Easter Sunday - 2014
My first Easter - like nothing else ... first sunrise service - first alleluia sung by a choir - first ALLELUIA sung by my own heart and mouth ---- so long ago now, 64 years, but more meaningful now than ever! To each of you who receive this blog or email - may Jesus bring you deep inner peace, no matter your external circumstances.
This morning my heart and thoughts have gone around the world thinking of those with whom we have "walked" in and through Jesus of Nazareth. So many faces from so many countries - over 50 for sure - each of us have sung Alleluia because there is no inner peace without Alleluia some place in our lives.
Jesus Christ has risen - Alleluia --- may the whole world come to know and accept - then there WILL be peace in every nation and among every nation. When we lose Alleluia as the center of our life then we must find a substitute center - to quote Helmut Thielicke p 281 "...if he (a person) is no longer subject to God, then he is under the domination of his instincts, his opportunism, his ambition, his will to power. The day may come when he will stick to nothing if it seems opportune to him. For every one of us has some kind of lord, we are all driven by something - if not God, then an idol, if not from above, then from below."
EASTER SUNDAY - Jesus Christ is risen today ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA
Thank you Jesus that "You Know What You Are Doing!"
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Two gifted historians, theologians and good friends wrote a book titled - The Meaning of Jesus. I found the book in a used book store autographed and dedicated, "For Cathy with all good wishes" Tom Wright, Marcus Borg - May '02 I would like to share the concluding paragraphs of Tom Wright's writing on the resurrection. (my editing - by replacing pronouns with proper nouns and the word "it" - the legacy of a college professor who would not allow us to use the word "it" - "No one knows how to use the word it properly!"
In his concluding paragraphs of chapter 7 "The Transforming Reality of the Bodily Resurrection" page 126 Dr. Wright wrote,
"The deepest meanings of the resurrection have to do with new creation.if the stories are metaphors for anything they are metaphors for the belief that God's new world had been brought to birth. When Jesus emerged, transformed, from the tomb on Easter morning, the event was heavy with symbolic significance, to which the evangelists drew attention, without wishing to detract from the historical nature of what they were talking about. The resurrection was the first day of God's new week, the moment of sunrise after the long night, the time of new meetings, new meals, of reconciliation and new commissioning. The resurrection was the beginning of the new creation.
"The resurrection was, therefore, the sign of hope for the future, not only for individuals but for the whole world....
"Because of this hope, the resurrection of Jesus means that the present time is shot through with great significance. What is done to the glory of God in the present is genuinely building for God's future. Acts of justice and mercy, the creation of beauty and the celebration of truth, deeds of love and the creation of communities of kindness and forgiveness - these all matter and they mater forever. Take away the resurrection, and these things are important for the present but irrelevant for the future and hence not at all that important after all even now. Enfolded in this vocation to build now, with gold, silver, and precious stones, the things that will last into God's new age, is the vocation to holiness: to the fully human life, reflecting the image of God, that is possible by the victory of Jesus on the Cross and that is energized by the Spirit of the risen Jesus present within communities and persons. "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above"; get rid of all the dehumanizing behavior that destroys God's good creation and the creatures made in his image, all anger and lust, greed and pride." The resurrection thus opens the door to a new world: a new mode of life for the whole cosmos and all who will dwell in this new world here and hereafter."
Where any of us are in this world - from any nation or with any worldview - the resurrection of Jesus brings hope for almost unheard of new beginning! Which our world truly needs as do each of us.
HAPPY EASTER
In his concluding paragraphs of chapter 7 "The Transforming Reality of the Bodily Resurrection" page 126 Dr. Wright wrote,
"The deepest meanings of the resurrection have to do with new creation.if the stories are metaphors for anything they are metaphors for the belief that God's new world had been brought to birth. When Jesus emerged, transformed, from the tomb on Easter morning, the event was heavy with symbolic significance, to which the evangelists drew attention, without wishing to detract from the historical nature of what they were talking about. The resurrection was the first day of God's new week, the moment of sunrise after the long night, the time of new meetings, new meals, of reconciliation and new commissioning. The resurrection was the beginning of the new creation.
"The resurrection was, therefore, the sign of hope for the future, not only for individuals but for the whole world....
"Because of this hope, the resurrection of Jesus means that the present time is shot through with great significance. What is done to the glory of God in the present is genuinely building for God's future. Acts of justice and mercy, the creation of beauty and the celebration of truth, deeds of love and the creation of communities of kindness and forgiveness - these all matter and they mater forever. Take away the resurrection, and these things are important for the present but irrelevant for the future and hence not at all that important after all even now. Enfolded in this vocation to build now, with gold, silver, and precious stones, the things that will last into God's new age, is the vocation to holiness: to the fully human life, reflecting the image of God, that is possible by the victory of Jesus on the Cross and that is energized by the Spirit of the risen Jesus present within communities and persons. "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above"; get rid of all the dehumanizing behavior that destroys God's good creation and the creatures made in his image, all anger and lust, greed and pride." The resurrection thus opens the door to a new world: a new mode of life for the whole cosmos and all who will dwell in this new world here and hereafter."
Where any of us are in this world - from any nation or with any worldview - the resurrection of Jesus brings hope for almost unheard of new beginning! Which our world truly needs as do each of us.
HAPPY EASTER
Friday, April 4, 2014
Beryl Markham --- West with the Night - page123
"The trail ran north to Molo; at night it ran straight to the stars. It ran up the side of the Mau Escarpment until at ten thousand feet it found the edge of the plateau and rested there, and some of the stars burned beneath its edge. In the morning the plateau was higher than the sun. Even the day climbed the trail to Molo. I climbed it with all that I owned.
"I had two saddlebags, and Pegasus ( the name of her horse). The saddlebag held the pony's rug, his brush, a blacksmith's knife, six pounds of crushed oats, and a thermometer as a precaution against Horse Sickness. For me the bags held pajamas, slacks, a shirt, toothbrush, and a comb. I NEVER OWNED LESS, NOR CAN I BE SURE THAT I EVER NEEDED MORE." (my emphasis)
How to travel so light and need so little, today!
"The trail ran north to Molo; at night it ran straight to the stars. It ran up the side of the Mau Escarpment until at ten thousand feet it found the edge of the plateau and rested there, and some of the stars burned beneath its edge. In the morning the plateau was higher than the sun. Even the day climbed the trail to Molo. I climbed it with all that I owned.
"I had two saddlebags, and Pegasus ( the name of her horse). The saddlebag held the pony's rug, his brush, a blacksmith's knife, six pounds of crushed oats, and a thermometer as a precaution against Horse Sickness. For me the bags held pajamas, slacks, a shirt, toothbrush, and a comb. I NEVER OWNED LESS, NOR CAN I BE SURE THAT I EVER NEEDED MORE." (my emphasis)
How to travel so light and need so little, today!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Thoughts from the book WEST WITH THE NIGHT by Beryl Markham 1902-1986
About Beryl Markham, Ernest Hemingway wrote, "...I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could or would put pen to paper except tp write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But {She} can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers."
For those of you who have ever dreamed of flying, I used to skip High School classes to take flying lessons - charging them to my Dad until he found out - end of my flying career until years later ----- this is a great book to read!
Beryl who grew up in British East Africa on her fathers farm - a great part of her story. She later became a pilot and was the first person to fly east to west across the Atlantic, in 1936, thus the title of her book. She was honored all around the world for that feat.
In her book she described that when the rains did not come to East Africa for three years her father lost his farm and business and moved to Peru to train race horse. Beryl at age of seventeen and several month went north to Molo East Africa to train race horses. Their conversation about her move went something like any father would advice a teen age girl - in those days.
"Go to Molo,' said my father. 'There are stables at Molo that you could use. Remember that you are still just a girl and do not expect too much --- there are a few owners here and there who will give you horses to train. "AFTER THAT, WORK AND HOPE. BUT NEVER HOPE MORE THAN YOU WORK" (my emphasis) In today's world, we only seem to tell our kids about "Hope and Change" without the advice of never hoping more than the work required. I hope my 17 year old grandson, who loves football and hopes to play for a college will work harder than his hopes! Will he do the work required ? My hope!
This book is a great recreational read - especially if you love flying, early Africa, and wonderful accomplishments!
About Beryl Markham, Ernest Hemingway wrote, "...I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could or would put pen to paper except tp write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But {She} can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers."
For those of you who have ever dreamed of flying, I used to skip High School classes to take flying lessons - charging them to my Dad until he found out - end of my flying career until years later ----- this is a great book to read!
Beryl who grew up in British East Africa on her fathers farm - a great part of her story. She later became a pilot and was the first person to fly east to west across the Atlantic, in 1936, thus the title of her book. She was honored all around the world for that feat.
In her book she described that when the rains did not come to East Africa for three years her father lost his farm and business and moved to Peru to train race horse. Beryl at age of seventeen and several month went north to Molo East Africa to train race horses. Their conversation about her move went something like any father would advice a teen age girl - in those days.
"Go to Molo,' said my father. 'There are stables at Molo that you could use. Remember that you are still just a girl and do not expect too much --- there are a few owners here and there who will give you horses to train. "AFTER THAT, WORK AND HOPE. BUT NEVER HOPE MORE THAN YOU WORK" (my emphasis) In today's world, we only seem to tell our kids about "Hope and Change" without the advice of never hoping more than the work required. I hope my 17 year old grandson, who loves football and hopes to play for a college will work harder than his hopes! Will he do the work required ? My hope!
This book is a great recreational read - especially if you love flying, early Africa, and wonderful accomplishments!
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