paravanes:meditations

"Oh afflicted city, lashed by storms...", Isaiah 54:11 The news I've been reading and listening to in the last few days contains numerous mentions of the fact of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina happening in NOLA. Why is this an anniversary worth remembering? Is there something magical about the number five? I don't think so. For many of us, it doesn't seem like five years. Time passes at its own pace, not on our preference. I remember being stunned at how many people I knew and spoke with -- at that time -- seemed to believe the people in the Gulf Coast were responsible for their own experiences during and after the storm. "Why didn't they leave like they were told?" "They probably didn't know what a category five hurricane was..." "It was an evil city, with too much partying and drinking and gambling; they got what they deserved." Has it taken us five years to understand compassion? If you don't have a ...

In a recent conversation, this idea came up: "It's not realistic to believe in miracles, in the "forbidden fruit" of the garden of Eden, in Noah's Ark, in the Red Sea crossing, in Jonah's giant fish, in a virgin birth, in a resurrection...that sort of thing just couldn't be true." As I thought about this comment, here's what came to mind: don't we all believe in things that are not only un realistic, but sometimes unknowable? I believe in a national and international banking system I don't really understand. I'm trusting this system to maintain my money and make it available to me when I need to pay for food, housing, and transportation. The individuals who run this system work behind closed doors, and it can be difficult for me to learn their names. I can never get access to them. I believe in employers/investors who will make the right decisions when it comes to my pension or retirement funds. I'm trusting government offi...

There is no particular reason why I might read more during the summer than at any other time of the year. I have never wanted to take a book to the beach. I'd much rather enjoy people watching, eating, and conversation. Still, there are some books deserving of a second or third look from adult readers. For me, one of those is My Utmost for His Highest , by Oswald Chambers. It's considered a "classic", but that doesn't mean it's difficult or tiresome reading. This daily devotional can be read during the course of a year, or finished within a few weeks of reading. Take your pick; if you give yourself over to what Chambers writes, your life will be changed. Here's an excerpt, from the reading for December 28: ( copyright Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd .) "Except ye be converted, and become as little children..." Matthew 18:3 These words of Our Lord are true of our initial conversion, but we have to be continually converted al...

In the middle of graduation parties, wedding anniversaries, and the general celebrations following the end of a school year, I wonder if Father's Day gets its due. Father's Day was last weekend, and my father (Rev. Thomas Evans)passed in April of 2002, so I no longer attach a lot of significance to the rituals of "the day", but I do use this time to reflect on my relationship with my father, and why it continues to be one of the best things in my life. I am one of those people who decorate gravesites--not because I believe the deceased are necessarily looking down and smiling ( but maybe they are )--but because I think of a gravesite as a sacred place, a place from which those who followed Christ will be called at the resurrection of the godly. It doesn't matter to me if that "rising" happens in five years, or five hundred years. It will come. I am grateful for having had a godly--not a perfect--father. The general orientation of someone's life...

In the gospel of John (chapter 10), Jesus Christ describes himself as "The Good Shepherd." Those listening to him speak understood the powerful meaning of the analogy he used. He is the Good Shepherd: the One who never abandons the sheep, the One who leads the sheep daily and hourly, the One who fights off the predators, the One who provides food and care for those in his charge. Despite my best efforts and the kindnesses of others, I am sometimes a wandering sheep. There is no logical reason for my "wanderer" status. I can truthfully say I have never regretted following the directions, teaching, and world-view of Jesus Christ. I cannot recall a time when I was worse off for doing what he wanted. In summary: when there is a conflict, he is always right and I am always wrong. I know this--from Scripture, from observation, and from my own experience. Still, from time to time, I wander. Perhaps it is in the nature of sheep to wander. Sheep are not known as part...

Traditionally, Christians have been assigned the character and responsibility of living as "loving people." We are supposed to love our enemies and our friends. How does that happen, and what does it look and feel like? I must remind myself that without God, it really isn't possible for me to be a loving person. I can be a "nice" person on my own. I can be a "generous" person most of the time. I can be a "kind" person on a good day. But a loving person? Living as a loving person means I look at someone honestly. I think of what their needs are, not what my desires for and with them may be . I make a distinction between loving someone (an active process) and feeling loved (a passive process). How I interact with the other is determined more by what I believe is good and true, and less by how they treat me. Living as a loving person means I say "no" when "no" is the best answer, not just when no is the easiest answer. ...

"There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain: Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave he rose again! And as He stands in victory Sin's curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His and He is mine - Bought with the precious blood of Christ ." --from In Christ Alone , by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend What I am and what I become is no longer a reflection of what others have done to me. Instead, who I am is a reflection of what I do, what I choose, as I live with and in Christ. Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. Sin may land, but it cannot hold and it cannot stay unless I allow it. I may experience pain and unfairness because of my actions or the actions of others. Still, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. I can be cleansed, rebuilt, restored, and made whole over and over in Christ. Even in my own faulty choices, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. I can see my faults and failures--God will show them to m...