I haven't written for awhile.  I am not sure what is going on...I'm a bit lost right now.  So much has gone on this year and I am trying to reevaluate things.  And while things seem topsy turvy, He is still in control.  I know that, but sometimes I don't 'know' that. 
I wrote this poem as a creative writing assignment.  We had to take something and inter cut into it to change it.  I chose Psalm 93.  The first paragraph is the original Psalm, what follows is my poem.
God bless you greatly today.  Rest in Him.

"The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!
 Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O Lord, forevermore."
 
 
 
 
The Lord reigns on high; Great and mighty is He
Our faithful protector, our strong defender
His glory, His honor, His majesty we joyfully decree.
 
The Lord is robed in splendor; He has put on strength as His belt.
He never slumbers nor grows weary, always near
His presence like a blanket, warm and comforting, it is felt.
 
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
No matter the trial, the temptation, the storm
His steadfastness, His love has more than been proved.
 
Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
You are and were and always will be, almighty and infinite
Your promise You have kept, never leaving nor forsaking.
 
 
 
The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the waters have raised their voice;
The sound of the waves resounding, the sound of the floods crashing.
This show of your power and might leads me to rejoice.
 
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!
We exult in being Your chosen sons and daughters.
 
Your decrees are trustworthy; holiness befits Your house,
O Lord, You are with us always and forever
Your will, Your way, Your truth we will continue to espouse.
 
Lord You reign in heaven and You rule in my heart,
My soul doth rejoice, my heart filled with wonder
Oh Lord My God, how great Thou art!
 

So I just spent the last half hour going through all my past posts.  Looking to see if I had written anything based on the movie "The Last Samurai".  I was really surprised to find nothing.  Most women's favorite movies are rom-coms or light period pieces, but personally my favorite movies by far are a bit more gruesome.  I don't mean horror movies or thrillers.  I mean Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans, The Patriot and of course The Last Samurai.  Movies about war and battle, honor and integrity.  Movies where men are men and they fight for the people they love and the values they believe in.  Movies where broken people learn what is truly important and learn what they are made of.  Where brokenness can be changed forever by honor and sacrifice.
Such a movie is The Last Samurai.  Captain Algren, a 'war hero' is now a drunk, a shill for the rifle company who pays him to share his exploits killing Indians.  He is tired, disillusioned and angry.  He agrees to go to Japan to help train the emperor's army to put down a rebellion.  He says for 500 dollars a month he will kill whoever he has to.  He goes there prepared to make some quick money and get out.  Instead the Colonel demands that the poorly trained army head out immediately to quell the rebel fighters.  They are so ill prepared that most of them are killed, the others run away.  Captain Algren fights until he cannot stand any longer.  The leader of the rebels, Katsumoto is compelled to spare his life.  He is taken to the village where the Samurai live and train. 
After Algren recovers from his injuries he lives among the villagers.  He cannot leave until spring, so he begins to observe his captors.  He is drawn to their way of life, to their commitment and dedication to the way of the Samurai.  "They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline. I am surprised to learn that the word Samurai means, 'to serve'."  I was struck by the meaning of the word 'samurai'.  You assume that they are just warriors, men of the sword, militants led by a warlord.  Instead they lived by a code of service to their lord.  Some of the first written documents available from Japanese history are poems written by warriors about service as border guards:
"From today
Without regard for myself
I set out
A shield strong but humble
For our Sovereign Lord." (1)
That is to be our lives as servants of our God.  We are to be Samurai in the service of our Lord.  I think most of us just live as Thoreau wrote in Walden, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation".  What a sad commentary that is.  There is a time for quiet contemplation and there is a time for getting out there and making some noise.  How often do we wake up, start the day already worn out and just hope for a somewhat peaceful day to pass quickly so we can get back into bed again.  Forget about seeking perfection in what we do, let's just get this day over with.  We serve a most noble Lord.  We serve the great Creator and Redeemer.  How does that reflect on Him if we while away the hours just getting by?  How does His excellence and majesty get portrayed when we can barely muster the energy to get through the drive thru lane at the local coffee shop?  Discipline, we hardly have enough self-control to get through the commute to work without expressing our displeasure with our fellow drivers.  Oh, how I want to live a life that is devoted to the perfection of being a child of God.  I want to emulate my Lord.  I want to stand up for the things He stands up for and to put behind me the things that displease Him. 
We are so busy with all that is temporal.  Sleep, and work.  Household duties and children.  Taxes and too little pay.  Yard work and recreation.  Too much to distract us from what is truly important.  Most of it things we need to think about; loving our spouses, teaching our children.  But so much that is not imperative.  What restaurant to eat at, what kind of lawn mower to buy, where can I find those shoes I really want.  As Algren learned when he was defeated in sparring practice, "too many mind".  He asks what is that?  "Mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind enemy - -too many mind. "  His instructor says, "no mind".  Meaning let everything else fall aside.  Keep your mind on the thing that is most important.  Focus on the essential, let everything else fade away.  Like that beautiful old hymn, 'and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Your glory and grace'.  Seek Him first.  His will, His way and then your focus will become laser clear.
When we are still, when we stop and let things become clear we can feel His presence.  Again Algren comes to understand this in the quiet of that lovely village.  "There is so much here I will never understand. I've never been a church going man, and what I've seen on the field of battle has led me to question God's purpose. But there is indeed something spiritual in this place. And though it may forever be obscure to me, I cannot but be aware of its power."  The thing that he did not understand though was that when we seek God, we will find Him.  He will never stay hidden from us when what we desire most is Him.  Yes we will be aware of His power, but more than that, we will bask in His presence and we will know His purpose for our lives.
It amazes me what I can get out of a movie when I see it through the eyes of the Spirit.  There was so much here that spoke of the Father's love for us.   One such scene was when Katsumoto is being held prisoner and Algren, Katsumoto's son and some men from the village come to rescue him.  In the ensuing fight, the son is shot.  He knows he is going to die, but he wants that death to mean something.  He tells his father to leave him there, that it is his time.  He wants his life to have purpose even in his death.  He will use his last bit of strength to die at the enemy's hands so that his friends and family may escape that same death.  Katsumoto props him up against a tree, looks at his son with tears in his eyes and then turns his back and lets his son die for his people.  If that is not a picture of the Father's love for us and the sacrifice He made by allowing His Son to die on that tree for us, then I don't know what is. 
At the end of the movie, when Katsumoto knows that all that is left for him and his people is death, he says to Algren, "For nine hundred years, my ancestors have protected our people. Now... I have failed them."  Algren replies, " So you will take your own life? In shame? Shame for a life of service? Discipline? Compassion? "  To that Katsumoto answers, "The way of the Samurai is not necessary anymore."  "Necessary? What could be more necessary?"  We are told in our modern culture that it is every man for himself.  That it is a dog eat dog world.  Take care of number one.  All of that goes against what is meant by a life of service.  Remember that Japanese poem above, 'From today, without regard for myself...'  That is what the life of a spiritual Samurai is supposed to be about.   Service, discipline, compassion.  Having the heart of God for our neighbor, and yes, for our enemy.  Living with no regard for ourselves, esteeming others higher than ourselves.  That is an oxymoron to most people in the world today.  But to those of us who have committed our lives to serving our Lord it is a call to action.
A life of service is not an easy one.  There is hard work, there is commitment to duty and honor.  There are rough times and there are times of ease.  There are times of sorrow and times of joy.  People today think life is wasted if money is not made.  If success is not seen in the eyes of others.  We pursue fleeting things, rather than eternal things.  We seek highs, forgetting that the lows have their value also.  Katsumoto tells Algren, "The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life."  He was implying that it would be almost impossible to find that perfect moment, that perfect blossom.  It wouldn't be wasted time, but you may never find one.  As he lay dying on the battlefield, he sees cherry blossoms floating in the air among the smoke.  He says with his last breath, "Perfect... They are all... perfect..."  Here I go crying again as I write.  Every moment that God gives us is perfect.  Every one.  The painful, the beautiful.  The loss and the achievements.  Every moment can be exquisite if we will look at it through the eyes of our Father and let Him work out His will in us...becoming perfect as He is perfect.

(1) Origin of the Samurai, https://judoinfo.com/samurai/
Movie quotes from imdb.com

I've set out to write an epic poem
to celebrate a hero of legendary proportion
An extraordinary way to show Him
that He alone is my lot and my portion

He is my Creator, the Grand Architect
the builder of my life and path
He alone is the One my way He doth direct
my life's purpose and plan He does hath

I rise with the sun, that light in the morn
roused from sleep with praise on my lips
I know that to this altogether was I born
To see His face, the sun He doth eclipse

I sing with joy, orchestrating praise
lifting my hands in sweet surrender
My adoration and worship I doth raise
to Him for all His glory and splendour

The birds they do sing, my ears doth delight
as they too adore the Ruler and King
Taking wing and soaring in flight
as if to the heavens their praises to bring

The vibrant flowers lift their glorious heads
basking in the light of His beauty and grace
I think if they could rise out of their beds
they would seek out His warm embrace

Nature seems ready to put us to shame
the rocks and stones about to cry out
It is my one true desire and aim
to praise Him with an outspoken shout

To Him be all the glory, to Him all acclaim
He is worthy of that and so much more
If for no other reason than the sweetness of His name
That name that is the stuff of legend and lore

Jesus, sweet Jesus, my Saviour, my Lord, my all
My heart rejoices, it revels in knowing
That for me You gave all, You heard me before I could call
In giving Your life for me, You became my everything

Less of me, more of You is what I hope to attain
that when others happen to gaze upon my face
They will glance, and then look again
Because it will be You they see, in all Your glory and grace

It is all the rage these days, detoxes and cleanses.  To get your insides cleaned up and functioning to their greatest effect.  Their purpose is to remove toxins, poisons, pollutants from your body.  They are used for weight loss and to get rid of the build up of toxins that may be harming your body or even killing you.  Juice cleanse, liver detox, master cleanse; there are more ways to flush out your body than you can shake a stick at.  The thought is, why stop at just outer care for your body; washing your face with natural soaps, soaking your skin in organic emollients, doing your daily ablutions religiously, but never caring for the inner parts.  The life is in the inner man.
That is kind of how it was before Jesus came.  When the people sinned they would make an offering of an
animal without spot or blemish before the Lord.  The animal was killed and some of the blood was sprinkled by the priest on the alter for a sin offering.  And then there was the Day of Atonement when the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies; once a year to offer a sacrifice for all the people.  The thing was though that their sins were not removed, they were just covered over.  The high priest would bring in two goats, one to sacrifice for the Israelites, for their uncleanness and whatever sins they may have committed; the other goat ceremonially carried the sins of the Israelites by the laying on of the high priest's hands and confessing the rebellion and wickedness of the people.  This goat was taken outside the camp and released into the wilderness.  The goat carried on itself the sins of the people which were forgiven for another year, that's where the word scapegoat comes from.
What we saw in that ritual was basically the washing of the face in regards to sin.  The outer man was cleansed, but the inner man was not.  Those sacrifices were more or less like sweeping up the dirt and debris on the floor and pushing it under the rug.  It was never completely removed.  As Hebrews 9:9,10 says, "the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order." (NIV)  Even after all the ceremonies, all the rituals, they knew that they would have to do it all over again the next time they sinned.  And there would have to be another Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement the following year because their sin was never completely done away with.
Over and over again.  Bulls and sheep and goats and doves.  Blood and death and sacrifice.  Day in and day out, year after year. 
Can you imagine.  Wow, today I feel so clean, so whole, so pure.  Oh, shoot, I sinned again. Time to run to the local sheep lot and hope to find another perfect animal to slaughter.  Never having a clear conscience, never feeling like you could do enough to please God.  Never feeling worthy of His love or free to worship with your whole heart.  A life filled with dread, a heart unsure of God's love, a conscience that was never cleansed no matter how much blood was spilled.
Until...
"Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God," Hebrews 9:11-14 (NIV).  He came and sacrificed Himself, of His own accord, because of the Father's love for us.  Not a sacrifice that must be done every time we sin, that must be repeated yearly; but once, for all.  "When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God," Hebrews 10:8-12 (NIV)  He sat down by His Father because the work had been done.  As He said on the cross, "It is finished".  No more blood to be spilled.  No more rituals, no more sacrifice.  And what strikes me about the passage above is that it says in verse 8 that those former things were done according to the law.  He gave His life not for the law, but for love.  And that love sets us free to love Him in return and to have a conscience that is continually clean before Him.  No more doubt.  No more fear. 
It is hard for us to imagine that.  Especially on the days that we blow it.  We lose our temper at work.  We get angry with our spouse or children.  We rail at the opposite political party.  We lie, we curse, we mentally commit murder with our hatred of others.  How many sheep do we have to sacrifice for those sins?  Let me count them up...uh, none.  Remember, He offered for all a single sacrifice.  In His eyes we are clean.  In His eyes we are perfect..."For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified," v 14.  We are set apart, holy, free from sin.  Yes, we were born with a sin nature, but by His blood we are washed clean.  Though our sins were as scarlet, we are now white as snow. 
It is with a clean conscience that we have the freedom to worship God wholly.  No more washing, no more cleanses.  No more trying on our own power to take a wet wipe and scour away the stains of sin and death.  No more spit baths attempting to wipe the schmutz of guilt off.  We have been scrubbed clean by the blood of the Lamb.  Not only is the outer man all spiffy, but the inner man is spotless.  Free to live a life unto Him who calls us His own.

This has been a year, and it's not even August yet.  Well, of course it has been a year.  That is like saying, wow it's been a long day...uh, every day is 24 hours, duh...Seriously, I don't remember ever being this tired, this worn out.  Of course part of it is age and the fact that I have been dealing with illness since the beginning of the year.  And then add in waiting on insurance, doctors, etc.  Thankful to say that hopefully that is behind me now.  The gallbladder was taken out, the kidney stone was pulverized and now back to bigger and better things.  Oh wait, the changes are just starting.  The business we built these past few years is going to our son, Andy...tomorrow.  And the house we have been living in these past twenty something years is being sold.  Change...oh change is anathema to me.  I hate change.  I stress, I can't sleep, my mind never stops.  What are we going to do now.  Where are we going to live, what does the future hold?
As I was thinking of this all last night again...thinking I said, I didn't say worry did I?  I pictured one of those moving walkways, like you see in airports.  Also knows as a moving sidewalk, skywalk or autowalk.  It's a slow moving conveyor mechanism that transports people over distances.  Jump on and get to your destination.  You get on at point A and get off at point B.  Here is this endlessly moving thing, you choose when to hop on and when to hop off.  Sounds kind of like how we live our lives.  We make choices, or we bumble through the day letting life carry us where it will.  But when I saw that picture in my mind the Lord showed me that even though we think this thing is carrying us, randomly wherever, it is not, it has a destination in mind.  We wake up one day and oh, change it is a-comin'.  But for those of us who have chosen to surrender our lives to Jesus and to follow God's will for our lives, the 'holy cow' change was something that God saw eons ago.  Time has no restrictions for God.  What was, what is, what is to come...it is all the same to Him.  My gallbladder being taken out.  He saw that.  The fact that our business is being sold this week, not next year; He knew that.  The fact that we are selling our house and moving.  Again, no surprise to Him, the great all-seeing God.
The thing I have often found is that if we look back, we will see that God has been preparing us all along, for whatever may come.  For my  health issues, I thank God that for the first time ever we had insurance.  And it was my tax lady who last year offhandedly said that we needed to look into it, that she was sure we would qualify.  I never would have thought.  And low and behold, there was our insurance policy Jan 1st, and mid-January here I am having pain.  I'm on that moving walkway, heading in the direction that God has in store for me.  You don't get on that walkway, planning on going from the ticket counter moving towards the boarding gate and then it suddenly takes off at a tangent and takes you to parts unknown.  There is a plan, there is a design.  Just so with God. 
As I said, we have lived in our home here for 23 years.  I have never thought of not living here.  I have never thought of moving.  Shoot, we just got the house 'finished'; all remodeling done, the backyard and gardens beautiful!  Earlier this year I was home by myself, Jim called and I said, if we ever get another house, this is what I want to do...what??  That was odd.  And then as I have been dealing with surgeries and being ill, one day in trying to rest for some reason I turned on HGTV.  I have never watched that channel.  But I started watching Fixer Upper with the Gaines family.  And as I am watching, I am crying.  Thinking, I want a house that looks like that.  Those colors, that style.  Seemingly totally different from what I have now.   Until I start packing boxes, separating what I want to keep from what I want to sell.  And what is in my keep pile?  All these unique antiques.  That would go perfectly with the style I realized I really love.  Tell me that God does not gently and lovingly prepare our hearts for the changes that  we think have blindsided us. 
One of my favorite hymns is "It is well with my soul", written by Horatio G. Spafford.  He was to be on an ocean liner with his wife and four daughters heading to Europe, but unexpectedly had to stay behind for business reasons.  On that journey, the ocean liner was hit by another vessel and sank.  The only survivor in Horatio's family was his wife, who reportedly said, "One day I will know the reason why this happened".   Horatio booked passage on the next available ship and as they crossed the ocean, the captain called Horatio to his cabin and told him that they were passing over the very spot where the ship went down.  On that journey is where Horatio wrote that beautiful hymn that we still sing to this day.  "When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul."  He knew that His God was aware of it all.  He knew that while that journey was painful beyond imagination that His faith in God was not in vain.  And as you think of those words that he wrote, in worship to His great God, you realize that he and his wife could never realize the profound impact they and their faith would have on humanity.  Random travels...I think not.
I don't know what you are going through today.  The loss of a loved one.  Illness and disease.  Financial hardships.  Relationship problems that have you brokenhearted.  An uncertain future, with seemingly no hope in sight.  My dear friend, none of this has taken our God by surprise.  He is not gasping in unbelief at what you are facing.  He is not throwing His hands up, wondering what will you do!  He has all things in His capable hands.  He has your very life in His hands, and as His cherished child He will not let you go through anything that He will not see you through.  All that He requires is that you walk in His will.  That you trust in His love for you.  Hmmm, funny that one name for that moving walkway is autowalk.  As we grow and mature in our relationship with God, it should become natural, it should become automatic to trust in Him.  As He has proven Himself time and again that He will never leave us nor forsake us, we stay on that autowalk and trust that the destination He has in mind for us is right where we are supposed to be.  Sometimes we can see the what and the why, and maybe sometimes we may not.  Like Horatio and his wife.  They probably never realized the impression they would leave on history by what they had gone through and then choosing to praise God through it all.
I am not saying that we will for certain get that house I so want, with a metal roof, white and soft tones of gray and blue.  I may be in a travel trailer for all I know, but I do know that my future is not a matter of caprice and whim.  It is not up to the fates to decide.  And what I worry about...pssshhh.  I walk by faith and not by sight. My future is held in the hands of the One who loves me beyond belief.  It is held by the One who has an intellect and imagination far greater than I could ever have and I rest in that.  I am on that autowalk, knowing that He holds my present, He holds my future and all I have to do is trust and believe.  And sooner or later I will get to the destination that He has had in mind for me all along.  And, oh the surprises that will come along the way!




Information on hymn found at http://www.staugustine.com/living/religion/2014-10-16/story-behind-song-it-well-my-soul

My sweet husband watched a chick flick with me Sunday.  Usually I am watching car shows with him, but he put this movie on and we sat and watched it together.  It is called 'The Light Between Oceans'.  A heartbreaking movie set in Australia at the end of World War I.  Tom comes back from the war traumatized by all the death, but also by the fact that he managed to survive, seemingly unscathed.  He applies to become a lighthouse keeper on a deserted island at a juncture between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean, one hundred miles away from the nearest town.  While finalizing his assignment in Port Partageuse he meets Isabel, a local girl who has dealt with her own loss.  Her two brothers died in the war.  She is the last surviving child in her family.  She and Tom end up marrying, trying to have children on that lonely rock.  She has two miscarriages and seems to be losing her hold on sanity.  Then a dingy washes up on the shore of that island and in it is a dead man and a little baby.  Isabel believes that the baby was sent to them, that she could save it and it could save her.
You see these poor broken people. Tom being saved by the love of Isabel.  Isabel being saved by Tom's sacrifice.  The baby being saved by them both.  Long story, beautiful movie.  They find out the birth mother is still alive and has been grieving the loss of her husband and child.  Tom cannot live with the burden and finally they are found out.  If you have not seen it I won't give away the whole plot, but Hannah the birth mother must make some difficult decisions. 
Many of us spend our whole lives trying to do what it is not our job to do.  We make decisions out of our pain.  We react to circumstances rather than seek God's will as to what to do.  We try to be savior to our loved ones, when we cannot possibly carry that burden.  We hide our hurts, bury our misery, ignore our agony all the while not quite fooling ourselves.  We live between two worlds.  The world where we are captain of our own ship and the world where we give all to the Lord.  Much like that isle in the movie.  A barren, windswept rock between the Indian and Southern oceans.  And on that rock stands a lighthouse.  The question is, when we see that light, what do we do?
In the movie, there seems to be no save haven for any of them.  The pained soldier trying to come to grips with a chance at life after so much destruction.  The young woman who cannot carry a child to term.  Or the bereaved widow who has lost husband and daughter.  Hannah is caught in a horrible place.  Can she forgive these people who seem to have taken so much from her.  She is shown reminiscing about her husband Frank, a German who is hated by the local townsfolk.  In their eyes, he is a reminder of all they have lost, of who they have lost.  But he has a heart that is filled with love and life and forgiveness.  When Hannah asks Frank how he can get past all of their hatred he responds, "You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day, all the time. You have to keep remembering the bad things. It's too much work."  She remembers what Frank says and chooses to forgive Tom and Isabel for taking her child. 
While watching this movie, after hearing that line, I just wept.  Yes, for the characters, yes for my own inability to sometimes forgive others.  But what the majority of my tears were for was the fact of Jesus' forgiveness for us all.  He only had to forgive once; for all of us, for all of our sins.  God chose to cast our sins away, as it says in Psalm 103:12, "He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west." (TLB)  And because of that decision, it is not hard work for Him to not remember.  He has chosen to forget, He has chosen to blot our sins out with the blood of His Son, and since God cannot lie He remembers them no longer.  All it rests on is our making a choice.  Just as where the Indian and Southern oceans meet, although fictitious in the movie, in reality Cape Leeuwin marks the point where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. At diverse times of the year the differing ocean currents, waves and swell patterns are evident in the waters around Cape Leeuwin.  And therein lies the danger and the need for a lighthouse.  What current will you be in?  What current will you choose to follow?  We can be swept away by the mores and standards of the world and live our lives based on our feelings and emotions or we can enter into the current that carries us into God's will.  There is a lighthouse shining in the dark.  Just as the lighthouse keeper kept that light shining throughout the dark of night, throughout storms and tempests, Jesus is a beacon to us now.  He is that light radiant in the gloom of life.  He is that signal, that guide showing us the way to safety.  He is that watchtower ablaze with life and hope and peace.  When all seems darkest, when you cannot find the way.  When peace eludes you.  When confusion seems to swirl around you.  When you cannot get past the hurts and injuries that others have caused you, seek the Light.  He will show you the way to Life, and that life will be abundant with all the goodness that comes with His love.

Picture from Pixabay.com, attributed to EvgeniT

I was reading the verses in Luke 1:46-55 known as the Magnificat, or as Mary's Song of Praise.  This is where she has gone to see Elizabeth her cousin who is pregnant at that time with John the Baptist.  As she greets her cousin, the baby John moves in Elizabeth's womb.  So Mary begins to give praise to God and worships Him with her song.  I love the KJV of those first verses, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."  My soul doth magnify the Lord.  Magnify, to esteem and declare great.  To extol, to laud, to celebrate.  In the midst of her fear and uncertainty, in the midst of all that is going on, she trusts in the Lord and she worships Him.  As Merriam-Webster defines it, worship means, "to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power, to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion".  And as the Strong's concordance defines the  Hebrew and Greek words for worship, "to bow down, prostrate oneself before God in worship, to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore); to serve, minister to, to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship; among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence,in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication."  According to these definitions there are many forms of worship.  Literally bowing down, serving, ministering to, offering gifts, etc.  I think we as the modern Christian have taken the words 'praise and worship' and turned them into cliches.  Praise is the faster, more uptempo music, worship is the music that is slower, more reverent.  If you look closely at the biblical definition of worship, it is not about music.  Worship is a state of heart, worship is who I am as a child of God. 
As I have grown and matured in Christ, I have come to learn that He is in everything.  I am not talking in a pantheistic sense, in that everything is a god.  I believe that I see God in all He has made, every one of His creations shows who He is.  Romans 1:20, "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." (ESV)  I have seen God and worshiped Him while watching movies.  I have worshiped Him in the mountains and I have worshiped Him at the sea.  I have worshiped Him while listening to a stately hymn and while listening to 'worldly' music.  I worship Him while I pet my cat as she purrs contentedly in my lap and I have worshiped Him as I watch a horse gallop in joyful abandon in a meadow.  If worship is in my heart I can and will worship Him wherever I am. 
There have been times that Jim and I have gone to visit other churches and the building may have been fancier than I am used to, or it may have been a storefront with folding chairs, and even a newly drywalled Sunday school room in Mexico without a word of English being spoken.  I have been to churches where it has been nothing but hymns and an old organ and I have been to churches with a full orchestra.  I have been to churches where it has been so dry that a spark would have caused an explosion and I have been to churches where the word has been taught so richly I have wept.  But I have worshiped in each and every one of them, because it was the Lord's house and He is worthy of my praise, He is worthy of my worship.  He is worthy no matter the circumstances, no matter the setting. 
I think of the churches in those places where Christianity is outlawed.  Christians being beheaded for their faith.  Chinese Christians worshiping in silence, mouthing the words to the sacred songs.  Christians being forced from their homes, separated from their families.  Yet in all of the pain, in all of the heartache and struggle, they still choose to worship, in whatever form they can.  They choose to worship the God who is worthy, regardless of the circumstances. 
In the book of Acts, as Stephen is about to be martyred by the Sanhedrin, he preaches the history of God's relationship with the Jewish people.  He preaches convicting words that shatter their erroneous thinking and it maddens them.  As he speaks, he looks to heaven and sees the glory of God.  He sees Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father and he worships Him.  In the midst of the anger and accusations, Stephen kept his eyes on His Lord and worshiped Him from this life into the next.  Nothing could deter him from his love and adoration for his Lord.  Nothing.  Not the screaming men.  Not the lynch mob foaming at the mouth in their rage.  Not being hurled to the ground and having paving stones heaved down upon him.  Stephen worshiped his Lord through it all.  Can you even imagine?  I know how I feel when I am in the throes of worship.  The love I feel for the Lord.  The feeling that I almost cannot stand in His presence.  The desire to have Him feel my gratitude, my devotion, my yearning for Him.  It is hard even here to put into words.  It goes back to the dream or vision I had of being held by Jesus. Me, this worthless human, less than all the others, held and loved by Him.  That is worship.  Where no words can come, where what is going on around you fades into the distance.  You could be in the middle of Grand Central station or on a desolate mountaintop and you can choose to worship. 
We worship because He is worthy.  We worship because He is good.  We worship because He loves us.  We worship because it is who we are as His children.  We are worshipers.  John 4:23, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." (ESV)  He is seeking us to be true worshipers.  He is seeking us!  What a thought.  We don't have to search high and low for Him, He is there all along looking for us to turn to Him.  And He is waiting for us to worship Him in spirit and truth.  Because the truth is, no matter the church, no matter the congregation, no matter the music He is worthy of our worship.  Come, let us worship the Lord.

I so vividly remember the first time I met my husband Jim.  Where I was sitting in Hobo Joe's in Lake Havasu.  How the restaurant looked.  How he looked.  I remember the events leading up to our meeting.  How I almost got introduced to Jack, not Jim because someone thought I was talking about a different cook.  How after meeting there at Hobo Joe's we went under the London Bridge and sat there for hours talking until the wee hours of the morning.  I remember all of that not because I 'checked in', not because I Instagrammed about it, not because I sent out a tweet but because I was there.  I was present in the moment and he had my full attention.  I am so glad that I did not grow up in the cell phone age.  Number one because all of my poor decisions and bad behavior would be somewhere in internet eternity for all to see, but also because it meant you had to talk to people, you had to interact.
When Jim and I first started dating we used to sit for hours at that old Hobo Joe's and just talk.  About everything.  About nothing.  I used to ask him about cars and he would draw me pictures to explain how the engine worked.  We would sit for hours and just 'be'.  I not only loved him, he was my friend.  We talked, we shared, we dreamed, we planned. You don't see that anymore.  Or very rarely.  Even in our generation, you go to a restaurant and people are on their phones.  Take a bite, scroll down the page.  Even in church now you see people on their phones.  Yes, a lot are looking at their bible apps, but when that Facebook notification pops up, you can be sure they check it. People are missing the beauty of the world around them because they are either focused on that piece of electronics or looking through the lens.  Little children must think that these rectangular things are an extension of their parent's hands.  They are always attached.  Don't get me wrong, there are many advantages to them.  I feel safer when I am driving, knowing I can get help if I break down.  The maps app is great since I have a horrible sense of direction.  And google is awesome for tracking down some random trivia information.  But they are also time suckers.  How often have you gotten on to just check your email and next thing you know half an hour has gone by and you're still watching video clips of drunken dancing Bavarians in lederhosen. 
I think it's all about being present in the moment.  It's about giving this other human being that God created your attention and honoring them by being aware and interested in them.  It's often about putting yourself aside for a moment and doing what the bible calls 'esteeming the other'.  Philippians 2:3 says this, "If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand." (MSG)   We live in a world where the top dog wins, where everyone is out for themselves, where putting others first is often seen as weak.  But I know that my Lord says that "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you," John 13:15 (NIV).  This was after the Passover feast, the last supper, but before Judas left to betray Jesus.  Jesus takes off His outer garments and wraps a towel around his waist.  He then began to wash the disciples feet, all of the disciple's feet, even Judas.  (Think about that for a moment.)  Now this was not some pretty, dainty thing.  They didn't slip off their Ferragamo shoes, take off their silk socks and dip their lily white toes in the basin.  No, they had been walking long distances in their sandals on the dry and dusty roads of Jerusalem.  Roads that were traveled by oxen and other animals.  Their feet would be filthy and covered in only God's knows what.  Yes, exactly, only God knows.  But Jesus, taking off His outer garments, setting aside His rights as Son of God, setting aside His deity becomes a servant, even to the one who would betray Him.  He washes off the dirt and muck and lovingly dries their feet with that towel around His waist.  He ceremonially and as a precedent shows them how to be a servant to others.  He took the dirt from their bodies and carried it on His own.  He took the foul excrement, the grime and the filthiness from them in a foreshadowing of what would come in the days ahead.  He served all, even the one who took filthy lucre in exchange for betrayal. 
Can you even imagine?  Most of us, if we even think someone doesn't like us would cross the street to avoid them.  I've done my share of ducking behind store displays, abruptly turning and going the other direction; shoot, they saw me!  We're not giving them the time of day, let alone doing something kind for them?  But we are told to "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you," Luke 6:27-28. (ESV)  Or as it so aptly is spelled out in the Message, “To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.  Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.  I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind." (verses 27-36)
I think where most people find this hardest is in their own families.  I remember when Jim and I were separated.  We had wandered so far away from God, we had gone so far down the path to destruction.  Our lives were a mess, our children were a mess.  We could only go up from how far we had fallen.  I sought the Lord.  I fasted and prayed and the Lord told me to show my husband that I had despised and mistrusted love.  The kind of love that He had for me.  He told me to be like Him, a servant.  I am not talking doormat here, I can hear what you are thinking.  No, He told me that as I loved my husband, as I showed him unconditional love, that He would change my husband's heart.  When he came to see the kids, I would serve him a meal.  I would get him a drink.  I would be kind, when the world would have said he doesn't deserve it.  Maybe he didn't, but I also did not deserve the more than second chance that my Lord gave me.  As I ministered love to my husband, we both changed.  I lost that mindset that 'I had my rights', gosh darn it.  When you have been given new life, that life is no longer yours.  You are now an ambassador of Him who saved you.  Your only rights are to do right by others.  Your only privilege is the freedom and license to do good to others.  I know so many think this is old-fashioned, it is not part of the brave new world we live in.  The example of Christ, the lessons He left for us never go out of style.  The love He showed us does not change with the seasons.  It is everlasting and never ending.  And we are by His grace and mercy to show it to others.
I know I have gone the roundabout way to say this all, but Christ did not get distracted from what His mission was.  He did not take His attention from those that needed Him and give it to what was transient and mundane.  He did not, when confronted with the poverty of spirit of those around Him respond by being inattentive and preoccupied.  If He was here today, He would put the phone down.  He would give His full attention to those given to His care.  He would let them know that they are more valuable than a hunk of plastic and glass and microchips.  He would be present and available.  Wait a minute, He said in John 14:20, "I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." (NIV)  So as His child, as His representative here on earth, He is here, in you.  And as such it is your right, your privilege to show others His love.  Start in your home, with your spouse, your children and then let it spread out into the world.  Just wait and see what happens.  Who knows, someone might tweet about your kindness!

These long summer days are really messing with me.  It's barely dark by 8:30 and the sun rose at 5:22 this morning.  I bought 'blackout' curtains last week to try to help, but since they were budget brand they are more like 'dusk-in'.  I kind of make it work if I keep the covers over my head and leave a little air hole to breathe through.  That is until this morning when Jim got done in the bathroom and left the door open with the blinds up and I was blinded, as by a klieg light; the sun making it's debut once more.
It seems no matter how hard I try, that light finds ways of sneaking in.  Stealthy and insidious.  It finds gaps between the curtain and the wall.  It creeps in under the door.  Wherever it can find a crack it sneaks it's way in.  There is just no way to stop it.  I have threatened to paint the windows black, but I'm not sure even that would help.  The light of the sun is insistent and demands attention.  It is consistent and as the saying goes, as sure as the sun rises it will be here again tomorrow.
There is another saying, as sure as death and taxes.  The thought that they will go on and on forever.  But some day even those things will pass away.  There is only one thing that will never end and that is the love of the Father.  Psalm 136 is a beautiful testament of His love that is everlasting.  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." (v 1)  And it even talks about that great persistent light, "to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever". (v 7-8, ESV)
His steadfast love that shone an even brighter light, the light of His Son.  And if you think the morning sun is insistent and constant, it has nothing on the Son of God.  Whether you know it or not, whether you care to acknowledge it or not, you have a God who loves you.  And He will do everything in His power to get you to see that.  He has made Himself evident in all that He has created.  Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) says this
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun."
He is seen in all that He has made.  And all that He has made makes a way to affirm that.  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.  Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?  In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:7-10 (ESV)  And His word says that every man by what he sees in all of creation can absolutely see who God is; "the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse." Romans 1:20 (MSG)
God is evident in all of nature, in all of creation.  He has made a way for you to see Him, to know Him.  He is constantly trying to get your attention, just like that sunlight that keeps edging it's way past the curtains.  If you will but look around you, you can see the love and life of God.  In the drop of dew on a daisy.  In the starlight lending a soft glow to the cool evening sky.  In the flash of color on the wing of a bluejay.  You can see Him in the birth of a newborn.  That glorious moment when they take that first cry and they are welcomed into this world.  You can hear Him in the gurgle of laughter of that child as it is delighted by a butterfly.  You can experience Him when you witness a young couple exchanging vows in the covenant of marriage and also in the couple in their twilight years who hold each other up as they take an evening stroll.  You see Him in the joy of children playing.  You hear Him in the sounds of music that lift your heart.  You are aware of Him when you see a sublime piece of art and you weep at the beauty of it.  He is all around you, drawing your attention constantly, consistently.  He is that great light, always trying to capture your thoughts, seeking to draw you into His heart.  The beauty of all of this is that in finding Him, in entering into His love, you gain everything.  He seeks you out so that you will find Him.  He knocks so that you will open the door.  He does all of that, not as and end in itself, but so that through it all you may find His Son, you may find salvation.  In Him, in receiving Him as Lord and Saviour you find light and life and love and peace.  John 12:46, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." (NIV)  And as the light of God enters into that darkness, you will no longer want to draw the covers over your head.  You will no longer seek the blackness of night, the dimness of dusk.  You will desire to live in that luminous light of the Son for eternity.