Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. . . ( Proverbs 3:5-6)

Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and He answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the Mulberry trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the trees, move quickly because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines (2Samuel 5:22-24)

David is famous for many extraordinary feats, most notably his encounter with Goliath. By the time of the incident of the mulberry trees,David had defeated the Philistine army once, and other armies as well. David had reigned as king for more than six years, doing battle every year. He had fought the Jebusites and taken Jerusalem for his royal city.

It seems almost beyond belief that the man who had led thousands of soldiers into battle would seek God’s council on every detail of his approaching encounter. David was a seasoned warrior, a general who had won many and varied battles, who was at home on the battlefield when he stopped to inquire of the Lord, not only whether he should engage the enemy, but how and when.

This story seems to me to embody the real greatness of David. It is the greatness that Jesus spoke of to his disciples on the night before he was arrested: The greatest among you should be like the youngest; and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:26) With these words, Jesus could have been describing David himself at the moment that David did in fact, hear the marching in the trees. In that moment David moved according to his Lord’s direction, and followed that direction to total victory over his enemy. No one accused David of weakness or of being a coward. David’s strength was a gift that he always acknowledged.

Reading from Proverbs to David’s victory, to the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, we can hear the unmistakable message from the Word of God, Trust the Lord with all your heart. David’s life and his reign, and God’s promise to him to preserve his inheritance for all time, find fulfillment in the birth , life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When we trust the One who made them, these promises find fulfillment in us, as well.

Love in Him,

Prue

In his Spiritual Diary, Pope St. John Paul II wrote that “The Scriptures are the library of the heart” for Christians. When I read that, it resonated with me, because of the rich and wonderful variety of material the Scriptures contain, that deals with the deepest concerns of human souls; and though very deep, the material in the Scriptures is amazingly simple and amazingly powerful.

Simply reading a passage from the Book of John triggered the conversion of St. Augustine, (345-430 AD) a Christian saint accepted today as a messenger of God by most Christian denominations.

Who has known the mind of Christ so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) The mind of Christ is given to us in the Scriptures and applied by the Holy Spirit of God. For a long time I wondered how St. Paul could write that “We have the mind of Christ”, until I remembered that Jesus’ mind had been tried in the most severe circumstances by Satan in the wilderness. (Luke 4:2) While he was physically reduced, not having food or water for a prolonged period, Jesus had to rely on his mind alone to function when confronted by the evil one. His strength and his source came from the Scriptures themselves. Even though his enemy could quote scripture,it was Jesus’ one and only weapon to defeat the enemy. He used it with clarity and purpose when he said, “It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone” and, “It is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only,” and, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ( Luke 4:4-12)

All of Jesus’ other faculties must have been depleted when his mind responded to Satan’s taunts. Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture was his one resource, and it didn’t fail him.

When St. Paul wrote, “We have the mind of Christ,” he was not making a riddle or a puzzle of any kind. He was writing literally the truth that Christ’s mind was full of Scripture, to the extent that he could defeat evil itself. When he had no other strength than his knowledge of he word of God that is available to each of us. He did have the advantage of full and complete belief in the scripture, and especially in his Father God. All this is available to us as well. The Holy Spirit, in which the Scripture is washed, can work in us fresh life, as he worked conversion in St. Augustine when he read from the book of John. As ST. Paul affirmed, we,too, when we open the “ library of the heart,” can have the mind of Christ.

Love in Him,

Prue

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all patriarchs of the Hebrew people, were shepherds by occupation. They each acquired wealth and status in their worlds, and were each the early “chosen” ones of God. Their descendants would receive the distinction of this “chosenness,” and multiply into a nation: Israel. The prophet Hosea, speaking for the Lord God, said, “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.” (Hosea 9:10)

In Moses’ time the people of Israel traveled as shepherds for forty years.

Shepherding had a strong imprint upon the Israelite people, and it continued to be a bond with their God. The sacrifice of lambs was at the center of their worship. At the birth of Christ, the shepherds were gifted with the angelic announcement of the arrival of the promised child.

It should be no surprise that Jesus, in response to the Pharisees’ disbelief, would speak of himself as a shepherd: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep . . .I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:11&14)

Jesus’ choice of the shepherd should ring true to the descendants of Abraham, placing Jesus in the line of those embraced and “chosen” by God. Jesus, a carpenter, was revealing his unique relationship with God to the people who should have been able to understand his words, but didn’t. Jesus had just performed a miraculous healing upon a man born blind, who was being questioned by the Pharisees : “We know that this man (Jesus) is a sinner!. . . the man answered, “Now that is remarkable! We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. . . If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:30-31)

Centuries earlier, the shepherd king David wrote of the bond between the shepherd and his sheep, a Psalm that has reached every corner of the world; the twenty third: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . He restores my soul. . . surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The man born blind recognized his shepherd.

Love in Him,

Prue

When my parents bought the house where I grew up, my mother found in the cellar, on a dusty shelf, a glass toothpick holder which looked as if it might be an antique. She brought it upstairs to the kitchen, washed it, and left it on the kitchen table. That afternoon one of her cousins visited, and, seeing the little toothpick holder, said, “Mildred! I didn’t know that you collect toothpick holders! That’s quite pretty. I’ll tell Aunty!” “Oh!” said my mother, “I just found that in the cellar and brought it up to wash it.” She could have spared the breath it took to answer our cousin, because the next thing she knew, the relatives were giving her tooth pick holders. Aunty had a small antiques business, and was delighted to have something to give her niece for birthdays and Christmas.

Mom never said, “I don’t really like toothpick holders,” so all of us children and our grandmother assumed that she was starting a collection. I even made a toothpick holder out of clay for Mom. In time she amassed a very large collection of glass and ceramic toothpick holders for which my father made shelves to display them. Mom seemed to like them, but I don’t remember anyone ever using them. They were an easy gift to give, not hard to find, and came in an variety of shapes and colors.

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) I believe that most of us from time to time pursue activities or friendships or even occupations that lead not to joy and fulfillment, but to disillusionment and disappointment. When Jesus spoke of “freedom” he was addressing all the ways in which we are tied to unfulfilling relationships or activities. He was telling us of an enduring joy that is so deep that it extends into eternity. It is not half one thing and half another, but whole, abiding goodness that feeds our souls: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. . . As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ( John 15:5&7)

My mother had a great fondness for little children. She had five of her own. The things she really liked to collect were German Hummels, small figurines of children in many activities. When she looked at them, they brought her joyful memories.

Love in Him,

Prue

Of all the living things created by God, human beings are the only ones who bear His “image.” They are also the only ones who daily fight the battles between good and evil in themselves , sometimes winning for good, and sometimes losing. Plants and animals suffer, but they do not sin. God’s angels do not sin, but witness much of the suffering from sin on earth, and sometimes do battle among supernatural beings. (Daniel 10:20-21) Evil exists, and humans experience it, and sometimes practice it, and sometimes with God’s help, defeat it. In this struggle between good and evil, we are joined by the Spirit of God, making us the closest to Him of all creation. In fact, humanity is the very object of God’s love and commitment. The prophet Isaiah spoke the words given to him by God: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will never forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. . . ( Isaiah 49:15)

When the time was perfectly right God sent His son to Mary to join humanity and enable the world to witness the length and width and depth of His love and commitment to humanity. By giving Jesus and allowing him to die at the hands of God’s fallen creatures.

Jesus, who, though human, had never sinned, knew his Father God well, and used his time on earth to display God’s character and very presence on earth. He famously said,

God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3: 16-17)The key , and most difficult part, was the saving, for Jesus had to embrace the cross on which he died.

Not everything about God is known to us, but when God speaks in Scripture of His own heart, the furnace is revealed in Him toward us. David wrote, “I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.”

(Psalm 52:28) The apostle John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!

(1John 3:1)

In all times, and especially in times of uncertainty, it is good to know the One whose love is able to fill eternity.

Love in Him,

Prue

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came one night to visit Jesus. He said, “Rabbi,. We know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform the works that you are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3:1) Nicodemus was rewarded for his remark with Jesus’ words concerning the second birth: “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” ( John 3:9) Nicodemus believed that Jesus came from God, but that God would work a change in a person was news to Him: “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. (John 3:3) Nicodemus believed and may have witnessed some of Jesus’ works of healing and feeding great crowds. He recognized the power of God in Jesus, but could not imagine what it meant for himself or for the Hebrew people. Nicodemus received some of Jesus’ most visited words: For God so loved the world that He gave His only son. . .”

Almost three years later on the evening of Jesus’ arrest, one of His own disciplesasked Jesus, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” (John 14: 8) Jesus answered him, “Philip, believe me when I say that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me: or at least believe the evidence of the works themselves.” (John 14:11)

Nicodemus did believe that the works of Jesus were from God, but he had not yet been able to see what it would mean in his own life. Philip witnessed the works, but did not yet see the connection between the living God and the person of Jesus. Jesus pointed out the works to Philip as an avenue to believe in him, and to begin to see what the disciple Peter saw: that Jesus is the son of the living God; and that someone entirely new had walked and lived with them.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, when the disciples saw and ate with him, they knew that the thing that only God could give, He was now giving to them. They knew that Jesus’ work was his cross, and by it he had opened the door to eternal life to ordinary people. The stories of Nicodemus and Philip are bright lights in the paths of today’s Christians. In that light Nicodemus found the courage to request Jesus’ body, and provide a tomb. Philip found his work along with the other disciples preaching and teaching about the risen Christ.

In a world full of contradictions, such a path is truly a gift to us from them and from their God and our God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Benhadad’s officers said to him, “The Israeli God is a god of the hills; that is why they won ( the battle) . But we can beat them easily in the valleys.” (1 Kings 20;23)

The Lord’s message to Ahab, the King of Israel,was, “Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is the God of the hills, but he is not the God of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands.” (1Kings 20:28) Benhadad was the King of Syria who planned to march upon Israel and dominate the country and destroy King Ahab and the nation.

When I read the story of the Syrians and the Israelites, I thought how very ignorant Benhadad’s officers seemed concerning Israel’s God, and even concerning their own gods. The story contains some ironies. Ahab, the King of Israel, had witnessed Elijah’s dramatic challenge of the Baal worshipers on Mount Carmel. Ahab had also been visited by one of God’s prophets who had informed him of God’s plan for his victory over the Syrians. It was Ahab’s first victory in the hills that convinced the Syrians that they could win in the valleys; and God’s statement to Ahab that enabled him finally to defeat the Syrian army for good. Nevertheless, Ahab did not respond with obedience to God ‘s saving presence in his life.(1 Kings 21:20)

I believe that, strange as these ancient people’s beliefs may seem, we Christians of this generation are as divided in spirit between the hills and the valleys as they were. In good and happy times we feel confident and even joyful, but in the valleys of life sometimes we lose sight of our God and believe that He just can’t help us.

Ahab had no reason to believe that God could or would help him, but he believed enough in God’s messengers to follow their instructions and win two decisive victories, freeing his nation from the oppressive threat of Syria.

Today we have powerful messengers in the Bible itself. God spoke to us when He demonstrated that He is the God of both the highs and lows of our lives. When we despair and feel separated from all the good in the world, yet, he is not absent. The victory that He supplied to one who proved unfaithful, is ours in even greater measure. God rescued Ahab for the sake of His own name. He gave us the name of His son who has promised eternal rescue.

Love in Him,

Prue

My brother once had an electric train when I was about seven years old and he was eleven. The train was set up in the basement on large sheets of plywood. It had multiple switches, and an ever growing “layout” that fascinated me. I wasn’t allowed to touch the train, but I often visited it in the cellar. For Burr’s birthday and for Christmas I went to the hobby store and poured over the plastic trees and a bench to be placed in his layout. It’s likely that he never cared for them as much as I did.

When my husband Jack ‘s parents retired to Florida they gave us the family electric train, a 1950’s American Flyer with more track than we could use, and lots of cars, and a tunnel. We eventually assembled it at Christmas time and our daughter was delighted. Since then it has been part of our ritual to “put up the train” around Christmas time. This year we will add a feature that I had never seen before. It is a black and white cow that walks onto the track, causing the the train to stop, then slowly backs off the track again. The novelty of it inspired both Jack and me to add it to the layout.

The project has grown to include houses and a church, a school, people, a skating rink, and a sledding hill. Our grandchildren help put it together, and it has become a tradition. It brings to life an imaginary world, that reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books.

It was by stories that Jesus revealed his Father’s kingdom to the people of Israel. In stories he taught about justice and mercy. He displayed the enduring love of God in the Prodigal Son, the reality of a “neighbor” in the Good Samaritan, the assurance of justice in the “Unjust Judge,” and the conscientiousness of the five virgins out of the ten, who brought enough lamp oil to the wedding. These are only a few of Jesus’ stories, but they form avenues by which we come to know their Creator.

The imagination is a powerful gift from God. It enables us to understand things we have not actually experienced,and to perceive meaning in the things that we do experience. Jesus asked us to use our imagination when he talked about God’s “Judgment”: I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. . . Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Mathew 25:36)

There is truth in all of God’s stories.

Love in Him,

Prue

Four cats, a mother and three kittens, have found our patio a place to rest, and since Jack started to put food out for them, to have at least one meal a day there. They are quite pretty cats, and very feral. They’re shy of us and run when they see us, but not so far as to miss seeing if we have left some food and water for them. The mother cat is thin, but all three kittens seem well fed, so we have concluded that they are probably being fed by other neighbors also.

This has presented a real dilemma for us. At first we thought that the mother might be passing through and we were just helping her on her journey, but when the kittens showed up with her, it appeared that they might be scouting for a permanent residence. We were told the “animal Control” will not come for them unless we have them “in custody”, but the thought of dooming them to extinction is a tough one for us, not to mention the problem of catching them in the first place. I believe that the mother is a very proficient hunter, and has lived at least partly on birds and lizards and other prey for quite a while. The kittens are past the stage of being nursed, and so they are probably learning to hunt as well.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds, and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25)

One of Jesus’ most powerful metaphors is the image of the sheep that know the voice of the shepherd: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27)

Jack was able to call to the mother cat, and she would come for the food he provided.

Watching the cats behave like truly wild animals made me marvel at their ability to adapt to a world that was so very unwelcoming to this little family.

We finally decided to continue to leave water out for the cats, but not food. God has given us many pictures of life in His creation. For me to see these cats was to remember our Creator.

Love in Him,

Prue

This is a true story. I once taught a Sunday School class of senior women, among whom were many saints who had experienced a great deal more of life in Christ than I had. In the spring of the year in the Houston area where we lived I enjoyed the honor of inviting them to a brunch at my house. I held it out doors by the swimming pool. I had a friend who willingly joined us and played her flute for us to sing hymns. It was always a pleasant event for me and, I believe, for them. One year I decided that I would like to serve mild mimosas, a drink made with a sparkling wine, as an alternative to plain orange juice.

I began to worry about the possibility that some of the ladies might be unsteady enough to fall into the pool. It didn’t seem really likely, but at communion the Sunday before the brunch, I knelt at the alter rail and prayed, “Lord, please bless the brunch, and please prevent anyone from falling into the pool.” For a moment I thought how good it was to have such a resource as our God for assurance in a situation like this, until I “heard” a voice in my mind say, “Let me understand: you want me to protect your class from falling into the pool so that you can serve mimosas to them?” I didn’t hear another single word, but my entire project changed, and I joyfully abandoned the idea of serving mimosas.

Sometimes we go to communion thinking of our sins or wishing something could change in our lives. Many times we come away empty, but the power of the bread and the wine (or grape juice) to open our spirits to God is very great. It was given to us by Jesus himself, and our Father God honors it.

Paul Caudel, (1886-1955) a French playwright and poet once wrote, “Christians do not leave the communion as if they had met the Risen Christ, but as if they had been at a funeral.” I believe that for many people this is true, but when Jesus gave the wine and the bread , he was truly giving us a powerful link to Our Father, and I believe that God seeks this communication even more than we do, and that when we encounter Him, and even “hear” His voice, we rejoice: Jesus took bread . . . and when he had given thanks , he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it. This is my body.” Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many,” he said to them. (Mark 14:23&24)

God bends very low to reach us, and He succeeds. In the Communion He gives His son to touch us again and again.

Love in Him,

Prue