Life As I Seize It

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 ...

I often hear people saying that worshiping nature is a form of idolatry .  Well, I have got to admit to you that I can't stop gazing up at stars at night.  I make it a point to look up to the heavens just to see the magnificence of it all.  There is something about the infinity of that inky-blue blackness and those millions of stars that remind me that it is not all about me while reaffirming the greatness of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  That's my God, too! Right now I am perched up in the hill country of Texas.  There is a magnificent lake the size of an ocean below me, and already, as the sun falls off the horizon behind the hills to my right I can see twinkling lights appearing one by one on the distant horizon around the lake.  The wind has picked up just enough, reminding me of the breath of God.  These gorgeous trees called Texas Willows and something else similar with these lovely pink blossoms are just waving about in the breeze.  Below me there is red feather ...

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 ...

The general prayer that children send up to heaven is, "Dear God, please let the stuff I have studied be the stuff on this test."  The general prayer that business owners send up is, "Dear God, please let there be more money than bills."'

It's a crisp, cold, clear day and my dog finds possibly the best spot in the house: she is sitting as though beside Queen Elizabeth, poised and quite pleased with herself on the wool oriental in my foyer.  Contentedly, she is basking on the rug where the morning sun is falling onto her through the leaded glass door, creating a kaleidoscope of warm, fuzzy sunlight which sprinkles dapples of gold onto her.   I watch her momentarily before she spots me.  She gives me the look, the same look she throws me when we cruise together in the car with the top down.  The look that says she's very pleased. The one that says she is happy with her life and diggin' this moment. She may be "just" a dog, but she has taught me one of life's most important lessons: happiness is a series of moments basking in contentedness.  Just throw your head back and howl at them.