Excerpts from the Book

THE FORGETTER
(God can't remember)

How sweet it would be, if we were able to forget and thus end the bitterness and the pit-of -the- stomach sickening sensations that begins yet another round of eating away at your inner being.  Even sanity seems to stand on the brink and depression moves in again, seemingly this time to stay until . . .What a relief, if forgetting could be inserted on top of the act of forgiveness and both buried forever-once and for all.  Instead, the memories of the hurtful incident are seemingly encased in cement like icing that petrifies the total mess.  At times, it is as though a large silent parasite is constantly at work in your very innards.  What can you do?

THE DEAD MESSIAH
(but not for long)

What has to be one of the saddest moments in all of history ages and eons, past and future:  The Messiah died.  The Son of God deserted by almost everyone. Think about it.  Just suppose we had been there on crucifixion day.  Would we have done any better?  Or to bring the scenario up to date, have I deserted my Lord when a burst of profanity erupts like a slap on his face.  And yet, I ignored or pretended not to hear, as though my Messiah was dead.

THE DONKEY RIDER
(a king on such)

Jesus was very specific, once upon a time, while speaking to the church leaders of his day, pointing out they loved to sit in the most important seats in the synagogue. These seats probably had a "Reserved" sign prominently affixed. . . I think about this every time I drive in front of a church and am immediately confronted with signs that read, "Reserved for Pastor"    "Reserved for Associate Pastor"   "Reserved for Music Director", etc., etc. . .  Can you imagine in front of the temple, "Reserved for Jesus"

WORTHY OF PRAISE
(don't let a __?__ take your place)   

Fear not if "alive-praise" disturbs you.  God, in his understanding and tender mercies allows the Holy Spirit to provide silent ways to express joy and spiritual communion.  I know a few people who are sometimes "blessed" and overwhelmed by the goodness of God and when this occurs they do not jump or leap or run or clap their hands or even say a word out loud; they simply weep and quietly cry tears of overflowing joy.  There is a summarizing verse that..."

LORD YOU ARE SUPREME
(God an be a bulldozier)

As I walked my pilgrimage to nowhere I uttered out loud a one sentence prayer, "Lord you are Supreme!  Lord, you are Supreme!"  I did not feel the need to explain "Lord you are the only one that can shut these people up...Lord, you are the only one .that can stops the complaints...the petitions with all the many signatures.  LORD, you alone.  No human being can help now.  I have no one to depend upon except my Lord and today his name was Supreme.

 

LORD OF LIFE
(now and forever...the Invigorator)

I gazed at a garden that would produce tasty vegetables in mere weeks.  A 50-year old black walnut tree that in the vibrancy of the growing season and in the dewy freshness of the morn, now standing before me seemed brand new.  I stepped on some stones of slate that were so old that I could not imagine their age.  Only that they were already there when any historical character you care to name was a  small lad. Birds were beginning to sing.  These birds had ancestors that were laying eggs and producing off spring when the walnut tree was still contained in a single hull.

ONE REFUGE
(one is all we need)
                                         
"There is a point where everything is behind and there are no more possibilities.  The old hymn sums it  up...."when you've reached the end of your earthly resources"...those highly blessed with millions, with talent and fame.....with something called "luck"  ...those with political connections, with good looks and popularity.  All eventually discover that it all come to naught ... the eternal conclusion..."
                            

THE BIG ZEE:  OMEGA
(Zee What I Mean)

To call Him our “Omega” would imply that at the final earthly point, having gone from A to Zee, indeed brings us to our threshold of a new beginning of eternal life, paradise, heaven, everlasting life and further into whatever it is that our minds cannot even conceive or imagine or any and all that lies ahead in a bliss that is everlasting and in a new and wondrous Kingdom, and at this point, we can hear again the words of our Lord as He said,  “....I go to prepare a place for you.”

THE TIE THAT BINDS
(And Binds And Binds And Binds)

As I say, I don’t have my mind completely fixed on this strategy but feel the merits can be debated.
Point to Ponder:  If there had been a Jewish Directory or Christian Directory available to Jesus on his travels through the countryside, would He have stopped at the well in Samaria and talked to the non-kosher woman?  Or would He have continued on, to a sanctioned water well and dealt with his own kind?  Ouch!

GOD OF THE WHY’S
(And the “What’s” and “When’s" and "How’s")

One final comment…only don’t read it, if you can’t take the blunt:  Some things simply can’t be answered and aren’t meant to be answered...at least not here and now.  If we could answer, then we would be as smart and wise as God.  And we aren’t.

THE POTTER
(Some Times It Hurts)

How relieved we are that we have a refined, polished, painted, glazed and glorified vessel.  Fit for service by the Master, we proudly await our time of service.  We are honored to be of use to our Master.  And to others!. 
Now comes the crucial test.  Are we going to be an active ready-to-be-used, which may well require our going out into a tough world, getting dirty and being thrown around and maybe even suffering a few cracks and chips?
Or, are we going to sit up on the top shelf and look pretty…and collect dust?

ALL POWER
(Beyondest Awesome)

I was gloriously stuck in the midst of doing the impossible of trying to describe our God, who in the middle of the Divine rapids became my God.  I was struggling and lost somewhere in the fringes of heavenly bewilderment reaching to the extreme right of the plus side of an insufficient scale, when I gladly surrendered
 

LORD OF GLORY
(Who Came Down)

In this book, I will frequently be telling you what my grandmother said.  For this I make no apology, for my grandmother came very close to being an earthly saint.  My grandmother told me when I was in the third grade that God had created us so that He could have “fellowship” with us, and we in turn could have fellowship with God.   There is a one-line explanation in a gospel song.

OUR GOD
(“Papa”)

There are some cultures and religions that do not feel they have the “right” to ever pronounce or write the name of God, Jehovah, etc.  The usual reasons involve the fact that “He” is so mighty and so holy and so tremendously superior to we puny mortal humans.  A case could be made that there is some validity to this line of reasoning.  One ridiculous example, (just to make the contrasting point) is to imagine one lowly ant praying to a mammoth elephant.

THE DIVIDER
(Ouch)

Our Father is “tough”.  But he has a right to be. He sacrificed His own Son.  His words are hard and demanding.  He does not have to evade or soft-pedal.  No one can say the author did not warn us.  The intent is to divide!  Even divide asunder.
His word is always sharp enough (just like a sword) to slice a critical line between the membrane of soul and spirit, so that the swipe exposes bare truth.  And this type of surgery is not elective.  It hurts!  But if any of us, even as a human and not divine had given our only son, or even a son, we would feel that we had a right to be demanding.
We can’t escape this “asundering” procedure.  God’s sword is sharp on both sides so it will get us coming or going.  If not on the downward swipe as we dodge or run away, then on the upward thrust as it returns.  Make no mistake, it will return, but it will not return void.

OUR DAYSPRING
(A Unique Name)

Job most likely never dreamt that the eventual exit out of this valley…
In the valley of experience most of us go through  (and thankfully, never as severe as Job’s) we spend most of our valley time wallowing in misery, wading through dismal pessimistic mind sets as opposed to planning and anticipating the joy and good times that eventually lie ahead.  In these “despair pits,” even when we think of Heaven, our moods aren’t necessarily glorious.