Loincloth

The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;

wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water.

I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on.

A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus:

Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,

and go now to the Parath;

there hide it in a cleft of the rock.

Obedient to the LORD's command, I went to the Parath

and buried the loincloth.

After a long interval, the LORD said to me:

Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth

which I told you to hide there.

Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth

from the place where I had hid it.

But it was rotted, good for nothing!

Then the message came to me from the LORD:

Thus says the LORD:

So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot,

the great pride of Jerusalem.

This wicked people who refuse to obey my words,

who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts,

and follow strange gods to serve and adore them,

shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing.

For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins,

so had I made the whole house of Israel

and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;

to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.

But they did not listen.

             (Jeremiah 13:1-11)

 Today's first reading captured my attention…it was the parable of the loincloth. It emphasized the fact that I need to listen to God and obey His words.  A rotten loincloth is good for nothing.  It doesn’t take a genius to interpret this parable.  So I’m clinging to Jesus like a cheap pair of shorts.

Amen.

Blue Sky

After two days of double vision and a drug hangover I resumed my normal routine…back to work…back to work in the stifling heat and swarming mosquitoes.  I wore the sunglasses they issued…the ones they give old people after cataract surgery.  This fashionable eyewear is more akin to welding goggles or something with which you would view a solar eclipse.  In spite of my skepticism I noticed that my good eye was now my bad eye and my old bad eye could see with amazing clarity.  The clouds were whiter, the sky bluer and the trees greener.  The blossoming crepe myrtles were the pinkest pinks, the reddest reds and the most violet violets I’d ever seen. Each blade of grass was distinct and clearly visible.  I had forgotten how beautiful God’s world was.  

Dear Lord Jesus,

Just a note of thanks to You

For such an absolutely astonishing view

Now my sight is not askew. But,

It’s just a reminder to keep my eyes on You.

Amen.

Another Pile

As I travel the twisted road of life leaving a breadcrumb trail of words…scribbled words that document my thoughts…it occurs to me how insignificant I am and how little my actions contribute to the Gross National Product or the overall advancement of mankind.

Perhaps these words are more like piles of droppings that mark my passing.  I wrestle with my inadequacies, incompetence and ineptitude…my faults, failings and foibles.  The only conclusion I keep coming back to is that; if I can’t do great things…then perhaps I should be content doing little things with great care…with great love.

 Perhaps my piles of droppings will be fertilizer for something or someone really great.

Dear Lord Jesus

Sometimes I think the words just stink

But it’s words that put me in the pink

Your wisdom hidden within the smell

Always turns out so very well

I’m not for going to hell and roast

To some it’s compost, but not for most

You’re the Host that we must toast

Thank you Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Amen.

Day # 24,637

 I arose and wiped the sleep from my eyes, stumbled from my bed and stepped out into the warm early morning air.  The sky was clear…illuminated by a full moon and a twinkling Jupiter and Venus rising in the east…as I made my way through the empty streets to church for my Friday morning appointment. I did not have anything particular on my mind, no special requests and no complaints…I‘ve just gotten into the habit of visiting with God every Friday at 4:30 am.  I try to listen…thinking God will have something important to tell me but I usually end up doing all the talking or just daydreaming. 

 The tall glass window panels in the circular chapel make perfect mirrors when it’s dark outside.  Each glass panel forms a different segment in the circle and each reflects a different image…no matter where I stand…except when I am exactly in the center of the circle.  When standing in the center all of the angles of incidence and angles of reflection are the same…all are zero degrees.  In that position I can see myself in every panel.  I think that is fascinating…fascinating because I understand the simple geometry that makes it work.

 But what’s even more fascinating is the God that is on the altar in the gold monstrance.  I totally don’t understand the God that is there…the God that is everywhere…the God that apparently loves me.  That God is my God, that is the God that does the most unbelievable things…things I do not understand. 

 I have to remember that my understanding is limited to a few simple lines drawn on a piece of paper…simple geometry.  What I do understand is that I believe in the unbelievable.

       How great are your works, LORD!

How profound your designs!

A senseless person cannot know this,

A fool cannot comprehend.

Psalm 92:6-7

 Dear Lord,

In a million years I will not figure it out.

Not with pencil nor paper…no doubt

No matter how the pie is sliced

I’m OK being a fool for Christ.

 Amen.

Summer Rains

The hot summer sun cooked the earth and boiled up all the moisture from every available crack and crevice.  The columns of vapor rose into the heavens only to cool and condense back into tiny water droplets that combined and formed large raindrops…raindrops that fell to the earth and quenched the dry thirsty soil.  It is amazing how that works.  How did God figure that out all by himself?  It is interesting that Mother Nature follows all the laws of science and physics without question…never breaking even one rule.  Perhaps if people...perhaps if I...followed God’s rules without question…never breaking even one law…I would find much more peace, joy and happiness.  Perhaps my parade would not get rained on.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the summer rain

That quenches a parched and thirsty plain

For your rules to guide me through the pain

For strength and courage...not to complain.

Amen. 

Self Denial

I learned to feed myself at a very early age and have been doing so ever since.  But now in my aging years it is having some devastating effects. 

Dear Lord Jesus, give me the strength to practice a little self-denial.

Amen. 

Facelift?

I took an unexcused absence from work and spent the day lying on the couch with an ice pack on my face after returning from the doctor’s office…desperately hoping that he had removed some of the wrinkles from my mug giving me a more childlike facade. But by the end of the day I mustered enough courage to look in the mirror only to discover the double chin was still hanging where it had been.  Perhaps I should concentrate more on listening to the doctor, wearing a hat and staying out of the sun instead of worrying about my youthful appearance.  For it seems inevitable that I am going to have the scars and wrinkles…a much better choice than squamous cells.

Thank you Lord for all my riches

The operation had no glitches

I thank the doc for all the stitches

As it heals, now it itches

Amen

Ship Of State

     In an effort to maintain some degree of sanity I try not to read the newspaper, listen to radio, watch TV or read emails that vilify the villain.  But still I am not completely sealed off from the outside world and somehow all the unavoidable information that produces anxiety and depression seems to creep into my little planet.

     I have a weird feeling of being on the USS Titanic where the captain has thrown all caution to the wind, ignored any prudent judgment and retired to his cabin steaming full speed ahead under the delusion that the ship is unsinkable.  My fear is not that the ship of state has far too few liferafts but that it has absolutely none.  Informed or uninformed, whether booked 1st class or steerage...it matters not…I dread we will all be treading water soon enough.

     Jesus Christ is the only hope of maintaining sanity in a sea of insanity. So I will continue searching for the narrow gate…traveling the road less traveled and trying not to get run over crossing the information super highway.

Dear Lord Jesus,

You are the one who keeps me afloat.

In you I place my hope.

Thanks for all you do.

Amen. 

Didymus

Today is the feast of Saint Thomas the apostle, the twin, doubting Thomas.

Father Bob’s two-minute sermon was most encouraging to me…me just another Didymus.  He explained that doubt was the seed of faith…for without doubt you couldn’t have faith.

So I take comfort in the fact that I am plagued but not paralyzed by doubt.

Thank you, Lord Jesus for doing the unbelievable.

And for all your grace that’s so receivable.

Although to my little brain it’s unconceivable.

Without You Lord nothing is achievable.

Amen.