| On the way to an eye appointment I fell in behind a lawn service truck pulling a trailer. When we reached the corner, the truck signaled a left, but the trailer signaled a right turn. It was easy to see the signal light wires had been crossed. To me it shows the state of modern man’s mind about things, ever ready to follow the latest fad because he has no touchstone, no guide, to give sure direction. And without such a guide, man drifts in his own direction, always confused, never quite certain, prey to every lure sent in his direction.
We see it on talk shows. The host sits in vapid amiability while the guest dismantles ancient truths and spouts nothingness. They sit and listen while another espouses whatever thing comes to mind, whether it is gay marriage, or easy sex, or the modern fable that “all things lead to the same destination”. And the host responds, “What I hear you say”, or “We need this input”. This simply won’t do.
It is not good enough to receive everything as if it was of the same value or even had any value to begin with. We need discriminations.
A meal of vegetables is good for our health, but mix in some toadstools, and it becomes a deadly feast. We need someone to discriminate, and eliminate the bad.
We need truth, truth agreed by everyone everywhere. The ancient Fathers used the phrase, quod ubique, quod semper, et quod ab omnibus creditum est. What has always been believed, everywhere, by everyone.
We must be able to say, “This is SO. This is true. I know it.” That ability keeps people from straying into every avenue that opens to them. Keeps them sane, if you will. Unless we have such a sure guiding principle, our likes cannot be serene, for every storm will upset us. Of course I’m talking about the Book. The Book that says, “Your Word is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens.” And “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.” And “Your Way is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path”. Psalm 119, 89.93.105.
The sainted Dr. Walter A. Maier, in his very first Lutheran Hour sermon, said this:” In the crisis of life and the pivotal hours of our existence, only the Christian , having God, and with the assurance that no one can successfully prevail against Him, is able to carry the pressing burdens of sickness, death, financial reverses, family troubles, in short, the burdens of modern life, with confidence that God is indeed His God.” GPD 4/17/09
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Friday, April 17, 2009
Shade Tree Wisdom 4/17/09
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Shade Tree Wisdom 4/14/09
There is an art piece on Woodlands Parkway titled “The Dreamer”. It shows a lad, barefoot, lying under a shade tree, chewing on a stalk of grass, hands behind his head, just lying there, dreaming. That is, he is doing nothing, no task of work. But he is doing something. He is allowing his mind to wander, maybe about his future, or “what if” concepts. Just allowing thoughts to drift through his mind. And often when I pass it I wonder, “Why don’t we find time to do that? Just nothing special I mean, just relax, slow down, let the busy world sweep by, and look inward a bit? Often times like that find us digging out solutions to a problem we have been working on, or problems we have been struggling with, or just a new outlook on life in general.
There is another Art piece showing a youth standing on the shoulders of his father and depicting the “We see farther because we stand on the shoulders of another”. In the hustle and bustle of daily life we often tend to forget what we have today is due in part to what others did before us. A reporter asking President Reagan about his not using a computer and sort of sneering because the President admitted he was not fluent in using it, but added, “We invented it for you”.
So we twitter and text-message and get online and Blog and take it all for granted, forgetting the people who spent late hours and experimented to make it all work.
Then there is an art piece in the Woodlands Library lobby showing a boy reading a book, and at his feet a stack to be read. And it calls to mind that people today aren’t readers any longer. Their reading comes in bits on email or from Google and checking out a Blog. Hey, there is no pleasure quite like having a good book, a quiet corner, and reading, and getting caught up in the author’s imagination. What happens next, and why did they not see that coming, etc. With no interruptions except maybe a friend who shares our pleasure and the reading of a good Book.
Then it is good to look at Psalm 73, especially the assuring “Nevertheless” in verse 23 "Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”
For when we sit and dream, remember the Lord is ever there keeping his promise, “I am with thee to the end of the world”. God bless the day.
GPD 4/14/09
There is another Art piece showing a youth standing on the shoulders of his father and depicting the “We see farther because we stand on the shoulders of another”. In the hustle and bustle of daily life we often tend to forget what we have today is due in part to what others did before us. A reporter asking President Reagan about his not using a computer and sort of sneering because the President admitted he was not fluent in using it, but added, “We invented it for you”.
So we twitter and text-message and get online and Blog and take it all for granted, forgetting the people who spent late hours and experimented to make it all work.
Then there is an art piece in the Woodlands Library lobby showing a boy reading a book, and at his feet a stack to be read. And it calls to mind that people today aren’t readers any longer. Their reading comes in bits on email or from Google and checking out a Blog. Hey, there is no pleasure quite like having a good book, a quiet corner, and reading, and getting caught up in the author’s imagination. What happens next, and why did they not see that coming, etc. With no interruptions except maybe a friend who shares our pleasure and the reading of a good Book.
Then it is good to look at Psalm 73, especially the assuring “Nevertheless” in verse 23 "Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. 24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. 26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever. 27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. 28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”
For when we sit and dream, remember the Lord is ever there keeping his promise, “I am with thee to the end of the world”. God bless the day.
GPD 4/14/09
Monday, April 13, 2009
Shade Tree Wisdom 4/13/09 - Easter Blessings
Happy Easter still. The news, which the Apostle Paul said was “of first importance”, that Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead, is still New, and remains so for our comfort and our strength. Rejoice in it each day the lord gives you life.
I believe my favorite Sunday during my ministry was Easter Sunday. I would go to the Church early, and when I opened the door the first thing that I experienced was the aroma of the lilies that had been placed the day before. It surrounded me. It was, to me, the aroma of LIFE, new life. It stayed in the Church, but the movement of many worshippers, the opening of windows and doors, finally dissipated the aroma. But as I say, it was one of the rich experiences happening the way.
So it must new for every Christian. You will have special memories about this Easter. There are others that stick in memory. But they usually are happy memories, for they include the Risen Christ.
We can hardly imagine the gloom of the first disciples that weekend. “We thought it should have been he that would redeem Israel” said the two on their way to Emmaus. Little did they know He already had, and He was now speaking with them as explained the Scripture to them. What joy was theirs when they could rush back to Jerusalem with the Good News, He is Risen.
So it remains. St. Paul called it “news of first importance” in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, v.3. So it always is.
And as I entered the Church early on Easter morning, part of my joy lay in the fact that the Lord had sent me there that day to tell this truth again. God is ever doing that, making sure His Word is spoken, and heard, and believed.
So Happy and Blessed Easter to you all, everywhere, in whatever situation, and may God bless your day richly.
GPD 4/13/09
I believe my favorite Sunday during my ministry was Easter Sunday. I would go to the Church early, and when I opened the door the first thing that I experienced was the aroma of the lilies that had been placed the day before. It surrounded me. It was, to me, the aroma of LIFE, new life. It stayed in the Church, but the movement of many worshippers, the opening of windows and doors, finally dissipated the aroma. But as I say, it was one of the rich experiences happening the way.
So it must new for every Christian. You will have special memories about this Easter. There are others that stick in memory. But they usually are happy memories, for they include the Risen Christ.
We can hardly imagine the gloom of the first disciples that weekend. “We thought it should have been he that would redeem Israel” said the two on their way to Emmaus. Little did they know He already had, and He was now speaking with them as explained the Scripture to them. What joy was theirs when they could rush back to Jerusalem with the Good News, He is Risen.
So it remains. St. Paul called it “news of first importance” in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15, v.3. So it always is.
And as I entered the Church early on Easter morning, part of my joy lay in the fact that the Lord had sent me there that day to tell this truth again. God is ever doing that, making sure His Word is spoken, and heard, and believed.
So Happy and Blessed Easter to you all, everywhere, in whatever situation, and may God bless your day richly.
GPD 4/13/09
Friday, April 10, 2009
Shade Tree wisdom 4/10//09
"Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature lightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See Who bears the awful load,
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.”
On Good Friday blood is shed. In a tortuous way, in long-drawn out agony.
Isaiah explained it 700 years before it happened. “We esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”. An ugly sight indeed, “BUT, He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by His stipes we are healed" Is. 53.
That is why we call it Good Friday, this day that Jesus Christ died, because, as St. John writes in his first letter, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sins.”
So we call this day Good Friday, the day on which blood was shed, for “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness?” Heb. 9,23.
That is what it cost for our salvation. But now it is completely and fully done. We have this all by faith. By His grace, out of his love for us.
Thank God for Good Friday. We observe it with reverence, awed by the majesty of the gift Jesus Christ won for us on that cross at Calvary.
GPD 4/10/09
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature lightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See Who bears the awful load,
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.”
On Good Friday blood is shed. In a tortuous way, in long-drawn out agony.
Isaiah explained it 700 years before it happened. “We esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”. An ugly sight indeed, “BUT, He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and by His stipes we are healed" Is. 53.
That is why we call it Good Friday, this day that Jesus Christ died, because, as St. John writes in his first letter, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sins.”
So we call this day Good Friday, the day on which blood was shed, for “Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness?” Heb. 9,23.
That is what it cost for our salvation. But now it is completely and fully done. We have this all by faith. By His grace, out of his love for us.
Thank God for Good Friday. We observe it with reverence, awed by the majesty of the gift Jesus Christ won for us on that cross at Calvary.
GPD 4/10/09
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Shade Tree Wisdom 4/7/09
The President and Mrs. Obama are being well received in this visit to England and western Europe. That is probably a good thing for future dealings the United States is bound to have with these countries.
Meanwhile, we have this terrible shootings in Birmingham, and the reporter tells us this is about the 40th such random shooting since Columbine, and wonder at whom to point the finger.
Then, in nearly the next report, we are told the Court in the “Very heartland” has made same sex marriage legal, and this is reported as a triumph.
In the beginning God “Made the male and female and said, ‘be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and tend it'”. But the judges on the Iowa Supreme Court are saying, “We are the gods here, we make laws to suit our taste, our desires, our wants”.
After the Hurricane that devastated New Orleans the daughter of Billy Graham was being interviewed on TV and was asked, “How can God allow such a thing?”. She paused reflectively, then said, “We have outlawed prayer from our schools and public affairs, we have removed the Ten Commandments from our courtrooms, we have made it illegal to position crèches on our lawns. How can we place blame on God, since we are saying that we don’t want or need Him”(The substance of her answer).
We forget that there are always consequences, and when we take God away, we turn man loose to follow his own inclination. Remember that God declared, “The imagination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth”. Gen. 8,21.
Ah, we are good at pointing fingers. After Columbine Mr. Scott, whose daughter, Rachel Ray, was one of the victims, wrote a poem that concluded:
“You seek your answers everywhere,
You ask the question ”why?”
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed,,
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need.”
GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
Josiah Gilbert Holland
GPD 4/7/09
Meanwhile, we have this terrible shootings in Birmingham, and the reporter tells us this is about the 40th such random shooting since Columbine, and wonder at whom to point the finger.
Then, in nearly the next report, we are told the Court in the “Very heartland” has made same sex marriage legal, and this is reported as a triumph.
In the beginning God “Made the male and female and said, ‘be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and tend it'”. But the judges on the Iowa Supreme Court are saying, “We are the gods here, we make laws to suit our taste, our desires, our wants”.
After the Hurricane that devastated New Orleans the daughter of Billy Graham was being interviewed on TV and was asked, “How can God allow such a thing?”. She paused reflectively, then said, “We have outlawed prayer from our schools and public affairs, we have removed the Ten Commandments from our courtrooms, we have made it illegal to position crèches on our lawns. How can we place blame on God, since we are saying that we don’t want or need Him”(The substance of her answer).
We forget that there are always consequences, and when we take God away, we turn man loose to follow his own inclination. Remember that God declared, “The imagination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth”. Gen. 8,21.
Ah, we are good at pointing fingers. After Columbine Mr. Scott, whose daughter, Rachel Ray, was one of the victims, wrote a poem that concluded:
“You seek your answers everywhere,
You ask the question ”why?”
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed,,
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need.”
GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.
Josiah Gilbert Holland
GPD 4/7/09
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Shade Tree Wisdom 4/2/09
I enjoy an early morning walk. It’s quiet, maybe a bird or two twittering, but No telephone (I don’t carry my cell phone with me), so there is time to relax, think of the day, ask what is important to do, and just enjoy. So the day begins without the frantic rush to grab a quick cup of coffee and rush out the door to catch my ride.
Maybe that’s just what’s bothering most of us now. A Columbia Journalism Review reports that in 2006 the world produced 161 exabytes of digital data. That’s more information than 3 million times all the information contained in all the books ever written. By next year the number is expected to be 988 exabytes.
We are bombarded with so much information we are getting overwhelmed. Think back, when we were young and there was an earthquake in China we never heard about it till maybe six months later. Today we are standing on the sandbags on the banks of the rising Red River in North Dakota praying the levee holds. We are in the crowd in London waving banners in front of the bank. It’s too much.
Research shows we do our best thinking during quiet times, when we are not otherwise engaged or focused. Do you have such a time? Why not get up a bit earlier, have a cup of coffee, step out on the porch or patio, sit down, and just relax. Daydreaming, we used to call it, and the best ideas flow from such times! “It just came to me out of the blue”, people say.
Maybe our problems will find their solution while we are sweeping the front walk, or taking a leisurely shower, or sitting on a river bank with a fishing pole in our hands, hat over our eyes, and feet sticking up in the air.
Here is one thing we need to do more of, “Be still, and know that I am God”.
He does have a solution for our frantic scurrying about. Pray, and ask, and “He will direct thy soul”.
GPD 4/2/09
Maybe that’s just what’s bothering most of us now. A Columbia Journalism Review reports that in 2006 the world produced 161 exabytes of digital data. That’s more information than 3 million times all the information contained in all the books ever written. By next year the number is expected to be 988 exabytes.
We are bombarded with so much information we are getting overwhelmed. Think back, when we were young and there was an earthquake in China we never heard about it till maybe six months later. Today we are standing on the sandbags on the banks of the rising Red River in North Dakota praying the levee holds. We are in the crowd in London waving banners in front of the bank. It’s too much.
Research shows we do our best thinking during quiet times, when we are not otherwise engaged or focused. Do you have such a time? Why not get up a bit earlier, have a cup of coffee, step out on the porch or patio, sit down, and just relax. Daydreaming, we used to call it, and the best ideas flow from such times! “It just came to me out of the blue”, people say.
Maybe our problems will find their solution while we are sweeping the front walk, or taking a leisurely shower, or sitting on a river bank with a fishing pole in our hands, hat over our eyes, and feet sticking up in the air.
Here is one thing we need to do more of, “Be still, and know that I am God”.
He does have a solution for our frantic scurrying about. Pray, and ask, and “He will direct thy soul”.
GPD 4/2/09
Shade Tree Wisdom - April Fool
I needed to shop for some food this day, and in the store was a person from some company, standing on one of these outfits that scissor to lift the person higher, changing light bulbs in the ceiling. The manager told me they had a contract with this company and unless it was done on a regular basis, “we would soon be half dark around here”.
Makes a fit subject for this day, doesn’t it? Because the subject of this day is mentioned in Psalm 14. Remember it? “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” But recall how it continues? “They are corrupt; they are doing abominable works; there is none that doeth good.” What an indictment of a fool – corrupt, wrong-headed, wrong-thinking, and the result is “abominable works. None doeth good”.
By nature we live sin-darkened, unable to see, can’t know what the good is, for we are born in sin. St. Paul says we are living here where we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph. 6,12.
What a terrible state to be in. And without help. And, thank God, there is such help, for God “has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2,9. Paul adds to this that “God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. 2 Cor.4,6.
So, like the company that keeps the shopping center lit, let us ever turn to our God, and the Bible, the Book He gave us, to enlighten us by His Holy Spirit. Thank God For this Light.
GPD 4/1/09
Makes a fit subject for this day, doesn’t it? Because the subject of this day is mentioned in Psalm 14. Remember it? “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” But recall how it continues? “They are corrupt; they are doing abominable works; there is none that doeth good.” What an indictment of a fool – corrupt, wrong-headed, wrong-thinking, and the result is “abominable works. None doeth good”.
By nature we live sin-darkened, unable to see, can’t know what the good is, for we are born in sin. St. Paul says we are living here where we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph. 6,12.
What a terrible state to be in. And without help. And, thank God, there is such help, for God “has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” 1 Peter 2,9. Paul adds to this that “God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. 2 Cor.4,6.
So, like the company that keeps the shopping center lit, let us ever turn to our God, and the Bible, the Book He gave us, to enlighten us by His Holy Spirit. Thank God For this Light.
GPD 4/1/09
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