Life As I Seize It

When bad things happen to us, our first reaction is "why me?" When good things happen to others, often, in our flesh, our initial reaction is "why not me?" Oh, we are happy for the other person, for their good fortune, but inside, in that secret place, we think to ourselves: "Why not me? After all, I'm a good person, aren't I?  I mean, Why not me ?" It's a wail, a plea to 'the universe' because of the 'unfairness of it all'. We might even tell ourselves, I'm a  much  better person that he (or she). Why not me? In our humanness, we want the good, but not the bad. It's only natural.  Who wants to just "get by" when the alternative is wealth?  We see wealthy people who win the lottery, and say, "You have to be kidding!" Someone who didn't need "it" won the big payout, and we ask . . . why not me ?  Why can't we hit the jackpot or be the surprised heir of some distant relative...

If good people go to heaven . . . then how good do they need to be? I suppose if you don't believe in God, and think that after you take your last breath that you cease to exist, then for you heaven doesn't matter because it doesn't exist.  For you, this one life is, well, this is all that there is.  Live life and enjoy! Some day your number will be up and that's that . . . that's all there is. It's interesting to me that some people believe in heaven, but not in hell.  In trying to think through why we would have a heaven but no hell the only sound conclusion is that we simply don't like the idea of hell.  " It's not fair!" We whine. Why should some get to go to Heaven, but not others? It's just not fair!"   So what happens to the bad people?  I mean, if there is a place for "good" people . . . shouldn't there also be a place for "bad" people?   There are bad people, aren't there?   Yet most peopl...

I had this written back Thanksgiving and am now just getting around to posting it.  I know that the purpose of a blog is to blog and then post . . . obviously I had to amend a paragraph or two . . . I have had a lot on my mind lately . . . other than the change in latitude . . . Every day, periodically through the day I have begun unconsciously doing a spiritual check-up, and have been asking myself: When people see me, do they see Christ?  Do I reflect Him?  Am I giving the non-believer, the unsure, those seeking something more from life, a glimpse of Christ?  Over the past months I have been spending more time with the Lord and less time with the distractions of the world.  I am in the world, yet somehow I feel as though I am detached from it, especially from things that steal my inner peace and time with God.  I have an incredible hunger for more of the Word that seems insatiable. It's a thirst I cannot seem to quench. God has put it on my heart ...

Written December 12th. 2009. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior.  ~ Sir Francis Bacon For some time God has been interrupting my life.  When God interrupts it is usually unexpected, often unwanted, and generally poor timing . . . at least on my part. Lord, I'm kind of busy at work right now . . . Lord, I just can't take time . . . Lord, I am not the one who should be apologizing . . . and on and on I go, arguing with God.  When does arguing with God ever accomplish anything? A few months back someone in my family acted in an inappropriate, mean, and most un-Christian way towards me; I was hurt and surprised, but considering a lifetime of selfish behavior from this person I have no idea why I was caught off guard.  In retrospect, I think I was stunned because I am generally the peacemaker in my family; besides, we are orphans, all grown up and beyond past misconceptions and hurts, or so I t...

Okay, in one of my recent blog ravings, which by the way was started at 4:30 AM in the morning, God showed up and interrupted. When God interrupts . . . well, if you are a practicing Christian, you'll know what I mean. If not, well, there's no point in my explaining.  Just read on and enjoy God's joke on me . . . part 3. In the first two installments of this conversation, I was telling you about my narrow escape from the Baptists and how I found my way to Stonewater, a non-denominational church in the heart of Texas. At the first of November, I went to Stonewater's membership meeting because I wanted to understand what they, as a non-denominational church, were all about.  I had already determined that they were a biblically based church, which was my first requirement, but imagine my surprise when, during the membership "discovery" meeting, the pastor stated that they were all former Baptist ministers and the church was supported by the Southern Baptist...

Nine and a half hours to make the dinner, twenty minutes to eat it. Thanksgiving is a gastric 3,000 calories behind Americans with the only after effects the unspoken recognition that we need to take off those extra few pounds after the first of the year. Yesterday it was Thanksgiving. Today it's Black Friday. Morning has broken across the nation, and for the majority of Americans, with only 28 more shopping days to Christmas, it is the start of the Christmas yuletide season. It should be no surprise to anyone that today, of all days, heralded the announcement that a state government in this nation, the one nation under God with liberty and justice for all, is under fire from Atheists regarding traditional Christmas, i.e. Christian, symbolism. The state of Washington has caved into (the clearly minority) Atheistic demands and ruled that there will be no nativity scene inside the state capital this Christmas. So what should Christians do about the anti-Christian attacks on Chr...

In my last post, an eon ago, I mentioned that I had moved across country and was in search of a new church home so that I would feel as though I really had a home here in North Texas. What I didn't mention in that post is how God encouraged me to make the move. I know people talk about wanting a sign from God, but God was so determined for me to come out here that He was making it nigh on impossible for me not to get the message that I was to pack and GO! NOW! As I was saying in my last post, I ended up visiting my niece's Baptist church for three weeks because she asked me to attend with her. Now, the fact that she had been saved and dunked like a donut by the Baptists is especially funny to me because it reminds me that when praying to God, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it . . . but not in the way you imagined! I forgot to ask God to make any non-saved relatives Presbyterians, or Lutherans, Methodists or Episcopalians, so He dropped her down among...

Since my move across country from east to west, I have been wandering around like a lost sheep looking for my new flock. Those of you who have been "churched" will understand.  You find a church before finding a home because church is home and the committed Christian generally wants to live as close to it as possible since they'll likely be there practically every time the doors are open.   This is especially true if you are a Presbyterian.  We Presbyterians love to form committees and hold meetings.  I don't know why this is, but it is what it is, so just accept it and enjoy the snacks and Maxwell House coffee. Presbyterian women generally know how to cook although perhaps not as good as those Baptist women.  As a "Brit"living in the American South, and an extremely analytical person, I have concluded that the Baptists make better cooks because the Baptists surely do know how to fry up chicken, make biscuits, and those women make a mean gravy.  I ...

T he problem with "Christians" is that well . . . they are so fallible.  I am a Christian, and like every other "Christian", I am fallible.   As a former student of Latin, perhaps "fallible" is not the best choice of words since it stems from the Latin "fallere" to deceive . . .  On second thought maybe 'fallible' is the right choice after all: "We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves." ~ Goethe You see, I accept the fact that, although I am a believer, a follower, a disciple, an officer of the Church, I sometimes fall short of the expectations of others and it's likely that the first response from others is: "And she calls herself a Christian! " Quite frankly, I often fall short of my expectations for myself.  I am certain that I also fall short of God's expectations, which I suppose makes me most thankful that I believe in the New Testament and that a certain carpenter was God with skin on.  I don't ...