Category Archives: Personal Musings

Personal Musings

Thoughts on Religion VS Relationship

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Ezekiel 36:25-27 says this: “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

There are many scriptures in the New Testament that speak of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who teaches us and guides us into truth. Our bodies have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

I just a couple of weeks visiting my kids in Italy and visiting cities where Christianity has been established, grew and has now waned for the past over 2000 years. What I observed there has further confirmed my assessment and observation of many lives. I see (and saw) evidences everywhere of the attempts by man to create a posture of religious compliance: Churches designed to raise thoughts to the majesty and holiness of God, rituals designed to conform to an appearance of holiness, rules to enforce behavior and appearance to that which seems to be godly, a culture of lip-service honor to the past and surface graciousness.

But history reveals what happens to external controls designed to impose a standard on the created world – it all falls down under either active or passive entropy. Rebellions cause resentment and traditions are torn down by the new authority. Laziness fails to maintain and keep up the requirements for matters that fall in the presence of relentless time and gravity. Like the lobsters I saw in the restaurant windows with their thick exoskeletons, once pierced, the innards fell quickly to the devouring conquerors. To me, so many structures developed in our society are like that lobster – they only work when they are in the right environment and protected by a majority.

But a relationship with Christ is different. We exchange our works for His, our sin for His righteousness. Our flesh is vulnerable and subject to failure, but His righteousness forms a firm interior that cannot be easily injured. We nourish that spirit within by listening, by action inspired by His voice, by communicating and feeding on His Word.

Some day, I will escape “these mortal chains” and be with my Savior. I have a lot of questions now. When I see Him, will my questions even matter? In the meantime, I must press forward, and remind myself Whose child I am.

Personal Musings

The View from My Window

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As I look over the fields from my office window, spring is blooming everywhere.  The redbuds are in full display, their fuchsia petals enhanced by the still brown limbs of trees not fully awakened.  Piles of old hay rolls, never claimed to nourish a hungry animal, lie rotting in the middle of the field.  Everything that nature reveals, has an underlying story for me.  The Bradford pears that bloomed last week in the neighborhood and looked so beautiful, are preparing to cast their deadly spawn which will fill my fields with nasty prickly sprouts that I won’t be able to eradicate.  I am in the process of preparing my garden plots for the seeds and plants that will bear fruit in the fall.  Grass is already overtaking the sidewalks.  Peach flowers are giving way to buds that will form the fruit of summer.  Deer and rabbits are looking for the tender plants they know will soon form a feast after winter’s long sleep.

So many stories lie before me, so many analogies.

Personal Musings

Retirement – Retreadment

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I retired.  Yes, it’s only been 3 months. But a lot has happened in these 3 months.  I’ve gone through a couple of viral illnesses, said goodbye to my youngest son who moved overseas, opened a “retirement business,” started a fun job working for a company I believe in, and now dealing with my father’s impending death.  Yes, a lot has happened.

I was blessed to be able to leave my job in time to spend some time with my son and his family before they left for Italy for 3 years.  I was blessed to have enough savings to carry us through until my retirement funds could kick in.  I was blessed to have time to write for my new endeavor – Hope Breastfeeding Support – and learn how to manage my website.  I’m learning that, yes, old dogs can learn new tricks.  I’ve been blessed to have a couple of clients in that endeavor.

But I’m still not settled in my path.  I’m not sure if my “business” will succeed – or that I even want it to.  The stress and responsibility of being “it” for my clients is hard.  I find it hard to gracefully back out when they still have needs – and I have gone far beyond the limits I set up.  And with this continuing vacillation in my soul, it’s hard for me to commit to other opportunities.  I hate to say no, but I don’t want to say yes and not be able to keep my promises.

Retirement is both easier and harder than I thought.  There are more opportunities than I expected, but I find that aging has taken away some of my stamina.  My prayer is that I will stay close to God and listen to His voice wherever He may lead.

Personal Musings

Faith

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From the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

1) a :  allegiance to duty or a person :  loyalty   b:  fidelity to one’s promises :  sincerity of intentions

2 a:  belief and trust in and loyalty to God :  belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion   b:  firm belief in something for which there is no proof:  complete trust

3 :  something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially :  a system of religious beliefs

From Dictionary.com

1.  confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another’s ability.

2. belief that is not based on proof: 

3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion:  

4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.:

5. a system of religious belief: 
6.  obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise,   engagement,etc.:
7.  the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one’s promise, oath,allegiance, etc.:
Webster’s 1913 Dictionary
1.Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony.
2. The assent of the mind to the statement or proposition of another, on the ground of the manifest truth of what he utters; firm and earnest belief, on probable evidence of any kind, especially in regard to important moral truth.
3.  (Judeo-Christian Theol.) The belief in the historic truthfulness of the Scripture narrative, and the supernatural origin of its teachings, sometimes called historical and speculative faith.
4.  (Theol.) That which is believed on any subject, whether in science, politics, or religion;especially (Theol.), a system of religious belief of any kind; as, the Jewish or Mohammedan faith; the Christian faith; also, the creed or belief of a Christian society or church
5. Fidelity to one’s promises, or allegiance to duty, or to a person honored and beloved; loyalty.
6.  Credibility or truth.
Above are three different dictionary definitions of faith.  I have deliberately left out the examples given by each site.   Dictionary.com is the most contemporary of dictionaries.   As you can see, it introduces a definition of faith that includes the statements “belief without proof”.   The 1913 Webster dictionary includes “belief based on authority and veracity, reliance on testimony.”  A secondary definition includes “firm and earnest belief based on probable evidence of any kind.”
The Bible has much to say on faith – “without faith, it is impossible to please God,” “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,”  “the just shall live by faith.”   In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word is actually faithfulness – meaning persistent commitment.  God is faithful – He keeps His promises.  This has great importance – what God promises He will do, will come to pass.  It cannot be stopped by anyone.
The problem I have with faith is when it is defined as a “belief without proof.”  Many folks will state that those who require proof are without faith.  When a scientist or a skeptic points out inconsistencies in a point of view, they are often castigated and pronounced heretics, instead of encouraged to investigate those inconsistencies and try to resolve them.  There are many scriptures that invite us to test God – but those invitations also demand action.  We test God (in a good way) by walking in the direction He is leading.  When we put our faith in Christ, we walk towards Him and away from our selfishness – a life totally bent on pleasing our flesh.  We rest in His accomplishments – His death, burial and resurrection – and trust that when we are buried with Him, we will also be raised with Him.  The walk by faith is not always an easy one, but the testing and trials we go through strengthen our commitment and character in Him.