Perspectives

Traveling home last week, I had a layover in San Francisco. As I watched, I wondered where so many people were going, and looked out at the diverse types of airplanes as they landed and departed one after another. I began to think large planes are splendid, fast, and spacious reaching destinations such as London, Paris, New York, and Tokyo in a matter of hours; while their lesser turbo-prop counterparts [of which most do not like to fly] are slow and often noisy. Nevertheless, they are just as purposeful, and despite appearances, can get us in and out of places their larger contemporaries cannot.

Similarly, our faith’s walk causes us to misguidedly assume the same. Some churches are grand; with stained glass windows; accommodating hundreds of people; awe-inspiring choirs, accompanied by angelic solo voices; every imaginable instrument; and a lively pastor who can expound upon the intricate nature of scripture in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

On the other hand, a rural and unfamiliar church that rarely a passerby can recall; dated pews; worn song books; and the sound of locomotives passing mid-sermon; an out of tune piano; the aged choir member that only remembers the first verse of “Rugged Cross.” Our untrained ears lead us to believe one is better than the other, but to God it is a sweet unadulterated sound of earnest praise. The anonymous pastor [except to the towns people] stands before the lectern, absent of any fanfare, intently opens the Bible, and shares the simplicity of John 3:16, Jesus’ death and resurrection, the urgency of salvation, and God’s enduring love for his people.

God’s people will go where God is present! Not for the purpose of seeking religion, but in answer to prayer and Salvation.

Suppose we almost make it to heaven. Where does that leave us? We have the recipe (the Bible), but the ingredients are all wrong (what we pour into ourselves). There was an old credit card commercial whose oft quoted phrase was "Mastercard...don't leave home without it." So absolute was the message that we had to have it, if for nothing else as a measure of clout or status. The same applies to our faith walk, we need all that God is offering and can ill afford to be without his presence in our lives. A baseball players swing, with two outs and two strikes at the bottom of the ninth, two trains rapidly approaching a junction within seconds of each other, the audacious nature of the Titanic upon the waves of the Atlantic. Each occurs within a fraction of a second or is achieved by the narrowest of margins. We likewise find our lives full of opportunity and near misses, just barely avoiding catastrophe, even if it is by mere inches. It is then we discover the fullness of God’s enduring grace. We, none of us, should nearly miss heaven.

Drafting is defined as the practice of two or more cars, while racing, to run nose-to-tail, almost touching. The lead car, by displacing the air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the nose of the following car, pulling the second car along with it. While independent in nature their success is interdependent [co-dependent].

I love watching NASCAR, but only on the large ovals where the cars can take full advantage of their speed as they zoom around the track at more than 200 miles-per-hour. My favorite racers are Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and of course my dad [no he wasn’t a racer, but he often drove like one]. Prior to the use of regulators in 18 wheelers and when CB (citizen band) radios were the 70’s equivalent to Facebook, Instagram, and Tik-Tok, we routinely traveled the vast emptiness of interstate 10, between California and Texas. My dad would slip behind a truck or two and [draft] our way from one destination to another. It was supposed to save on ethel [gas], but I am not quite sure how much, and ease the stress of travel on our family vehicle. He'd get on the radio and say, “breaker 1/9, breaker 1/9, just passed a smokie [that’s highway patrol] at mile marker such and such”, as dust devils littered the road with tumble weeds [yes, they are real, but jackalopes aren’t]. His handle was the "Jolly Green Giant". On one occasion I recall, and we still chuckle about it today, we [my mom, brother, sister, and grandmother] zoomed past at lightning speed the well-hidden highway patrol, tucked away under an overpass. The flash of blue and red lights and the whir of the siren was sudden as my father came over the radio and said very disappointingly “breaker 1/9, breaker 1/9 I got a smokie on my tail, this is the [Jolly Green Giant] breaking it on down”. So, we have our father to blame for our love of fast cars and our understanding of how [drafting] works.

Today’s podcast is titled

Not on my Own

(ep. 39)

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?

12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

I realize more and more that the entirety (the sum of everything, all encompassing) of my hope rests in Christ Jesus. We have hope in our physical strength, engaged in daily physical activity, visiting nutritionist, counting every single calorie, but that strength soon fades and the frailty and limitations of our bodies is revealed; we may have hope in our academic prowess, attending the best institutions of learning, grasping the complexity of science, languages, and the ability to achieve the greatest of engineering feats, that too does the same; we may have personal associations with the very elite of society, that grants us an audience with royalty, dignitaries, and nation’s leaders, but they, just as well fade into the chronicles of time. Who will remember us for our personal achievements, those that we’ve consumed unto ourselves and for our own prosperity?

Today’s podcast is titled

My Hope

(ep. 38)

Jeremiah 29:11

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.

There is nothing wrong with being materially wealthy, there are such throughout the whole of scripture, namely Abraham (Genesis 13:2), Jacob (Genesis 30:43), Joseph (Genesis 47:14), and Job (Job 42:10), but as demonstrated so faithfully by these and so many others, it was never designed to serve as a substitute for our humanity. Their faith, their hope remained in God alone.

Life is often complex. We never quite understand is why some appear to suffer so much, while others are unaffected. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. I don’t know why it is our nature to proclaim our greatest accomplishments: graduations, new jobs, births, marriages, and the like, but guardedly, as if to protect our dignity, we are silent, when the circumstance is unfavorable: when school isn’t going well, when we lose a job, when a family loses a child, or an outwardly perfect union ends. It does not mean that the later are celebratory events. There are times when we must rely on others, we that are in Christ must bear the weight of our brother’s and sister’s burdens.

Traveling to work one day a conversation began with a wealthy co-worker that expressed his frustration with the homeless situation in a well-known city he lived. Because he considered them unsightly and a nuisance, his suggestion was to round them all up, like herding cattle, and drop them off in the desert, out of sight and out of mind. I explained, that’s not right you can’t do that as the conversation went back and forth. I do not believe the conversation was fruitful, because he was simply expressing what was in his heart.

Emissary: [noun]:

A person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative.

There are many people that I consider ambassadors of faith, each playing a significant role in my faith’s journey and who I've become, they include my mother and father; Annie Anderson, Marinell and Arthur Ludd; Georgia and Henry Ross; Mary and Harold James; Dr. E.V. Hill; Chaplains Burke and Eason; William Champaign; Pastor Charles and Deborah Bloom; Brother Terrell Williams; Sister Maxine Davis; Pastor Rick Krist; Betty Weatherspoon; Chaplain Jason Duckworth;  Pastor Gerald and First Lady Wilcoxon; Pastor David Author; Dr. Robert and Mary Fairley; Dave and Daisy Clark; Peggy and JL; and Mary Potts, all of which I consider pillars (spiritual strong towers) when it comes to exhibiting the highest ideals of our beloved faith.

Likewise, there was a young gentleman named Safir, meaning ambassador or emissary in Arabic, who I worked with for more than two years. Although he had very little, in terms of valued possessions, and was often very reluctant to take from others he never failed to come bearing gifts on behalf of his family. Always giving from what they lacked and never asking for anything in return. From fresh baked bread, known as Nan, to the beautiful cultural garments his mother handmade for my grandchildren Rufus and Honour. Yet what I admired most about Safir is both his grace and his humility as he went about serving as an emissary, as one who acts solely on behalf of the king, or in his case the honor and dignity of his family. As I departed for the last time and bid him farewell, tears filled his eyes and mine as he simply said on behalf of his family; “God bless you.” Some listening may ask what the significance is of mentioning my grandchildren by name and I will answer twice, names carry with them significance, and secondly whenever I speak to Safir, even today he does not ask, how are the grandchildren, he mentions them both by name, giving them the highest regard.

I often ask myself, am I an emissary of the king, do I possess the attributes that are directly attributed to whom I proclaim to represent. I am close, but Safir’s illustration demonstrates I still have a way to go. I can only hope that I’ve impacted his life as much as he has mine.

Philippians 2:19-30

I spent several days this week working on what I believed to be two appropriate messages and while they may have been considered timely, considering the magnitude of events that unfolded this week in Afghanistan and Haiti, as we witnessed first-hand the images of thousands of fleeing people, and the tragedy of others as they desperately boarding planes to leave their country. Amid our differences, let God be the judge, and may grace, humility, and love abound in each of us. Rather than listen to me pontificate, or engage in the never-ending argument of who is right or wrong, when our perceived judgments completely miss the mark. 

I believe for today it is ok to just pray. Today’s episode is simply titled: “A Prayer”; Psalms 116:2; 1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

Nothing prepares us for death, we can’t anticipate it and abruptly reverse its course, and it every so often happens when least expected. It is after all inevitable. I attended two of funerals recently neither of which were easy to comprehend. When they occur, unexpectedly or not, the feeling of hopelessness takes hold, as we earnestly yearn to fill the emptiness of our hearts. Death has an air of finality, a point in which there is no return, when the clouds of darkness literally seize upon our lives and the providence of God's hand seems so far away to be of any consequence, too distant to fix it.

So many things occupy our time, as our lives are filled with the need to accomplish or achieve, … to prove or disprove, … but it does not provide closure to the most consequential matters of the day. For some troubles are brief, … while for others they are sustained, enduring for what characteristically appears to be a lifetime. Life’s sufferings are complex and do not always have simplified solutions or neat endings. One’s affliction is not always the consequence of wrongdoing, just as one’s exuberant display of wealth has nothing to do with their uprightness. … We get this wrong too often. … During my brief time away from you, I have encountered both the brokenhearted and the oppressed, … people simply wanting to matter.

The Bible is full of hope and promise, comprised of 31,102 verses, 929 chapters, and 66 books, however, being okay is not simply responding, “praise God”.

We will all have days, perhaps years (for some) of darkness. Yet it is reassuring to know that scripture does not ignore or minimize our sorrow. Rather, when we’re brokenhearted, Scripture speaks to us with genuine empathy and profound hope.

Perspectives is currently revising ways to improve its content and our methods of communication, for the next three weeks, to broaden its outreach. Additionally, we are exploring the use of Youtube to integrate as a visual aid to meet the needs of our hearing impaired audience.

During that period we will continue to offer weekly scripture and prayer.

Thank you for your patience.