I had a dream early one morning.  In my dream I was writing.  What I was writing was this: “Why is it when my life is 99% good, my thoughts are continually drawn to the 1% that is not good?  Its like having a beautiful new carpet in the great room and it has a small wine stain.  My eyes are always drawn to the wine stain.  Why is that?  What should I do?  Move the furniture!”  I woke up wondering how I could ‘move the furniture’ in my situation.  I don’t have the answer yet, but I believe its worth thinking about.

Sometimes when traveling, my cell phone service is poor and cuts off on me.  Sometimes internet service is unavailable.  Sometimes I must not use the land line phone because someone is expecting a cell.

Thank you Lord, that your line is always available.  You are never busy and you never sleep.  I may talk to You day or night, from any location, and you are always listening.  Thank you for loving me that much.

Its a miracle the ancient scriptures were preserved so well and faithfully.  No other culture has such a vast collection of its ancient literature.  To think that Jesus read these scriptures is amazing and even more astounding is the fact Jews everywhere read these same scriptures today, two thousand years later.  Jesus gave credence to the Old Testament.  He quoted from nearly every book of it.  When He spoke about it, He spoke with authority.  Those were His Father’s words, God’s truth.  Since Jesus proved his own credibility through his miracles, his Resurrection from the dead and final ascension into the heavens, we can accept His assessment of the veracity of Old Testament scripture.

One of the more interesting questions you can ask a person is whether they have ever read the bible.  Most people haven’t read any of it.  You can follow up the question by asking why, but you probably won’t have to ask.  People will volunteer their reasons for not reading it.  You’ll get everything from “its too boring”, “its too hard to understand”, “its too long”, “its just a bunch of fables” to “its a waste of time”.  Ask if they can recall reading one book of the bible and which one it is.  They can’t remember.  They have written off the whole bible when it is, in reality, a library of 66 books.  There are books of poetry and history, collections of letters, prayers and visions. The history is more and more being proved reliable by archeological discoveries.  Why not just start with the book of Genesis?  Its anything but boring, or hard.  If a book seems boring, go onto the next one.  You’ll be a much wiser, more insightful person just for reading the books of the bible you find interesting.  In fact, you’ll be surprised how much it captures your interest, and how much of it you will read.  Just be sure to get a good translation.  We don’t speak King James English anymore, so reading that can be as difficult at times as reading Shakespeare.

I came across this poem recently:

Love has a hem to her garment

that trails in the very dust.

It can reach the stains of the streets and lanes

And because it can, it must.”

This anonymous poem really makes me stop and think.  I like to think of myself as a loving, compassionate person, but am I?  Do I mostly love the lovely, the cute, the helpless?  Do I love people who are really dirty and smelly, or do I cross the street to avoid them?  Do I love people who are loud and rude?  Do I love people who are demanding and unreasonable and act as though I somehow owe them help?  The dust and stains of the streets and lanes contain plenty of dirty, smelly, loud and obnoxious people.  Can I care for them as I would care for myself?

When you become older, there are many more funerals to attend.  My contemporaries are beginning to leave life.  I celebrated the life of yet another friend today, and it gave me a lot of food for thought.   A half century ago, I would have thought of this person as old, but today he is younger than me.  Where did the time go?  Life passes swiftly.  I was always told that truth when young, and I never really believed it.  But its true.  And I wonder, given the swiftness of life, what really matters, after all.

Here are some thoughts from a senior citizen on what really matters.  I write this from the perspective of someone who believes in eternal life with Jesus Christ.

1.  If  life is really about an eternity with Jesus and not so much about a rapidly ticking life clock down here, asking myself the question “How important is this issue in the light of eternity” solves a whole lot of worries for me.

2.  If all I can take with me is people and relationships, I want to be sure the people I love know Jesus.  If those who run from Jesus will persish, then being sure as many people as possible know Him is the most important issue of life.

3.  I would worry a whole lot less about my resume.  God has always used the willing, not the accomplished.  He always prepares people to do what He has planned for them.  Its impossible to prepare myself when I don’t know what He will eventually ask of me.  He knows, and He is already doing the preparing.

4.  I would worry a whole lot less about what I’ve accomplished in life.  God is accomplishing things through my life provided I am willing and obedient to what He puts in front of my nose.  Only as I am obedient to what He obviously wants me to do, will He show me more of His plans for my world.

5.  I would worry absolutely not at all about what people think.  In the light of eternity its not important at all.  Only what God thinks will last.

6.  I would worry less about the state of the world, how bad things are, politics and the economy.  God is still in charge, and unless there is a moral issue on which He wants me to take a stand, or a problem I can fix or someone I can help, I need to remember all this is passing away very quickly.

7.  My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing of all, since it will be the primary relationship in eternity.  I need to nurture that relationship ahead of everything else.

8.  I want to leave things to my grandchildren and great grandchildren that strengthen their own walks with Jesus.  Thats the one gift that will keep on giving after I have moved on.

I loved how the service was called a Celebration of Life.  For a Christian, its really more like a graduation than a death.  We weep because we will miss our loved one, but we also weep for joy because we know where they have gone.

I was exhausted.  It had been a six day workweek.  I was tired of performing for people, tired of talking, and had a long “to do” list staring me in the face.  Friends asked me if I would like to hike a new road, a “fire trail” up into the mountains.  I declined.  I just felt too tired and too overwhelmed by my “to do” list.  Later, they showed me pictures of their hike.  It was exquisite scenery, with lovely autumn trees, wildlife, and mountain scenery of the valley below.  I was immediately saddened at what I had missed.  Pictures didn’t begin to do this afternoon justice, I knew.  I wondered what would have happened if I had taken the hike.  I would have probably had to do laundry until late in the night.  Now, I think that would have been worth it.

Lord, being in the mountains yesterday was a time of worship.  It was so incredibly beautiful.  Yet these mountains were not always as they are now.  Volcanoes, earthquakes and glaciers shaped what we see.  Nor will they always be as they are now.  Boulders fall,  dam up rivers and create lakes.  Earth moves and rivers are re-routed.  Climate changes.  Wildlife migrates.  Then there are seasons.  The rushing streams of spring make way for the green of summer, the vibrant tones of autumn and finally life slumbers under a blanket of snow.  You didn’t just create a masterpiece and walk away.  You are directing a neverending epic of beauty.  You didn’t have to be so extravagant Lord.  But you are.

Once I prayed with great anguish:  “Lord, I’ve prayed and prayed for You to use me, and nothing is happening.”  The answer I received in my spirit was awesome.  I sensed the Lord saying to me:  “Child, are you willing to let me use you, even if I don’t reveal to you what I am doing?  If I use you mightily, in the dark so to speak, and you become aware of it, might you not become puffed up?  If you begin to think too highly of yourself, you may take over the work yourself and cease to be my servant.”

It may seem to us that nothing is happening in our lives, but that is not true, for God is never idle.  When it appears quiet, He is always working behind the scenes, preparing people and circumstances for His future plans.  If God has placed a dream in your heart, He will fulfill it.  If He delays, something is not yet ready.  It will be.  Just follow Him today and do those things He has put in your path today.  Perhaps you are doing a work right now of which you are not even aware.  We may be so surprised in eternity to find how mightily He has used us when we didn’t even know it.  It is, after all, all about Him.  We are simple servants.