New Post on: Another Day

I saw a monarch butterfly today. So many memories come from this sighting. The first year we homeschooled I had dill growing in my herb garden to go with my homemade dill pickles. Except wouldn't you know it swallowtail butterflies like dill (and carrots). We cut the dill heads with the caterpillars and put several in jars to watch them eat...and turn into chrysalis...and eventually the finished butterfly. They are truly a wonder. 

Many years ago when we still watched 'Doctor Who', there was one show on a species that tried to dominate and eradicate a second species that the first species believed was substandard. The second species was (it runs in my mind) an insect-like being. In the end it turned out that the second species was in a 'stage' in their life cycle, and similar to butterflies at the end of their stage they turned into something like a creature of light and beauty. They just had to get through the ugly stage first. 

In comparison, we humans seem to need our earthly struggles, and yes, even sometimes stages of ugliness. The more we turn toward the light of God's love and teaching the more ugliness we leave behind for true beauty.  

What we begin with is what some religious circles call 'man's fallen nature'. I read recently of a woman who had 'struggled' with the idea of humans having a fallen nature...until her child reached the two year old mark. Now, apparently, she has come to a new understanding.

I digress, however, the scriptures let us know that people are not born 'wicked' per se, but they become wicked with the wicked choices they make. 

"Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions."  (Ecclesiastes 7:29 ASV)

Yes, life is a struggle, but if we hold on as Christians it will be worth it. 

If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire. 
(1 Corinthians 3:14-15 ASV)

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:18-21)

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?" (Romans 8:22-24)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

A New Post

Who knows and who can tell what is in the heart and soul of a person? Only God can know with a certainty. For example Horace Mann. Many people don't even know or remember who he was. He was born in 1796. From ten years of age to twenty, he had no more than six weeks' schooling during any year, yet at twenty years of age he enrolled at Brown University and in three years graduated as valedictorian. He attained many interesting positions. One of his most famous accomplishments was in establishing public education. Horace Mann began his 'education reform in 1837.

One may wonder was it his struggle for an education as a young person that spurred his interest and zeal in this area? What was it that prompted his oration "The Progressive Character of the Human Race (I assume as valedictorian). 
This oration may give a clue as to his thoughts and feelings. The direction he sent public education was revolutionary and to this day its tentacles reach everywhere.

 In 1848 Karl Marx wrote/published his Communist Manifesto. As is often the case what may sound like a good idea philosophically doesn't translate well into real life, or real world experience.  Socialism isn't a good answer to any question, unless it's a question something like, 'name something you should never try in real life'. 

In 1936 George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War. He became a life long anti-Stalinist. In 1945 he wrote 'Animal Farm', a novel about Stalin's betrayal of the Russian Revolution. Toward the end of his life he wrote his famous '1984' which detailed a chilling account of what life would become under a totalitarian regime.  

  Charles Darwin published his Origin of the Species in1859. This work published as if there were actual evidence and a fossil record has been a great disservice to this nation and indeed to the entire world. In 1924, for instance, the horrendous murder committed by Leopold and Loeb in Chicago is termed the tragedy of three lost lives. The two murderers (Leopold and Loeb) were defended by Clarence Darrow. Part of Darrow's defense was that the two young men were not accountable because: 

'the infinite forces that conspired to form him [Richard Loeb in this instance], the infinite forces that were at work producing him ages before he was born, that because out of these infinite combinations he was born with out it? If he is, then there should be a new definition for justice. Is he to blame for what he did not have and never had? Is he to blame that his machine is imperfect?'

In other words—they couldn't help themselves because of their evolutionary journey, as Darrow says: 

'This weary old world goes on, begetting, with birth and with living and with death; and all of it is blind from the beginning to the end. I do not know what it was that made these boys do this mad act, but I do know there is a reason for it. I know they did not beget themselves.'

Many have lived and died honorably. In recent news articles have highlighted people who have received medals of honor for heroic deeds. None of us are chance evolutionary objects with no will, no sense of right or wrong—with no sense of choice.

"But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth: And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God; Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me." (Job 19:25-27 ASV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Another Day

"They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." (Psalms 106:13-15)

Through out history it has been an up and down cycle. God's people of the Old Testament when things got bad they murmured and complained. When things became good they believed they had made their own prosperity, and were unthankful. Move into the Christian era. Christians were and are encouraged to be thankful, to remember from where their blessings come from. For some reason, though it still happens that when times get good Christians forget God. They often have the 'Shenandoah complex'.

Shenandoah was a movie starring Jimmy Stewart. The main character, Charlie Anderson, a wealthy widower, refused to become involved in the Civil War until it became personal. The Charlie Anderson in the beginning of the movie always offers this prayer:

• Lord,
  We cleared this land;
  We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it.
  We cooked the harvest.
  It wouldn't be here—we wouldn't be eating it—if we hadn't done it all ourselves.
  We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel
  But we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for this food we're about to eat.
  Amen.

At the end of the movie, after there has been much chaos and carnage in his family and life, he has an a-ha moment. Yes, he had worked 'dog-bone hard', but peace, goodness and prosperity don't follow just because we work hard, or because we somehow 'deserve' it. In reality I'm glad I don't get everything I 'deserve'. My come-upence would probably outweigh my prosperity ten fold. 

At the beginning of Shenandoah the Main Character, Charlie Anderson, starts out as hard boiled farmer, who believes everything he has is because he worked for and earned it. It doesn't end that way, but— That's the way over half of the people in my neighborhood view things as well. How, you might ask, do I know this? Am I familiar friends with everyone in my neighborhood?

In this neighborhood most everyone does know who their neighbors are, at least in a cursory way. But no, I've not sat with, nor had intimate conversations with many of my neighbors. However, my cousin has asked some of her acquaintances and neighbors if they go to worship on Sundays, and their answers are pretty standard. "Well, we used to, but we don't any more. I don't know why, we just don't." And viewing how many of my neighbors attend worship on a regular basis that would reflect these folks as well.  

How, you might ask, does this translate into thinking we've worked for and earned everything we have? Glad you asked. 

Worship on the Lord's day (First day of the week) is an act of submission, and fills several purposes. 

• partaking of the Lord's supper to remember his sacrifice (commanded for every first day of the week)
• listen to words of encouragement
• give words of encouragement
• humbly bow before he King of heaven and earth, and ask his favor for our lives in the coming week in song as well as prayer
• lift others up in prayer, be lifted up in prayer

The following poem I found in a church bulletin (apparently penned by the ever popular anonymous) makes a point:

"When I pass the church building,
I always go in for a visit,
So that when I'm carried in,
The Lord doesn't say
Who is it?"

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10)

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (1 Peter 5:6 KJV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Happened: Part two

"Have you ever been baptized?"
"Yes, my mother went to every Revival meeting that came through. I was baptized several times," my Grandfather said.

Some where, for some reason Grandpa rejected his upbringing. I don't know why he would believe that all Christians were hypocrites, or why he didn't need the church.  Many people have an erroneous view of Christians as being 'perfect', when even at our best we are just people trying to get to heaven. And at that some are trying harder, or accomplishing it better than others. 

However, both statements are due to misunderstandings sown by none other than Satan himself. Satan is very good at mixing truth with a lie. Indeed Jesus tells some fellow Jews: 

"Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44)

The very first recorded lie was Satan disguised as a serpent speaking to the woman, Eve:

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5 ASV)

Did Grandpa need the 'church'? First he needed to understand what the church was/is. The church is like the pocket where God/Christ puts his elect. It isn't technically a building and it's not a man made organization. It has been in the mind of God since the beginning, not an after-thought. Human beings do not 'add' other humans to the roll of God's elect, only God does that. 

 "Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47 KJV)

So, yes, he, and all who want to go to heaven need the church. But wait, there's more. 

I was brought up in a home that even though it may have tried to keep the 'good' Christian principles none-the-less it lacked foundation. Good principles are effective only when there's a good foundation. Principles built on thin air will collapse. In every instance that it has been tried— when the teachings of Jehovah God are rejected as the foundation— the end of the family or nation has followed. 

Yes, my Grandparents were good people. They had been raised in a generation that still believed and taught the Bible and in many respects most of the Biblical principles. Since my Grandparents rejected those things our family suffered collapse physically and morally. Grandpa and Grandma were married for the long haul, they didn't drink alcoholic beverages, and they had some good basic morals. Grandma told me when she was a young girl she 'took the pledge—lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine'. However, all three of their children followed their own paths. My mother married three times, became a gypsy of sorts, and continued on a downward spiral of alcoholism that was a cause for the loss of her health and her family. 

It was a cause of pain to my Grandparents. At one time they said to me, "I don't know what happened. They didn't get that from us."

Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Continued)

What Happened?

 Many people believe that parents raise their younger children (or child) differently than the older ones, and that can be true. The reasons can be anything from; parents get tired and it's a 'whatever' time in life, or parents become wiser, or perhaps just different children need different upbringing.It is like a Captain Obvious that we are older by the time our children are raised and the grandchildren come along. Often there is a special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren. Grandparents see things through different eyes than parents. The reasons may be similar to older parents raising their children. 

My Grandparents were good folks. The salt of the earth type of people that would go the extra mile to help their friends and neighbors. They had seen a lot of life, both the good and the bad. As children we were encouraged to 'do good unto one another', and do at least one good deed every day. And, whereas their good friends and neighbors attended the Christian church every Sunday, my Grandparents never did. 

We had lots of books in our house, most gleaned from yard sales. Living on the farm where there wasn't a lot of entertainment we did a lot of reading. We didn't have a Bible, but at one time in a box of books we acquired there was a New Testament. Being very naive I thought it was a current update of the Old Testament. 

For some reason my Grandparents believed that 'all Christians are hypocrites', and that they (grandparents) could be good (was that 'good enough', or just plain 'good'?) without church. And as I've said they were good, honest people, but they had some faulty thinking. 

I've known some who called themselves Christian who did not act like Christ. I know many who believe they are 'Christians' because they believe there is a Jesus. There is a whole gamut of so called Christians in the net, but if it doesn't walk, talk, or act like a Christian, no matter what it calls its self, it probably isn't a Christian. 

Having written that, there are two things I wish people would come to grips with. Christians—and I do mean honest believing believers—are not super duper perfect people. A hypocrite is someone that says one thing and has no intention of living the life, or walking the walk. A Christian is not a hypocrite because they make a mistake. We all make mistakes, most of us daily. We still have to get up and move on and hope we never make that mistake again. Some times we do. Living a perfect life takes a lot of perfect practice. 

That is one place they were honestly wrong. It was their perception that was faulty. I'll address the next problem in the next post.

"Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44 ASV)

Hallelujah! What A Savior!

 

More Than Enough

          

Back in the 1930's a high school diploma wasn't looked at as a necessity, especially for young women. It was more important to be intelligent and a good worker. My mother was both, so when she had a problem with algebra in eighth grade she dropped out of school. After that she took several different jobs. At seventeen she worked at one of the 'War plants, or Ordnance plants'. In her early twenties she married a man several years her senior—my sister's father, divorced him and married my father. Likewise she divorced him and married the third husband—twice. None of them 'worked out', and when she was approximately thirty years old she found herself as a single mother with two children.

What happened? A single mother with children has become normal for this generation, but it wasn't normal for that generation. How did this happen? In my younger years I believed that each generation became more immoral than the previous. Or that previous generations had been more Godly and religious, only becoming more morally lax as time went by. This isn't the truth, sin and it's consequences are a part of human nature. I believe the difference in older generations was the bounds that society placed upon it. Immoral behavior wasn't as accepted in previous generations because more people still held a form of respect or fear for Biblical authority .

We can blame different factors such as film makers of Silent films and 'talkies'. We could blame the loosening of morals on the Roaring Twenties. These things did have an effect upon society and worked to the undermining of the fabric of society. However, sickness doesn't affect a healthy body.

So, what happened?

Ye are of your father the devil... When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. 

(John 8:44 ASV)

Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. (Ecclesiastes 7:29 ASV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Enough Part V

Meanwhile back on the farm, by 1954/55 we had electricity, and we were 'cooking with gas'. I don't remember what kind of cook stove my grandmother had, but I'm almost certain it was a gas stove. We had a 100 pound bottle of propane hooked up right outside the east dining room window and the stove sat in the north corner under the cupboards where the dishes and important papers were kept. I've cooked over a campfire, and on a wood stove and at times getting the fire to 1) start and 2) burn at the right temperature can be a real challenge. I'm not sure that my interpretation is correct, but to me the phrase 'cooking with gas,' means they are cooking right along, not being hindered by trying to start the fire, keep it going, or worry about the right temperature.

One thing about those old gas stoves, the cook had to light the burners on top. In the middle between the burners we had our 'grease keeper' and some sort of spoon rest. The grease keeper did just that. When there was excess bacon grease it was poured into a grease keeper then used later for frying sundry things. When grandma was cooking and would light the burners (with a wooden match or a book match) she would most always put the burnt match on the spoon rest. We often teased her because there were very few meals we didn't end up with a match left in one of the dishes of food. Whoever found the match would hold it up as if they had won the prize, and all at the table would laugh. I don't remember who lived with my grandparents at this time. My sister and I were rather constant residents, but on occasions my cousin Coco stayed for a couple of years. Coco was a year older than I, my sister was six years older than I was, and Coco's sister was ten years older than I was. Sometimes we were all there, but Coco's sister wasn't there often or long.

Farm women earned 'their' money by selling cream, eggs, and a few other items to store owners. During the depression era this was one way they could make ends meet in raising the family. I don't know when the practice, or ability was forced to come to an end. When I was very young I vaguely remember Grandma taking cream and eggs into the 'creamery' and selling them. I also remember our 'separator', that they used to separate the cream from the milk. It sat in the kitchen like a black spider with two shiny aluminum spigots. Milk was poured in the (I think it was) large aluminum bowl on top. Skim milk came out one spigot and cream came out the other. The aluminum parts had to be washed up, and I believe warm or hot water was poured in the top to wash the rest of the operation. After they no longer sold cream or eggs the separator disappeared--probably stored in the grain bin. Grandpa would bring the bucket of creamy milk into the kitchen and Grandma would pour it through a cloth 'strainer' to catch anything that shouldn't be there. I don't remember there ever being anything to strain out, but it was a precaution. She would rinse out the cloth and hang it on the spring that closed the screen door on the back door. One morning while I was in the kitchen I had to back up quickly for some unknown reason and sat down in the bucket of milk waiting to be strained. That was a bad way to start my morning...and Grandma was not happy either.