WHAT"S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? EVERYTHING!

Love is a very powerful force of energy.  I fell in love once and there was a transformation in my soul.  I saw with new eyes, heard with new ears, and felt like I was on top of the world.  I wanted to be with that person all the time; my mind and heart were consumed with thoughts and feelings that made me bubble over with joy and happiness.  I looked at the world around me and saw that everything was wonderful; everything was good.  That relationship did not grow into what we had hoped for and as the years have passed even the memories of that person have faded.  But the intensity of how I felt during that time still intrigues me.  It causes me to believe that love is an intrinsic force woven into my very being.  I believe that I am created in the image of God and that image is Absolute Love.

Unfortunately, like most good things that God created, Absolute Love has been misinterpreted and tarnished.  It has been diminished and substituted with an artificial sloppy sentimentality, intertwined with sex, and relegated to the realm of preferential feelings.  When God is forsaken and taken out of the equation, Absolute Love is replaced by a cheap substitute that is unsustainable and unable to satisfy an intrinsic need woven into the very being of every human being.

Love is the key concept throughout the Scriptures.  Love is a very powerful force, the crucial motivation for all that IS and all that is done.  I believe God created everything out of love; he breathed life and love into everything he created.  Jesus condensed all of the commandments into loving God, loving myself, and loving others.  He teaches me to love my fellow believers, love my neighbors, and love my enemies.  No on is to be excluded from love for any reason.  This is an impossible task unless I am walking in the image that I was created in; the image of God, the life force and energy of Absolute Love.

John Lennon wrote, “Al you need is love”.  Well, that is part of the truth.  My walk as a believer and follower of Jesus at times requires discipline, correction, reproof, and adjustment.  Sometimes these don’t feel like love to me.  But, if done with the motivation of love they will not harm me, but rather they will transform me.  It is always God’s Absolute Love that draws me to repentance and reconciliation; that keeps me in his Presence, close to his heart and to his ways.

Forty years ago I fell in love for a second time.  There was a true transformation in my soul.  I see with new eyes, hear with new ears, and feel one with all creation.  I want to be in His Presence all the time; my mind and soul are consumed with thoughts and feelings for Him, that make me bubble over with joy and happiness.  I look around at the world He created and everything is wonderful; everything is good.

This relationship continues to grow into all I could ever hope for or dream of; all else fades in comparison.  This love satisfies me; this love sustains me.

This love is Absolute and this love is eternal.

   

EVERLASTING HOPE

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.  But whole he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…The father said,’ Quick!  Bring the best robe and put it on him.  Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Bring the fattened calf and kill it.  Let’s have a feast and celebrate.  For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is fond.’ So they began to celebrate.”

Luke 15: 11-24)

When we make sin acceptable we rob those committing the sin of the gift of repentance and leave them with no hope of change.  When there is no hope for change, one becomes either despondent, depressed, and open to destroying himself; or deceived, defensive, and anxious to make the sin  acceptable in the eyes of man and law, which usually results in a downward spiral both for individuals and societies.

People need to know there is always hope for change or there can be no inner or outer freedom.  People need to know that the God who created them will always freely forgive those who turn to him in true repentance.  This is the message of the Gospel and it is good news.

Judas betrayed Jesus by turning him over to those who would crucify him.  Peter betrayed Jesus by denying he knew him, three times.  Both had forsaken God and both felt bad about what they had done.  Judas saw no hope and killed himself.  Peter knew better.  I believe that if Judas had waited, he too would have been reconciled to Jesus, because that is the nature of God; a forgiving Father who waits for his children who have strayed to return to him, so he can celebrate the reunion.

When we interfere by making what is wrong right, we rob both God and sinner.  When the church does it, it’s even worse because they are entrusted with the Absolute Truth of God and the means of true repentance and reconciliation.

“For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction (True instruction) from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 2:5-7).

God created human beings in his image; we are to reflect the nature of God; we are to be salt and light; we are to be beacons of hope to a world in despair.  Repentance is an act of love.  It brings people back to where they belong, to the fountain of living water where they will never thirst; where they will be renewed and refreshed; where they will enjoy the fullness of the Presence of God.

Simply BE

Simply BE

Just like a tree

With roots dug deep

And branches held high.

Simply BE

Don’t strive or stress

Just bow your soul

And know you’re fine.

Simply BE

Don’t fret or fear

You’re in My care

And you are Mine.

Simply BE

In Me abide

With roots dug deep

And arms held high.

ABSOLUTE TRUTH & ABSOLUTE LOVE

The United States Constitution is not the Word of God.  It is a document created and maintained by human beings.  It has become the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the tree God told Adam not to eat from.  R.C. Sprowl said it well; “This country gives people rights, including the right to be wrong.  God does not give us that right.”  God’s laws are not the same as man’s laws and visa versa.  God’s laws are eternal; man’s laws are temporary and change with the times.

I remember when I worked at Montgomery County Association for Retarded Citizens back in the early 70”s; the head psychologist there told me that if you say something is true and acceptable over and over again, eventually in the minds of people it will become true and acceptable.  Looking at the state of the world and the state of morality today, I would have to say she was right about the acceptable part and for most people the true part.

When the concept of Absolute Truth is rejected and truth becomes relative, then there is no standard to hold things accountable to and chaos will emerge.  “Where there is not prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18)

When Absolute Truth is rejected, God is rejected; when God is rejected Absolute Love is rejected.  Love becomes diminished to the realm of feelings rather than right action.  We don’t want people to feel bad so we won’t correct them when they are wrong, and let them do whatever makes them feel good.  Or the opposite side of the coin is that we are harsh in our judgment and condemning in our correction.  Neither one is right action.

Absolute Love desires what is truly best for a person’s soul, regardless of feelings, and corrects in a loving way so that the change in behavior is invited not indoctrinated.

God is both Absolute Truth and Absolute Love; both are a standard to live by and a pure way of adjusting and maintaining that standard.  When we reject God we lose pure Truth and pure Love, replacing it with human truth and love which are false, faulty, and unsustainable.

“My people have committed two evils;

They have forsaken me

The fountain of living waters,

And hewed out cisterns for themselves,

Broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 2:13

Nothing Is Something

They say we are our ancestors

And I believe that’s true

Often times I catch myself

Doing what they would do.

My ancestors were Puritans

With a work ethic tried and true

No time for sloth or laziness

We’re on this earth to DO.

My soul is more contemplative

The busy life’s not for me

I find myself more at peace

When I can simply BE.

I’ve developed a great solution

I’ll combine the DO and the BE

I’ll rest on the bank of a flowing creek

But take my fishing pole with me.

Then my conscience will be at rest

And critical tongues of those who look

For I, a doer will cast my line

But on the end will be no hook.

NOTHING IS SOMETHING

I worked at Valley Mill Camp for twenty-five years; fifteen years at East Camp in Colesville, Md. as a counselor, and ten years at West Camp in Darnestown, Md. as a director.  Both camp properties had a creek running through them.  While it wasn’t one of our scheduled activities the kids and I spent time just walking by and playing in the creek.  On extra hot days we would go and spend time sitting on the bank or walking on the rocks, as we cooled off in the water and under the shade of the trees. We would laugh, splash one another, and often just sit and talk; nothing planned, just spontaneous conversation inspired by our surroundings of peace and quiet.  As I look back at those years, these were the times that lingered most in my memories and it always brings warmth to my soul and a smile to my face.

One of our special events at camp was Parents Day.  This was a day set apart to invite the parents of the campers to come out and enjoy the day with their kids, doing all the activities their kids did during the week; being campers for a day out in the woods.  On one of those days I had an angry father approach me, dressed in dress clothes and two cells phones hanging in cases from his belt.  His son was a Bee; this was our youngest group of kids, 4 and 5 year olds.  They participated in all of the activities at camp, but at a much slower pace.  Their gathering place was a lovely spot by the creek, under the shade of big trees.  In between their activities they would spend some down time, to rest and play together as a group or find something to do on their own, under the supervision of their counselors.

The father approached me, obviously upset, yelling, “I pay a lot of money to have my son go to this camp and I don’t want him wasting time, sitting on the bank of a creek throwing stones and dangling his feet in the water.  I want him doing something, keeping busy, having fun.”  I took him into my office and had him sit down and breathe and relax for a moment or two.  The first thing I asked him was if his son liked coming to camp.  “Oh yes, he loves camp.  He comes home every night tired, but so happy.  He tells his all about the things he did all day…”  He stopped, took a breath and smiled as he looked at me.  “Yes, he loves camp.” 

After a few moments I explained that the philosophy that we hold true here at Valley Mill is that quiet down time by a creek, under the shade of the trees, is doing something, as much as swimming in the pool, kayaking on the lake, and riding on the horses.  Connecting with the natural surroundings is very important for children, especially in these times when those places of rest are becoming extinct; being developed into “useful” places such as housing developments, shopping malls, and multilane highways.  I told him what matters to me is that his son loves being here and grows from all of the experiences that fill his days at camp.

After a few moments I suggested that he might want to go, take off his shoes, roll up his pant legs, and sit for awhile with his son on the banks of the creek, throw some stones, and dangle his feet in the water.  He smiled, shook my hand and left.  “I think I will do just that”, he said as he walked out the door.

Somewhere along the way I was given the message that I must keep busy doing things, that this is how I will grow and advance my state of being.  That is not the message I get when I allow myself the time to do “nothing”; the nothing that is really something and is crucial for the growth of my soul and my true state of being.  That is not the message I get when I sit on the bank of a creek, under the shade of the trees, throwing stones, and dangling my feet in the water.

POT LUCKS, PANCAKE BREAKFASTS & PICNICS

When I think about the times n my life that I experienced a true sense of communion with others my mind brings up memories of the pot luck dinners, the pancake breakfasts, and the picnics we used to have at churches that I went to.  It seems there is something sacred and sacramental about eating together.  Perhaps it’s the amount of time spent in preparing the special dish, then presenting it as a gift to share with others, and then actually sitting down with one another and enjoying the fellowship of food, friends, and the stories we share as we eat.  Where did those simple times go?

Over time things changed.  The food was no longer lovingly prepared by known hands, but it was catered; a program was prepared to watch while we ate, rather than leaving the time open for sharing our stories; the pancake breakfast left due budget issues and lack of interest of those who didn’t see the fun n getting up at 5:00 am and meeting together to prepare it; and the weekly after service picnics became once a year calendar events.  These endings resulted in churches declining in numbers, vacant church buildings being put on the real estate market, and sadder still, people with vacant and hungry souls suffering from a lack of true communion with others.

True communion and meaningful companionship requires time spent in one another’s presence and it seems that the demands of living in today’s world doesn’t allow for that time anymore.  We suffer from the loss of true communion, true communication, and true community, both as individuals and as a world.

In response to that loss we have created virtual communities, and temporary experiences of community, hopefully provided a sort of fix to get us through this loss.  Facebook, retreat centers, schools, even workplaces advertise and try to foster a sense of community while you study and work together for a time; but it’s only temporary.  Eventually you have to go home with only the memories and the longing for that rich sense of communion.

I am sure there are many social scientists and psychologists that have theories about the reasons for this. But whatever the reasons are, I miss those days when we weren’t so busy doing whatever it is we are busy at, that keeps us truly apart from one another.  It seems like our technology has enabled us to be farther apart from one another rather than closer together.  It gives us the ability to “check in” and “be in touch” with one another, replacing that for our soul’s necessity to commune and to be in the presence with one another.  It gives us the ability to participate in the sufferings of people thousands of miles away from us, and yet not know or care what our next door neighbors are dealing with.  We vicariously participate in a world community but our neighborhoods are strange lands to us.

The myth of Cicely Alaska in the TV show Northern Exposure is what I yearn for.  The fact that people created that place, even just for our entertainment, tells me that there are others out there somewhere of like mind and soul.  Somehow that gives me comfort and let’s me know that I am not alone in my longing for those days of pot lucks, pancake breakfasts, and picnics with people I commune with, communicate with, and live in community with.

NOT THE FAVORITE BUT THE BEST

I had the pleasure and advantage of working at the same camp for 25 years.  I say pleasure because when I was in third grade I went away to camp and when I came home from that week I knew what I wanted to be for the rest of my life…a camp counselor.  I say advantage because I got to see the fruit of my labor, as kids that were my campers grew up to be my staff, and then became parents of children who became my campers.

I was raised in a military family with a lot of rules and order.  That built in me a strong philosophy that real freedom and fun was to be had when the rules were obeyed and the order was kept.  I learned this the hard way through trial and error, through bumps and bruises, and even a few stitches in my chin.  I eventually found that the less rebellious I became the more free I actually was.  Of course, these kinds of lessons are learned best by actual experience so there must be room for rebellion and disobedience for kids to express themselves, within safe boundaries.  That is what camp provides.

I had one camper who expressed this attitude a lot and would let me know often that I was not her favorite counselor.  As the camper aged and became a counselor herself, she came to me in an attitude of quiet repentance and said that now she understood me better.  She had a few campers who were just like her and she found herself being just like I was to her.  She told me, “You were not my favorite counselor, but you were the best counselor I had.  I accepted the compliment graciously with a smile and watched her grow into an excellent counselor.

As a child of God I believe there is a divine and natural order to life and I believe that God provides clear and simple instructions to live life in that divine and natural order.  For me, throwing off the shackles of laws and instruction is not true freedom.  Freedom comes from being yoked with the Master teacher and fulfiller of those laws and instructions, and seeking teachers who are yoked and in alignment with him. 

It is my hope and my prayer that those who are called and accept the responsibility of teaching the things of God will not be concerned so much about being the most popular and favorite, but will want to be the best for the people they teach.

THE ANCIENT WAYS ARE MY WAYS

Psalm 127:1

One of the things that I have discovered over the years and through experience is that one of the reasons why groups and institutions seem to fail is because of their inability to incorporate the new into the old.  I have seen this in camps, communities, and churches, wherever human beings try to organize themselves so that they can function well and be efficient in what they are doing.  They gather together and through a lot of hard work and trial and error, create systems that work for them.  Over time those with the original vision, holders of the original living organism, the seed of that vision, begin to pass away.  They are replaced by people who had not suffered through the hard work of trial and error and come in to reform the old, seemingly irrelevant ways with their new thoughts and ideas of how to build a new way of doing what needs to be done, which usually begins with throwing out all the old ways.  Then, of course, the cycle is repeated again and again; out with the old and in with the new bigger, better, more improved

model.  As an older person I find that process disconcerting and unsettling, to say the least.

My faith is founded on a God who is ever changing and never changing; always different and always the same; who is as relevant today, in my life, as he was “In the beginning”.  My faith is founded on ancient ways being fulfilled, not replaced.  God’s ways are timeless and cyclical, not time bound and linear.  There is the security of strong roots and the freedom of the wind of the Spirit that blows where it will.

I will always remember the wise woman I spoke with on the phone as I was trying to convince her of a tree treatment the company I was working for wanted to provide.  She lived in the mountains outside of town and I could hear the sincere smile on her face and simplicity of heart when she said, “Oh, honey; these trees have been here long before I came and they will be here long after I pass, and they are doing just fine.”

That’s the Truth about the things that God creates, builds, and organizes.  That’s the wisdom of the ages and the newness of today that my faith in God rests on; nothing more, nothing less.  Every time I look at an old, seasoned tree a sincere smile comes to my face and a simplicity of heart warms my soul.  “Oh honey; I’ve been here long before you came and I will be here long after you pass, and you’re doing just fine.”