I'm not buying it

I think I need to take a page out of the history of the earth. The earth was hot at first, then cooled. As it did, life began to flourish on the earth. First it was in the sea; then came the flying creatures, then the huge reptiles. They disappeared. Next came several species of humans, the last of which was the species that modern people resemble. Over that period of time the earth continued to change. It went through periods of ice over much of the earth and through periods of heat and drought. Once a volcano erupted that nearly caused the human race to go extinct.

All that to say that sometimes we have to depart from childhood ideas and ideals. Circumstances around a person change. Sometimes huge changes take place that cause the world to "be a different place." A person, for example, who became an adult in 1930 went through so much change during the 20th century that his or her childhood didn't even resemble the childhood of his or her grandchildren. It was a different world!

And although it is the popular idea that the One who made the world and everything in it never changes, there's something about the history of the earth and the world that I was born into and that I will exit that tells me a different story. And I wish that the children of the Creator would allow God to deal with each of his children in the generation in which he was born instead of always trying to figure out the grand design and saying that they have captured God in some design that they have concocted. Or that the way the Creator dealt with his children of the ancient past is the way in which he deals with His current children. I'm not buying it (if it is for sale anywhere).

Subtlety

I was expecting something different. I wanted to see fire from heaven burning the sacrifice on the altar. I got taking the men to the river to see who wants to lap water like dogs so that they could remain in the army.

I guess it doesn't really matter what the manifestation was. The One who leads in a variety of ways knows which way fits the occasion. I was disappointed. But, He didn't focus on my expectations. He simply came and went in the hearts of each participant without the trumpet's flourish. I was a little vengeful in what I expected and wanted. But subtlety was the fare for the day. I have to trust that the One who leads His children home helped each participant grow from something almost so subtle that I missed it. But, I am not in control.

Anticipation of God's main business

Tomorrow will be a special day. 6 people will be meeting in order to heal some of the splits that have happened to them over a 2 1/2 year period. 5 of these people have worked together for this period of time. 1 person has been a member of the team for only 4 months. Words have been exchanged and attitudes have been exhibited that have split the group in its desire to work together.

What is touching is that God shows up for meetings where reconciliation is the main theme. He's the precipitator of such meetings, the sustainer of graciousness during such meetings, the center of any progress in human relationships.

So, I look forward to tomorrow's meeting. I know the One Who Mends will show up. He will heal. He'll guide. 5 people will enjoy camaraderie again. A 6th person will join the bonding experience.

Appreciating a gift

The language of Neanderthals could not have been too sophisticated. It resembled more what chimpanzees have been able to accomplish since the muscles allowing for speech (attaching the jaw to the temple area) were not placed in the same position as modern homosapiens. However, that does not mean Neanderthals did not have a communication system set up.

But, what good does language do if its generators use speech to destroy instead of advance a good cause. So, it causes me to pause on the Son of Man's words, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." It's not a statement about sophistication of communication. It's a statement about the use of speech. Since it is a gift to homosapiens, its use should be prized. No other creature in the animal kingdom can be justified or condemned by its use of words.

Communication war

So much of the job entails communication with others. It's almost like a war every day. Some of the battles in the war are lost; others are won. Those lost cause a great deal of time in validating why the battle was lost. The wins are simple and create no time in validation. Usually a battle is won. But the lost ones require so much time, one would think that is all that happens in a day's time. So, talk is not cheap. Winning communcation isn't cheap. A lot of it has to happen for progress to be made. Losing communication is not cheap because so much backtracking takes place. Talk is prevalent, but not cheap.

Spirit over vehicle

I had a good conversation today about uniformity. The particular item of discussion was whether or not a particular reading method should be used throughout the whole school district of the city I work in.

I hate uniformity. But I love zeal. No matter what method a teacher uses, if she teaches with zeal, the children in her class learn. We need to make sure that a teacher teaches with zeal rather than monitor what method (s)he uses.

It seems that with any business, the matters of a person's spirit are infinitely more important than the vehicle a person's spirit is required to fit inside. There's not a one-size-fits-all vehicle. People's spirits drive beauty or terror in whatever capacity they may find themselves.

Poised position

"Poised" is a position I desire to be in. I don't know too much about this position. But, I do ask the One who would like to use people to poise me in the right positions for His use. I guess He will use me when the right time comes. I don't always know if my position is poised or not for Him to use. But, I guess he will let me know when He's ready. In the meantime, I wait in position.

Memory Maker

Memories are what we are left with when a person leaves our presence. If we write those memories down for posterity to read, then we help others have a memory even though presence never occurred. Church history is replete with creating memories for us all even though none of us alive today lived with these former great people. Polycarp is my favorite. He seemed to have had awesome presence with the early Christians.

The story of how he died a martyr's death is inspiring. It has created an indelible memory in my mind. It helps get me through hard times. It's a story of commitment in the face of the ultimate sacrifice. That allows me to hang on to my commitment when I least want to carry on with commitments I have made. So, I thank the greatest Memory Maker of them all for perpetuating Polycarp's memory much past his hour of presence on the earth. It has helped me to stay on the path home.

A second note about spiritual language acquisition

ghoti

This is always a favorite example of phoneticians when they began explaining the sound system of English. The word above is pronounced "fish." How, you say? gh=f as in enough; o=i as in women; ti=sh as in imagination. Sleight of hand to be sure. But the example allows for discussion leading to establishing spelling rules in the English language.

So, would there be equivalent rules of spelling or pronunciation in the spiritual language code? For example, if a spiritual event happened for someone else, would it be safe to transfer that principle for myself if my circumstances are different? Or would that be like selecting gh to sound as an f at the beginning of a word. Or what about some of the cultural comments that Paul makes? Is the thinking today that a woman's hair is her glory? Perhaps a woman's brain is her glory today or her class status or her ability to cook delicious food or any number of things. Or what about the application of Old Testament ideas to the modern scene? Because Hezekiah received 15 more years for his life, does that mean we also can negotiate with our Maker? Because the last book of Daniel is a book written in 164 BC using a former Jewish hero and having him "interpret" visions that applied to the oppressive times of Antiochus Epiphanes, does that mean that the modern person should be looking for some kind of modern application of the book (usually explained by religious people as a prophecy for modern times)?

Problems learning how to read the English language have come to be known as dyslexia. It's a correctable condition. I'm wondering if compensation for dyslexics needs to happen in the world of spiritual reading as well. Biblical scholars abound. Maybe they could help us learn something about spiritual reading.

Is there a vote for spiritual reading?

Language acquisition of any kind is interesting to me whether it be 1st lanugage acquisition, 2nd language acquisition or written language acquisition. In several different forums lately I have been informed of steps to written language acquisition or reading. The steps are phonemic awareness, sound/letter correlation, oral fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. These are truly needed ingredients in order to read well.

So, I started thinking about acquisition to other "codes." What if there is a language of reading messages from the other (spiritual) dimension. What ingredients would that entail? Probably the same ones. One would have to be aware of the "sounds" of the new language. I suppose that would mean that a person is aware of the basics of God's hand in an event. Next would be the idea that God's actions are correlated somehow to our own. Next would be the act of seeing God's hand in action over and over. One would have to learn how to articulate new and old events well enough for others to understand it. And finally, one would fully comprehend God's actions in his own life and sometimes in the lives of others.

Maybe reading the other dimension's language with fluency is the same as wisdom. Maybe experience is a synonym for it. I don't know for sure. But, it's nice to know that there many, many fluent readers among us and that they can teach others how to read well. Perhaps, accepting the notion of a Creator is the step to be in a beginning reading group. And I am sure that he has much more success at teaching reading than the public schools. And I am pretty sure that he evaluates our ability from time to time. Thus, language acquisition and being a Christian in the world are synonymous.

Revealing what's inside

Being a linguist is the best job in the world. That's because analyzing speech is so fun. The Master Teacher said that people speak from the repostiory of the heart. That's the whole basis for any analysis I do. And it is so interesting to hear what is in people's hearts. Just today I heard someone making a derogatory comment about someone else because of regional vocabulary and pronunciation. I heard a presenter at a workshop make a plea/sales pitch for something she believed in strongly. Yet another person made some remarks in order to be positive about a situation that is irritating her to death. I had many more encounters than these but these serve to show that people's hearts are being exposed at every turn.

The derogatory comment was made to show the superiority of the individual. She needed the boost of herself. The presenter was proud of herself for fooling her audience with a little semantic witchcraft. She was blowing smoke because people allowed her to redifine some key educational concepts so that they could see their own goals more clearly (according to the redefined concept of education). She needed the job security. The last person was hurting over a situation and didn't want it to drag her down although she was spending more time on the matter than she wanted to.

I did reply to 2 out of 3 of these people to let them know that I knew what was on their hearts. The other person wasn't seeking a response, but charlatans never are. Words are dead give-aways to people and their thoughts. It's so fun. I guess the Master Teacher thought so too since he commented on it. There's a responsible side to this job too. But that's another blog's worth of words.

Say what is meant

I hear people speak many times, but just as many times, I hear reports of what people speak. It's not the same thing because I know that when speech is reported, that the teller only relates the gist of what was said through his or her own filter. I reacted to a statement of reported speech today. That's always a little perilous. But I knew I had to send a warning message of what I hoped was not said. I figured that if the teller had changed the wording, that she would get the message that I thought she had a poor choice of words. If the teller was accurate in the reporting, then the person she needed to carry the message back to would get the message of not being in denial, but accepting the results of her actions. Either way, I wanted to get a message across.

People don't expect that kind of reaction from me usually. They just think I need to listen to their version of a story. So, when I say something in order to send a message, they many times think that I am not a fair listener. But, since they are not expecting the response of getting a message about the report they just made, they make quick judgments about my reaction. In the end, it is a miscalculation on the part of those reporting someone else's speech. They find out that they need to choose accurate wording. But, that is the key to clear and concise communication.

To Him who is out ahead of me

I was called last Friday about a meeting that was to take place today. The one who informed me to prepare for the meeting, told me how vicious the people were who instigated the meeting. So, I was "loaded for bear."

The rest of the story reminds me of some of the fights that the Old Testament records that Joshua was called into. The battle lines had been drawn. The armies showed up, but God had laid all the groundwork and the Israelites routed their enemies. The Jericho takeover is a good example of this kind of story.

So, I showed up for my meeting. The person who had called the meeting was extremely nice. The people vicious people who instigated the meeting were equally as nice. They posed their questions, but accepted the answers. A resolution was made before the meeting's end. A more amiable meeting probably has not been held in this place. For a flash of a second, it seemed as if the groundwork for the meeting had already been laid.

In the old days of my youth, I would have let that flash of a thought go and looked for more earthly reasons for the meeting to have gone smoothly. But, these days, I pay attention to the flash of a thought. Of course, the groundwork had been laid. It seems that earlier in my life I had chosen to close my eyes to a recurring theme. Abram had the groundwork laid for him when he took his only son to the mountain to sacrifice. Isaac had the groundwork laid for him when he went back to his homeland to choose a wife. Jacob recognized the groundwork done for him before he met Esau. Moses knew that the pillar of fire was there to go before him into the wilderness. Joshua only had to march around walls for them to collapse. Jehoshaphat knew that someone had leveled the playing field for him before fighting one of his local enemies. Gideon conquered a huge army with only a handful of men because of the work ahead of time done for him. Even the Son of Man had someone who went before him to prepare his way.

So, call it scales falling from the eyes or something, but today I was supposed to have been led into a lion's den. I could not help but notice that someone was in the pit with me who had shut the lions' mouths. So, I say thank you to the One who goes before me on the way.

Trusting souls and sacred books

Once upon a time there was a book made that was added to over the centuries by people who lived over an 800-year period of time. It was considered sacred. After that 800-year period of time, a few other pieces of literature were added to it, but not many. Then, an event happened that divided history. It was reported that the Creator sent His son to earth to express His opinion about how life should be lived. Then a whole new sacred book was compiled that included the teachings of this son and how those principles were to be worked out in the culture.

I'm wondering why the sacred book was closed. One of the teachings of the son was that the Creator had put inside every trusting soul a conscience that would reflect the teachings. That's why the book should be added to continually. His spirit is not a retired author. Some modern people have been gifted to write. But, their books aren't sacred according to most of the trusting souls in the world. I think we ought to open the book and add some of the journeys of the modern trusting souls. They are equally as inspiring as some of the old stories.

I also think that if the book had not been closed, the bickering about meanings of certain of the sacred writings would have not continued at the level it is today. People would have accepted other writings from their own culture to argue about. Nonetheless, I think the Creator sent His son in order for people to just be inspired to live decent, honest, lives of integrity. And there are plenty of those stories if people would just notice or listen. I pay a lot more attention to the living spirit in people these days than to much debated passages from ancient texts, unless it would be to the teachings of the Creator's son. Then, this trusting soul is all ears.

In this world

The politics at the office are harsh and growing harsher. Scandals are breaking loose in Washington. Young people are being killed in public schools. A wall will be erected to keep our southern neighbors out if voted so by the congress. Terrorists are daily trying to enter our country to wreak havoc. Once a week I pass a wreck on the way to work. And in nearly every quarter destruction and wickedness seem to gain another inch of territory.

But, I walked in the park tonight in safety. My stomach is full. I can go to work from a house in which I slept comfortably. The moon outside is so full and bright and vibrant like its Maker. The earth is rotating on its axis. My son is in the safekeeping of my Father.

John 17
14I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world. 17Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth.

Divergent paths

Sometimes I think about my daughter's life. It has been so-o-o different from the one I lived at her age. I think about her childhood and see that she had a very different personality from mine. I consider her parents and see that they were so different from mine. I think of her brother and see that he was so different from my siblings. So, what should I expect? That she should be made in my image? She shares DNA, but she is still so different.

So, when I consider her future, I should see that it would be very different from the life that I have lived. But I don't. I wanted it to be different from what it is. I just want her to join me in the next life. But I guess the Maker of each person's path home is different. That's why I am left only to pray. I can't really guide her home. Her path is so different that I don't know what is ahead on her path. I merely make a request of her path Creator: Whatever is on her path home, let her see it clearly and act on it timely. Please make it so.