In Yoke

“Funny the way it isIf you think about itSomebody’s going hungryAnd someone else is eating outFunny the way it is, not right or wrongSomebody’s heart is broken And it becomes your favorite song”      ~ Dave Matthews Band Good and bad happens simultaneously. Everything under the sun—and some folks get the good and some the bad, and then vice versa. Life is generally a paradox. All along the way, the journey is laced with offsetting issues. Blessings and setbacks. Challenges and advantages. The encouragement of true friends and the sarcasm of untrue acquaintances. Hurts and soothing comforts. Disappointments, and happy outcomes. Successes and failures. Pain and pleasure. Jesus told a parable that may shed some light on this. The King James version name for this parable is the wheat and the tares’. "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds am...

The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.   – Brother Lawrence The mind has a tremendous natural capacity to dwell on things, and in repeating the Jesus prayer- “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner”- we are channeling this capacity to train the mind. It is the same capacity, only we are giving it a different focus. There is a story in the Hasidic tradition of Judaism in which a man asks his zaddik or spiritual teacher, “Do you mean we should remember the Lord even in the give-and-take of business?” “Yes, of course,” the rabbi replies. “If we can remember business matters in the hour of prayer, shouldn’t we be able to remember God in the transactions of our business?” In the course of transform...

A seeker once asked Bayazid: “Who is the true Prince?” “The man who cannot choose,” said Bayazid: “the man for whom God’s choice is the only possible choice.”   – Bayazid al-Bistami The Lord is extending the gift of Eternal Life, Abundant Life to each of us, but we do not reach out to take it because we are holding a few pennies in our hands. Have you seen infants in this dilemma? ... it happens at a particular stage of development, when they have learned to grasp but not quite mastered letting go. They have a rattle in one hand; you offer them a toothbrush, and for a while they just look back and forth at the toothbrush, then the rattle, then the toothbrush again. You can almost see the grey matter working: “I want that toothbrush, but how can I take it? My hand is already full.” Similarly, all of us look at the Lord’s gift of abundant life for a long while, asking “What is this? How do I know it’s real? Give it to me first; then I’ll let the pennies go.” The Lord patien...

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."-Johann Goethe

" Dwell on the positive...yielding joy and unity. Cynicism and negativity lead to anxiety, distress, and discord. This is a choice, not based on feelings, but on faith."                                  ~C. Sam Smith

One of our dear friends from Baylor days, Sandra Tindel, who lives in Tyler, came by on a Sunday afternoon recently just to catch up and have a visit. She is a genuinely positive, faith filled and prayer believing follower of Christ. The term indefatigable applies to her. She is a natural prayer warrior. Leslie and I, and our children- love her dearly, and she and her life mate, Andy Tindel, have loved us for over 30 years and that love has pervaded our children since they were born. They are their “Aunt Sandy, and Uncle Andy”. Sandy always seems to have a large bag with her, and has books, trinkets, call phones, and “God knows what”  in that bag. (It always seems to match her outfit.) Anyone who attended Whitney’s wedding in 2004 knows who she is—she is an accomplished pianist, and is musically gifted. Andy is a brilliant trial lawyer, but allows Sandy to take the spotlight when they are together. Andy is a saint in his own right. But, as I mentioned, Sandy takes the center st...

“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. ~Habakkuk 2:3 Vision —what a concept. In Proverbs 29 the statement is made—where there is no vision—meaning a prophetic vision--the people perish. Is that true for our church? Is there a prophetic vision? If there is, I have no idea what it is. But, I am convicted that I must wait, and faithfully work - even though I am clueless about what our vision is…and even though we as a people may perish—and experience more attrition, and loss of people in the congregation. The group appointed to be the “strategic planning” team—has written a vision statement, but it is not a vision. It is a statement of posture, of “where we are now”, in terms of what we want to be…but it does not offer a “vision”. Do we have a vision? Can anyone artic...