Reflections on a Me Culture - a glimpse of the NY Times Bestseller Untamed by Glennon Doyle

 

Most would agree that it's been a long winter - this winter of the pandemic.  BUT it's finally springtime!!  It's seems like everyone has burst forth outside like the blooms on the trees.  There just seems to be a new exhuberance with restaurants opening and people out and about after such a long darkness of being inside. 

Life seems so pure in the springtime - washed clean.  Romance and weddings are in the air.  Maybe that why the song Your Love is Like the Springtime really spoke to me this Sunday at church.  I invite you to paste this into your browser and listen to it.  

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8wRprU4988

Some of the lyrics are (instead of a poem by me this time):

We will sing a new song,                                                                                                                               'Cause death is dead and gone with the winter.                                                                                             We will sing a new song,                                                                                                                               Let "hallelujahs" flow like a river.

We're coming back to life                                                                                                                              Reaching toward the light.     

You're the living water                                                                                                                                   God, we thirst for You.                                                                                                                                  The dry and barren                                                                                                                                        Will bloom and grow                                                                                                                     

Come tend the soil of my soul                                                                                                                      And like a garden I will grow.                                                                                                                        And like a garden I will grow.  

And yet...as I drove to early morning exercise later this week,  revelling in the soft breeze with the windows open in the car, and the sun shining, I was reminded by the preacher Colin Smith on the radio that we are both saints and sinners.  The resurrection has come!  We are forgiven!  BUT, I am reminded that sin is a problem to which there is no human solution. 

He reminded us of Ps. 55 where the Psalmist laments the darkness, oppression, violence, strife, malice, abuse and wickedness that still abounds - even amidst the glimpses we get of heaven on earth - and that we are promised will come again.  It is only in the glory of the new earth where there will be the beauty of the Gal. 5 fruits of the spirit in every season!  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control will be blooming everywhere.  

But not yet...There will never be a government that will bring real truth and justice to the world until King Jesus comes again.  Even His churches here on earth will be tainted by self-righteousness perversity.  We all have the blood lines of sin, absorbed by self in our very nature.  It hasn't changed for 3,000 years since that that pslam was  written  - and will not come again until the new earth according to the bible.

This echoed the sermon this week, (listen to it on TheCrossingChurch. com under the title:Shouldn't I be true to my Own Myth?)  that came directly after this song in which, listening to it, for a moment the world seemed right - I had a glimpse of the hope to which we are called.  

But then...the sermon was a summary of a Ten Minute Bible Talk blog (which you can access at TheCrossingChurch.com under blogs.  It was titled Why You Don't Want Friends to Read Glennon Doyle - on the second page of podcasts.) In the book, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, the current cultural standard seems to hold true to what this book purports :  that we should live according to our own truth; that true freedom is living according to our own inner nature. It sounds right that we should break away from external influences and decide for ourselves what is truth in order to have a self-determining freedom.  This seems to be the therapeutic self-talk of today.

Tim Keller comments on this as a recent approach to identity - not allowing anyone else to determine our truth or to make us feel guilty by their standards, so that anyone coming against that is an oppressor. (Listen also to Ten Minute Bible Talks on Critical Race Theory).

Paul actually comments in 1 Corinthians 4:3 on this modern subject well before it's inception:  I care little if I am judged ...by any human court; indeed I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me...He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness amd will expose the motives of the heart." 

Paul is pointing out that we have a flaw in our human GPS system, and following it will not always bring us to a flourishing life.  He is telling us that being true to yourself, is saying that your best conscience is within you. It is not!!  Paul is saying that his own conscience is not reliable! This is reiterated in Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  The Lord will search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, to what their deeds deserve.  

Do we not rationalize our own selfishness?  We all at some point lie or cheat or slander, get filled with resentment, bitterness, envy.  We have pride and arrogance that causes strife in relationships.  Why? Because we naturally follow our inner desires amd THINK we're the good guys.  (Just like the German people did in blindly following Mother Germany during the time of the Holocaust.)  Don't think so?  We were challenged to look at our own broken relationships  left in our paths as evidence - we all have them.  

In Confronting Christianity Rebecca McLauflin writes: "It has been said that no friendship would last a day if we could see each other's thoughts... If I let them see a transcript of my thoughts... my marriage would die.  My children would be crushed.  My friends would leave. My thoughts are not all bad; many are good and kind and true. But like a bag of flour infested by maggots, no part of me is pure."

True freedom comes only one way - what may be seen by some as a very intolerant statement in the bible:  John 14:6 - I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.  In John 8:31 -  Jesus says:  If you hold to my teaching then you will know if you are my disciple.  The truth will set you free.  Over and over He says:  Truly, truly, I say to you... as He teaches us the real, one and only truth.  

That's why Jesus as the Good Shepherd uses sheep to describe us - just like wandering sheep who won't stay in the safety of the flock, trapped in their own self-destructive desire to what they see as freedom.  

These words in the sermon struck me:  "If the loudest voice in our head is our own, it might be wise to pause before we speak."  It's a reason to meditate on the scriptures rather than the news.  Romans 1:18-32 tells us why there is such disorder in our lives and in our world:  We exchanged truth for a LIE!  

So, as we were challenged to decide:  If you really believe that God created the universe, do you think that your own distorted desires named sin is what will make your life flourish?  Gal. 5 tells us that the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh, so that you are NOT to do whatever you want...The acts of the flesh are obvious:  sexual immorality (but isn't it ok to live together without being married?), impurity, debauchery (they all do it in Washington - it's the way they play the game), idolatry (only my party is going to change the world), hatred (well, if they're wrong...), discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkennes, etc...!!!!

Do you really believe what Gal. 5:24 plainly says?  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Do you believe what it says further up in verse 13?  You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh.

So I say at the end of reflecting on this sermon and this best-selling book:  As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord - well, at least to the best of my ability.  Being one of those sheep, I trust I will be led back to the fold when those natural desires call me to seek freedom elsewhere.  But as for me, it is not my own thoughts that I will try to follow the lead on but Galatians 5:16 - So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  

                                                                                                            

Thoughts on A Gentle Answer by Scott Sauls

                        

              Thoughts on A Gentle Answer:  In a World of Us Against Them

                                                   by Scott Sauls

Ok,  it's official.  It's brain damage.  Thankfully not dementia or Alzheimers - just "white spots". Those of  you who know me well, know I've always been a bit squirrely.  But this time with my chronic malady of sinus infections that this time is causing strange symptoms like dizziness (ok, friends, I mean, worse than usual - to the point of not being able to walk straight without assistance), "white spots" showed up on my MRI.   Some of those come naturally as we age, but people with chronic issues get them sooner - chronic  issues like my thorn of  sinus infections - (wonder if that was Paul's thorn, too?) -  even high cholesterol can cause them.  I've always known that the first sign of a sinus infection is that I begin to do crazy forgetful things - but at least now I know why.  Will be going to a neurologist to see if it is signaling MS or something else.  In the meantime, I'm thankful that I can go on with life, as my relatively normal, abnormal self.  

As I begin this health journey to check these new findings out, I am more committed to blog, not just to share my thoughts with others, but to help me remember thoughts that touch my heart.  I always consider those "thought bubbles from God" that make me take pause and want to lock them in my mind.  But, at least these findings on the MRI validate that there is a reason I need to write them down.  

So, I decided there are plenty of bloggers out there.  Therefore,  I've decided to spend time writing down thoughts from others that touch me, perhaps summarizing some books for people that might want a Cliff Note version of some books they haven't had time to read.

I'm starting with a book that I just studied at church with other ladies eager to know how to navigate the difficulty of the polarized world we live in as Christians.  How do we stand up for the truth of the Bible when it's looked on as being intolerant?  How do we handle the dissention of the times and decide what we are to do as Christians politically when even asking questions that we're wondering about causes outrage from those who have decided what their opinion is, and become incensed when others might not agree, or even are trying to decide their position on an issue?  How do we tear down the dividing walls of hostility? How do we express righteous anger against wrong without taking offense, shaming and slandering?  How do we be like Jesus, who rather than shaming and scolding sinners, welcomed them and ate with them? Whether conservative or progressive, how do we avoid, in our passionate zeal against the unloving Pharisee, that we do not become unloving Phaisees ourselves, becoming a hate group who is harsh, judgemental and condemning against anyone who disagrees with us - whether it is along ideological, doctrinal, or cultural issues?  

The book, A Gentle Answer - Our Secret Weapon in an Age of Us Against Them by Scott Sauls, is a stable boat in the stream of navigating such difficult questions.  There is no way I can cover even the main points of a book when I wanted to underline something on almost each page!!!  But, if you've read any of my blogs, you'll see that one way I can make sense out of a large amount of material is with ....a poem!!  I wish I could summarize each chapter under the topic of How His Gentleness Changes Us such as We Grow Thicker Skin, We Do Anger Well, We Allow Him to Disarm the Cynic in Us, We Bless Our Own Betrayers.  But today I'll start with a poem that summarizes some of the underlines in the book that I marked with 3 Stars because they shouted out to me.  And hopefully you may want to read this masterpiece by a true, gentle Jesus follower.  And writing about it will help me remember the wisdom on each page of this beautiful book.

A Gentle Answer in a World of Us Against Them

It's a broken world we live in, 

Polarized beyond a doubt.

You see white, I see black.

No compromise can be worked out.

You see things your way,

I see them mine.

And soon it turns to hatefulness

Way too much of the time.

There is a time for anger.

Yet we're told to be angry and do not sin.

Be like Jesus, but stand for righteousness.

That's where the difficulty comes in.

Jesus overthrew the money changers.

But he never told us to. 

The message He made most prevalent

Is the one that's hardest to do.

He embraced humbleness.

He was gentle and lowly of heart.

To know how to navigate this world - 

That's precisely where we must start.

Jesus didn't take on Rome.

But He changed the world one heart at a time.

He helped us recognize the Pharisees for what they were,

But that's where He drew the line.

He let the rich young ruler go too. 
He built relationships to teach what's right.

He told us to shake the dust from our sandals,

Not to pursue those who want to fight.

He befriended and embraced.

He always gave a gentle answer.

He forgave and loved and taught,

Didn't get into arguments that can grow like a cancer.

His message was not for us to preach 

    what we think is the best way to make the world right.

His message was to preach the gospel,

To keep the kingdom of heaven always in sight.

For His kingdom is not of this world.

His Spirit is not in the form of confrontation.

Rather it's about earning the right to speak to hearts

Which is the only hope for the nations.

Peace, equality, justice and hope.

Can only come from His lead.

Love, patience, kindness and self-control

Bring the gentle answers we need. 

 

Whether anyone reads this or not, I write for myself because when something touches my heart, I firmly believe it's one of the ways God speaks.  I wish I would write those touches down more often because God tells us to remember what He's done for us.  And without writing things down I don't remember much these days of sliding down the other side of the proverbial hill!!

This quote spoke to me this morning.  As I look at it again this Easter week, I think of the absolute suffering Jesus endured for us.  It's unfathomable.

And yet, I look at so many suffering in this world - my friend in a wheelchair who has been in the hospital for almost 5 months who is finally going home to two children as a single parent.  I think of another friend who has been out of town at another hospital over 6 months,having experimental bone marrow tests to try and save both of her children who have a disease that most children die of by the age of 10. And to watch their sufferering from the grueling rounds of chemo and other meds they are also using.   I think of yet another friend who just celebrated her son's 23rd birthday, even though he's been gone for 2 years, having had a AVM rupture in his brain at age 10 - AND she's celebrating that, even while caring for her severely autistic 16 year old.  Another is a grandmother to 3 beautiful children who lost their mother a year ago to cancer, watching her son go through this loss with grace and thankfulness for having had his wife for the time he had her.

But they have what Jesus didn't - they have HIM in their hearts.  Jesus was entirely separated from the sweetness He was used to in complete oneness with His Father as He bore our sins on the cross, SO THAT my friends - and I - can have His Spirit to walk through any crosses we are called to bear.

We all have crosses in this life. We can all think of our own sufferings along the way in this broken world.  Jesus said clearly,"In this world there will be trouble."  Paul had a thorn which God didn't take away, even though He asked repeatedly for it to be gone, but accepted  in order to keep himself humble.  Jesus also said, "Take up your cross and follow Me."

These friends are ones I have been so blessed to watch navigate their own Golgothic hills, their own Via Deloroses.  These friends are the ones I watch walk their tragic roads with dignity and grace, and FAITH - dependent on the Holy Spirit.  They don't hide their grief that must be expressed.  But they always REMEMBER that God is with them.  Jesus has rescued us from complete separation from the Father, and gives us our own promise of Easter whether on this earth or the next.  Walking those roads ahead are unfathomable - but walking those roads with His Spirit are doable, even if still grueling.

It gives me an amazing peace even as I contemplate the road ahead of me - not borrowing trouble - but wondering what I will find out from the neurologist I've been sent to with orders to see him STAT because of an "abnormal" MRI.  It showed a severe sinus infection which may be all it is.  But the inablity to be steady on my feet, trouble with my eyesight lately, a tremor that has changed my handwriting to be not recognizable as mine,  joint stiffening to the point where I was recently on crutches for a week, having torn my miniscus in my knee...all point to the distinct possibility of something more.  

And yet... I feel an amazing peace that I've LEARNED over the years of God whispering things to me from His Word, from my friends, and from my experiences in the past that I sought for peace but didn't always find it.  I used to look at the verse where Paul said he had LEARNED to be content in plenty and in want - and thought to myself how impossible that is.  But now I get to see that impossible MIRACLE, yes MIRACLE of the peace that passes understanding.  I've seen it in those who suffered for the sake of the gospel in the Bible, I see it in my friends who are walking very, very difficult roads, and I see it in myself as I ready myself to possibly walk a hard road also.  BUT now I have LEARNED from many other roads with bumps along the way, that I can if I have to becaue of who I walk with.

As the old hymn says,  Because He lives I can face tomorrow.

 Because He Lives

Bill & Gloria Gaither

How sweet to hold a newborn baby
And feel the pride and the joy that he gives
Oh but greater still, the calm assurance
We can face uncertain days because He lives

And because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth a living just because He lives

And then one day, I'll cross that river
I'll fight life's final war with pain
And then as death gives way to victory
I'll see the lights of…

  A Touch in the Wilderness                                                                                                   

-with a book preview of Jesus and Women

             by Kristi McClelland

    

   

Here I was this week in a sinus-induced brain fog.  Again.  Not a full-blown infection.  Just a minor headache that has lasted for days.  I always describe my relationship with my sinuses as a chronic one - no longer acute after 5 surgeries, but a well known stalker none-the-less.  

Here I was with no ambition to do anything.  Eat breakfast, check.  Look over email, check.  Waste time on Facebook, check.   Read my next Year Through the Bible selection, check. Get a load of wash done, check.  Stay home because of CoVid, check.  Watch the news til I can't stand it, check. Call a friend, check.

Now what?  Clean? No energy for.  Give the dog a much-needed trim? No energy for. Edit this year's Christmas list? Can't believe I have the energy to even think of that!  No energy for anything.

Duh,  how about praying? Ok... So, God what do you want me to do with this day that I have time for anything I want - the kind of day I would have given my right arm for?  No more words.  Prayer done.  Check.  

And then...here comes an email from a friend with a blog she asked me to edit (which, by the way, this blog site won't let me go back and edit some published ones that I know have mistakes - so give me grace, please, if you scroll down to earlier posts.)

And, by the grace of God, I see His hand in my friend's life.  Cutting right through my blahs of brain fog, I feel an excitement, a validation of faith, a picture of how God really does answer prayer. 

 I read my friend's post about her past year starting with the death, way too early, of her precious sister-in-law who she was so close to,   And then the death of her father - another precious person of faith gone from her life.  Then the loss of a job she loved due to restructuring of the company. And THEN...her husband getting a job in another state, so that she has left her hometown and church where she was raised and has been surrounded by family and friends (including a sister who just moved into town, and another who is moving here soon.)  And to make matters worse, this is all happening during CoVid, so that here she is in a new home, alone every day while her husband worked virtually with no way to meet new friends.  At least it gave her time to get settled!

And she was able to be the role model that she has always been to me,  counting that blessing and others, yet at the same time being transparent that this was not an easy time. 

She was in what I call a wilderness.  Fighting off the pain of less-than-desirable consequences but rather than imploding, taking each long day with a step in faith.  And sure enough, after months of quiet, lonely days and crickets from job searches, she got a part-time job that is fulfilling - AND which gives her time to set up a website for a life-coaching and church-consulting business that she has done in the past.  On her beautiful website was a post that inspired me to look at my own wilderness after reading about how she has navigated hers.

AND THEN, I get a call from another friend who shared the book Jesus and Women with me.  I'm not even done with it, but there was an excerpt about walking through a wilderness.  My brain fog and lethargy had been losing the battle between being pulled into oblivion with no ability to sense the Presence I try to practice. And certainly not feeling the peace that Presence brings. 

 But  I soon realized this call to attention had to be an answer to my prayer, as I read how the author, Kristi McClelland, tells about how the Lord often speaks to His people in a special way in wilderness seasons.  He did to my friend, resulting in a totally inspired website. He did to Jesus who after being baptized learned how to navigate the temptation by the devil in the wilderness.  He did to Moses through a burning bush on his longely trudge up Mt. Sinai.  He spoke in a still small voice to Elijah,  who had wandered off, wanting to die.

And whether anyone reads this or not, I'm committing it to paper, because He is speaking to me today. 

 Kristi reminds us of what we are told in Hosea 2:   "Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her... In that day you will call me husband; you will no longer call me master."  As to the woman who sought just to touch Jesus' cloak in Matthew 2, He heard my pitiful little prayer, crying out only from a small wilderness, and I heard in my spirit the tender voice saying, "Take heart, daughter." 

Kristi McClelland goes on to tell us, " Instead of asking how to get out of the wilderness season - we need to listen for what the Lord is teaching... For it is out of the wilderness that the Lord brings rescue, restoration, and renewal."  If He never allowed us time in the wilderness, we would never have the need for him to touch us in these ways.  Add that to the never-ending discusson on why God allows suffering. 

She continues with this wilderness wisdom: "We tend to stare at our lives and glance at God, when we need to be staring at God and glancing at our lives."  Perhaps that is what I was doing earlier - staring at my brain fog instead of staring up above it.  And all that was required of me was to knock at His door, and He rewarded me with a touch. 

 Maybe not the Torah like Moses, or the secret to speaking to temptation like Jesus, or a beautiful website, but today, a touch was enough.  

A Touch in the Wilderness

There we go again, losing our way,          

Thinking we were in control,

Then being overwhelmed

By things that get in our way.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Big obstacles or small.    

They still can knock us down.

And cover over any thankfulness 

As a grayness starts to surround.                                                                                                                        

And we feel lost.   

Like a sheep who has strayed.

We look around and see

The wilderness we've made.

                                      

But all we need is to stop                                                                                                                           

And to make a rational choice,

We simply must stop

And listen for His voice. 

It may not come right away,   

But we can be sure He's calling for us.

He's the shepherd, He knows our ways.

We can wait with calm for the rescue, and thus...

The waiting becomes not so hard,    

For breaking through the fear  

We can trust in the knowing

That our Savior is always near.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Because of Good Friday

We're worried about those not getting checks.  We're worried those checks aren't enough.  We're worried about those out of work.  We're worried about the first responders.  We're worried about those out of work.  We're worried about the single moms trying to homeschool and work.   We're worried about the working moms trying to work and homeschool.  We're worried for children stuck in the house with abusivve parents.  We're worried about those drinking too much.  We're worried about the state of the economy - and who this virus is going to take next.  We're worried about tomorrow.

BUT wee are told, "Don't worry about tomorrow.  Tomorrow has enough cares of its own." Still, what about TODAY?   The words of the old hymn comes back to me.  "Because He lives, we can face tomorrow."  And so we can get through today.  Do we not remember that after Good Friday, came the Spirit to those in the upper room?

They went from being scared, grieving, despairing followers as they huddled together in that room - to courageous, filled, being willing to die to spread the good news.

We can have that spirit.  I see people who have that spirit who have been knocked over from this life way before the virus. They know the good news, despite the bad news they face.  They are my heroes. They are the overcomers.

I'll glance at the news.  I'll spend some time being informed of this world.  But I'll spend time accessing that spirit - especially when the world starts to overwhelm.  It's there in the Word - if we spend time to let the Spirit speak through it.  It's out of this world.  It's a peace that passes understanding in a very non-peaceful world.  And it's real.  I see it in the overcomers.

That same spirit is here TODAY, to be accessed just by asking.  Ask, seek, knock.  Because of Good Friday, that door will be answered.





He tried to tell them.
But they didn't know.
Their hope was gone.
They loved Him so.

The darkest day,
After the brightest light.
He was gone, snuffed out.
And they fled in fright.

He told them His body
Would be broken for them.
They watched it happen.
The worst sorrow - and then...

We know the story -
That Easter morn
When the world was changed,
The veil was torn.

And out of the grave
To them He appeared.
They told of His story
Down through the years.

It looked so bad -
Like all was lost.
But the world was given
A gift beyond cost.

And now this year
We again celebrate
That same old story
That can decide our fate.

But this year,
An invisible war we face
But is it really different
When each day we see the trace...

Of the evil one.
Who lurks to kill.
The end of the story
We celebrate still.

For no matter what trials
We face on this earth,
Because of Good Friday
We can have a rebirth.

Though all looked bleak
As it does for us now.
We're stuck in our homes
And though worried, somehow...

We see glimpses of
How He'll use it for good,
Althought we don't see
How He could.

We have faith that one day
He will restore us.
We will love one another.
We will sing in one chorus.

Though this world may change
And we might do without,
There STILL is
THE GOOD NEWS TO SHOUT!

For if that dark Friday
Could bring Easter Day.
Then we trust that even now
We simply can say:

We'll wait once again
With trust and hope,
Through the darkness and the fear
Somehow we'll cope.

Because when after the cross
He came out of the grave
We know He's still with us
To comfort and save.

Excerpts from Max Lucado's Anxious for Nothing...

                                                               

            The Perfect Anchor

            We find ourselves weathering

            The perfect storm

            An invisible enemy 

            That threatens to harm.

                                                                 It lurks like the devil.

                                                                  It prowls with a roar.

                                                                  We desperately look

                                                                  For the safety of shore.

                                                                  Our boats are rocked.

                                                                  Fear threatens to overwhelm.

                                                                  It's now we must look

                                                                  To the One at life's helm. 

                                                                  He is our anchor.

                                                                  He calms the child.

                                                                  He lead us through

                                                                  Life's ride that gets wild.

                                                                  For He did not promise

                                                                  Trouble would not come

                                                                  Or to calm every storm.

                                                                  But He promised to be the One...

                                                                  That would steer our boat 

                                                                  To the saftey of shore.

                                                                  He will be with us always

                                                                  He is enough!  He is more!

                                                                  We can hang on tight

                                                                  With our Anchor in tow.

                                                                  We may be tossed, 

                                                                  Yet still we can know...

                                                                  The peace

                                                                  Beyond all understanding

                                                                  That's where our hearts 

                                                                  Can have a soft landing...

                                                            

                                                                 Where we hold To His Hand

                                                                 Though the days grow long  

                                                                 He is our Anchor.

                                                                 In Him we are strong.

I must give the credit for this image of the Anchor in our storm to Max Lucado from His book Anxious for Nothing.  What a treasure trove of wisdom in that book..  I wish I could put it in every hand in the world.  Of course the Bible would be first, but this one gets straight to the matter.  

In this book, written well before this perfect storm of 2020, Max describes us as part Chicken Little and part Eeyore.  The sky is falling and it's falling disproportionately on us.   He brings words from the Bible and javelins them straight into our heart as he reminds us that the psalmist wrote, "Do not fret.  It only causes harm."  (Ps. 37:8)  He describes our anxiety as twisting us into emotional pretzels, the consequences of which can be read in about half the ailments in a medical textbook.  

He credits the news for communicating catastrophe in a matter of minutes.  We barely process one crisis, and then we hear of another.  We think as Christians we should be exempt from worry and then feel guilty when we succumb to it.  It's enough to make us wonder if Paul was out of touch with reality when he wrote, "Be anxious for nothing." (Phil. 4:6)  Anxiety is not a sin - so Max cautions us not to feel anxious about being anxious.  Anxiety can, however, lead to sinful behavior.  When we numb our fears with six-packs or endless escapism in front of the t.v., when we spew our anger about whatever doesn't sit well with us, when we peddle our fears to anyone who will buy them, we are sinning. When we magnify the negative and forget that for which would should be thankful, we are sinning.  He cautions us also with Luke 21:34:  "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with...the anxieties of life."  

So then he makes this huge statement:  The pressure of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is avoidable. 

 And so how is this, Max?  He gives us a couple of easily remembered keys to get out of this tendency to expect the worst.  He first gives us four admonitions that lead to one wonderful promise:  "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds."  These are all found in one of my favorite places in the bible - Phillipians 4:  "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, whatever things are lovely and of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on those things.  

In Phillipians 4 we find 4 ways we can hold onto the anchor:

                 1.  Celebrate God's goodness. "Rejoice in the Lord always." (vs. 4)

                 2.  Ask God for help.  "Let your requests be known to God."  (vs. 6)

                 3.  Leave your concerns with Him  "With thanksgiving..." (vs. 6)

                       (and I'm going to add... focus on what you DO have instead of
                        what you don't)

                 4.  Meditate on good things.  "Think about the things that are good
                       and  worthy of  praise."  (vs. 8)  (And I will add other wisdom
                       from a lecture by Henry Cloud, author of Boundaries.  He says
                       to check the news no more than 3 times a day - and get your
                       focus on some positive things! - that, from a psychologist!)

And if you think even 4 things are too hard to remember, Max simplifies it into an acronym:

                            
                             Celebrate.  Ask.  Leave. Meditate. = CALM.  

Okay, this is getting too long even for me!!!  And I only got through Chapter 1.  I love to summarize books - so here's the Reader's Digest condensed version for those of you who aren't into reading long things.  LOL!  Although thanks for sticking with me through this post!  Seriously, it's just PART of the first chapter!!  

May the God of all hope be the anchor you reach for ... as  we all wait to see the shore.  (Sorry the rhymes just come!)

     

                                                            

                                                                  

2020: A Memorable Year!

                        
                                 2020

                                   2020
                         An unprecedented year,

                         Fighting an invisible enemy,

                         Filling hearts and minds with fear.

                         A world-wide epidemic

                         We’ve never seen the like.

                         Quarantined in our homes,

                         Waiting for victim numbers to spike.

                         Where is the Lord in this?

                         We wonder in our homes.

                         Is it punishment for sin

                         That has been allowed so freely to roam?

                         Or is it some kind of warning

                         Coming from above,

                         Asking us to see the Light

                         In His mercy and His love?

                         As the world is forced to slow

                         And stop its feverish pace,

                         Maybe we’re given this time

                         To reflect on our human race.

                         For we’re all in this together

                         As throughout the globe it's spread.

                         And we wonder in its wake

                         How many will be left for dead.

                         And yet, isn’t there another enemy

                         That we fight within our core?

                         One that kills eternally…

                         Another invisible war?

                         But it’s a war already won.

                         So we can rest and trust.

                         Our God came to save us.

                         He is still merciful and just.

                         For if we have 20/20 vision

                         With which to see the Light -

                         That the battle has been won,

                         We don’t have to fight the fight.

                         We can know that no matter 
                              what befalls us

                         In this 2020 year,

                         If we have eyes to see we’re saved,

                         We can move forward with no fear.

                         We can encourage one another

                         And stay connected with those for 
                               whom we care.

                         And with the unfortunate who are 
                               impacted more

                         We can reach out to them and share.

                          We can be thankful for our homes

                          Where we can rest and wait.

                          For those who know Our Savior

                          Can place in His loving hands our fate.

                    

Don't know about you all, but the is what the rest of my March 2020 calendar looks like - it went from busy days with lots of things filled in - to totally blank.
So many plans interfered with - weddings, trips, graduations, not to mention work and the plans for the economy to keep rolling that we all just expected  - until this abrupt STOP!

I only seem to blog anymore when something hits me and I actually have time to stop and reflect on it.  Obviously, even in retirement, I don't take time to reflect often beyond my morning quiet time. And those of you that know me, know when I reflect deeply, it usually turns to rhyme!  There's something about poetry that captures a snippet of time or a concept in a short form, allowing you to see the main points of it.  Well, I may not want to remember this point in time, but here goes... Who knows how many calendar pages it will affect,  or how many it will throw into financial disaster, personal grief, or just plain depression from staying home.

Personally, the teacher in me feels like it is a snow day - a gift to stop the rat race and slow down.  I love how our church has reached out and encouraged us to stay in touch with our small groups and loved ones. I've loved having time to connect with people I don't always get to in the hustle bustle of life.

Thank the Lord for technology that enables us to do this.  I got to Zoom into an online bible class on Tuesday and hope our small group will meet virtually to pray.  I've already shared prayer requests with our small group by email.  And I did go for a walk with neighbors - even though we walked in a large triangle instead of next to each other - and of course we did without the customary hugs.

I love how teachers are planning virtual lessons, and bus drivers plan on dropping off lunches for kids, and people are checking with shut ins.  Yes, this 2020 year will be remembered - when the
newscasters start referring to prayer as in the case of 9/11 or school shootings, you know we're up against something bigger than we are.

So yes, I'm looking at the bright side, wondering if God hasn't slowed down our lives for our families to reconnect, for mom's to teach their own kids, for friends to have time to talk rather than rushing to some event, and even perhaps for them to have time to think of what hand God may be playing in this. But, of coure it's only the first week.  And I realize there is going to be much heartache - lost income, lost loved ones, loss of memories that should have been happy ones.  Still we are told in Roman's 8:28 that "all things work together for good for those who love the Lord," somehow, someway, even if it isn't comfortable.  Yes, all things, even this.   For that quote from Rick Warren - that "God cares more about our character than our comfort" is surely true.  He'll do anything to get our attention when it has become fixed on the world instead of Him.  Maybe that's what He's doing.

I'm offering this poem in the light of making the most of it, having a good perspective - and giving you something to watch excepts more germs and talking heads on tv.  May God protect anyone reading this during this time.