NEW EVERY MORNING: There are many good reasons to get up early in the morning:
- I start my day at peace, in the unhurried presence of the timelessness of God
- I get to walk a couple of miles with Scout Labradoodle, and to be encouraged by her positive, life-loving frame of being.
- I enjoy watching the grass come in from the renovations on the golf course.
- I can bring Rebekah a fresh cup of coffee in bed, and welcome her into the new day.
LIFE-CHARGED BABY: Yesterday evening, just as we were settling down for the night, our daughter Naomi posted some photographs from her family’s beach vacation. I’ve got to tell you, my grandson offers a charge of life you can’t miss! Also, Naomi is learning to use her new camera really well. She’s mastered the trick – she tells me – of setting the timer to 10-seconds, making funny faces at David (and Craig) for 8-seconds, and then making a mad dash to get into the picture herself!
It not only does my heart good to see Naomi, Craig, and David enjoying one-another on vacation, it also reminds me of the way we were designed to engage this opportunity to “Live like we mean it” in our day-to-day lives. We may not be able to go on vacation all the time, but we can most certainly engage in re-creation on a daily basis.
That’s pretty-much what happens on my morning walks. By the time I return home and serve Rebekah her morning coffee, I have something wonderful going on to invite her into. I’d like to invite each one of my readers too.
BACK TO THE BEGINNING: I’ve said this before, and it was a foundational premise for my 2009 book, “The Unmaking of a Part-Time Christian.” But I see this experience of living faithful lives as “A constant movement forward… back to The Garden.”
By The Garden, I mean the idea of Eden, where relationship with God was as natural as chatting during a walk “in the cool of the day.”
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
This is a passage I quote often, and mostly because it is such a sad commentary on so many lives. And so, again, I’ll repeat the question from God: “Where are you?” (because we really should talk more).
– DEREK
Grandfather role,, most fun of them all!!!
Dear Derek, isn’t it wonderful to have such wonderful pictures from Naomi. They’re a real treat! And since the photos are from a vacation, that’s recreation (re-creation) time at its best.Hope you read my comment from yesterday. Further, when I was an English minor in college, I took a course called The English Bible as Literature. I know of no other book that contains such a breathtaking variety of literary styles from straight narrative to elegant parables, to the grand poetry of the Psalms, the odes, the history and the anthropological content about life and custom, etc. and when we consider the metaphors for God and the wealth of other imagery (similes, etc. which are certainly NOT literal–if everything was so totally literal Jesus would have been literally making the sounds of a young sheep because He is the “Lamb of God”. (John 1:29) metaphorically). And that alone defeats the ultraliteralists on consideration of the Bible’s more than ample use of pure figures of speech alone. Peace and Blessings, Henry
Thanks, Henry –
And, yes, good comments yesterday also. The idea of “Bible-believing” church is, as you say, tough to pin down. What is clear, however, is why the term is employed!
– DEREK
Dear Derek,
The term is employed because human beings everywhere have developed a host of “litmus tests” that are used against those perceived as “outsiders”. It’s a part of ethnocentrism, which, when taken to the extreme, yielded the “Aryan” extremism opf Hitler. The “Bible-believing” is used in that manner because if you’re not a literalist according to their standards, you’re certainly not a “Bible-believer”. It’s the proverbial “all-or-nothing, black-and-white” tactic. It’s similar to another tactic, the “born again” game. I’ve been asked if I’ve been “born again” and I simply respond “No, I got it right the first time!” by simply being born into a loving Christian family. You can just imagine the reactions I get to that!. Peace and Blessings, Henry
ALWAYS enjoy your writings and wisdom. Today I especially love the profile photo of Scout. Maybe a 5X7 or 8X10 is warranted!
You bet! My wife has already ordered one!