A Rich Life: What inventions had an impact on my life?

The invention of the light bulb by Edison had a big impact on my life even though it was long before I was born. It is said that before the light bulb people slept an average of eleven hours a night. Now people try for seven to eight hours but often don’t reach that. That is my goal as well and when I am in the seven to eight-hour zone I definitely am more refreshed for the day. But imagine what it would be like to sleep from sundown to sun-up. That would be pretty cool and probably a lot more healthy. But I’m not expecting that to happen any time soon. Thanks, Tom, for the light bulb and for changing the way we sleep.  

The computer age has happened during my life. I used to have paper files and a typewriter but now I write some and keep some journals but mostly I use the computer for communication with others and for work projects. I don’t really want people to give me information on paper because I want it all online now. However, my file cabinet is still used at times when I get encouraging notes on paper and I still have files of cards from my family members and some others. I have the cards my girls made me over the years. Nice to pull them out and see them. 

Of course, another invention that followed after the computer is the internet. The internet lets me communicate quickly with people for work and more importantly lets me be in contact with my girls even when they are far away. I am so grateful for Skype which lets me not only talk with my girls but see them as well. It lets us all be together virtually at times which I appreciate even though there is nothing like being there in person. 

I also appreciate the invention of my Fitbit. It lets me know the time and keeps track of my steps. I like the fact that I can know how much I have walked during the day and over a period of time as well.  

Of course, my Fitbit also tracks my sleep for me which reminds me that it doesn’t get up to eleven hours when it tracks me … because of the invention of the lightbulb. Thanks again Mr. Edison for your invention that still keeps me sleep-deprived, but now I can know exactly how much.

Echo

I run through the woods exploring, looking at the squirrel that just scampered down the tree to greet me, and then just as quickly scurries off. I chase him a bit until it disappears into some leaves. Funny how fast they are for being so little. I’m a lot bigger and I think I can run very fast but they always leave me behind.

As I look around some more I see a rabbit hopping to another one. They must be pals although each one is clearly looking out for its own food to eat. Must be nice to have another friend that is the same. 

Just then I hear my friend call my name, Echo. I think he called me that because when he first got me at the dog pound I barked every time he said something.  Now I hear him yelling my name loudly but not meanly. Echo! He is the kindest man in the world I think. He takes me on long walks in the woods like today where I run off and explore and he wanders and thinks on his own. He’s a good friend. 

Sometimes I think he thinks he is taking me on a walk but I know that I’m the one who is taking him on a walk. If it weren’t for me nuzzling at the door to go out he would stay in most of the day and tap tap tap on that machine with a screen. 

But eventually, he does hear me, he sees me, and he opens the door and we go out back through the yard and into the woods. I hear him sigh loudly as we enter the forest. It’s as if he is really breathing now, taking in big gulps of fresh air instead of the conditioned air inside. He needed this and I knew it, plus I needed it too. We’re a good pair.

I keep looking around as I run back towards him. I see him wandering aimlessly calling my name but never worrying. He is confident that I would never leave him, never keep running and not come back to him. I feel the same way about him. He will always look for me and walk home with me. 

He doesn’t really take me home, we walk there together. There is no taking, there is just enjoying the adventure out and then walking home for the life we have there together.

All of a sudden we both see an eagle flying high in the sky. We stop and listen quietly and just watch. He has a look of awe on his face but I’m not jealous. It’s the look he gives me multiple times a day when I run to him and sit by his feet as he works. Or the times I jump on the couch beside him as we watch television. 

Today after seeing the eagle for a moment he takes out his phone to take pictures, zooming in and out, getting some video as well. Then he turns from pointing the phone camera at the sky and starts taking pictures and videos of me. He knows I love to perform and I run around in circles and jump up and bark and he laughs and smiles as I do all of this. Later as we sit together on the porch tonight he will show me the pictures and videos of the eagle and of me. He will talk about how we saw the eagle and how we took the pictures. He will smile and tell me that these are some of the best pictures we have ever taken, especially the ones of me.

He will laugh as I bark saying yes and he will rub my head and tell me he loves me. I will bark in response and nod my head and he will hug me and then get a treat for me and one for himself. 

Sometimes he almost seems to know what I am thinking. Almost. It’s as if he hears me and gets me. Just like he’s in my head, maybe I’m in his head too. Echo.

One Day

One day.

One day you cannot believe that things will ever change, that things will ever get better, that life will ever be better than it is today, and that the situation you are in won’t just go on forever. One day. 

One day you realize that what you thought was impossible to overcome actually is behind you. Things are better. The one you thought would be lost to you or that you couldn’t live with somehow all of that you got through. Today. One day. You realize that without knowing it that bad time came and went. Stand in that one day. Live for that one day. Don’t give up. Remember. One day!

Healing

It is said that healing is too often the missing element in the Church today. As Christ lived he healed, he taught, and he preached.

Now there is often a lot of preaching at people and then if they respond there is much teaching to endure. Healing is too often missing because we have dismissed the Holy Spirit with a nod and thought we could continue on ourselves.

Without an acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit we just “do” church without “being” what only the Church can be. A healing place.

Many places today preach at people. Many places deliver teaching. Those places sometimes are in churches.

The real healing place is the church following the instructions and example of Jesus to do so with the power of the Holy Spirit who he promised would come to us as the Father showed him all things.

We’ve relegated “healing” to the medical “professionals.” Don’t quit on them. They are learning and have many skills and we should be grateful to them for helping us. I am very grateful to the many doctors and nurses and so many others that have and are helping me and others around the world.

They are doing their job. It’s time for the church to do ours.

Healing comes from God and we need to believe that God heals. To do that we need to invite the Holy Spirit to do what only the Holy Spirit can do. Pray fervently and press in to God, fast, whatever that is for you, and don’t give up.

This will take us closer to God than ever before. Notice the word “us.” That is me, that is you, that is the many praying to God for God to break through our diseases, our minds, and our hearts. Sometimes individuals hesitate to let their hearts and minds be changed because they don’t see the church trusting the Holy Spirit. Perhaps they wouldn’t describe it that way but that is what is often happening.

When people think that the church has no power they may be right…if we have told the Holy Spirit that we can handle this on our own.

But if we will humbly invite the Holy Spirit to come into our lives and our churches with fresh power and the Fresh Wind that only God can provide then healing inevitably comes. The Holy Spirit didn’t walk away from us, it was us who shut the Spirit of God out.

Healing is a beautiful thing when you’ve experienced it for yourself or for one you love. God loves the whole world and when we join in that love then healing flows naturally, supernaturally, and the Church experiences healing power and the world is never the same. I am never the same. You are never the same.

Just Let Me Grieve

So many deaths. Again. Children this time and their teachers. Adults recently just shopping. Worshippers in church killed. Hatred expressed. Life gone. Hopes dashed. Futures snuffed out.

Black friends teaching their sons and daughters how to talk to people so they can come home that night, and the next, and not be murdered. It's smart to teach them I know because of the world around us...but it brings tears to my eyes that it has to be done to save their children's lives. I never had to tell my children those instructions just so they might come home.

Latino parents sending their children to school, only a few days of school left before summer vacation. Summer! Yes, as any child is happy for a break. Summer break. And now there is no summer break for them. There is death. Death. Heartache. The death of hope. The teachers murdered too who were spending their lives to make a difference in their community and for these children and their families.

People of various faiths worshipping in a variety of places that used to be safe places but now violence enters so often. Death.

Rambling I know. But the violence just goes on and on. I am sad. Let me just be sad a while. I don't want to just turn to the next story, like how quickly war has left the front and center of our attention, except for those in Ukraine who still face death every day.

And don't tell me about how many people die or are murdered in other ways and we should care about them more. Don't tell me that...right now. I know you are right. I care about them too. But don't tell me that right now. Let me grieve for this classroom. Let me grieve for this grocery store. Let me grieve for this church and these faith communities.

We all have our own problems, I get that. I do too. But just let me grieve for someone else this time.

Sorrow. Pain. Sadness. When will it end? Stop it people.

I know it will go on, I know that. But let me never stop crying out for it to stop. Wishing for it to end. Praying for it to just stop.

Trust

A dozen years ago I finished reading "Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference?" by Philip Yancey. I wrote these thoughts then and as I came across them now I find that they still resonate within me.

Near the end of the book, he quotes Helmut Thielicke speaking to his German congregation near the end of World War 2.

"One day, perhaps, when we look back from God's throne on the last day we shall say with amazement and surprise, 'If I had ever dreamed when I stood at the graves of my loved ones and everything seemed to be ended; if I had ever dreamed when I saw the specter of atomic war creeping upon us, if I had ever dreamed when I faced the meaningless fate of an endless imprisonment or a malignant disease; if I had ever dreamed that God was only carrying out his design and plan through all these woes, that in the midst of my cares and troubles and despair his harvest was ripening, and that everything was pressing on toward his last kingly day--if I had known this I would have been more calm and confident; yes, then I would have been more cheerful and far more tranquil and composed.'"

Now back to my thoughts. God has a plan and I don't see it all. But I want to trust...to trust God more. We don't need to be in the middle of a World War to experience sadness, weakness, fear, and doubt. Every day we wonder why all of this is happening around us and in us and the ones we care about. Still, God has everything under control. I choose to believe that. Someday I will see God face to face but now I see dim reflections. But the reflection shows me Jesus more and more. I will follow the light I have and know that the light is Jesus.

A Rich Life: What has made my faith stronger?

I think my faith has become stronger as I live through the best and worst moments of life. The best moments have made me stronger as I saw God at work and how he worked in the situations for my good. What seemed like the worst moments taught me to hold on to God tightly which made my faith stronger.

The best moments of my life include discovering and marrying my wonderful wife Diane for sure. Only God could have brought such different people together and kept us together for so many years. Trusting in God through this has definitely made my faith stronger. I am not always easy to live with and seeing Diane not give up on me is truly a gift from God. In marriage, I got to see a different aspect of God that I had not seen before. Some would call it the “female” part that can only be seen in a close relationship with a woman. Diane is so godly and so Christ-like and seeing it helps me discover God in new ways. My faith continues to be enriched by her daily life, her witness to me, of what a good mother truly is, of what our heavenly Parent fully is with all of the characteristics of One who is father and mother to us all. I knew God as Father before I met Diane, even though I am growing in that knowledge as well, but being with her lets me see how God cares for us as a hen cares for her chicks. Diane is such a good Momma and that shows me that side of God.

Other best moments of my life include the births and lives of my delightful daughters. Watching them be born and then grow as infants, children, teens, and into womanhood has been such a wonder to me. My faith has grown stronger trying to teach them, love them, and model for them a good father. They both have made the job easy because of their respect and love for me. I hold onto God tightly as I want God to be at the center of their lives as well yet know it is a decision and lifestyle that only they can choose for themselves. I pray for them daily and am so glad for the times we are together and the memories we have made over the years and continue to make. They strengthen my faith as I hold onto God and let them fly on their own yet let them know that I am here for them always.

Then there are the worst moments in life. The times that I have failed God and felt so terrible that I did. The times that I have hurt the ones I love and the times that I have been hurt so badly by others. In these times my faith has been strengthened as I was driven closer to God because there was nowhere else to go. 

In my times of failure, I have to admit that I didn’t feel right away that my faith got stronger. Usually, I felt like I was fighting through my failure and then realizing that I needed to trust God more. God was there for me but I was trying to deal with things on my own. Then when I wised up I asked God to forgive me for not calling on him for help right away and I told him that I needed him to see me through whatever it was. All of that took a while. There was no instant fix. Often I have been a slow learner. I still am but I want God more than anything and I’m holding on to him for dear life. Fortunately, God is and has been holding on to me as well. I am so grateful that he didn’t give up on me in my times of failure or in the times that I acted like I was sailing high on my own. All of this has made my faith stronger. I am definitely a work in progress.