A Commitment to Inner Beauty

Civil War Era Church in North Georgia
~ The Cove Methodist ~

Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room....

Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

I Kings 6: 27, 29

 

 

I love beautiful churches, but the ones that really capture my heart, are the lovely old buildings that have tiny bits of architecture that show someone loved the building when it was built.  When they are white, they speak of purity, the whiter than snow element of salvation.  A bright sunny day makes taking pictures of them difficult sometimes, but if the setting is just right, a mighty tree helps the balance, cuts the white, the camera will capture its beauty.

 

But our white churches, though full of the Christian symbolism, seldom resemble the Israelite Chapel ~ the inner and outer sanctuaries of the Tent Church of the Old Testament.  Above, in I Kings, 2 verses tell us something about the inner room of the inner sanctuary.  This is where the Ark of the Covenant stood.  In drawings of this that I have seen the wings of the cherubim stand straight up. But this first verse clearly indicates they were stretched out to touch the wall. And touched each other at the center. These amazing gold covered carvings were a massive tribute to the extent God will go to protect the covenants he makes with us. 

The inner room of the inner sanctuary symbolize our spirit and soul within our heart, and the Covenant hidden within the ark, the covenant of Salvation, and the presence of the Holy Spirit indwelling us. It was a concept the Old Testament Saints could not perceive. But to us it should be clear. Sometimes I think our modern churches should have something of that symbolism included, but we must remain distant from an appearance of remaining held under the "Law." We are freed from it by Grace, of course, and the rituals of the priest entering the sanctuaries yearly are markedly, attached to understanding how dealt with the People under the Law.

 

But I want to look more at the artistic nuances of the old inner sanctuary. I relate so much to the artistic heart of the person who carved those spreading wings that must center the ark on the room, and have each wing tip touch the walls precisely. Then the artisan skills to cover them with gold. Imagining the beauty of this thing unfold as he worked, fills my spirit with awe. And then he carved cherubim, palm trees and flowers all around the walls. What a commitment! I am sure each item had a spiritual significance to them. Open flowers reflect the fullness of the of the process, the near completion of their closeness to God. the beauty of their worship, the fragrance of their finished work and God's.

 

As I was taking the picture of the Cove Methodist Church, my husband asked if there were an angle which would allow me to photograph the inside through those massive windows.  As I read this passage, I thought of how this scripture was like a window into the inner sanctums of the heart of this "church", where none other than the Priests would be able to enter eventually.  Once it was finished, the place became Holy for all time. I wonder how many people enter a church these days, and think this place reflects my heart, the dwelling place of the Spirit, the place where I meet God on his terms. And do it with a commitment to beauty.  To make the experience a labor of love, of design, of intent, of expecting a future ending in magnificent balance, centering, light, magnificence.  I used to as a child, and as I grew, I set it aside, thinking I was a bit melodramatic. But God wasn't melodramatic at all. Beauty was a part of his expectation when dealing with mankind.  He wants us to have a beautiful place in which to worship him. To me they go hand in hand.

 

But I am made aware that I might work on my own commitment to inner beauty, that the place where I meet God in my inner most being could be a place that is a pleasure to go, is an awe inspiring time each time I go. A golden experience.

 

Lord, help me make commitments to beauty, and know that I may have expectations to succeed, in your name. AMEN

 

Migration is a Part of God's greater plan

Nothern Shoveler at the Wildlife Center where we also saw Whooping Cranes

Each year, Jimmy and I look forward to the ducks, loons, grebes, and other waterfowl, passing through our area on migration. The ability of these beauties on wings to find their way, in spite of weather, storms, changing environment, loss of food sources, and so many other obstacles suggests to me the intervention, or plan, of a greater being.  But sometimes they need help, because humans can really do damage to the  patterns developed through centuries of travel coming and going to wintering grounds or nesting grounds.

We are following the progress of the re-introduction of Whooping Cranes into the Eastern flyway, a migration route from which they were almost entirely extrapolated last century. Humans killed this magnificent bird off at such a rate as to almost destroy the species entirely, so it's only right that we be involved in bringing their numbers back to a state of self-sustaining numbers.  Part of that success depended upon the success of a population of Greater Sandhill Cranes, along this flyway.  In the last 20 years just a little help along the way has increased the numbers of Sandhills to a population large enough that the first response of people is to allow them to be hunted once again. ??? Really.

But the result has been that the most obvious, (it would seem to us,) result is the killing of Whooping Cranes as well.  We are told it is not by hunters, but uncaring individuals.  What do these people get to just go out and shoot whatever they please?  Well, rather than complain, I have decided to increase my prayer regimen for the process of bringing Whooping Cranes back to a viable population.  My mother would say I cared more about those birds than about people.  But she is wrong.

What this will mean is that I will need to pray for the people involved. Those who lead the Whoopers in Hang-gliders, and their teams from Canada to Florida and back. And those who don't presently care about the birds. To pray for those who actually kill the lovely, majestic Whoopers. Yes even them.

7 of the introduced Whoopers protected by Woodland from the interaction with humans that might lead to their demise.
3 are standing so closely together that only their heads signify there are 3 there. An immature bird was outside this picture to the extreme left, and another adult to the extreme right is also not pictured.  There are 5 of the 7 in the picture. Their leg-bands were clearly visible.
 

Why bother? Early in the Old Testament God gave directions to Adam to have dominion over the animals and environment of the earth because He knew we would be responsible for the survival of large parts of it.  He even told Adam to go out and find and NAME the species of the earth, thus making him the first Naturalist of history. It was a directive God gave long before he gave man wisdom on keeping gardens for food etc.  It had to mean something to God that we care. 

A couple of days ago, I actually got to see 7 of the released Whoopers, some of which were led by ultra light airplanes by the Operation Migration teams. At least one is a bird released to find his way in the company of other Cranes, to learn the ancient survival tool of migration for itself.  To add variety to the Gene pools should it find a mate in the next few years.  So much depends on man protecting these innocents.  As large as these birds are, they are highly vulnerable to preditors, and it seems unimaginable that man becomes the one preditor from whom no one can protect them. It saddens and maddens me. But it is much better to focus those emotions into something productive. And that is prayer.  So this prayer project is definitely worthy of a place on this, my prayer blog.

Lord, Bless the efforts of those whose passion it is to bring these birds back into the wild, whose life's work it has been to aid their reintroduction into the habitat in which you set them. Forgive us Lord for destroying their numbers and taking them to the brink of extinction. Please turn the hearts of men who would harm them to understand the responsibility we have to them.  And I pray for the birds. I asks you mighty hand upon them that where we are weak to protect them, you will show prove your mightiness to be strong on their behalf. For all which have recently died, make the news of their passing become a cry to education that people will hear, that any who lack knowledge may hear and be convinced that this creature deserves the protection we beg for. I pray for all who have killed these birds, knowingly or otherwise, that they might have a change of heart, to compassion, and sorrow. In Jesus' name, AMEN

A God of Diversity Designed

Our Lives with Uniqueness ~ For the Good and Harmony of us ALL!

Art like music is a layered reflection on life. I am so glad the designer of our lives loves the bounty of diversity.

A Great Symphony plays a detailed, many faceted peice of music with energy and perfection. The music has layers of different patterns and notes from many different instruments - some with monotones and some with melody.  Every bar has been practiced to perfection by every member of the group. During practice, many a sour note was played. They stumbled some with rythm, and unison. They faltered for months as they learned the peice a bit at a time. The group has come together for the same purpose, but they will segment themselves to do their job within the parameters of what is specifically designed for their instruments.  Each musician will play only his or her notes. A great anticipation envelops the group when they arrive at the desinated day to play the peice. There is an air of assurance that it will go flawlessly, and will delight every one who hears.

If every thing in life ran like a symphony playing music, life would be --- as it should be!
The people who go, go, go and can't sit still are the drummers in life.
The clowns are the cymbals, and tambourines, the knockers and honkers.
The optimistic, never get down people are the tinkling bells.
The sometimes up and sometimes down   people are the violins of life.
The steady firm hand are the base players.

If I can relate to an instument and the music it plays with my personality, I can see myself as a part of a grander scheme.  A great peice of music to be played. I fit in the world. I can be unlike anyone else and still be a part of something beautiful.

The Scripture "All things work together for Good" is best understood when we allow that not every note is ours to be played. If we try and try to be a drummer and we were meant to play a flute...we will never be happy in life. We won't be a part of things working together for good. If God made you to play a flute, play a flute.  Don't let a drummer take away your joy. We were designed to work together, with very oposing tunes, sometimes.  The drummer and flute may sound discordant playing only their two tunes, but they might be amazing together with all who are playing their parts. Practice being you. Not some other part. Be critical of your own attempts, but only to the extent that you wish to play your own designated notes.  Why despair if you can't play the notes of the person two chairs away if they aren't your notes?  If their notes rise and your notes fall, it only matters if they are harmonious.

God is truly able to take even our sour notes and turn them into good, but his plan is that we look to him to find and play only our own notes. I could go into a whole scenario of how it is sometimes beneficial to be able to play more than one instrument, and learn more than one score, or be capable on more than one stage, or venue, or be able to play well the whole of someone else's peice,  IF it will benefit someone who is struggling, or needs help along the way. But when we use knowing how to do it, to walk on the one for whom the music was written...we are not in God's perfect will. 

I totally love this image of life as a picture of life from God's point of view. The Father and son - so like the writers of the music and the words. The Holy Spirit like the conductor to our soul. They know the peice from begining to end, and so desire to have us learn to play it. They would guide us carefully through it as we learn bar by bar the melody and chords, verse and chorus, each and every part.

We have full permission to play only our desinated part, to know the perameters for when not to play, and expect other individuals to be responsible for their parts, not ours and to let God decide when the peice is ready to be played.  If it seems we are doing the same thing over and over...well, God is helping us get it right, is making it part of our soul, is making it easier and fluid and like breathing in and breathing out.  He is allowing us time to add our soul to the music.

Music that is lovely to hear is ususally played by someone who is playing or singing more than just the notes. On my keyboard, there is a button that allows it to sense the pressure you play each note with. It literally plays the pressures that I add as my body responds to how I feel the music. The result sounds so much better than when just the notes are played. And I enjoy playing it much better as well. The music flows.

So glad the Lord reminded me of this concept: enjoying the blessings of being encouraged by it's truths. I have a part on life's stage that was written specifically, just for me.

LIFE IS A SYMPHONY  Words and music by Beatrice Bush Bixler

"Life is a symphony, since the man of Galilee,
 changed my discord into song, Makes life sweet the whole day long.
Life is a symphony, praise the Lord of Calvary,
No more a stranger, He is the arranger of my Symphony!

The Love that heals

In Hosea a verse has spoken to my heart today:
Hosea 14:2 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Here are some notes so I do not forget it's lesson-
The number 2 is for blessing, to bless the Lord is to multiply our praise.
We have 2 lips and our lips can do two things for blessing to occur.

1. bring our words of confession to God, -Take with you words and turn to the Lord,  say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously
2. offer the fruit of our lips in thankfulness for his mercy - so will we render the calves of our lips.

Once again the implication is that coming together yeilds newness to life.
To take in God's offer or forgiveness and mercy brings forth like something conceived, "the fruit of our lips."  Praise is "calved."

The focus is often on the sinner, but we forget that the greatest example is the one who has been sinned against, and Hosea is all about that. That requires an open ended love...unmerited love...forgiving love...unconditional love.

God who is betrayed continues to love, and lure us...

For one who is hurt by finding out someone is pursuing their love, the Lord shared this experience with Hosea so that he might write of the pain, and anger that the experience produces in the shunned.  The solution to reconciliation with God is in the verses of Hosea 14:2.

But if you are the one being hurt, the discussion for unconditional love is given from God's point of view, who has experienced that kind of hurt.

"...but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁴ “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her. Hosea 2:13b- 14a

 

There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt. 15

 

Hosea 2:10 ... no one will take her out of my hands.

 

To Hosea, God gave this advice:

 

Hosea 3:1

[ Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife ] The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

 

 

We are given the foreshadowing of the act of Jesus to make this possible: Hosea 6

 1.Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. ² After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Jesus suffered to make the reconcilliation for us possible.
 

 14: 4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him(her)

 

Any man could read the verses above as if he were Hosea, but for a woman it might be easier to place herself there, if writen like this:

 

Change the genders, and a wife can benefit as well -

 for me it would read:

Go show your love to your husband again, though he is loved by another woman ... Love him as the Lord loves the Israelites...

 

and

but me he forgot....therefore I am now going to allure him...I will lead him to the wilderness and speak tenderly to him...

 

I will give him back his vineyards. I will make the Valley of Achor a door of HOPE,

he will respond as in the days of his youth. As in the day Israel came up out of Egypt.

 

No one will take him out of my hands.

 

Boy the devil's a tricky fellow - I was thinking I copied the above verse "therefore I am now going to allure her...to allure him.  When I proofread it back..it said, I am not going to allure him instead of now going to allure him.  Was this Satan, or simply my own mind blocking the thought of it? Either way, I commit this to the Lord for strength to alter my mindset to be willing to reconcile, and allure my mate when we let outside influences get in the way of our love. When it hurts to know other things mean more to them than we do.  When unconditional love is called for.

 

Forgive me Lord for failing my love, and you. I praise you Lord for reconciliation. Turn my anger and disappointment into an abiding love...oh miracle divine, I take on by an act of faith you unconditional love. In Jesus name, AMEN

 

 

 

 

 

Looking to My Future

Entering the World of Being Old

Well, I just filled out my request for Social Security. All the years I worked hard for the money so the government could take a part of it and "hold" it for the day I need to have it back with interest, so to speak, to I can help put food on the table and pay our bills. What did people do when there was no social security? I tried for a number of years to make other arrangements for my "future". And none of it panned out. So instead of feeling like I am getting my money back, I woke up this morning feeling like I owe the government something for the rest of my life.  I almost don't want to get the money.
But the author of my future is God, and I release my fears to him. These last years of my life will be an adventure in learning to trust him. He is my provider after all, not the government.  I want to get that straight in my head right now, before I start depending on those cks. My husband looks forward to his cks. I will dread them. He will have them spent before they arrive anyway. So I really need to have a "God resource." By that, I mean that I would become discouraged in a hurry if I didn't have God to depend on. It gives me courage to hope for a good future to know I am in his hands.
Lord, as the birds awaken, and begin to sing, I am reminded that you used them to show, how well provided for they are, and never need money. Is is possible that I have never tapped into the resources that are actually there for me? At the top of the page, I asked what did people do before Social Security? And only now does it occur to me, that they have lived for thousands of years without "government" help, and actually many generations of people were under a burden to pay taxes with no return.  Out of what? The money you helped them make. Out of resources you provided.  How upside down is our thinking to forget that the things make money from are your blessing on us in the first place. Once again, the garden is my inspiration. What I planted last year has returned and multiplied. It encouraged me to plant more perenials so that the work I do this year will be increased at your hand for next year.
As my mind wanders into wishing I had a sunny place to plant food, I think about the property next door, which when empty was burned out, so that people could steal the contents of metals. I think how I wonder if we owned it could we make a garden there. Would we have the strength and resources to reclaim it. Would it be possible to have a green house there, and maybe a studio. But after working all day digging holes for shrubs yesterday and aching so badly even this morning after a days rest that I can hardly move...I realized my age limits what I am physically able to do now. I can sit at a computer but it is bad for my health. I can try to plant food, but it won't be enough. So once again Lord, I am at your mercy...open my eyes. Give me wisdom to live in your bounty. Give me strength to keep hacking at the weeds. Give me direction so I don't wander. And Bless me Lord from your infinite ability to create from nothing amazing things. Supply all my needs. And I ask because you said I should. But also because, I look forward to praising you for your loving kindness to me.
Thank you Lord for all the lovely flowers this year. May they bloom throughout the season. And may they multiply. As I learn what is best in my yard for what certain things need to grow, help me be as diligent to look into my own life and seek what is best suited as an environment for me to grow and be healthy.  Where I need pruning, where in my life needs the weeds taken away,  what is growing that I once loved, but has overtaken the places that I need to open up for new plantings. What have I planted that was a mistake, what is too large for the space where I planted it? How may I better be in places where your light shines upon me? How may my life be an environment which enriches and supplies for others well being, as when the birds are able to make our space their home as well. How will what I do in other areas of my life enrich someone else's life?
You have given me a lot to think about Lord. I bless your name, praise you for your blessings on me. And am encouraged that in the little things I have done to honor you, I see growth in places I never expected it. Continue to enrich us by your hand, for Lord I am not complacent about how very much you are doing, I give you credit. You have opened for me a new door for exploring the greatness of your love.  Thank You for all that gives a longing soul to look forward to. In Jesus Name, AMEN.