23-11-25 Red Canvas Bag ©Molly Lin Dutina
Most of the year you live in
A red canvas bag
Then we bring you home
From the clanging metal storage building
Straighten your limbs
Hang baubles of delight and memory on your
Prelit branches
You grace our home with extra light
Shielding us from the gloom of approaching
Winter short days
The night is less daunting
As you fill our room with a soft glow
Light of the Savior
Topped with His Crown of Glory
Light to save us from despair
My mother-in-law held what we entitled “Command Performances” with all the family expected to celebrate where she said and when OR ELSE. My husband determined we would never become like that with our children as they left home and began their own families.
Are you in the midst of decisions about when to celebrate with which part of the family? What day or time? Afternoon, evening, etc. It’s the most difficult time of the year! Just 12 seconds says it all!
Conversations run like, “Well, she had Thanksgiving at her house at the time of her choosing. She ought to be able to cooperate with our desire to have Christmas at our house on the 25th at 4:30!” And it spins into an uproar from there. But does it have to? We were stunned during Covid to have such abbreviated celebrations with anyone at all. Then as we came out of the pandemic there was hesitation because this family member refused to be with anyone who was not vaccinated and that family member refused any sort of vaccinations at all.
Perhaps this year we can adapt this sentiment from Brother David?
Gratefulness has three steps: not missing the opportunity, appreciating the opportunity, and using or enjoying the opportunity. By this method we come fully alive, full of joy, which is what we are all longing for.
BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST
So, let’s not miss the opportunity to be with others we care about with grace and love and acceptance. Maybe we will not get our own way as far as time, place or celebratory foods, but who cares? In the end we are together.
Appreciate the opportunity. In this time of wars around the world that is a wonderful gift in itself. A time to celebrate and share our lives.
And finally Brother David says using and enjoying the opportunity. Maybe this year we can truly express our love and appreciation to one another? This could be the year that son hears “I am really proud of you!” And that daughter “I love you dearly.” My parents have been dead a long time but there are others I can express my appreciation to. I bet you have others you can praise and show your appreciation for.
Brother David says this brings us fully alive, full of joy. And yes, isn’t that what we are longing for the most??
May you use every opportunity you have this year to be with the ones you love as a time for less squabbling and more love and a grand harvest of joy!
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:10 NIV
Urban dictionary says of this Hebrew phrase: “A reduplicative diminutive of oy expressing frustration or exasperation.”
The best laid plans for a schedule get blown to pieces by doc and dentist this week. Yep, Monday and Tuesday mornings have been my inviolable times to write. Dentist could see me at 11:40. Dermatologist can see me at 11 AM (her only opening all week), so I called dentist to take his 2PM opening, so guess what? This is my few minutes. Yep, I really need a new schedule. Especially if I am to continue being a volunteer to help sort and stock food stuff at Inter Parish Ministry on Tuesdays when Bob goes to work in their parking lot directing traffic. Drawing from my reading this morning …
O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus’ name. Amen
A W Tozer The Pursuit of God
“Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.” To be drawn anew into His love by mercy. What an enormous gift! Oh yes, readers, yield to Him and ask for a new work of love within you.
He is never more delighted than when we yield to His work of love within us.
God is a Person, and in the deep of His mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.
Tozer Pursuit of God
“The throbbing heart of New Testament religion,” I just love that! The church we currently attend places huge emphasis on how many are baptized each year. Tozer emphasizes “continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed person” as the HEART of the New Testament. Where is that taught? Once baptized what happens to those souls? Is their growth in knowing Him as celebrated as their decision for baptism?
This time of year we are many times seeking the perfect gift for another. Are we seeking the heart of the New Testament for ourselves? Continuous and unembarrassed interchange with the Holy One. Oh yes, Lord help me to make that our gift exchange this year!
What do you think God would want the most?
Nope, not something necessarily in a box. I think what He most desires is our unhindered yieldedness to Him. Our ears open to listen. Our wills yielded to obey. Giving Him our all because He gave all for us. Each one of us. Individually. Unreservedly.
I think God is amused by the following song written by Woody Guthrie and sung by Pete Seeger. If God has a mailbox this is what He wants in it the most!
Of course, you must find a box you fit in, someone to help you with the stamps on top of your head, etc. I hope the song plants the idea firmly in your mind that most of all God desires all of you as His gift.
I mentioned a while ago that I am re-reading David Adam’s book The Cry of the Deer. This chapter is entitled ‘Let Loose in the World.’ Those of us who know the Risen Christ have been echoing this message for many centuries.
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:25-27 NIV
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” He lives in you, walks with you,etc. He is let loose in the world, not just in one body, but in the bodies of those who believe in Him and yield to His indwelling. David Adam wrote: “In many ways the Celtic Church took the Resurrection for granted, because they experienced in their lives and worship the real Presence of the Risen Lord. When we are faced with the Risen Lord, to spend our time looking into an empty grave is a foolishness. Christ the Risen Lord wants us to walk with Him in the fullness of life. He is not a theory about death and survival, He is a Person to be encountered, a Presence to meet. He is the Resurrection. He is let loose in the world.”
Have you yielded to His Spirit, that He might indwell you wherever you go? Do you practice the Garden Song in your everyday life? “And He walks with me, and He talks with me”? Is Jesus let loose in the world through you? My mother taught my sister and me this song as we rode in the car. She always made me sing the alto part so we could harmonize. To this day I love this song and practice the sentiment it portrays. Maybe A. W. Tozer said it best?
Brandon Lake understands the concept!
The image above is the traditional one of this Bible story. Jenkins has given it a new and perhaps more accurate image? It certainly left a smaller hole in the roof!
Faith and determination are expressed here. Did you know that Director of the Chosen, Dallas Jenkins, and Brandon Lake cooperated on this video and production of some scenes of the Chosen, telling not only the story of the man paralyzed since birth but also the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 2 and Luke 8. The music video below is form Lake’s latest album entitled Coat of Many Colors.
Some of the lyrics are: Tear off the roof The King’s in the house Just get me to Jesus I don’t care how I don’t have to wait to get the healing I gotta faith without a ceiling So tear off the roof ‘Cause the King’s in the house There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus And He has more in the hem of His garment Then the camp of the enemy There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus I didn’t come here to hide in the crowd I’m pressing through to you I don’t care how Reaching out my hand to get the healing I’ve got a faith beyond the bleeding ‘Cause I didn’t come here to hide in the crowd Oh There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus He has more in the hem of His garment Then the camp of the enemy There’s power in the presence Power in the blood Power in the name of Jesus There’s power in the name of Jesus There is a life changing Grave shaking Dead raising power in the room Heart-healing Hell-stealing No ceiling power So tear off the roof
I am praying your faith determines to get to Jesus any way possible!
Earlier this week my post about Kentucky Bison went out with two of the same video. You see, my weeks have sort of become a mishmash and I have lost track of writing and posting. Maybe this is the new me?
I hope to get a new schedule for writing and posting. Until then, I may or may not post five times a week. Try to keep up! Oh, that was note to self?!?! LOL
How many times do we actually get to see the tongue of other animals? His lovely tongue was after the catalpa bean pods. (Underside is more white than this gray/black.)
Sort of like when you need just one more piece of pumpkin pie!
When we traveled the Dakotas in 2018 one of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing the buffalo up close. Custer State Park has a herd of about 1300 to 1500. Not as large as Yosemite, but accessible to tourists. Here is a short film of the Buffalo round up that occurs there each year. Listening to the conversation of the commentators I am amazed at the coordination. When the cowboy conversation comes up I wanted the commentators to hush, which they eventually did.
Recently PBS aired a special by Ken Burns on the American Buffalo. It was tremendous. I did not know the history of the military in trying to destroy the buffalo. They were hunted relentlessly and Americans in the eastern states wanted all sorts of things from the buffalo. The buffalo suffered and were butchered. The American Indians suffered tremendously. If you have not seen the special there is a link below. It is worth your time to watch.
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-buffalo/#watch
After watching both episodes by Burns I wanted to see the buffalo in Kentucky. Were you aware there is a small herd in Kentucky? The park is only about one hour from our house!
See https://www.nps.gov/places/big-bone-lick-state-historic-site.htm
Frankly I was amazed watching one trying to snag catalpa seed pods from under the fence (10 seconds of fast tongue) and drinking from a hole that filled with water .
We were blessed to see this the day before Thanksgiving. I am still rejoicing!
Doe Among Us© Molly Lin Dutina We entered the paved trail with a sure sense of adventure Had never before walked this path Not five feet into the woods Not five feet from the pavement Acutely aware doe watches us Husband looking at his camera settings I had to calmly say, “A deer, dear” Touching his arm to get his full attention. She started when he noticed her She stood and slowly began to walk away It was only then that we saw the fawn Resting calmly a few feet behind her How do they signal each other so silently? Before long a small herd stood Walked up the hillside Vanished into the honeysuckle shrubbery
“And they walked up the hillside” so camouflaged had I not seen them go up I might have missed them totally! Deer are common in our area, but I do not tire of them (unless of course they are eating my garden plants!) I think one reason I love the white tailed deer is that deer are mentioned so often in Scripture.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
Habakkuk 3:19 NIV
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
The blog opens with a painting by Ludolf Backhyusen used by the Ignatias.NYC in a newsletter.
In 1999 The Printery House published an icon called Storm on the Sea of Galilee. I was so impressed, I bought myself an 8 x 10 copy. It hangs on my office wall.
You could order 25 card copies at https://www.printeryhouse.org/ProdPage.asp?prod=PCA504&tracker1=REL. Also larger reproductions at https://www.printeryhouse.org/ProdPage.asp?prod=A04
I was asked to write a devotional for our crochet and knitting group of Convent Associates. I chose this icon and the meditation below. The Matthew 8 story seemed to be surfacing in many places all at once , so it seems timely.
I have been re-reading The Cry of the Deer by David Adam, Meditations on the Hymn of St. Patrick. At the end of chapter entitled “Death is Not Fatal” Adam has Exercises. This one goes with the icon!
Meditate on Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Make an affirmation by reading very slowly, giving meaning to each word. The Lord is my Shepherd . . .
Then read Matthew 8:23-27
Pause Be still and know that He is God and that He is present … peace … etc … Picture A calm lake, beauty, a lovely place. Allow a storm to hit it. A violent storm. The waves are wild, the wind is fierce. Trees are bending, branches are breaking. It gets dark. Things get worse. Things are really out of control. Chaos. Then . . . A still small voice. It pierces the storm and somehow triumphs over it. Peace be still. And there was a great calm. Who would have believed it a minute ago? It was like the end of the world . . . everything doom and disaster and now the still waters. Ponder This is not a picture of a lake. It is my life. Stormy, tempestuous, violent. Strange, unpredictable winds blow. Many a time we are in danger of sinking. So many storms are because we ‘go it alone.’ We do not call upon Him. And Jesus sleeps. “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry Everything to God in prayer.” “Save us, Lord!” they said “We are about to die!” Wake Him. Call upon Him. Know that He is the Lord and Saviour.” Promise To wake His Presence in my life. Promise to call upon Him in my need: “To Thy Cross I look and live.” Affirm: “With Jesus in my vessel I can smile amid the storm.” Prayer “Lord Jesus, the sea is so large and our boat is so small.” “Lord, save us or we perish. I arise today Through the strength of his death and burial.
I give absolutely all credit to David Adam for this meditation.
Our bluebirds seem to have left for other locations. When I was cleaning up the front flower bed recently I hung out a suet block in place of the dried mealworm feeder. The block was untouched for days and days.
This morning I noticed there were dents in a few of the edges. As I sit here writing a couple sparrows have come to feed on it. One was feeding and one was on the look out. So nice that the birds look out for one another! If only we each did that more in our circle of influence. Next time I looked up they were gone and a hawk was flying over. Truly, we do not feed the smaller birds as bait for the hawk!
The hawk lives nearby and we see it frequently.
The sparrows returned soon after the hawk flew over. There is one munching and watching me type now. I think he drops as much as he eats, but I have not looked to see if there are other birds below him that are being provided for. Do not want to scare him off!
He took off on his own. There are flecks of suet all over the ground. I suppose if other birds do not get them the vole or whatever it is that lives underground in my flower bed will come up for a fattening feast. I am fairly certain the vole cannot climb the iron post the suet feeder is hanging from. Guess even the vole deserves a feast now and then? Uncertain about that as it digs tunnels through my flower beds and under the plants, etc.
Oh phooey! I just asked the internet if voles can climb poles. Well, no surprise they have been studied climbing trees (which obviously have bark to cling to). But I had no idea until I read https://blogs.agu.org/thefield/2021/03/19/why-did-the-vole-climb-the-tree/
Click the link above if you want to learn more!
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,wild animals and all cattle,
Psalm 148:7,10 NIV
small creatures and flying birds
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 