Severe Simplicity; Could It Really Be?

Is it that severely simple (?);  cut off from complication, exempt from misunderstanding,  the truth about love;  His love???  (John 3: 6) 

 He put His love on full display.  

And what a display it was--and what a love;  the betrayal, the beating, the lies, the trial, that struggle to the cross and His haunting silhouette hanging there.  It has been discussed, mocked, studied, told, foretold, hated and marveled at by countless humanity.  It has been explained and rebutted.  It is so very large, yet so strikingly simple.

LOVE  

And I was remembering how in the garden when it all went down that day, how they remembered His words from before:  ".........if you eat of the fruit of this tree you will surely die", but they ate it anyway.   And I wondered at His use of the pronoun "you" shall surely......."  because, as my heart beats quicker, I embrace again with both horror and glee that at that moment of decision and consumption the clock began to tick and tock for a day when He, too, would surely die----for us.   What love! 

And it has taken such a long, long time, it seems, to "see it" more clearly.  Like a child who doesn't realize, until too much later, how much their parents loved them, I find myself moving into these last hours of 2014 with wonder over His true love........ and hope for mine.

And among my fondest hopes for 2015, this is the one that is catching my imagination and desire more than any other;  A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  (John 3:34)  and then this;   By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, IF you love one another. 

To be known as His own, what an idea...what a hope!  And if all of my life came to a screeching halt and 2015 wasn't mine after all, would I leave joy drowned in the knowledge that He loves me?  And would the loftiest new goal in my small life be accomplished this far; to love as He loves me?  Have I loved well?  Can I love truer and better, like HIM?  

His love Is too good to be true, yet it is true.   My hope for 2015 is Love.

 


Happy New Year! 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Look inside my kitchen window where the daily rhythms pulse.  It's warm against the other side of the white window and it probably smells of some love potion brewing on the stove or out from the oven like warm trays of rolls and soft chocolate chip cookies, roasts, and Italian vegetable soup;  my love language. 



Before the cold blew in, things looked more like this.

 And even though I knew it couldn't really be true, it seemed like the zinnias would last forever and ever.

 

               It seemed the window sill would always be filled with them.

         And the morning glories would keep meeting me early.

Life and times have a way of seeming invincible and sure.  The frost came and tapped my shoulder, shaking me from my sweet delusion to remind that everything changes-- that there is a time and a season for every activity under the heavens.  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  May we have the grace and dignity to let go at the appropriate times and to hang on when we know that we should.  And may we have the wisdom to recognize one from the other. 

 

 

Do As I Have Done For You ♥

This is the tale of some friends, and friends to be, gathered together one late summer weekend, and our experience with John 13.   He said to "do as I have done for you."  Here is what that looked like for me and for some of my friends. ♥

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She began to read the verses and to shuffle our hearts into order.  She brought our readiness and refreshed us with images of a holy scene.  

 ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  John 13:3-4

She lead and we followed her there as she read.  

  ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  John 13:5

Outside and under the evening sky,  the kettle brimmed with water for our washing and a clean towel for our drying, but I still wasn't sure I wanted anyone to have to touch my feet.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”  John 13:6-7

And she gently pressed on,  and somewhere between her words my heart lurched, letting the HOLY seep over my awkwardness into willingness.  

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”  John 13:8-9

We took our seat, one by one, and put our feet down for the water--for the washing.  Music played as we slipped each off, our shoes, and the resistance.  We slipped down into each other's hearts, too.  

And those with prophetic gifts sat their hands onto our shoulders, but somehow reached all the way into our hearts; reached to post love notes there and leave gifts just right for each.  For some, they lifted heavy burdens, and for others, wrapped robes of joy and mirth around ready shoulders.  I heard their laughter ring out right there with wet feet and an "AMEN" sealing the moment.  Some stood up expectant with their gift in hand, some stood healed, some rose on ready feet and others with permission to rest.  I saw that what was needed was given for each, one by one.
 

 ¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.  John 13:12-15

 As the voices wafted into the night air and music softly played, we sat undone by the washing and undone by love.





 



 

Notes on The Kind Kingdom

In this kind kingdom our most kind and kingly Father walks us through splintered heart cries and powerful plunges into pain.  One could describe His abiding gaze as rays of sweet sunshine illuminating the gloom and sopping up the pooling sorrow.  He steps gently with our steps.  He unfolds the dimensions of His care for His own as the hours of each day stretch out.


In the kind kingdom where our gentle Father reigns, the house of sorrow draws throngs of friends equipped with loving kindness.  Here pain cues rescue and cries cue prayer, struggles cue rising warrior brothers and sisters who put aside dish towels and lawn mowers to hold spirit swords in brave hands to do battle for beloved hurting ones in their reach.  In this kingdom no one fights alone and no one celebrates alone.

Galatians 6:2  Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Mists and Miracles

The mist was rising mystical and beautiful over Gar Creek, early, as I drove past.  It captures our gazes from behind the rolled up windows every time.  And now the steam rising from the silver pot of Italian vegetable soup on the stove;  always, always I pause and think of it and how to explain it to the kids....those vapors rising. 


And I smile wide this morning.  I smile and I sob, too, because I remember HIS word saying this in the book of James:  


You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes................


And my very small mind reaches for this...........reaches hard to comprehend a few things like: 


You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together--Job 10:11)
..........within a vapor


For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future--Jeremiah 29:11.
..........within a vapor


For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. Psalms 48:14
..........within a vapor


Somewhere within the wisps you and I have come.  In the mist I have ran in fields and scaled those giant round bales of hay.  I have had puppies and written papers, had break ups and enjoyed brownies.  I have felt conviction of my sins then later was "joy drowned" when they were washed away from me.   I have felt compassion and hatred and have seen my babies born on hospital beds. In the vapors I have pondered bird songs and bought groceries, have prayed for a friend and asked for advice.  I have tried really hard and later, understood grace.  It suddenly seems so amazing that all of this, HE calls a vapor?


And I breath out the miracle of my breath and His plans for me and us, and consider that if all of this is just a vapor to Him, then what more does he have in store? 


And then He reminds me,


 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."