Shade tree wisdom 12/11/10

I really am sort of at a standstill as to how to begin. (Now if that sentence doesn’t intrigue you, then nothing will.)

Christmas is near, and the news says so, no end. Only so many days left to do your shopping, getting gifts wrapped and sent, doing all the pre-Christmas chores. Shopping for gifts either online or in person is hard, wondering whether what you plan to give is right, and now you have to worry whether your high school niece will find the label you buy right. “Correct” with the “in crowd”.

Stress no end, and the voice gets a bit shrill, and tempers are short, and you forget the person serving you in a busy store is also a person with feelings, needs, and cares of their own.

Maybe the think piece that called Christmas “a numbing season” had it right. For it seems as if the thing is way out of kilter.

Especially so when we consider that Mark and John don’t even mention the birth, and the early Church celebrated the Resurrection of Christ, not the birth. So St. Paul writes, “I determined not to Know anything among you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

The climax of the four Gospels is not the birth, but the events we celebrate at Easter. One quarter to one half of each of the chapters in the four Gospels focus on Easter events. Early Christians did not celebrate the birth so much as they did the Resurrection, at least not from their basic texts.

Pressures to buy loads of gifts are pressures from the culture, not from the faith. Pressures to present a flawless meal, or spend a holiday without family friction, or keep a relentless façade of good cheer are not pressures of the faith. We may not be able to escape the pressure completely, but let us at least put things into persective. Let us not confuse faith and discipleship with what the world offers.

May I offer this, that we pause in the race, take time for quiet worship, relax a bit and remember that we are God’s baptized children and that He has written the plan of our lives before they ever began. Psalm 139,16 is the selection of choice, among so many others rich in promise and of blessing.

When we do that, it won’t bother us when we end up in the grocery line behind the person who starts digging for money only after everything had checked and the cashier is waiting to be paid.

We are patient, because we know something, we are God’s children.

GPD 12/11/10

Shade Tree Wisdom 12/9/10

For some years many papers carried a feature titled “The Country parson”. Each is a bit of wisdom or comment on the passing scene. One showed the Parson on his morning walk with a folded newspaper tucked under his arm. Someone asked why the paper, and his reply was this. “The newspaper tells is what is happening in the world.. The Bible tells us why.”

No sooner had I read that bit when someone suggested a verse of Scripture to describe our political scene best. The verse is Ecclesiastes 10,2.
NIV Translates this: “The heart of the wise man inclines to the right, the heart of the fool to the left.”

Trying to make sense of things is the study that engages many minds.
Jeremiah, the ancient prophet to Israel, writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Jer 17,9.

So where to look? Well, the Country parson is right, go to the Bible for our answers. It is the one Book that will not only make sense of the way we behave, but tell us exactly why we do it, and what the only solution is.

Old stuff, you say, I know all that.

It is because humans tend to be forgetful of how desperate their situation really is that the Church celebrates Advent again, and Christmas, and, in order, the scenes of our salvation through the birth of Jesus Christ. The Bible calls Him our Savior.

The Season of the year we are in right now leads to the Birth, and we do need this reminder, we rejoice to celebrate it again, and it gives us new heart for the life we lead here in this sin-riddled earth. Here we find strength, get renewed faith for the struggle, take fresh heart to face tomorrow, and get the peace from God that only He can give us. Why, He assures us our sins have been forgiven. This is what God tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103. Then the psalm adds, “For He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust”. v.14.

So, yes, “The newspaper & TV news tell us what is happening, the Bible tells us why.”

GPD 12/9/10

Shade Tree Wisdom 12/7/10

This is the day “That will live in infamy”. Those words were part of a speech then president Roosevelt made when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the U S declared war on Japan. That was December 7, in 1941, and many of you weren’t even born yet. But there was a sense of “Can this be real?” feeling in the country. After all, we are America! We win wars. “How could they?”

But the deed was done, and it took real determined effort, concentration, and much sacrifice on the part of many before we finally concluded that war in 1945. But meanwhile the world changed, and many people who had been sent to every corner of the world changed too, their outlook, often their thinking, and their understanding of events.

What really gets tested in times of massive change like that is faith. No longer can we sit down with the friend we grew up with who lives around the corner to discuss some problem, for he is suddenly in Iowa Jima or North Africa. And events move faster than we are used to, it bewilders, and, as I said, it tests a faith. Does God know what is going on? Does the Word still work, and are the truths I learned in my childhood at home and at school still relevant to this time?

The changes reminded me of the change when Israel was hauled off to captivity. Disaster. They stewed in misery, and some false prophets encouraged that, till Jeremiah, God’s prophet, sent them a letter that told them to settle down, build houses, make it your home, for your Gad is there with you till you return home again.

And that is always the best way to survive a test, to depend on what you know. The Psalmist said this.

“But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord; I say,
'You are my God, my times are in your hands’.” Psalm 31,14.15.

The old truths, that have stood the test of time, that have carried many, many their life long. Such truths that have been comfort and strength in times of trouble and distress, these truths that cling to Jesus Christ, who teaches still, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by ME.”

So December the 7th passes by, always under God’s direction, and His blessing comes to us always.

GPD 12/7/10

Shade Tree wisdom 12/2/10

Still nice and cool for my morning walk. It is energizing, and gives time for reflection.

The subject this morning was thinking on a book review. The Book, “The Shallows, What The internet is Doing to our Brains” by Nicholas Carr. He reports that Computers are changing the way we think. No longer “Calm, focused, undistracted. The linear mind is bring pushed aside by a new kind of mind that wants and needs to take in and dole out information in short, disjointed, often overlapping, bursts – the faster the better.” And it may not be a good thing. The book is not optimistic about the future of thought.

When Johann Gutenberg invented movable type, people learned to engage their minds more deeply to an inward flow of words, ideas, and emotions. Before this, a mind was distracted by every passing butterfly. Now it started to focus more on ideas, on words and emotions. The results are impressive, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the industrial revolution, and modernism.

Today young adults average more than 19 hours a week online, and 49 minutes reading books, magazines, or newspapers. Today youth no longer memorizes poetry, philosophy, or scripture. Nor do we spend long evenings reading and pondering ideas, and stocking our minds with learned thoughts. This worries Carr.

But why bother with memory when we have all this material available at Google. Long term memory becomes impoverished, and that leads to inability to reinterpret ancient wisdom for the present day, and we cannot transmit to future generations our cultural heritage. Carr warns, “Outsource memory and our culture withers.”

Technology’s numbing effect is not a new condition. It happened, described by Psalm 135,15-18 and 115, 4-8. where idolaters grow to resemble what they idolize.

Religion is also being changed. The Reformation happened because of the printed word. Once upon a time the Church service was a high point in life, and the sermons taught truths mined from the Holy Book. Today this is changing. Our church services are fast-paced, entertaining, with sermons and songs projected on giant screens, and the emphasis is on entertaining the crowds.

On the plus side, not everyone has allowed the internet to hijack their lives. There is renewed emphasis in many places on slowing down, increased emphasis on meditation, and many are turning again to chants, Lectio Divina (A slow meditative reading of sections of Scripture), and taking time for thoughtful discussion and prayer.

I hope and pray you remember the days of old, as David suggests, and always keep in mind the history of God at work in the world to save His people by sending Christ Jesus, the Savior, “to die for the sins of the whole world.” As St. John so joyfully points out.

GPD 12/2/10

Shade Tree Wisdom 11/30/10

Finally, cold for walking with a brisk wind to sort of add a bit of snap to the walking pace. Felt good though. It is the last day of November, after all, and one should expect that. Also end of the hurricane season, and the report is we lucked out. A low pressure system kept some storms steered to the north away from the East coast, and a high pressure system kept storms away from the Gulf. Thank the lord for His presence.

“God made people simple, but they have discovered many inventions”. The MSG puts this like so: “God made men true and upright. We’re the ones who made a mess of things."

The verse is Ecclesiastes 7,29. And it speaks to us of life, which is, basically, really quite simple. We sleep, we rise, eat and work, eat some more, relax a bit, then sleep again. Simple, straightforward, until we mess it up.

Remember that poem called “The Dash”. It reports on a funeral statement about someone and says the stone lists two dates connected by a dash, and it is what happened in that dash that is important.

Here is the way it ends.
“What matters is how you live and love,
And how you spend your dash.”

Micah, a prophet who burst on the world scene in the 8th century, along with Isaiah, Hosea and Amos, speaks to keep God alive before the people. They live with disaster they cannot seem to grasp, and Micah speaks to them to remind them that God, their God, is alive and active still.

In chapter 6 God speaks directly to the people. The verse that makes the plea best is verse 8. “He has told thee, O Man, how to live; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” 6,8. Away with all the rigermole they had been working, just do His will quietly and “walk humbly with Thy God”.

That’s what makes life simple. His commandments are not grievous, said St. John.

But we tend to complicate matters. One small example is just doing a simple task. We do it right, and the thing is done. When we make mistakes, we have to do it over, or the mistake causes other things to go wrong and we need to fix that too. Or a student is given an assignment. It takes maybe 20 minutes or so of his time, but he puts it off, and suddenly the time has slipped by and his homework is not done, and he blames what?

Finally it comes down to this, “What must I do to be saved?” and the answer is always the same, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.

So, life is simple, don’t make it complex by adding, by all the things that get in the way of this rule. Life is simple. WE are the ones who makes a mess of things. I pray, learn this, life is simple.

GPD 11/30/10

Shade Tree Wisdom 11/27/10

Aftermath of the Day of Thanksgiving. I am reminded of that poem.
Here’s one verse.
“Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmothers house we go,
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifting snow. Oh”
The sleigh goes through the barnyard gate and they are looking forward to
grandma’s greeting and the pumpkin. The family gets out at the door, and the
hired man puts the horse into the barn and the sleigh under cover of a shed.
While the family is enjoying the company and the dinner.

It makes it sound very much like an annual ritual, as it is for so
many families in America.

How different the coming today. For many it is packing, hurrying to
an airport, parking a car, standing in lines, then spending hours flying to a
distant destination simply to have the day together. People find that worth
while still, and it is.

As is a service of worship, either on the day, or the evening
before, to give us a time to stop a little and give thanks for the rich and
varied, and constant blessings we receive from our gracious heavenly Father.

The travel reminds me of a little story I read recently. A good-ole
boy went to the train depot and said to the ticket agent, “I would like to buy a
ticket for Norwald.”

“Norwald, never heard of it, I’ll have to look that up”, said the
agent.

So the agent checked the map and didn't find it listed, then he checked the
internet with no success. “I can’t find Norwald listed anywhere,” said the
agent, “Just where is it, anyway?”

“Over there”, the man replied, “He’s my brother-in-law.”

Long before Norwald, Moses was teaching the people. “When you have
eaten and are satisfied, praise the lord your God for the good land He has given
you” De. 8,10. And much later, St. Paul advised Christians, “Give thanks in all
circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess 5,8.

And finally this word written to Philippi for our reading too. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God. . .will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil.4,6.

GPD 11/27/10

Shade Tree Wisdom 11/24/10

Quiet out this morning with no lumbering yellow boxes to sweep up eager, or reluctant and sleepy scholars, as the case may be. A full moon hangs in the lowering sky under scudding clouds, and it is warm. No need for a jacket, and the date is November 24th. A good time to think some deep thoughts about tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day.

“O give thanks unto the Lord,
For He is good, and His mercy
endureth forever.” Psalm 106,1.

Yes indeed, “His mercy endures forever”. A fine thing to remember today when there is grumbling over airport security procedures, the Koreans are shooting at each other, Ireland is in turmoil over finances, the northwest endures storms and highway shutdowns, and Houston workers are putting the finishing touches on a 70 foot Christmas tree with 3,500 ornaments and myriads of LED lights.

Now let’s go back to l636, when the 30 Years War was raging in Germany, and a young Lutheran Pastor, Martin Rincker, began his ministry in the little village of Eilenberg, Saxony. The Swedish army was at the gate. The walled city was filled with floods of refuges, so hunger and disease ravaged the villagers, and Rincker sometimes had as many as 50 funerals in one day. Finally, the Swedes demanded a huge ransom to withdraw, and Rincker, who was the only Pastor left alive in the village, went out to negotiate, to such effect that the wars soon ended, and the Pastor composed this hymn. Sung around the world by Christians ever since.

“Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands, and voices, Who wondrous things has done, in whom our heart rejoices.
Who from our mother’s arms, hath blesses us on our way.
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”

There are 138 passages in the Bible about thanksgiving, many strongly worded, as in 1 Thess, 5,18: “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

So tomorrow, let us give thanks for God’s rich blessings to us in sending His Son, Christ Jesus, to die and pay for our sins. So shall it be written, so let it be done.

GPD 11/24/10