The Day After

My 70th birthday that is. The morning was cool, the sky cloudless, the sun's rays dancing with energy. Watching robins and finches splashing with abandon in our fountain for their morning bath - what delightful entertainment!
Then I read the newspaper. I know, usually a downer but - since I don't watch the news I want to at least read the headlines. Today I found out that our dear friend, Frances Wilson, passed away on Friday. It was expected. I had brought her flowers on Thursday and Gale, her son, was there. He shared that her health and well being had quickly declined after her friend's (Mary Jane Blair's) death. And Alzheimer's had robed her of her personality. And now she is resting in Jesus - thank you Jesus! Frances, we will remember your energetic, friendly, dignified, helpful, loving, kind personality until we meet again!
And now it's already evening again! How did I fare with the list of to do's? Sorry, a lot got replaced with to be's! And that familiar longing - ongoing, always deepening in the face of death. Yes, it was a good day! Thank you Jesus for working it all together for good - like you always do in your faithfulness and love!

Happy 25,550iest day or Happy Birthday! (you do the math :))

Note: This is an attempt to restore the blog post I wrote yesterday and can't find anywhere. Unfortunately, I think, the muse does not strike twice:(
25,550 days, that's how long I've been on this earth; and while that is wonderful, it seems to me that's a very small number compared with so many other numbers and all that I've crammed into them. I mean I've read some research that says that women speak around 20,000 words per day which is about 1,051,000,000 or 1 billion, 51 million words in 25,550 days. See what I mean about numbers? Anyhow, I am grateful today for all I've experienced in the past, for this day and for all the days still to come from my Creator's loving hands. I am His and I trust He will make me a blessing to others according to the gifts with which He endows me.

Simple Gratitude

The strong wind today reminded me of your strong love, O Lord;
nothing can withstand it safe a stubborn heart.
And even then, Lord, you patiently stand at the heart's door and knock;
who can withstand such love.
I'm yours, Lord,
even when I'm tired and discouraged,
even when I'm anxious and sad,
even when I'm puzzled and perplexed,
I'm yours, Lord, because you said so.
I'm grateful, deeply grateful to you
for your everlasting loving-kindness and faithfulness to me!

What happened on that Thursday before Passover?

To connect with what happened on the Thursday before Passover, read in the gospel of John from chapter 12 on. In John 17, just before He and his disciples went across the Kidron river into the Garden where Judas with a band of soldiers meets them, Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify you. For You granted Him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. John 17:1-2 NIV "Now this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent. I have glorified You down here on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do. And now Father, glorify Me along with Yourself and restore Me to such majesty and honor in Your presence as I had with You before the world existed. John 17:3-5 AMP.

 Jesus, thank you for coming from your glorious eternity to be with us in this dark world, for laying down your majesty and honor, for helping us to understand Who God is through your life of healing and teaching and showing us how to love God and each other, and then laying down Your life for us. Unfathomable Love!

What is going on here?

The Gospel of John has 21 chapters.  Almost half of these are devoted to the six days before Passover, crucifixion, resurrection and its aftermath. It begins in chapter 12, where Jesus is a guest at his friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus' home, where Martha hosts a supper in his honor, and Mary pours out that expensive perfume over which Judas gets so upset. As I sit among them it seems that ever since Mary poured that perfume a tension has started to build. A crowd has gathered because they had heard about Lazarus' resurrection from the dead and that Jesus had come. More than ever the chief priests were squabbling about all the attention Jesus was getting and the power they felt they were loosing. The very next day, Jesus is being hailed King by the crowd as he rides on a colt into Jerusalem, and the atmosphere grows ever more tense. The Pharisees are getting more and more angry - but listen to Jesus; do you hear the urgency in his voice as he tries to ever more open his disciples' mind to understand who he and his father really are, how they relate to each other and how they want to relate to the disciples and everyone who ever after will come to believe on them?
Holy Spirit, open our hearts, help us hear and see more clearly! We believe - help our unbelief!

Corner Puzzle Piece: Musings about Easter

Sunday, March 24. The Christian World calls today Palm Sunday. They say it's called Palm Sunday because it relates to the Bible story of when Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem and a crowd surrounded him, many waving palm branches and shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel." Notice, it is individuals in the crowd who spontaneously proclaim him to be the King of Israel. And Jesus does not rebuke them. To the contrary, when the religious leaders of his time heard about it, they "said to one another, 'See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!'" They were so upset, they immediately plotted to kill him! But the crowd had heard and witnessed Jesus healing and teaching and raising Lazarus from the dead! They knew in their hearts that this was the Messiah, the long expected Savior. They did not understand why the Pharisees, the Sadducees, even the priests and rabbis were so slow in recognizing this. And though they expected him to be a military Savior, at that moment, they gladly and wholeheartedly endorsed him their King. It was not an organized event. It was individual people moved by what they'd observed over a period of time, displaying their conviction.
I've decided this week to contemplate again Jesus' way of life, his mission and how it directly relates to my life today. What response would be my equivalent to waving palm branches and shouting: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"?