Easter Lilies

I grew up here in the Ozarks. My people are a mix of Scotch-Irish, probably some German and according to family legend Cherokee. My particular tribe were and are hard working people, who make work for a living and sometimes make work, just because they like to work.
We did live in an isolated holler in the hills, but my folks still talk the way their parents did, which to some is pretty hillbilly. We don't say "ya'll"  we say "you'ins" and we also have alot of other words in our vocabulary that we know what mean, but outsiders may not.
And we especially had names for flowers that we all grew.
As I was out this evening cleaning flower beds and trimming bushes I was reminded of how much I love the Easter lilies that are blooming in my garden beds. Now, you may say, Easter Lilies are not blooming in your beds, it's way too early and besides, who grows those outside? Well, Easter lilies I found out later in life, have a fancy name, jonquils. But to me those first flowers up, are and always will be Easter lilies. I don't know why they are called that. Maybe it is because they are usually up by Easter, or maybe it's because they represent Christ risen from the grave, seeing as how by the middle of summer they are completely gone and forgotten then suddenly in February or March they burst out of the cold grave of the winter ground and soon are nodding their yellow heads in the winds and sometimes snow of March. They are tough and they are beautiful and they give us hope that Spring truly is on it's way.
I'm happy that my Easter lilies are blooming. But just wait, soon all the 'flags' will be unfurling their unique flowers too. You know what those are, right?
Peace (and flowers) my friends.

Headline of the Day! Daylight is Saved!

So here we are day 3 of Daylight Savings Time, or CDST or some other acronym. Any body notice that it was still dark at 7am? I really don't get this whole concept. I used to think it made a difference, but now, I just dont' see it. Sure, because it got dark later I was able to get a 4 mile run in after work, actually after 6pm and still get back to the hotel before dark, dark.. But this morning as I drove the hills of 2 lane Arkansas Highway 412 and tried to make sure that everyone saw the stopped school bus and the kids waiting in the dark, I just wondered where the whole idea came from and where the madness will stop.
I know that time is something we believe we can control Unlike the weather, we can direct time. We can direct the sun to come up an hour later and go down an hour later. Right, we have that kind of power, HA!
What we do have is the power to organize our lives around important things and in our culture, time is the all powerful entity we all look to in order to, well, order our lives.
" What time will it start?"
"When you be here?"
 "Are you running late?"
"On time?"
"Check the clock, the schedule, the calendar...."
"When will it begin"( or end) ?
Looking at time as a controllable thing gives us a false sense of power. Although we can make a schedule and stick to it. And we can hit all the target dates for sales numbers, or holidays or attaining any goal, we still do not really control time.
We don't control when our life begins (which is also the countdown to our death). We don't control the time we will fall in or out of love or the time our kids will finally grow up. We can only suddenly realize at some time that our time is running out.
With the clock, we can make the sun obey our rising and retiring time each day, but we can make the days go slower, or longer? I think not!
 We must realize that each day is a gift ( man, is that an overused cliche' or what?).
So what do we do?
How about enjoying everyday as it comes earlier or later, and more importantly enjoy as much of each day as you can with someone special.
It's easy, just take the time.
Peace my Friends!

The Randomness of Spring.

Officially, on the calendar, Spring (with a capital S) is little over a month away. But if you have been by any of the big discount stores, you would think it is time to plant any and everything. The weather on Friday and Saturday were surely harbingers of the solstice to come, but the scattering of all types of weather on Sunday (thunder, wind, and hail) and Monday (rain, sleet, and snow and still the wind) were reminders that we exist in a world that we truly have no control over. The earthquakes are just a huge manifestation of that truth.
Weather is random, it seems, but we continue to forecast and attempt to out maneuver it when we can.
The planning for a natural disaster is not different than the planning for a disaster in a relationship, or a physical, medical or mental disaster. We can plan and calculate, but until the event takes place we really can't be sure we are ready enough.
The thing about all this uncertainty is this, we can be ready by realizing that we must be flexible. Being flexible is following the instructions of the Bible to not hold on tightly to things of this world, and that may even include our own or a loved ones' life. I'm not saying we should just go through life with an attitude that nothing matters because it will all be blown away, washed away or burned. I believe we should be so attached to Christ that when the random storm of the Spring of life or the blizzard of aging hits, we are able to hang on in the gale, not because of our solid rock foundation, but because of our lives being knotted to the cross of the one who died for us. So that in the storm instead of getting washed off the rock, we will flap in the wind, a flag of victory,  as a witness to all who see of Christ who holds us in all things.
Peace my friends.

Life is short, no matter how long you're here!

      It was a beautiful day. Spent the morning with Regina, morning date day, brunch at Scamblers and then some shopping at CPO. I was really enjoying the whole "spring is in the air thing" until about 4pm when I happened to look at my email and there was a link to the Springfield News Leader paper obituaries and a note from my just retired friend, Dennis, saying a Kraft retiree, Frank,  who I had know since I began working for Kraft had passed away last Tuesday. The funeral was yesterday, and neither Dennis or I had heard about Frank's death.  
     It was then, that I came to the present, not the future, and realized that on this beautiful March day, when I was happy, joyful and gleeful, planting flowers for spring and thinking way out there to summer, there were people everywhere who were sad. People whose lives will never be the same.
    I know we've all be attentive to the earthquakes and to the other natural disasters and man made misery, but so much of that is happening to people we don't know. But here was a man who I had just talked to about 6 weeks ago. He looked great and told us that he had given up his bad health habits and was enjoying life.
    I don't know the cause of death for Frank. He was 68 years old and had been retired for about 13 years.
I do know that his family is sad. I do know that I am sad that I wasn't aware, so I could at least attend the funeral.
The future is now . Live for today, for tomorrow has enough troubles of it's own waiting. I know that Frank wouldn't want us to be sad, but it 's our nature.
So say a prayer for Frank's family, say a prayer for the disaster victims and their families. Acknowledge your own mortality, be happy in life, everyday. Be sad when necessary, but know that God is with us.
Peace my friends.

The Future is Closer Than You Think.

      Last night I had the privilege to attend the retirement reception of  a close friend and co-worker Dennis Scharpf. As I sat listening to stories of people who had known him longer than me, I realized that the future both he and I had always talked about was here, at least for him. The time when work would not be the dominating theme of life, when vacation days would be like all other days, except perhaps for the change of venue, and the time would come, where even time would not have to be considered as frequently. One of his already retired friends pointed out that day light savings time would be starting this weekend, but hey, who really cares.
     I also realized this was the first of these functions I had attended where I was in the same age bracket as the person being honored. Yikes!
     It had been pointed out to me fairly recently that the time I have left to live, even from a very optimistic point of view, is less, perhaps much less, than the time I have spent getting to this point. This point in life, where somebody said we begin counting back from the end rather than counting forward from the beginning.
     So the future is closer than I thought.
     Really this is just a figment of my imagination. The future has always been right where it is, the next second, the next minute, the next tick of whatever clock.
    Here during Lent, we have set a countdown to the future, who will we be at the end of this countdown?
40 days (and Sundays) sounds like a long time, but it will go by in a flash. We will be living April 11 2011 in just 30 sunrises, 30 more sleeps, 20 more working days or 4 more TGIF's.
Many of us have spent our days looking forward that we have missed the now. One thing we can do during this 40 days(and Sundays) is to spend the now doing what is important now.
     My friend Dennis, the new retiree, looked to the future, but lived in the now. He always has the latest gizmo, and I have even been present when he ordered pie at lunch, to eat BEFORE, his burger came. I think that's how it should be.
     Life is short, enjoy it now, don't wait, eat your pie first.
Peace my Friends.

40 Days (and Sundays) and counting...

Ash Wednesday: Beginning of Lent. 40 days(plus Sundays) of change. For many giving something up. For others adding something. In both cases, the end is in sight, only 39 more days until.....
I wonder if when Jesus went into the wilderness after his baptism, he received a memo from God,   "Head for the wilderness, see you in about 40 days (plus Sabbaths)?
We probably believe that Jesus knew what was in store for him, but maybe he didn't. When he returned he started living his life differently.  (Check out Luke 4: 14-28) He became homeless, a drifter, a crazy preacher, and a person who people either loved or hated, not too many mentioned that just "liked" him.
So the question for us on this first Thursday of Lent are we counting down the days until we can resume our "normal life"? Only 39 days to have coffee back, or diet Coke or chocolate, or Facebook or television in an unending flow? Is that what these 40 days (plus Sundays) is about? Or will you like Jesus ( whose example you claim to be following) come out of the wilderness a changed and focused person? A radical perhaps?
 If you are changed it won't be because of a lack of caffeine, or sugar or mindless filling of your head with stuff, it will be because during these 40 days (plus Sundays) you let God fill that space, and you let God mold you into a different person.
So now, throw away that count down calendar to the end of Lent and see this 40 days (plus Sundays) not as a religious gap in your "normal life" but as the first day of the rest of your life...in Christ.
Peace my Friends!

40 Days (and Sundays)

Today is Ash Wednesday, 2011, March 9. It's really late for Lent to start and the next 40 days (and Sundays) can be a great spiritual experience, or not. Many people on Facebook and other sharing places have been discussing, stating and pondering just what Lent is to them. What they should or will give up, or what they may add to their busy schedules in order to have a time of closer contact with God.

Me, I'm thinking of giving up church for Lent.

I want to give up the idea my time spent in church "worshiping" as merely an exercise in participating in a primitive form of social networking. Old fashioned fellowship can be just "Facebook Live!" "Here I am!" "How are you?" yadda yadda..... Prayer "concerns" can be "holy gossip."
I want to give up the idea that my tithe to the church is just a form of "dues" paying like I'm in the Lions Club, Masons or Kiwanis or a church tax, to pay the higher ups (including the local pastor) or so we can meet our obligations to fix the furnace, the windows, mow the grass, keep the lights on. Somehow those don't seem like ministry to me at times.
I want to give up on making the appearance in church. Is it true that attendance is mandatory and will make a huge difference on how big our mansion in heaven will be. (I may not get virgins when I die, but I will get a house bigger than anything Hugh Hefner has!)
I want to give up on appearances in church too. Comparing what I wear to a.) what everyone else is wearing, and b.) what I wear to the standards of those who believe God wears a bed sheet, but American Christians should dress up.
I want to give up on the church having the cure to what ever ails the world. I don't know WHAT will make people not want to emulate Charlie Sheen*, I only know WHO, and I can't write a prescription for Jesus, but I can live like He leads me to and then maybe they will catch what I have. Am I doing that if I'm not at church?
I want to give up on the church trying to make all Christians the same. I don't believe the world needs or wants more than one of me, so I want Christ in me to show through so others will want to be like Him, NOT ME!
I want to give up on the church judging people. If we are the church, then this one is definitely in our court, but I know I can't do it alone so I'll let God work on that one for the next 40 days (plus Sundays). You might want to work on that one too (not to be judgmental or anything.)
I want to give up on the church theme of "pie in the sky by and by", and have Christ live in me now. This may include singing no songs in the next 40 days (plus Sundays) that include thoughts, lines, insinuation, or promises of what is to come. I think one of the problems of the church is it is a place of escapism. We need to live in the now not the later when we all get to.....you know where.
I want to give up that the church is all of the following: the answer, my home, my people, the only way to eternal life, a place of peace, a place of ideas, a place of enlightenment, a place of hope, a place of growth or a place, the only place for some, or the RIGHT place. No place can be all these things, but I hope it can become what it needs to be not what I expect it to be. 
I want to give up being a cynical Christian.
I guess I have 40days (plus Sundays) to let God work on that.
Peace my Friends.......btw *required Charlie Sheen reference for relevance sake.
Have a Ash Wednesday.