptations, ruin and destruction; wandering from the faith and having many griefs. Riches, fame and love relationships might be important to us, but God pursues us because we are important to him. We can chase the wind, earthly desires and unrealistic dreams, but if we chase after God’s will, God’s word and God’s heart, we can be sure that we are moving in the right direction.
God may be even chasing us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggRCZ6OQVaQ Won’t you let him catch you?
stand
“O Canada, we stand on guard for thee” is a line from our national anthem. Election results are in and Canadians have shown where they stand. When I was in elementary school, our class would start the day by marching single file into the hallway and meet the other students filing from their rooms to stand with us on the linoleum at attention while we sang the national anthem. My problem was that I would lock my knees, start feeling light headed and then not so gracefully faint onto the floor often banging my head. Eventually, the teacher would bring a chair for me and I would be allowed to sit because standing on my own only caused a disruption and a headache for me.
In 2014, Henry Jackman composed a song entitled, Taking a Stand for the movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When the composer put the film’s music score together, he wanted to capture the audience through a blend of modern and traditional superheroic sounds and scores. When one listens to the music, you are transported by the “strong, sort of slightly powerful tune.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENzNJiQNSCc Have a listen!
Lately, we hear the phrase, “stand in my truth.” What exactly does that mean? Is your truth better or worse than mine? Do you want to stand out from the crowd? I do believe there is only God’s truth and that never fails. Whether it’s the sentinels standing at attention in their uniforms or a music stand holding the score for a conductor; eventually they will need to be retired or they wear out. When we stand on God’s promises, we stand on the Rock of our Salvation and truth and justice reign forever.
Jesus stood in front of Pilate. Daniel and his three friends, Mishael, Hananiah, and Azariah. took a stand against eating the food of the king’s table. David stood up to Goliath. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:13 to “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand firm.” We are also to “be watchful, stand firm in the faith…” 1 Corinthians 16:13a
Some people say that if you stand for anything, you will fall for it too. What do you stand for? Justice? Truth? Jesus? Maybe it’s time to take a stand.
freedom
Next week, all adults in Canada will have had the opportunity to vote in a federal election to determine the future of our country. What a privilege it is to live in a democracy where we are able to have a voice in our government.
And yet, many Canadians are caught in the nets of fear and anxiety. I recently listened to a podcast by Michael Meade where he shares an old wisdom story about three fish - a wise one, a half-wise one and an unwise one. The story reverberates the fact that we need to reconnect to our deep self and realization. Each person has battles and troubles, but when uncertainty and anxiety threaten us, we have two choices: to be threatened or to look for new opportunities to grow emotionally, spiritually, naturally and even physically. And so, as people go to the polls, we pray that positive choices will be made.
What comes to mind when I ponder these thoughts is what I saw recently on my cloudy, drizzling Saturday drive. Throughout the day I saw a number of hawks. The first one was much like the unwise fish. It was literally standing on the shoulder of the highway looking like it almost wanted to cross the road but was frozen in fear or hurt beyond movement. It was in danger from being hit by any one of the many passing vehicles on the road and yet it didn’t fly away. This bird is representative of the people who are afraid of an outcome, afraid of any action or those who have made unwise choices but can’t move forward for whatever reasons.
Then a few minutes later, I watched two hawks sitting on fenceposts in the rain. As I drove by, they reminded me of the half-wise fish that realized he would be caught in a net but had lost his chance to escape to the ocean. These birds represent the people that have been trapped in regret, but it is too late and they will need to wait for “next time” because they had their chance but didn’t take it. The hawks could sit there all day getting wet, or they could choose to fly away.
And then later in the day, I saw two hawks circling above my head. These of course are like the wise fish that set out on its own when it realized that fishermen were in the bay casting their nets into the water. It knew it was time to seek safety. The birds are able to soar above and are not stuck on the roadway or on a fencepost. They represent freedom to fly and the people who choose to see the world from a different perspective above the crowd. When we set out on our own, we may discover many sights.
Jesus talks about different kinds of seeds that are sown along the path and how each one represents different people. The parable of the sower gives people choices as well.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13: 18-23
I pray that people will make positive choices as their seeds fall on good soil to produce an abundant crop and represent the wise fish and the soaring hawk to help us live in freedom.
Back
Now that I am back from summer vacation and holidays, it is time for school to start. September is the store call for “Back to School” savings. The streets will be quieter now that the children are back in school and traffic won’t be backed up until after the bell rings at 3:30. I don’t like to get my back up about erratic drivers, but then again, when someone backs up into my bumper in the parking lot, I can get very irritated. Back to the story.
It used to be that we had to backup all our computer files, but now we have google docs. We used to say, “be right back” and now we just text an emoji or leave a voice message. Friends had each other’s backs but we still pat babies on their backs to get that burp up. Most of the time we can back up our truths with facts and still caress a lover’s back. Do people still have backbones to stand up against injustices like bullies?
When I look back in time, it astounds me how things have changed. Even the greenback isn’t worth as much today and there is a lot more push back from different segments of society. It raises the hair on the back of some politician’s necks. We would say, “back in the day” or “if we could just push back time” then things would be different. Oh how wonderful things were then. Some days I just want to slide back down under the covers and let the memories come back to me. Other days I sit in the sun as it shines on the back of my head and a bird perches on the back fence watching me write.
My most interesting days are when I see the stooped, white-haired lady in my neighborhood, only visible to those watching, shuffle and shuttle her feet along the grey concrete sidewalk to check her mail at the mailboxes. She is certainly not invisible to me and I dash from what I am doing to greet her and engage in conversations of “back in the day”. As we stroll along, she recalls tales of her childhood and her memory extends from years so far back that even some history books can’t capture all the details of events passed long ago during her lifetime. She recounts tales of yesteryear. She leans her head back as we sit on the bench midway through our stroll and she asks me, “Will he ever come back?”
Is she indicating the empty nest in the oak tree above our heads? Perhaps she is referring to a lost lover. And so I ask her, “Who?”
Her reply back to me is simply one word, “Jesus.”
So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:44
if
Why do we want proof or conditions? “If” you do this; then I will do that. “If” you show me this, then I’ll believe you,” Gideon was such a man who wanted proof of God’s promises. In Judges 6: God tells Gideon he is going to save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Gideon doesn’t believe God and in 16, The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” Gideon continues to seek proof.
When I was teaching, I would often use children’s books to convey varous ideas. One particular lesson, I used the books by Laura Numeroff, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin. These books are described as “circular tales” or “slippery slope” stories.
The premise in critical thinking shows there is an argument to demonstrate that one small step (the “if) can lead to a chain of events ending in some significant effect. The crazy thing is that this type of argument is a form of fearmongering. The organization or person, takes the probable consequences of an action, exaggerates them in an attempt to scare others. Sounding familiar?
The Arabs share a fable from 1858 called “the camel’s nose in the tent.” I was intrigued by the story. An Arab miller allows a camel to stick his nose into his bedroom, then the head, legs and body until the camel is inside the room and refuses to leave. Apparently, the story is a metaphor for the situation where the permitting of a small seeminly, innocent act opens the door for undesirable actions. The moral of the fable is: It is wise rule to resist the beginnings of evil.
The bible has numerous warnings about this. In James 4:7, he reminds us to “Resist the devil and he will flee from you!”
Perhaps we bring fear upon ourselves by conjuring up all sorts of horrible events that we believe will happen. That one thought (What if?) leads to others and soon we are frantic with worry. After the incident passes and nothing major happens, we wonder why we wasted all that energy on “what if?”
What if we thought differently and changed our train of thought? What if we didn’t live in fear? What if we followed the words in scripture and filled our minds with (Philippians 4: 7-9)? And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Have a worry-free day!
lexical
As many of you know, I love words. Derivatives, prefixes, meanings, origins and spelling are interesting, but I mostly find words when I am reading. Another thing I love to do! And after those smoky, hazy, hot days lends oneself to absorbing time in a book or being lackadaisical, I am now thankful for cloudy but blue skies!
I am a typical, logical person who isn’t much of a radical, unless I find a subject that can make me cynical. Then I can get finical.
What I have discovered, is that there is no suffix “-cal”. There are some words that end with -ic and others with -ical which basically means the same thing. Apparently this formation came about in the late Latin composition of adjectives. “Al” is really the suffix which means relate to, process of or an action.
And action I did take when a few relatives requested that we visit the Vincent Van Gough art exhibit. As one walks into the irenic building, there are quotes, frames and paintings along a patterned walk. In each room, the doorway leads one on to a new experience. The paintings move in sync throughout the room and depict Vincent’s life and show the autobiographical nature of his work. The experience was magical, mystical and truncal. As we walked through the moving colors that started at the nodical and domical space, it was very truncal! As I stood in front of his “Starry Night”, I was monomanical and mezmorzied. Even a stoical person would find elation as they stood in the every-changing landscape of the walls and floors and be moved by the musical compositions that matched the paintings. It reminds me of being in nature and a few biblical passages from Psalm 104
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
He makes winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
As I sit on my deck in the late evening hours and gaze at the sky on the days when I can see the stars or when I see a spectacular sunset or view the majestic mountains, I marvel at God’s painbrush and art work. I know that his wonders can be seen every day and each stroke of His hand gives the birds their colors, the flowers their blossoms and the landscapes their beauty. How blessed we are to view the earth as God’s canvas. Be sure to get outside and enjoy these glorious days!