Joy taught by a Rabbit

I would like to thank a rabbit for teaching me about joy. Alice was that rabbit. She lived a life of joy. She lived life with zest. The best expression of joy I have ever seen was to watch her leap into the air and twirl. So full of joy that all her body expressed it. She taught me much. But joy is the way I remember her. Her too short life was full of joy.

She gave me the first poem in her death. She taught me how life is to be lived. Fully. With exuberance.

Advent of Joy

We sing of Christmas Joy. The baby is come. We ignore an important part of the message. Why did the baby come? The baby came to die for us. God came as a baby. He came to suffer for us. In that suffering and death is joy. So the story is also one of joy. This poem responds to this paradox.

Advent of Joy
I came to Earth to die.
To suffer torment.
In that deep anguish
there was/is joy.
Peace & contentment
obedience flowed.
There is joy in the cup
offered to you.

© Presbypoet, December 17, 2000

Do you know Jesus came to die for you?

Do you know why?

Will you accept the gift He offers you?

Do you know what His gift is?

Do You Know Joy?

How do you define Joy?
How does it differ from happiness?
How does it differ from being glad?
What is Joy?

Why does the Bible keep demanding we be joyful?
Why?
Do you know Joy?

Advent Myth

Advent.
We mark the start of this season.
Why?
Is it for shopping?
Is it to mark some birth 2,000 years ago?
Why?
What is important about Christmas?
Are we paying attention?
Are you paying attention?
Why?
Does it matter?
Is it important?
Why?

This poem explains why.

A most astonishing myth
Let me tell you
a most amazing story.
The most astonishing myth.
A myth of awesome power.

That God so loved us
He was born as man.
Born as simple baby
all bloody and messy.

Such astonishing story.
Such amazing myth.
Foundation of life’s meaning
that God so loved you and me.

Love so amazing.
He was born as a baby.
Born to give us life
and free us from sin’s bondage.
© Presbypoet, December 25, 2003

Do you understand this myth?
Do you believe this myth is true?

Be still and listen.
Hear the Angel choirs.
Rejoice.
Let Joy fill you.

Advent. Do you Look Forward

Today is the first day of advent. The first Sunday. What do we make of advent. What does it mean. Today, a theme was looking forward. Strange. Isn't this something that happened 2,000 years ago? How can we look forward to something that has already happened?

This is the poem heard in a homily today.

Look Forward

To what do you
look forward to today?
Do you look forward
to My return?

Do you look forward
to Christmas?
Do you look forward
to seeing Me today?

Do you eagerly
await My presence?
Do you earnestly
seek My face?

I am coming.
Will you watch
with eager expectation
to be present with Me?

Be alert.
Look for Me.
Look forward
to My coming.
(Isaiah 63:16-64:8Mark 13:31-38, 1st Corinthians 1:3-9)
Inspired by homily by Dennis S.
© Presbypoet, November 27, 2005)

I Will Provide

Started reading Osteen's book. I don't hear an important word. That word is obedience. Where is the idea that God has a plan for us, not we have a plan, and will He bless our plan. These words came a few years ago, from God. I know He will provide. He keeps doing it. I trust Him.

I will provide
You ask Me
to provide.
Trust Me.

You ask Me
to provide.
Do My will.

You ask Me
to provide.
Serve Me.

You ask Me
to provide.
Be Obedient.

Hear Me.
Go forth.
I will provide.

Listen to Me.
Trust Me.
I will provide.

Step out
in faith.
I will provide.

See Me at work.
Join Me.
I will provide.

© Presbypoet, March 6, 2002

Advent

Now that thanksgiving is over, we start the season of advent.

Here is an advent poem.

Advent

I am coming
How will you respond?
Christmas is coming.
How will you respond?

Do you hear John?
His repentance call.
Do you fear?
My return.

Prepare to hear
Me this Christmas.
Prepare to open
yourself to Me.

Remove the obstructions.
Smooth the path.
Make ready,
Hear Me today.

Take time to reflect,
To hear My demand.
To know why I came,
My purpose on Earth.

Why did/do I come.
See My death,
& Resurrection.
At this natal time.

Find Me in your valleys,
not just the peaks.
Bring your justice.
Bring your peace.

1. © December 10, 2000 Presbypoet

How will you respond?

Ten things I am thankful for

Thanksgiving

Today is a day to give thanks.

Here are 10 things I am thankful for.

That I have the most wonderful wife in the world.
That I know God, and He knows me.
That my son still lives, despite the depression.
That I have a chance to help him.
That my father didn't harm his spinal cord when he broke his back.
That I have a chance to help him.
That my sons have jobs, and they are able to work/
That I belong to a faithful church in the PCUSA.
That our pastor is a faithful teacher who hears God.
That I can go to Presbytery, to hear and serve God.

That God speaks to me.
What are you thankful for?
What 10 things are you thankful for?

Joy and Suffering

Joy and suffering. One reason we find Joy in suffering, is that Joy and happiness seem the same. So if you are happy and Joyful, you can't tell the difference. When you are suffering, you can't be happy, so what is left is pure Joy. So we find Joy in suffering. The suffering doesn't produce the joy. It simply acts like a refiners fire that burns away the mere dross of happiness.

Realize this isn't a definition of Joy, but simply a description of where you find it, at its purest. The more I try to understand Joy, the more I become aware of its infinite quality. It is an attribute of God. It is some quality of infinity, I dimly perceive as I suffer, and am aware of something so wonderful, words fail completely. I may as well be my pet cat, trying to describe quantum mechanics.

Joy may simply be intimacy with God. Knowing the world/universe makes sense at a level far deeper than language is capable of describing. Of knowing God. Not knowing about Him, but a direct experience of the divine.

Why is Joy important? In the Bible, there are many verses that call us to be joyful. If joy is mere ultimate happiness, then we can find Joy by becoming more and more happy. If Joy is an entirely different category of thing, not mere emotion, but direct connection to the divine, then we need to learn to seek it in a very different way than simply chasing happiness. I can't define Joy, but I know it exists, and seek it in my life.

Heaven may simply be full direct immersion in Joy. Joy so amazing, so wonderful that it is beyond our understanding. As Paul said, "now I see through a glass darkly, but then face to face". I wonder; could we stand full bore Joy. Or would it be too overwhelming for us to endure. Is that why Moses' face glowed as he came down from the mountain? Is God's refining process designed to burn away the dross, leaving us prepared to encounter Joy at its most radiant?

Today has been a day of intimacy with God, yet not an easy day. It started with our washing machine breaking down, and included a $50 parking ticket. As well as meetings with various officials that promised no easy answers, but only the challenge of hard work, and no guarantee of success. Yet this day was one filled with life. Filled with intimacy with God. Knowing He is with me. Knowing His presence. Feeling a touch of true Joy.

While words fail, perhaps this poem gives a faint glimmer of True Joy.

In God’s Presence
When you come
to church,
do you come
to My presence?
Do you hear Me?
Do you feel Me?
Do you see Me?
Do I touch you?

By your acts
praise Me.
Not just by words.
Talk is cheap.
Actions are dear.
Do you love Me?
Know how I care?

Do you know
both awe & intimacy?
Will you give up control?
I won’t give you answer.
I won’t give you certainty.
Trust in Me.
Feel My presence
deep in your heart.
© Presbypoet, January 14, 2001

Do you feel His joyful presence in your heart?

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, we travel to Berkeley to celebrate Thanksgiving with my father. It will be a small gathering, but we will meet.
For the past month, blogging has been reduced because I've been driving to Berkeley to help my 89 year old father, who broke three bones in his back.

I'm a responsible elder brother/son, the one who lives only one to two hours away (depending on how traffic on 880 is). My father lives in the same house he has lived in for 55 years. If he gets his wish, he will die in that house.

He puts on slide shows at retirement homes. He says he would live in one over his dead body. To transplant him would kill him. He would lose his reason to live, if he lost his freedom. He is fiercely independent. His mind is still sharp,(from doing crossword puzzles). Yet he needs help. How do we balance the two needs? How do we let them live dangerously, yet freely? This is the question we live lately.
So this Thanksgiving, we are thankful for much. Both joy and pain that refines, but most important, knowing God. Knowing He is with us. To see Him present with us in thanksgiving. The following is a poem that reminds us, God is present at the table.

Thanksgiving
As you gather
round this table
full of My blessings.
Will you thank Me?
As you count
your blessings
& think of all you have.
Will you praise Me?

As November’s days fade.
As winter’s darkness looms
& summer’s hope flees.
Will you hear Me?
In time of trouble
or time of plenty
when I seem silent & distant.
Will you obey Me?

As you stumble
on life’s path
without direction.
Will you follow Me?
In midst of affliction
pain, grief & testing.
In your time of refining.
Will you thank Me?

Rejoice on this day
of thanksgiving.
See Me
in your blessings.
See Me
in your pain.
See Me
at this table.
© Presbypoet, November 18, 2001

Have a joyful Thanksgiving.

Finding Joy

Joy and suffering. One reason we find Joy in suffering, is that Joy and happiness seem the same. So if you are happy and Joyful, you can't tell the difference. When you are suffering, you can't be happy, so what is left is pure Joy. So we find Joy in suffering. The suffering doesn't produce the joy. It simply acts like a refiners fire that burns away the mere dross of happiness.

Realize this isn't a definition of Joy, but simply a description of where you find it, at its purest. The more I try to understand Joy, the more I become aware of its infinite quality. It is an attribute of God. It is some quality of infinity, I dimly perceive as I suffer, and am aware of something so wonderful, words fail completely. I may as well be my pet cat, trying to describe quantum mechanics.

Joy may simply be intimacy with God. Knowing the world/universe makes sense at a level far deeper than language is capable of describing. Of knowing God. Not knowing about Him, but a direct experience of the divine.

Why is Joy important? In the Bible, there are many verses that call us to be joyful. If joy is mere ultimate happiness, then we can find Joy by becoming more and more happy. If Joy is an entirely different category of thing, not mere emotion, but direct connection to the divine, then we need to learn to seek it in a very different way than simply chasing happiness. I can't define Joy, but I know it exists, and seek it in my life.

Heaven may simply be full direct immersion in Joy. Joy so amazing, so wonderful that it is beyond our understanding. As Paul said, "now I see through a glass darkly, but then face to face". I wonder; could we stand full bore Joy. Or would it be too overwhelming for us to endure. Is that why Moses' face glowed as he came down from the mountain? Is God's refining process designed to burn away the dross, leaving us prepared to encounter Joy at its most radiant?

Today has been a day of intimacy with God, yet not an easy day. It started with our washing machine breaking down, and included a $50 parking ticket, as well as meetings with various officials that promised no easy answers, but only the challenge of hard work, and no guarantee of success. Yet this day was one filled with life. Filled with intimacy with God. Knowing He is with me. Knowing His presence. Feeling a touch of true Joy.

While words fail, perhaps this poem gives a faint glimmer of True Joy.

In God’s Presence
When you come
to church,
do you come
to My presence?
Do you hear Me?
Do you feel Me?
Do you see Me?
Do I touch you?

By your acts
praise Me.
Not just by words.
Talk is cheap.
Actions are dear.
Do you love Me?
Know how I care?

Do you know
both awe & intimacy?
Will you give up control?
I won’t give you answer.
I won’t give you certainty.
Trust in Me.
Feel My presence
deep in your heart.
© Presbypoet, January 14, 2001

Do you feel His joyful presence in your heart?

Give Thanks

As we near thanksgiving, it is time to give thanks.
Here is a poem on the subject.
Give Thanks

Gather together
Rejoice - for
and in all things.
Be thankful.

Learn to
give thanks
Be blessed
& bless others.

Your thanksgiving
pleases Me, (gives Me joy).
It is a fragrant
offering to Me.

When you give thanks
it blesses you.
You learn to
be grateful.

If you are grateful
it helps strengthen.
Helps you endure.
Helps you persevere.

Being thankful
blesses others.
It can melt cold hearts
& encourage others.
(Psalm 100, 1st Thessalonians. 5:16-18)
(inspired by Allen R., November 20, 2005).
© Presbypoet, November 20, 2005

Finding Joy in the Midst of Suffering

In this time of pain, a time that seems so hard, God reminds us what the truth is, in suffering find joy. The greatest secret in the world. Joy is offered in the midst of suffering.

This poem expresses a faint glimpse of what we are offered.
In Your Suffering find Joy

I offer gift –
suffering.
Gift of trial.
Wilderness.
Pain.
Sending you to
valley of the shadow
of death.

You think suffering evil.
You ask for release
from pain.
Escape from Life’s
torment.
You don’t trust Me
in your wilderness.

See Me in your suffering.
Feel Me in your suffering.
Know Me in your suffering.
Understand My plan.
Know How I came
to suffer for you.
Know I came
to die for you.

In your suffering
be transformed.
A grain of wheat must die.
Must die to produce life.
In your suffering
find joy.
Learn to trust Me
in your suffering.
(John 12:23-27)
© Presbypoet, September 8, 2002

Do you understand?

Suffering a Gift from God?

The bible says Jesus was made perfect through suffering. Paul in Romans says Rejoice when you suffer, (5:3) because it trains us to endure. So should we ask for suffering? Should we be like Luther, who beat himself? Do we go off into the desert? Go sell everything? Get rid of anything that makes us comfortable. Get rid of things we do for fun? What does this pain thing mean?

On September 11th, 2001 the same day as the attack, I heard this poem.

Suffering, God’s Gift

I offer gift to you,
suffering, pain & woe.
All stronger than you,
can stand or endure.
Will you trust Me,
when I offer this gift?
Will you still follow,
as you bear your cross.

Cross too heavy,
to carry on your own.
Will you join martyrs,
ready to die for Me?
In midst of senseless death.
Death of innocents,
death unexplained,
pain to no purpose.

Will you seek My purpose?
Will you follow Me?
Will you drink My cup,
offered James & John?
Will you find joy,
in midst of suffering?
Feel My love,
in midst of tears?

© Presbypoet, 1: 15 PM, September 11, 2001, still in shock at unknown, awful, pain and loss.
Loss that served no good purpose, yet death planned by unknown killers. Lord, help us see you in this pain.
Help us see you in such awful death.
Help us say, forgive them, they know not what they do.

More on Pain

To continue on this painful posting, this poem expands on the theme of pain as your friend; what it can teach us, and how it can help us. I don't ask for pain. I know God gives it as a gift. It isn't the pain, but what we learn, in the same way a good teacher will give a student a pop quiz to teach them what they don't know.

Often men refuse to listen to pain, choosing instead to ignore, or pretend. My father after he fell, and broke his back, sat at home for an entire day, refusing to call for help, pretending he didn't hurt enough to require going to the hospital, refusing to listen to his pain.
Do you ever ignore your friend pain?

Pain, your close friend
Listen to my message.
Heed my call.
I come to help you.
I came to warn you.
I’m your friend
& ally.
Yet one you
want to ignore.

My warning hurts.
You don’t want it at all.
If you disregard
perhaps I’ll go away.
I’m your friend.
Listen to my warning.
I tell you what
you don’t want to hear.

Your body’s language
comes from me.
Pay close attention.
Hear what I say.
I warn you of danger.
I warn you of harm.
I give you escape
from your deep peril.

I offer you healing.
I offer you hope.
But you must listen.
You must obey.
Yield to my warning.
Slow down & stop.
Listen to your body.
Listen to your pain.

© Presbypoet, April 30, 2001

Finding God in Pain

Romans, Chapter five, says we are to rejoice in suffering.
Most Christians find this hard. Didn't we become Christians to be protected?
We want God to heal us. We want him to get rid of our addictions. Like the disciples in the boat, we want Him to calm the storm. The following poem is a message to me about how we find him in pain. Not to be saved from the pain, but purified in the pain. This message came when I was betrayed by someone in church. The temptation was strong to leave, and find a "better" church. In my pain, Jesus spoke.

As I study the PUP report, this poem also reminds me of the pain caused by "others" in the PCUSA. Pain that makes us want to leave. Pain that we think will go away if we just can change them. The answer isn't simple.
Listen to Jesus.
Learn to forgive.
Learn to hear God speak.
Learn God is using both of us.
I pray I will hear God's message and accurately write God's words. I know He loves me.

Finding God in Pain

You think you’re a shepherd.
You’re a sheep.
Wrapped in My loving arms
I love you dear sheep.
Share your pain with Me.
Now you know what I felt
when My own rejected My embrace.
What will you do My dear sheep?

What will you do when all reject you?
Tell you it’s demon you follow.
Will you be discouraged?
Will you give up?
Will you abandon My course?
Will you be obedient?
Will you march through My pain?
Pain of betrayal by one you trust.

Hurt to your core, pain overwhelming.
What will you do My dear sheep?
Sorrow for rejection and treachery.
Suffering too appalling to endure.
Will you go forth in your suffering?
Will you go on through the pain,?
Will you hang in agony?
Nailed by ones you trust.

Why do you follow Me?
Through a life fulfilled in sorrow.
Through a life completed in pain.
See what I came to endure.
See what I came to fulfill.
Brother & mother & dearest disciple
rejected Me, told Me “hold back”.
Abandoned me at the cross.


Forgive the one who hurts you.
You can’t hear Me in him otherwise.
Know I love him also.
I'm using all your imperfections,
to build up a body for Me.
I’m working on him in other ways.
Learn to listen together.
Hear Me together as brothers.

I’m your Lord and your Master.
Serve Me in all that’s important.
I send you places I chose.
Not just ones safe in your mind.
Let Me cleanse all of your stain.
Pain’s burning to purify.
To include you in My design
dear sheep in My arms.

Never will I abandon or forsake you.
I love you too much My dear sheep.
Justice and peace do I give you
all according to My plan.
Freedom from pain isn’t offered
nor freedom from sorrow.
I’ll snatch anything from you
that keeps you far from My name.

Hold your church very lightly
always ready to let go.
No church ever perfect
not even one tied to My name.
Let Me teach you a lesson.
You won’t find Me in church.
You find Me in loving relationship
held close to My bosom in Love.

© May 16, 2000, Presbypoet

Hearing Jesus

I see I am not the only one who hears from God.
Leslie over at the insomniac has a post with a message from Jesus. She tells me she heard it at 3 in the morning, so she is living up to her name.
http://theinsomniac.blogs.com/the_insomniac/2005/11/christs_holy_pa.html
Read it. You will hear the voice of Jesus speak.

Pain, a Friend?

The insomniac is posting on pain.
http://theinsomniac.blogs.com/the_insomniac/2005/11/providence.html
We don't like pain. We want to get rid of it.
Yet pain should be our friend.
Sound strange?
Listen to this poem.
Pain, a Friend


Pain comes to you
as a friend.
To warn you
of danger.

A friend you
don’t want.
A friend you’d
like to leave.

When pain is silent
not a good friend.
Awful disaster
may overrun.

Like a good friend
pain talks to us.
Warns us of danger
keeps us from death.

© Presbypoet, March 21, 2001

What do you think?

Take My Hand

When trouble comes. Pain, death, sorrow, suffering..., (the list so long).
We know we need help.
We tend to be drawn closer to God in our need.
Yet for many, they don't know they can reach out.
He is so close. Yet He waits,
patient like the prodigal's father,
waiting for us to reach out.
The blessing of these poems,
so many not yet posted,
is being able to read messages from God,
both in time of sorrow, and in time of joy.

What amazes me is how things written years ago seem so fresh.
He calls to me in this time of woe, stress so strong,
that seems more than I can handle.
Yet He has already given me His words.
Such a simple answer.

Reach out.
Take My hand.

All I have to do is remember.
All I have to do is reach out.
He is there.

This poem so appropriate:

Take My Hand
Step out in faith.
Know I’m with you.
In darkness
see My light.
When life’s woes
press around you
reach out your hand.
Know I’m with you.

As we walk
along the path
hear Me speak
in the silence.
Listen to Me
as you rush
far too busy
to stop & pray.

Turn aside
hear My voice
in wounded man
beside your path.
In your pain
take My hand.
Climb into My lap.
Rest in My peace.

© June 6, 2001, Presbypoet


I rest.
Secure.
Knowing He is present.
He fills me.
I am at peace.
Now to go take up my cross.
Presbypoet, November 14, 2005

November

Here in California, the weather still is nice. Yet there are signs of winter. My life has been filled with thoughts of death & pain, with my father recovering from his broken back, my son still thinking of suicide, and my wife with a painful back. We all will die. So why should we rejoice?

This poem from God about November may answer that question.

Days shorten.
Sun sinks low.
Hope fades.
Trees abandon life.
Winter’s death strides.
Life’s little deaths
remind you
of your end.

In your gloomy
November.
Will you trust Me?
Will you hear Me?
Will your actions
show you trust Me?
Will your actions
show you hear Me?

Know I walk
close beside.
As winter’s
gloom looms.
Know I’m God
of the living.
Reach out.
Take My hand.

Sacrifice all.
Live in integrity.
Remain true.
Do you really believe?
Act on My plan.
Be not afraid.
Rejoice as winter’s shadow
gently brushes.
2 Timothy 4: 1-9
© Presbypoet, November 18, 2001

I have been reaching out quite frequently lately. I need His strength.

Hear Me in the Other's voice

As I prepare to attempt to explain, and criticize the report from the Peace Unity and Purity Task Force of the PCUSA, it came, that the other, the one I disagree with, may be the one to teach me. This exercise in humility, is necessary. This poem came in 2003, I try to remember it. I am not perfect. Here is the poem.


Hear Me in the Other’s Voice
You want the heretic
to admit he’s wrong.
You want the fundamentalist
to admit he’s wrong.
You want everyone
to agree with you.
You are so sure
you know the truth.

In your religious battles
learn to hear Me
with the ears of the other.
See Me in the eyes of the other.
The more certain you are
of My truth
the greater danger
you’ll become Pharisee.

Is your faith so fragile
you fear to hear the other?
Is your faith so weak
you fear to examine it?
Don’t be afraid to hear Me
in the other’s voice.
Don’t be afraid to see Me
through the eyes of the other.
© Presbypoet, July 17th, 2003

Choosing Not to Heal

Laer, on Cheat Seeking Missiles, points to the death of a pastor in Waco during a church service.
http://cheatseekingmissiles.blogspot.com/2005/11/kyle-lakes-last-sermon.html

He asks: " When something like this happens, it reminds us that we cannot understand the plans of God. Why a pastor, husband and father of two died in such a horrible circumstance. Why Esau ended up in Waco that day. Why."
We seem to think being a Christian will protect us from problems. When my brother died of cancer, he had thousands of people around the world praying for healing. God chose not to heal him. Here are some thoughts, and a poem about that topic.

True intimate relationship with God may send us to our version of the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus wrestled with God over the need to go through the whole betrayal/suffering/crucifixion thing. Jesus keeps reminding his disciples, and us, that they killed the prophets. When you read Paul's description of what he went through, in 2nd Corinthians 11:23-33, we have little to complain about. It would be hard for anyone to claim they have come close to Paul's suffering.
In the Old Testament, we have the story of Job, and the story of Elijah in 1st Kings 17:7-24, where he runs out of food, and God sends him to the widow of Zarephath. No matter what our problems, I doubt many would willingly trade places with either Elijah or the widow.

What seems like unanswered prayer, either for healing, or for material help, may make some doubt. It is a hard question. In this poem I ask Jesus about those He chooses not to heal.

Choosing Not to Heal

How do You know
Who not to heal?
A much easier answer:
Just heal all.
No questions.
No pain.

So much harder
to say No.
How do we know
we can trust You?
If You heal only
part of the time.

How did You know in Galilee
when Your “father” died.
Not to heal.
Not heal one
who was obedient
raised you as his own.

Lord help us understand
why You don’t heal.
Why You allow
misery & pain.
Help us see You
when You say No.

© Presbypoet, August 29, 2001

I asked this question two weeks before 9-11. I had no idea what was coming. The question certainly was timely. It always is.

Prayer Request For Soldier going to Iraq

Pray for Rebecca.

She is going to Iraq. She is an only daughter. Her mother understands. She not only wants to go, but sees it as her duty.

Our duty is to pray for her. Well, pray for both of them. Protection for Rebecca, and peace for her mother.

As a veteran, who served during Vietnam, it is important that we serve. We live in a country that is free only because men, and now women are willing to put their lives on the line for us. Many of them died, so we may live.

A Prayer for Rebecca
We live in freedom.
Blessed with much.
Lord, may we remember
Rebecca and her comrades.

They go for us.
We bless their names.
Those we know and
those unknown.
(c) Presbypoet 11-05-05
Thank you Rebecca, for your service.

November 11th is a holiday. Do you remember why?

On that day remember all who served to keep our country alive.

Deep Water, Paradox Part 2

Leslie,at the insomniac, is also talking about paradox.
http://theinsomniac.blogs.com/the_insomniac/2005/11/abundant_life.html
Paradox, where the truth is hid. I love paradox, it stretches my mind beyond the breaking point. Leslie talks about the paradox of "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it".*

This is not a simple paradox, in fact, it includes some internal paradoxes. We need to surrender our lives to Him. Like Jesus in the garden. (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42).

A strange piece of this surrendered life is to rejoice when we are given the gift of suffering. To rejoice when God sends us into the storm, the same way He sent the disciples off into a storm alone, after feeding thousands (Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 15). Then when they struggle in the storm, He comes, but not to them, instead, it says "He was about to pass by them." (Mark 6:48). The disciples trusted Jesus to keep them safe, yet He intentionally sends them away. (Matthew 14:22) It says; "...Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him..."
Either Jesus didn't know there was a storm, or He is deliberately placing them in peril.
Then he waits.
All night.
As His disciples struggle against the wind.
Alone.
Wondering again, "Don't you care if we drown?"(Mark 4:38).

For us followers of The Way, this seems to be what losing your life to gain it means. Trusting, when He has sent us off.
Alone.
He seems so distant.
The pain so great.
The task impossible.
We ask; "Don't you care if we drown?"
We are in water way over our head.
Alone.
This is the abundant life? How can it be?

Leslie is on to something with this, "what is life?" question. This simple paradox, that as it unfolds/we unfold it, the amazing awesome presence of God starts to be known. How he is always with us, yet sends us off alone, (another paradox).

Sends us into water way over our heads.

Deep Water.

I send you
into deep water.
Water over your head
you cannot stand.
Waves too menacing
threaten to engulf.
So powerful
they’d overwhelm you.

On your own
nothing you can do.
Keep your eyes on Me.
Come to Me on the water.
I promise you
no easy path.
Evil will assail you
threaten to undo you.

I am with you
to the ends of the earth.
In your peril
you will find Me.

© May 28, 2000, Presbypoet

Has He sent you into deep water?
Do you know He is with you?

Go Into the Furnace

The blessing of hearing poetry, is that it can be so wonderful to read it years later and see how it speaks to me. This poem was written almost four years ago, but is so fresh to me now, as I try to help my father with his broken back, my son and his afflictions, and my other worries. Now my wife's back is hurting. What next? So God's "suggestions" to me seem very applicable. Pray I will remember to trust.
We all need to keep being reminded.

On to the poem.

Go into the furnace.
Too hot to endure.
Like Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego.
Trust Me.
I am with you.
Go forward.
Thru midst of trouble
on My way.

Sometimes the burning’
just what you need.
Trouble brings wisdom.
Trials refine.
When death strikes near.
Illness strips strength.
Learn I’m in control.
I prepare you with suffering.

Don’t fear the furnace.
Your life part of My plan.
Step from boat’s safety
into the storm.
In wilderness
I mold you to My will.
Be not afraid.
Trust Me in life’s furnace.

(Daniel 3:1-28)
Thanks to Michael W. for the inspiration
© Presbypoet, December 30, 2001, & January 6, 2002

After reading Peggy Noonan's weekly column October 27th, perhaps I should send her a copy. She seems down.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110007460

Be not afraid.