March 17,  2022

LEAPS  OF  FAITH

AND LOST LEADERS

  
To get people into the store, supermarkets and department stores use “lost leaders”.
 
The store owners and managers are willing to take  a loss on one thing, knowing that you’ll hopefully buy something else when you come into the store for the bargain.
 
There’s a parable, a message, a lesson, in this somewhere.
 
Sexuality works pretty much the same way.  Sometimes it gets us to stop getting  to really know the other person. Sometimes people get lost and the other becomes our leader.
 
God “works” the same way, I suppose.
 
The feelings get us to pray – or to at least go “Wow!”
Sunrise … sunset … a mountain … the ocean … and we stop the car to walk to a scenic overview – and we see an overwhelming view.
 
Rainbows, autumn leaves, all get us to say, “Wow!”
 
Beauty stops us – yet we also know there’s always more….  Life – time – being a human being – and we always know there’s more.
 
The color, the splash, the music of morning birds, seeing children playing soccer – all can be awe moments – and all can be grabbers.
 
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Awe precedes faith; it is the root of faith.  Awe must grow in awe in order to reach faith.”
 
We marry in awe. We honeymoon in awe. We take vows in awe.
 
Surprise! Autumn leaves crumble …. Skin wrinkles … There is the second year of marriage … as well as the 26^th year. We stop growing.  We stop getting to know the other – or ourselves for that matter.
 
We can say, “I was suckered, tricked, caught by a lost leader.”
 
We can also wake up to a new day – a new phase – the new adventures life provides.
 
Go for the ride.
 
Laugh go out further with the tide.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

 

 

March 17, 2022

MAY THE ROAD RISE UP

TO MEET YOU

 

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm on your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet gain,
May God hold you
in the palm of His hand.

March 16, 2022

 

ABUNDANCE

 
“I felt so empty these past 5 years.”
 
She paused after saying that.
 
I paused as well – as I was listening.
 
Then I said to myself, “She’s about to tell me about a conversion moment.”
 
I was there just to chat, just to have a cup of tea, just to be there, and then to move on.
 
I was visiting shut-ins.
 
Shut-ins. Terrible words – horrible thought.
 
She continued: “First it was the kids that left – one by one. Off to college…. Into marriages….  Jackie went off to the marines.  This house – which always seemed so small – got larger and larger – with every kid – going away for good.”
 
I asked where each kid was now – how many grandkids.  Grandkids?  She didn’t want to go into them.  Enough.
 
She continued: “Then Jack died. We were married 38 years.  I didn’t expect that one. I thought he would beat the cancer. He was always such a strong man.”
 
Silence.
 
I had experience doing this.  No more wrong questions. No more small talk.
 
Then more silence.
 
Then she continued, “Then one night I had Billy, my middle son, over here for supper. His wife and their kids went down to see her parents.  Billy couldn’t skip work. Tax season. He’s an accountant.   I figured he’d enjoy his mom’s home cooking once again. His wife Kathy ain’t that great a cook.”
 
“It hit me – at that supper.  Billy isn’t much of a talker. Maybe when there isn’t much talking going around, there’s more inner talk going on. 

Quiet.  

Then she told me - as if she was telling me one of life's secrets: "Then I opened up the cabinet over the sink. It was full. I opened up the fridge. It was filled.”
 
Silence.

She said, “I said to myself: ‘Abundance.’”
 

She continued, “I began to notice that I had pictures – pictures, pictures, everywhere.”

I was listening. I was looking.
 
She repeated herself, “Abundance. I had abundance everywhere. The abundance of abundance was everywhere. This house is full – full of memories and life.  My life is full. God has certainly given us an abundance of abundance everywhere.”

An abundance of tears ran down her face.

Billy said, “Mom – are you okay?”
 
“Yes,” she said. “Everything is perfect. You’re here.”
 
She told me, "Inwardly I said, 'Billy you won’t be understanding this for another 30 years.'”
 
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

March  16,  2022

 

Thought for Today 

AMAZING GRACE

 

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright, shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see

 

 

Songwriters: Steve Mac, David Miller, Urs Buhler,

Traditional, Carlos Marin, John Baker, Sebastien Izambard, Dave Arc

 

 March 15, 2022

Thought for Today:

"Mary's virginity protected a great deal more than her own moral character,  reputation, and the legitimacy of Jesus' birth.  It protected the nature of the divine Son of God ....  Jesus had to have one human parent or He could not have been human, and thereby a partaker of our flesh.  But he also had to have divine parentage or He could not have made a sinless and perfect sacrifice on our behalf."

John Macarthur

 March 15, 2022

Reflection

 March 14, 2022

Reflection