One of my Thin Places

There were many people, events and concepts which impacted me at this year’s conference. However the skies over Ghost Ranch held the greatest impact because of what it represented. The weather was outstanding, just a little colder than last year, but still very doable. Thursday afternoon there were some clouds and a few snow flurries. Otherwise, it was this deep blue color.

Several times between sessions I would pass someone who said how’s it going. I responded “I’m trying to describe this sky.” I walked around all week looking up. It wasn’t just the color, there was a depth to it as though you could almost separate each hue of color. And there was the clarity. Every piece of landscape posed against it was magnified to show each leaf and twig. Over and over I asked, “how do I describe this sky?”

On the way back to the ranch Saturday morning, a phrase from Revelations came to mind, “like a glassy sea.” It makes sense doesn’t it; God’s sea could be our sky? Back at the conference I wrote the following just in time to get it into the conference’s daily newsletter.

The Skies of Ghost Ranch

The door to heaven opened this morning.

And the sky before me was like

a glass sea bringing each detail

of the landscape into crystal clarity,

And the rays of the sun mixed with the glassy sky as fire.

The light covered me, and I know, standing firm, I will stand victorious before your throne surrounded not by reflections, but the true splendor of Your Presence.

Rev 4:16, 15:2

Still, I couldn’t quite let go and thought about it all day Sunday as I drove. Why did the sky grip me this year? After all it was the same sky as last year. I’ve looked at last year’s photos and it is the same sky. The qualities I am writing about can’t be captured in a photo. Then I realized last year I hadn’t read Mary DeMuth’s memoir, Thin Places.

Mary says “Thin places are snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners of our world, where we might just catch a glimpse of eternity. They are aha moments, the beautiful realizations.”

Being at the ranch this year was a “thin place” for me. From my past experience, I came expecting to find God, and I did. My takeaways were not what I would have imagined. (I tried coming without preconceived notions, knowing this would be true.)

A positive takeaway concerned my home. I’ve been fighting an internal battle over my decision to move to this house a decade ago was on my terms, not God’s. I had a strong confirmation of this property being central to my creative process.

I had not planned on being confronted by my fears, but I was at every turning. My Pathways’ friends will recognize this theme for me. I wish I could tell you I faced them, and they are behind me. During the past few years the Rascal Flatts’ song, I’m moving on, is one I claim. Oh, how I long to be able to claim the first line, “I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons.” Let’s say for the moment, I have acknowledged my fears, and the deepest of which is my fear to be who God made me to be.

So, it was in one of the thin places of my life that God’s Spirit revealed these fears to me when He was the closest.

The good news is my skies back at home have a more translucent quality than before for me.

(By the way, Rascal Flatts has a new album out this week.)

The difference light makes

Friday night of the conference I had to come down from the mountain and drive to Albuquerque to attend a Saturday morning BSF leadership meeting. It was one time I could feel some similarity to Moses. I was anxious driving down the mountain and then into Albuquerque in the dark. Not being familiar with the road, I could only know the area my headlights illuminated. It was a relief when I could pop to my brights: my field of vision was expanded sideways, but not much more down the road.

What a difference Saturday morning when I returned in daylight. There was this entire, fascinating world stretching from horizons to horizons where the before I could only see one lane. What a difference light makes on the world.

Tom Davis and Flip Cameras

During the Fiction Track, Tom Davis encouraged us to use flip camera during our research. I felt guilty, since I had never used my flip camera. I took it out of my bag and shot some footage of the beautiful sky. My panning is a little shaky, but maybe the beauty will make up for my inexperience. Do you have a gadget around the house that you've never used?

Tom’s newest book is Priceless. He is CEO/President of the Children’s Hopechest.

The One Thing

During Book Proposal Blitz, Tama Westman reminded us City Slickers was filmed here at the ranch. Jack Palance kept hinting at “The One Things” through the movie driving Billy Crystal crazy because he never finished the sentence.

It set the theme for me through the rest of the conference. I heard speakers use the phrase all week. The one thing you need for good fiction. The one thing you need to be a miracle deliverer.

So what about you? What is “the one thing” you need today?

Tama's site is A Write Start Communications

The 2010 CLASS Christian Writers Conference

The CLASS conference was the reason I was in New Mexico. This was my second year to attend this conference. Each of the writing conferences I have attended offer their own unique flavoring making it difficult to rank them against each other. This conference not only provides high caliber technical sessions and professional opportunities but also challenges your spiritual life. My suite mate summed up the best when I asked her what she was taking home, “I didn’t expect it to be so personal.”

One of the highlights this year was leaving a published author. I think we all politely smiled at the thought and had our several potential submissions under our arms.

We did pull together an anthology of stories, poems, and essays “out of the overflow” and Winepress expects to have it available before Christmas. (I’ll put out more on the book when it is available.)

I highly recommend this conference. It’ll be back at the ranch next November. Click here for information

First Day of my trip Nov 8-9 2010

The drive to New Mexico is longer than one person can make in one day, but trying to wedge a week long trip between my BSF commitments is challenging. I left as soon as I could after my Monday night BSF class and drove to Wichita Falls. I find the hardest part of any trip is getting out the metroplex. While it might seem like I snuck out of town in darkness, this leg of the trip went well and got me on the road. The next day I headed out early, I needed to be in Abiquiu by 4. (The change to mountain time was in my favor.) Near Amarillo, there were cotton fields. I am not sure if I have ever seen cotton at harvest time. If I have, it was a long time ago. I hoped there would still be fields unharvested on my way home, when I can take some photos. My home place was once a cotton field I think. I know the there was cotton in the area of Georgia where grandfather grew up. Seeing the cotton fields resonated with me. And harvesting it looked as ugly as we have heard.

I stopped in Amarillo for the necessities of life and auto. The the fast food store had one of those height yardsticks by the front door causing me two reactions. As someone with vertical challenges I wondered how tall you had to be to eat here. Quietly, I was glad I wasn’t there at midnight.

Just north of Santa Fe I hit a stretch of about 20 miles where I saw no signs of life. A little eerie coming from a major metroplex. Tumbling tumbleweeds were the only movement and I am not sure how much life dry twigs represent. In Espanola, I was grateful to have my iphone to help me navigate the turns. Still, I went through a diamond area of town about 3 times before I got headed in the right direction. Espanola is also the place where you call your loved ones and sign off from the connected world. From a worldly perspective it is like going to the dark side of the world.

I made it to the ranch in plenty of time to register, dump things in my room, have dinner, take part in the pre-conference prayer time and finally to bed.

The Door Knocker

I pound the door knocker, “Hello, I want to come in”

“What? No, you haven’t found the door, go away...”

I pound the knocker again, “Have, I have found the door.

Listen, I am knocking on it”

“No, you can’t be. You are

too young,

too short,

too white,

too clever,

too deep,

too talkative,

too serious,

too funny,

too positive,

too depressed,

too religious,

too liberal,

too conservative,

too imaginative,

too silent,

too thirsty,

too independent,

too needy,

No, you are not like us.”

I pound the knocker again. “But I am like you, Look, flesh - dirt and spit and spirit”

“Neither our scans or codes match. Not this time, not this portal. Vanish”

I stand at the door and knock.

Wednesday night -- Spiritual or Religious

Yesterday my nephew and I spent time together doing mutual favors. I asked him if he had a date for his sister’s upcoming wedding.

“Nope, my girlfriend dumped me.”

I sighed. “Neither, do I.”

He laughed out loud.

“Why did you laugh?”

“I guess I don’t think of you like that, you know dating”

“How do you think of me?”

“Like a nun, you are so religious.”

“Being religious doesn’t mean I don’t want to date, besides I think of myself as spiritual not religious.”

Would you believe he has a joke for women who think they are spiritual not religious?

What about you? Do you consider yourself spiritual or religious? Do you find yourself excluded by either label?

What I did Monday

What I did Monday, Nov 15

This is awkward to talk about the end of the trip, first. but here we go...

I spent the majority of Monday finishing the last leg of my drive home. Even though it was early in the afternoon, I found myself in a lot of traffic through Ft. Worth. I am acquainted with the roads, but navigating to the correct lanes challenged me. Finally I sighed with relief as I made the turn to the final stretch of highway, a road I know well. Before the relief wave flowed to my toes, I felt my back straighten and my voice said, “Oh, no I’m home.” And that other voice said, “That’s right, you’re home. It’s easy to make promises when you are a way from old familiar patterns and people. Are you going to keep the commitments you made?” Even though I travelled almost 2,000 miles in the last eight days, the hardest part of the trip starts now. The old rubber hits the road scenario. The commitments I made cover the spectrum from writing everyday, to change attitudes, greater surrender of my will, overcoming my fears...We will all see what I do,

Send me a friend request if we haven't already connected.

Ephesians 5:22-33

I am away from home this weekend at a writing conference and missing Sunday School. One of my sweet Sunday school members quietly mention how convenient for me to out the week the passage included the dreaded “S” word.

In my young adulthood, I studied submission hoping to find something I catch reconcile to my own beliefs. Truthfully I wanted to find Paul’s error. Instead I found Peter used it too. It only takes two sources to change conjecture to truth. This was a major setback for my theology.

I reconciled these passage into my doctrine along these lines. No where does it say for women to be submissive to men. The passages indicate there is only one man to which a woman submits, her husband, I can live with this, (especially if I do not have a man in my life.) It also showed me the importance of making the right choice of a man to be my husband. Much like when the old knight says in The Last Crusade ‘Choose wisely.’

Here is what submission looks like to me. My partner says “Jump”, I do and later ask where the snake was. I respond, confidently knowing he is acting in my best interests.

If we concentrate on the emotions arising from the implications for marriage partners in these passages, we are able to sidestep the real challenge of this passage. So I have to ask, are you submitting to Jesus? Be careful before you answer. Consider the standard Jesus set for us, His place in heaven, His death on earth. Until we are willing to submit to the Trinity, we will never be able to model the marriage patterns set in this passage.

What would your relationships be like of you could model this pattern in your life? What will you to let go of in your life to fully submit to Jesus? He is waiting.

Time Change Weekend Ephesians 5:15-21

Ever wonder if God has a sense of humor? For those of us studying the second half of Ephesians 5 this Sunday, it seems pretty clear. Why else would we be studying a verse admonishes us ‘to make the most of the time’ on fall-back time change weekend (Eph. 5:16, HCSB)? Isn’t this the weekend we plan on sleeping an extra hour? It is as though, Paul reaches across the centuries and turns on our alarm clocks.

Time Change, an interesting ‘man’ concept, isn’t it? Man controlling time for his benefit. In every aspect it’s purposes are opposed to the will of God; one more hour to work, one more hour to play. Busyness every where. (Ever notice how close the words busyness and business are?)

The concept is attributed to Ben Franklin in a parody to his proverb “Early to bed, early to rise...” where he suggested the French would do well to rise an hour early. There is something wrong with my life being controlled by a parody of the French.

It speaks to the Puritan values of working hard that have become our American dream. Don’t waste. Use all the sunlight. Keeping working to move ahead.

Paul goes on to remind us to understand what the Lord’s will is. Fortunately, our Lord calls us to relationship rather than work, rest rather than busyness. Our first call is to bring ourselves into the right relationship with our God. Living full of the spirit, we can reach out to others singing spiritual songs and giving thanks to the Father.

This time change Sunday, who will you reach out too in songs of praise and thanksgiving? Is there someone in your contact file for whom you need to stop your busy world? Will you share the hour you gain with them?

Let me know what you think.

The Future Kingdom

In that day --

the days will be beautiful

sweet peace will fill the land

no machines

no toil

butterflies will soar everyday

no allergies

the flowers will bloom

all seasons will be tolerable

no doctors

no hospitals

no pain no more

each animal will be domestic

trees will clap without the wind

the praise of rocks will roar

each man will look eye to eye

heart to heart

no hatred

no war

love, that’s all

Jesus, our Prince

will stand in glory

Some thoughts on Isaiah 10

In this passage, Isaiah reveals God’s minor plan for Assyria as it relates to His major plan for the cosmos. These verses also reveal God’s character to be consistent with His purpose. Not only are God’s actions consistent through out history, they consistently work toward His purpose of bringing His children back into a right relationship with Him.

The Northern Kingdom or Israel behavior proved they were out of relationship with God. They called on other kingdoms to support them and relied on their wits. They failed to respond to any of the warnings God had sent them. God brought the Assyrians against them in the hope they would return to Him for help or be disciplined to recognize their faith was placed in the wrong things. God continues declare a remnant will return to fulfill His promise to Abraham.

In his pride and arrogance the Assyrian king failed to recognize his part in God’s plan. Believing they were the most powerful force in the cosmos, he stepped beyond God’s plan seeking the destruction rather than the conquest of other nations. Using God’s foresight, Isaiah brings an indictment of Assyria’s actions which will eventually bring God’s wrath upon them. Assyria will march through the land, but will be stopped at Nod, within sight of the temple. Then they will be heard of no more.

And what about us? The good news is God’s plan to bring His children into the right relationship with Him continues for you and me. God is in control of all the cosmos. It is so easy to forget this in a world where we make time, light, communications, and relationships convenient for us. A world where ‘the American Dream’ trumps all, doesn’t leave much room for reliance on God.

God’s plan for the cosmos will happen. What role we will play is a simple choice. Will we stand, like the Assyrians in our own power and be stopped within sight of His temple? Or will we turn, and call out to the One Who Loves Us and be reconciled?

More information on the ministry efforts to the Chilean Miners

One of my friends received this message from a partner in ministry and it is to good not to pass on.

I just received this from a Campus Crusade missionary in the Philippines and it was too good to not pass on to you. Maybe you’ve already seen this fun story.

Once in a while the world is riveted by good news...like others around the world, we in the Australia have watched with anticipation as the amazing rescue effort for the 33 miners has unfolded, ever so slowly, and has finally come to an amazingly smooth conclusion. So here is the story you may like.

But one of the stories behind the story has been the work of the Chilean Campus Crusade for Christ ministry to reach out to and encourage the miners -- even while they were still trapped hundreds of meters below the surface.

Some weeks ago, our national director in Chile, Christian Maureira, initiated contact with the rescuers to offer moral and spiritual encouragement to the miners. Although the rescuers initially were hesitant to allow contact, eventually they realized that they needed all the help they could get to keep the miners' spirits lifted and to create an environment of hope.

The Campus Crusade for Christ ministry provided MP3 players with the Jesus Film audio, and large portions of scripture, for the miners to listen to. It turns out that there were believers among the miners, and they had daily prayer meetings together twice a day. One of the miners, Jose Samuel, wrote to Christian Maureira from inside the mine to thank him for the MP3 materials. Some of his comments were:

“I want to express my appreciation for this great blessing for me and my co-workers, it will be very good [for] our edification” (referring the MP3’s)

• “I am well because Christ lives in me”

• “We have prayer services at 12 a.m. and 6 p.m.”

• “I ask all of you for pray not only for us here, but for all the lost people in the world”

• At the end of the letter he signed off with Psalm 95:4 “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and mountain peaks belong to him”.

Upon reaching the surface, many of the miners were wearing the tee shirts given to them by the ministry, with the Jesus film logo on the sleeve (see attached picture), and with Ps. 95:4 written on the back. Many also made their first words upon reaching safety praise and thanksgiving to God for His sustaining grace.

We know they still a long road of readjustment to overcome. Please pray for them. And pray that the story of their faith in God and the role He played in their rescue would be used for God's glory around the world.

Finally Completed my State Coin Collection

I've been waiting for this moment for almost 3 years now. I completed my state quarter collection today! (at least those from the Denver Mint). When the quarters first came out, I decided I would collect only those coins I gained in commerce. I was doing pretty well until my cancer treatments in 2003. Even after that year, it took a couple of years for me to care about checking my quarters when getting change. I've been waiting for a South Dakota coin for several months now.

The book I bought to collect the coins in has a section for 'D' coins and a section for 'P' coins. The Denver are much easier to come across in the Dallas area, so I still have quite a few wholes on the 'P' pages. But I do have a complete collection, so yeah!

This is also exciting because this was one of those projects that was impacted by the cancer. Something that was put aside as I dealt with those issues. Now completed, it is another step away from that time of my life, another step toward health

Me on Google earth

I had a bizarre moment today. I was on Google Maps today planning a trip. I clicked on the camera for my home address. To my surprise, not only was it a photo of the street in front of my house, I am in the photo! Evidently, I was working out at the street when the Google Earth van drove by my house. I am carrying a load of brush to the driveway. What are the odds of that happening?

I am a little blurry, but my chair and wheel barrow are very clear. Of course it is exactly as I would want to be remembered - working! (It would have been terrible to have been caught in the chair!)

A Call to Write

To all my writing friends --A call to write, write, write!

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers of books being published every year. Especially if you are following agents and publishers. As a new, unpublished author it would be easy to allow ourselves to sink into the throws of what’s the point, the world doesn’t need any more stories, let alone mine.

My courage has been renewed this week listening to commercials for upcoming movies and TV shows. Did you catch the theme? Robin Hood, The A-Team, Hawaii 5.0.

People are desperate for good stories! It warms the writing soul, doesn’t it? It reminds me of a great quote from The American President. It speaking about leadership, but I think it works for good stories, too.

They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.

So let’s get cracking and fill the world with good stories of hope for our lost and dying world.

Of course, if they bring back The Rockford Files and or Magnum, I’ll be there.

(Writing this has allowed me to escape for a few moments from writing my story!)

Review of LIFE IN DEFINACE

I have to confess. While waiting for the release of LIFE IN DEFIANCE, I kept imagining different ends to Mary DeMuth’ s Defiance Texas Trilogy by casting the town’s characters in the role of the Daisy Chance’s killer. I played this character game to avoid facing the the real question; will any sense come from sweet Daisy’s death?

In LIFE IN DEFIANCE, Mary returns her readers to Defiance, Texas for the trilogy’s conclusion. While Defiance is a place where we have all passed through, we would never intentionally stop at the Hap and Ouisie Pepper’s house. If we were walking on the Pepper’s street, we would walk by on the other side. If we were driving in the neighborhood, we might make an extra block to avoid their street. It is a house full of more than its share of secrets.

Mary opens the Pepper’s front door for us, places Ouisie’s size nine shoes on our feet and walks us into her tormented life of quilt and confusion as she seeks the answers to the questions that have been haunting her and the rest of the town.

As the cost of Daisy Chance’s death changes everyone in town, Life in Defiance is an appropriate end to the Defiance Texas Trilogy. It is a beautiful story of how an individual’s redemption comes through acts of community. For Mary’s readers, the real mysteries will be discovering who in town will be redeemed and who will be lost.

Here is the link for the book on Amazon:

LIFE IN DEFIANCE

I received a free review copy of Thin Places from Zondervan. Nevertheless, I do not write positive reviews unless I believe in the what I am endorsing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Poem for 21century love - a work in progress

IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.

PROGRAM-ID.

LIFE0001.

DATE-WRITTEN.

16 MAY 2010.

ENVIRONMENT DIVISION.

INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.

FILE-CONTROL.

SELECT LIFE-BEING-FILE ASSIGN TO MORTAL-READER.

SELECT LIFE-CHANGES-FILE ASSIGN TO KARMA-READER.

SELECT LIFE-FILE ASSIGN TO DESTINY-PRINTER.

DATA DIVISION.

FILE SECTION.

FD LIFE-BEING-FILE

LABEL RECORDS ARE OMITTED.

01 PARTNER-REC.

05 NAME.

10 FIRST PIC X(10).

10 LAST PIC X(20).

05 GENDER-TYPE PIC X VALUE SPACES.

05 AGE PIC 999.

05 EDUCATION PIC XXX.

05 EDUCATION-STATUS PIC X.

05 ALUMNI PIC X(20).

05 FATHER.

10 FATHER-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 FATHER-LAST PIC X(20).

05 MOTHER.

10 MOTHER-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 MOTHER-LAST PIC X(20). 05 MARTIAL-STATUS PIC X.

05 NUMBER-OF-MARRIAGE PIC 99.

05 NUMBER-OF-CHILDREN PIC 99.

05 JOB PIC XX.

05 WORKING-STATUS PIC X.

05 EMOTIONAL-STATUS PIC XX.

05 HOUSING PIC X.

05 TRANSIT PIC X(10).

05 YEARLY-INCOME PIC 999,999,999.

05 BIRTHDAY PIC X(12).

05 CURRENT-CITY PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-STATE PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-ZIP PIC X(10).

05 FACEBOOK-STATUS PIC X(30).

05 TWITTER-STATUS PIC X(30).

05 DATE-OF-DEATH PIC X(12).

FD MALE-PARTNER-FILE

LABEL RECORDS ARE OMITTED.

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05 MALE-NAME.

10 MALE-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 MALE-LAST PIC X(20).

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05 AGE-OF-MALE PIC 999.

05 EDUCATION-OF-MALE PIC XXX.

05 EDUCATION-STATUS-MALE PIC X.

05 ALUMNI-MALE PIC X(20).

05 FATHER-OF-MALE.

10 FATHER-OF-MALE-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 FATHER-OF-MALE-LAST PIC X(20).

05 MOTHER-OF-MALE.

10 MOTHER-OF-MALE-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 MOTHER-OF-MALE-LAST PIC X(20). 05 MARTIAL-STATUS-MALE PIC X.

05 NUMBER-OF-MARRIAGE-MALE PIC 99.

05 NUMBER-OF-CHILDREN-MALE PIC 99.

05 JOB-OF-MALE PIC XX.

05 WORKING-STATUS-MALE PIC X.

05 EMOTIONAL-STATUS-MALE PIC XX.

05 HOUSING-MALE PIC X.

05 TRANSIT-MALE PIC X(10).

05 YEARLY-INCOME-MALE PIC 999,999,999.

05 BIRTHDAY-MALE PIC X(12).

05 CURRENT-CITY-MALE PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-STATE-MALE PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-ZIP-MALE PIC X(10).

05 FACEBOOK-STATUS-MALE PIC X(30).

05 TWITTER-STATUS-MALE PIC X(30).

05 DATE-OF-DEATH-MALE PIC X(12).

FD FEMALE-PARTNER-FILE

LABEL RECORDS ARE OMITTED.

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05 FATHER-OF-FEMALE.

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10 FATHER-OF-FEMALE-LAST PIC X(20).

05 MOTHER-OF-FEMALE.

10 MOTHER-OF-FEMALE-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 MOTHER-OF-FEMALE-LAST PIC X(20). 05 MARTIAL-STATUS-FEMALE PIC X.

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05 WORKING-STATUS-FEMALE PIC X.

05 EMOTIONAL-STATUS-FEMALE PIC XX.

05 HOUSING-FEMALE PIC X.

05 TRANSIT-FEMALE PIC X(10).

05 YEARLY-INCOME-FEMALE PIC 999,999,999.

05 BIRTHDAY-FEMALE PIC X(12).

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05 CURRENT-STATE-FEMALE PIC X(20).

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05 FACEBOOK-STATUS-FEMALE PIC X(30).

05 TWITTER-STATUS-FEMALE PIC X(30).

05 DATE-OF-DEATH-FEMALE PIC X(12).

FD LIFE-CHANGES-FILE

LABEL RECORDS ARE OMITTED.

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05 CHANGES-NAME.

10 CHANGES-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 CHANGES-LAST PIC X(20).

05 GENDER-TYPE-CHANGES PIC X VALUE SPACES.

05 AGE-OF-CHANGES PIC 999.

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05 EDUCATION-STATUS-CHANGES PIC X.

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05 FATHER-OF-CHANGES.

10 FATHER-OF-CHANGES-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 FATHER-OF-CHANGES-LAST PIC X(20).

05 MOTHER-OF-CHANGES.

10 MOTHER-OF-CHANGES-FIRST PIC X(10).

10 MOTHER-OF-CHANGES-LAST PIC X(20). 05 MARTIAL-STATUS-CHANGES PIC X.

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05 NUMBER-OF-CHILDREN-CHANGES PIC 99.

05 JOB-OF-CHANGES PIC XX.

05 WORKING-STATUS-CHANGES PIC X.

05 EMOTIONAL-STATUS-CHANGES PIC XX.

05 HOUSING-CHANGES PIC X.

05 TRANSIT-CHANGES PIC X(10).

05 YEARLY-INCOME-CHANGES PIC 999,999,999.

05 BIRTHDAY-CHANGES PIC X(12).

05 CURRENT-CITY-CHANGES PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-STATE-CHANGES PIC X(20).

05 CURRENT-ZIP-CHANGES PIC X(10).

05 FACEBOOK-STATUS-CHANGES PIC X(30).

05 TWITTER-STATUS-CHANGES PIC X(30).

05 DATE-OF-DEATH-CHANGES PIC X(12).

FD LIFE-FILE

05 LIFE-ACTIONS PIC X(300).

WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.

05 MORE-LIFE-CHANGES-SW PIC X’. 88 YES-MORE-LIFE-CHANGES PIC X VALUE ‘Y’.

88 NO-MORE-LIFE-CHANGES PIC X VALUE ‘N’.

PROCEDURE DIVISION.

LIFE-ROUTINE-01.

OPEN INPUT LIFE-BEING-FILE

LIFE-CHANGES-FILE

OUTPUT LIFE-ACTIONS.

READ

PERFORM 100-LIVE-LIFE UNTIL NO-MORE-LIFE-CHANGES.

100-LIVE-LIFE.

READ

My Mark

My Mark - my challenge

Last week another friend wrote about her Mark and its impact on her life. While my heart broke as I read of her struggles, her message converged with principles flowing into my life from other places and made me face my own Mark. My Mark, those beliefs I hold which keep from from accepting God’s love for me, is insignificance. I always feel as though people look beyond me, as if I were invisible. Nothing I can say or do makes a difference.

In the last few weeks of John, there is choice of accepting or rejecting truth. My leader asked this question, ‘where in your life are you not submitting to the truth you have learned?‘ We read Romans 1:25: They chose a lie instead of God's truth. They worshiped and served created things. They didn't worship the Creator. But he must be praised forever. Amen.

I always believed this was a passage where Paul was truly writing to the Romans, not to me. But when I hold on to all the old beliefs about myself, listen to the tapes that play over and over in my head, I have exchanged God’s truth for a lie about my own life. In doing so, I am listening and following a voice other than God’s. What a sobering discovery this has been for me.

Even with Jesus in my life, I built so much of my life on these falsehoods. Now, seeing the truth, I still want to hold on to them. They are what is comfortable. I prove Paul’s point, I chose the lie over the truth.

At this crises of faith, I find myself thinking of a scene in one of the last Left Behind books. Chloe is forced to stand in a line where she will have to make the ultimate choice take the mark of the beast or face the guillotine. As she moves closer to her destiny, her fears are replaced by God’s power and peace. I find myself taking Chloe’s place in line. When I face the beast and chose death, he says, “Isn’t that odd, you’ve willing bore my mark this long.”

Dear sweet Jesus, I can only let go of these lies through the power of Your Name. Fill me instead with Your truth, Your peace.

My thoughts on the Lazarus experiment

After Easter, a friend of mine under took what he called a Lazarus experiment, to spend 40 days living as though he had a second chance at life. Here are my thoughts on my own experience.

There is a camp of those who are not sure that Lazarus was all that happy to be brought back to life on this earth. They asked what did he do with this chance at a second life. We only see him mentioned once, at a dinner. He was not apart of the apostles actions recorded in Acts. There were threats against his life by the Jewish leaders, which has all sorts of irony of its own.

We are not sure where he came from, where did the old testaments saints go until the time of Christ’s victory over death. But for the sake of argument, let’s say he was in heaven in the presence of God. Then Jesus plucked him back here on earth. It is a let down. Backed to his crazy sisters who you couldn’t please at the same time, back to the unbelieving world that would kill the Son of God, back to the toil of living outside of the garden.

The draw of heaven is so strong. I know from my own experience with cancer. I was able to say if I am healed, that’s good, if I die I am in God’s presence, it was a win-win as far as I was concerned. But the more I said it, the more I longed to be released of the day to day grind of this world and bask in God’s presence. And I have heard this longing in other people who have had near death experiences.

I am healed and so I deal with living in this world. The last verse of In the Garden speaks to me “I’d stay in the garden with Him, tho‘ the night around me is falling: But He bids Me go, thro‘ the voice if woe; His voice to me is calling.” Just like Mary, I can’t cling to Him in this world, but I can learn to bask in His presence amidst His earthly creations as I go and tell.

My ‘7 year‘ Lazarus experience is learning to do that, to bask in the land of the living. Two scriptures drive this life for me. First, the Psalmist words “Be Still and know I am God” teaching me to wait for GOd’s direction. And then Jesus‘ words in Matthew 5:48 “Be perfect.” It has been so painful for me to realize that he didn’t say ‘do perfect, ‘ but ‘be perfect.‘ The only way I can achieve that is by letting go of myself and letting Jesus live in me. And all I can take is baby steps toward this lifestyle.

In respect of Dorothy Height - this is significant

Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 - April 20, 2010) was an African American administrator, educator, and social activist. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.

Presidential Proclamation -- Death of Dorothy Height

DEATH OF DOROTHY HEIGHT

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As a mark of respect for the memory of Dorothy Height, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that, on the day of her interment, the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on such day. I further direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA