Bent reality

Its not a picture, not a drawing, not a reverse image of a photograph; its folded paper! OK, I have heard of origami, but at the end there are shapes, not a flat result. How? I do not have one clue; no idea, whatsoever! But that it can be done, amazing! I have been doing this "blogging thing" for about a year now and what is surprising is that I am still being surprised!! I am all of 60, so I have seen quite a few things, lived in quite a number of places and I still see something new, almost on a daily basis; life is good!! When Paul penned this passage of Scripture, I think I can safely assume that he surprised quite a few people. Here is his eye opener.

Ephesians 3:1-11 Complete Apostles' Bible
(1) For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of you Gentiles--
(2) if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
(3) how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery, just as I wrote before briefly,
(4) with reference to which, when you read, you can understand my insight in the mystery of Christ,
(5) which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
(6) that the Gentiles should be joint-heirs, and of the same body, and joint-partakers in His promise in Christ by the gospel,
(7) of which I became a minister according to the free gift of the grace of God which was given to me according to the working of His power.
(8) To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
(9) and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the mystery, which had been hidden from the ages in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ;
(10) that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenlies,
(11) according to the eternal purpose which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Today, when we think of Christianity, it is not Judaism that comes to mind; because its a Gentile world. But, the first century church was predominately Jewish in background and for the most part it was a members-only affair. Then, this message is revealed (here and in the book of Acts) and things changed, really changed. The mystery was revealed, hope was given to all and eternal life the result for those outside Judaism. Those of us whose background does not include a Jewish upbringing, may have some problem appreciating the wonder of this message, but to those from Judaism this would have been almost beyond understanding. How God could do this must have seemed impossible, but every day contains the impossible become reality; if a mere mortal can bend paper to look like a picture and the end result is flat, imagine what the creator of the universe can do! But, don't think about it too long, you will probably just wind up with a headache.

What filters through

I miss upstate New York; the trees are so different in Florida. So, when I saw this picture I indulged in a bit of nostalgia. As I continued to look at it, I realized that we are all on the road through life and where we go and what we do is determined at least in part by the amount of light we let into our lives. Light (from God) is hampered mostly by ones heart, but also by the life we live. Read on to see how Jesus dealt with the problem.

Matthew 13:1-23 Complete Apostles' Bible
(1) On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
(2) And great crowds were gathered together to Him, so that He got into the boat and sat; and the crowd stood on the shore.
(3) And He spoke to them many things in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow.
(4) And as he sowed, some seed fell alongside the road; and the birds came and devoured them.
(5) But others fell on the stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth.
(6) But when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.
(7) But others fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them out.
(8) But others fell on good ground and it was yielding fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
(9) He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
(10) And the disciples approached and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
(11) He answered and said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
(12) For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
(13) Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
(14) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: 'Hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive.
(15) For the heart of this people has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn back, that I should heal them.'
(16) "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
(17) For assuredly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and they did not see, and to hear what you hear, and they did not hear."
(18) "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
(19) When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand, then the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed being sown beside the road.
(20) But the seed sown on stony ground, is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
(21) yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. For when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
(22) But the seed sown in the thorns is he who hears the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches chokes out the word, and it becomes fruitless.
(23) But the seed sown on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

The light I am referring to is the word of God and although you might be the most persuasive speaker and present what God has said in a magnificent manner, if the hearer isn't ready or capable of really hearing, then they just don't get it. Why, because they focus on other things and can't understand, or they don't wish to internalize it or they are preoccupied by daily living. Any and / or all of these things create an overgrowth of foliage which reduces or blocks what God has said. One last thing; you really have to want to hear; what filters through into your life from God is up to you and so is what you do with it. Jesus just tells it like it is and gives you a choice, its up to you! Anybody have a tree trimmer?

Let the light shine

Its amazing to me how few people have seen black and white TV. I grew up with it and still enjoy watching some of the older shows like "I love Lucy" or "Gunsmoke" or "Mayberry RFD". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my color TV a lot, but somehow black and white "feels" right. Its like trying to read a book on a computer versus a book that you can actually hold. Honestly, I love electronic equipment but sometimes the simplest way of doing things is the best. That's what they make pencils for, remember. So, when I saw this simple black and white picture I enjoyed it because of the way the light forms patterns with the walkway beams. God has a way of doing the something similar; of weaving a web through time using people to accomplish his chosen task.

Matthew 1:1-21 Complete Apostles' Bible
(1) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
(2) Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.
(3) Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.
(4) Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.
(5) Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,
(6) and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.
(7) Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.
(8) Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.
(9) Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.
(10) Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.
(11) Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the captivity in Babylon.
(12) And after the captivity in Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.
(13) Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.
(14) Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.
(15) Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.
(16) And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
(17) So all the generations from Abraham till David were fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon were fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ were fourteen generations.
(18) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
(19) Then Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to make her a public example, purposed to put her away secretly.
(20) But while he was thinking about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take unto you Mary your wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.
(21) And she shall bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins."

Look at all the people God used! All these led to ONE PERSON at the right time in the right place with the right stuff. God took his time and provided a way out of sin. The above picture is beautiful and the pattern interesting, but the light that God uses has heavenly inspiration and beauty beyond description. Don't see the light, well, it was in the faces of all those people and eventually Jesus himself. As beautiful as the picture is, I like God's work better; people really do matter more than shadows!

Love and many colors

Let's see; there is: light blue, dark blue, pink, Salmon, black, grey, rust and white. Did I miss anything? Dark grey and dark red are the only exceptions. Sometimes when you look at things and keep looking, you see more and more and more. I am sure an hour from now I will see something I missed, but that's the way life is. All the colors in this beautiful landscape picture reminded me of Joseph in the book of Genesis.



Gen 37:3-10
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.
4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.
5 Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.
6 He said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf."
8 His brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.
9 He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."
10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?" WEB


Joseph was a favored son and that always means trouble in a family. But, he was a favorite of God as well and HE had a mission for him. Joseph's coat of many colors was the symbol of his favored status and its no wonder his brothers were "less than happy" about it; but his dreams were the stuff of dynamite. They revealed the future, a future the whole family was incensed over. In a way, you can understand their resentment and why this turned to hatred. However, God used even that to save a nation, so all turned out well. I like the parallel between the many colors in the picture and Joseph's coat; both are a reflection of love; God for this world and Israel for Joseph. I just wish I knew how many colors were in that coat...

The broken glass of life

I "know" this picture was probably doctored by photo shop, but how, that I don't know. In the real world, when glass comes apart it doesn't make nice symmetrical pieces. When something is broken, there IS A MESS. Life is like that; when troubles come, they tend to make a mess of everything, with a lot of jagged edges that hurt. But what if we could avoid troubles in the first place and understand what to do if they begin to appear. Reflect a minute about this and consider this passage from the book of Job.



Job 28:12-23
12 "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?13 Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.14 The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.'15 It can't be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for its price.16 It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire .17 Gold and glass can't equal it, Neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal: Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.20 Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?21 Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, And kept close from the birds of the sky.22 Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'23 "God understands its way, And he knows its place. WEB




You can't buy wisdom and understanding. As the years roll by, age teaches you a few things, but genuine wisdom comes from God. People come up with all sorts of theories about life, but there ARE REAL ANSWERS; all you have to do is to open HIS BOOK and LEARN. Sound simplistic, perhaps; but show me another book with more wisdom in it and I will be glad to read it. In the meantime, God can do something men can't; fix the fragile glass-like lives of sinful men. How? Let me tell you about a good friend of mine who has helped me. Can you guess his name.... starts with a "J".

One very stupendous sandwich

When I saw this picture, I said to myself "yum". Wouldn't you know I would spot this on my first day of a new diet. Sometimes things just happen, I guess. Diet aside, this is one very stupendous sandwich! How would one go about eating it? Certainly no one that I have ever met could open their mouth wide enough to accommodate this little jewel. So, I guess if you really wanted to eat this it would have to be done piecemeal. Just goes to show you that everyone has their limits. Oddly enough, this passage from the book of Galatians came to mind.

Gal 2:11-21
11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to the face, because he stood condemned.
12 For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
13 And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they didn't walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?
15 "We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners,
16 yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.
17 But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!
18 For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.
19 For I, through the law, died to the law, that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
21 I don't make void the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!" WEB

Why grace instead of law? Because no one could keep the law perfectly, that's why! Like the sandwich, it could be dealt with in parts, but reality is that we all make mistakes from time to time. So, grace was given by God because he understands us and allows for our shortcomings. That being said, I just came home and its time for my supper, so I have to say good morning for now; and relax, if I have a sandwich, its going to be a small one.

A grocery list

This isn't my list. I have a developed art capability of stick figures, period. Truthfully, I really don't understand the mind that works like this, but I can still appreciate it, nonetheless. I does bring out a fact about humanity though; we are all different. And as this is true of the population in general, it is true in the church as well. Consider Paul's comment in the book of Ephesians.

Eph 4:11-16
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;
16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love. WEB

Diversity with a purpose; with good reason. It takes all kinds of people to do the work of God. And in the process, building each other up. The key factor here is found in the very last verse of the passage:love. Without it, what's the point? With it, you have everything. Notice its purpose; a unity of faith, knowledge of the Son of God, to full Spiritual growth. Not only does the church need love which causes spiritual growth, but the entire WORLD does as well. Every day I see images of hate, descriptions of evil and lack of concern for my fellow human beings in the media and sometimes I really don't even want to see a TV newscast anymore. But, the world is what it is and we can only change what we can change and if we start with ourselves, perhaps that is enough. In the meantime, try to appreciate someone Else's take on life, even if it as simple as a grocery list.

HE kept looking

The human face is capable of many expressions an nuances, the look on this lady's face says volumes to me. If you look into her eyes, there is a sadness about her. Something says her heart is breaking with pain. This made me wonder what God looks like when HE is sad. No one alive really knows, but this passage from Genesis may give us a little insight.

Gen 6:5-8
5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
7 Yahweh said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
8 But Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes.WEB

Wickedness hurts! It grieved God and made HIM sorry he ever created man. Sorry enough to want to destroy all of mankind, so what God saw must have been very, very bad indeed. Yet, what did HE do, HE kept looking and saw Noah. Through Noah our species was preserved, life yet remains, but it could have gone the other way. There is a lesson in this and its not the way God looks, but rather what HE does; HE kept looking and found something good. We need to do that with those around us too. When we see the stupid, foolish things our fellow human beings do, hate the sin, but love the sinner. Look for GOODNESS, perhaps you will find it. Take heart, people can change. You may hurt for awhile, but who knows, a serendipity may just await you. This probably involve a different name than NOAH, but who knows?

Whiter than snow

Today I was watching a show from PBS about the great lodges of our National Parks. While I saw some of the most spectacular scenery one can imagine, this picture just jumped right out at me. No, it wasn't the lake or the boats or the lodges in the distance, it was the sky. Something about those alto stratus clouds reminded me of snow covered days in early January, when the snow is crisp and so clean and white it dazzles the eyes in the bright sunlight. There is something so pure, so refreshing about this sort of snow; and that is what the clouds looked like to me, snow in the heavens. This thought of purity was further enhanced by a couple of verses from the Bible and made me think of snow in just a little different way.

Ps 51:6-7
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. WEB

Isa 1:18
18 "Come now, and let us reason together," says Yahweh: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. WEB

Wisdom, reason and purity are whiter than snow. They are the stuff of deity; its no wonder that the Bible talks about God dwelling in the purest of white light. When we desire God, we show wisdom and the use of reason will help us understand HIS will. Obedience to HIM and seeking to follow HIM daily is the pattern that will lead us beyond the clouds, to a fellowship more pure than the whitest of snow. Is there snow in heaven? Don't know, but if that is something that will make me happy, its probably there and you can just bet its really going to sparkle.

When danger is not danger

This road is in Bolivia and is called "The highway of death" for obvious reasons. Posting limitations prevent me from showing all the pictures, but when two tractor trailers meet on this road it will make even Mr. Spock raise an eyebrow. There is so little space on the road that just one mistake means a long fall and a gruesome death. A fearful thing indeed! Now consider this passage from the book of John for a moment and consider a more dangerous road than this.

John 14:1-6
14 "Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."
5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.WEB

When Jesus refers to himself as the "way", it is the same word used for road or path. Think about the twelve disciples who followed Jesus; almost all of them died a martyr's death; some died an excruciatingly painful and prolonged demise. But they gave a testimony (martyrdom) of the way from this world of flesh to the eternality of Spiritual life everlasting. And the danger and the suffering are shown to be mere flashes of time in an eternity of life for which they were bound. So, following The Christ of God is really not a danger at all, because in the end, every step with God on the way to heaven is as sure footed as if you were super glued to the road. All you have to do is not to look down and keep looking up!

My thanks to Brittany Cantin for the pictures!