In April I took a misstep on a wooden strip of flooring in my house, and fell backward onto the hardwood floor. I was briefly stunned, but was quickly helped up after feeling fairly sure that I could stand and even walk. It happened in the evening, and so we waited until the next morning to visit my doctor, who ordered x rays and said that, unlikely as it seemed, it appeared that nothing was broken. The x rays confirmed in the report that “nothing was broken, and nothing displaced.”

It wasn’t until this week that I read Psalm 94:18: When I said, “My foot is slipping, your mercy, O Lord, supported me.” The words leaped off the page, and then I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving in the next verse of the psalm: When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. I experienced consolation and joy when it was confirmed that none of my bones had been either dislocated or broken. Even at the time it happened I thought it was a great blessing, but reading the Psalm was like hearing confirmation that God is at work in my life. I marveled that the message came from so long ago, and that the psalmist, so very different and distant from me, yet had an experience that could resonate in a person in the twenty first century, and more than resonate. The scripture identified the source of grace in God’s mercy.

I don’t believe that the scripture and my foot slipping were coincidences, because I do believe the scripture comes from the Holy Spirit of God through human beings. The Psalms in particular touch the intersection between our holy God and our humanity.

A British Puritan preacher in the 16oo’s wrote this: There is as much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten and one that is painted on the wall! (Thomas Watson, 1660)

The Bible itself is the banquet that is eaten. It’s message of God’s mercy reaches a crescendo with the coming of Christ at the Last Supper: Take, and eat, this is my body. . . Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood. . . (Matthew 26:26, 27). For thousands of years the meal at the table of Christ has remained the same, and hungry souls have sought it out to be a bridge to the one who invites us to his banquet. We live in a time when the banquet is more available than ever before. When our foot slips we have only to “open the book” in order to find his invitation, and find God’s mercy.

Love in Him,

Prue

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in Heaven. (Lamentations 3:41)

Our hearts are located somewhat left of the center of our chests. They are the pumps that receive and deliver life giving blood to all the other parts of our bodies. For thousands of years the heart has been poetically associated with our very lives and with all of our loves. When the author of Lamentations wrote “Let us lift up our hearts,”heis suggesting something that he believes is entirely spiritually possible.

What does it mean to “lift up our hearts”? Is it simply to focus attention on the idea of God, or is there more?

Every time I water drooping flowers in the garden, and then see them with lifted up faces from their drink, it gives me real satisfaction. I imagine that God, too, experiences a satisfaction when we lift our hearts and hands to Him. The difference is in the shower. My shower of water is vital to the lives of the flowers, while the lifting of heart and hands to God is vital to our spiritual lives. Our “hearts” are the repository of the Holy Spirit of God. When we respond to His Spirit it is a reaching out to God for His life giving Spirit to renew the Spirit that He has already planted in us. Lifting our hearts and hands is simply responding to God’s heart and hands in our lives .

The prophet of Lamentations was writing at a devastating time in the life of Israel, as the nation had been smashed, the temple and much of Jerusalem destroyed and the people sent into exile. His cry to “Lift up our hearts” is sent to a people who identified themselves with the God of Moses, but had gone astray.

And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. ( Romans 8:27) It is the Spirit who helps us to lift up our hearts, for God alone knows the workings of our hearts and minds and hands. Jeremiah himself, the likely author of Lamentations, experienced the Holy Spirit at a young age. When he broke through his lamenting to say “Let us lift up our hearts to God,” it was clearly inspired by God. It’s a short passage in the midst of deep grieving and lamenting, but it is a ray of light in the darkness.

Like water on the flowers, the Holy Spirit helps us to lift up our hearts and hands to God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Once there were three men who had each had a close friend who had died. The friend was happy in heaven, but the three men were very sad. The first one said to himself, “I have become so sad that I have forgotten how to be happy again. I used to walk with my friend in the woods. I’ll take that walk again, and I’ll build a fire and have incense, and say the prayer that my parents taught me. Maybe God will help me to be happy again.” And so, he did all those things, and when he was finished praying he stood up and thought he would certainly begin to feel better very soon.

The second man said to himself, “ I don’t know how to use incense, and my family never taught me a special prayer, but I know the path in the forest and I can build a fire.” He, too, took the walk and built a fire and prayed a prayer, and thought that he would feel happier soon.

The third man sat by a window in his house and looked down at his hands, which reminded him that he could pray, and this is what he said: “ Father God, I don’t know any path in the woods. Even if I did, those trees have all been cut down by now. I don’t know how to build a fire with incense, and my family never taught me a special prayer. I have nothing at all, but a sad heart. I wonder if a sad heart would be enough for you to touch my life and make me happy again.”

When that man stood up he was happier than the other two, for he discovered that Jesus’ words , Blessed are those who mourn, for you will be comforted (by God Himself) were really, really true. ( Matthew 5: 4)

Grief comes into the life of everyone, and we all struggle to escape it, but among the beatitudes of Jesus is this short one which has been a sustaining message for thousands of years. We can help ourselves to recover from great loses, but the one who surrenders himself is the one who receives the renewal that we all need. Believing that loved ones are happy in heaven is not enough to remove the sense of loss and sometimes regret, but Jesus makes clear that his Father and our Father is able to supply for us the peace and hope that restores our joy. The apostle Paul wrote : For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future. . . neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)

I believe that with God’s help we can all become like the third man.

Love in Him,

Prue

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say. . . (Luke 11:1)

When the disciple asked Jesus to teach all of them to pray, that disciple had just witnessed Jesus himself returning from prayer to his Father. Like the companion of a prince, the disciple, whose main desire was to obtain an acquaintance with the King himself, asked the King’s son for a way to approach his father. Perhaps surprisingly, Jesus responded instantly, not with rituals or preliminaries, like, ”First you must find a place to be alone,” or “First you must clear your thoughts, or make a sacrifice, or enumerate your sins.” Instead, Jesus gives the disciples actual words, the very words his Father wishes go hear from them. It is an utterly unique gift given by the son to shape for his friends a spiritual position by which to approach his Father. It has lasted for over two thousand years and will undoubtedly last until the end of time for the whole world.

Jesus spoke often of his Father, disguised in parables as the owner of a vineyard, or as the father of a prodigal, or the master of a great banquet, and others; but in this prayer, a direct and simple response to a disciple’s request, Jesus began by addressing his Father as “Our Father”, an address that would resonate all the way to Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “Go. . . to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 29:17) In a way, these words put a seal upon the Lord’s Prayer, as well as on much of Jesus’ other teachings to the disciples, and also to us.

The Lord’s Prayer has been my “go-to” prayer when I am at a loss as to how to pray. I’ve given it to others some times, when they say, “I don’t even know how to pray!” It is Jesus’ personal answer to such a cry, and, while all prayer is the language of hope, simply by being directed to the One who fulfills all hope, this prayer is immediate enough and personal enough for everyone seeking God’s presence in his or her life.

The Lord’s prayer is an invitation to join the family of God and Jesus by acknowledging God’s Fatherhood of us. It is an invitation to all hope. In spite of all the differences among Christians, the Lord’s Prayer is still the very language of hope throughout the world.

Love in Him,

Prue

In a world wrenched by wars, conflict, misery and discontent on virtually every continent, it’s easy to think that God has closed the book on His unending grace. I can think, though, of times of undeniable grace occurring in surprising places.

When we were fostering a little girl in our home, I had to take her to a pediatrician for a physical. The doctor talked with me at length about the child’s past and the care we were giving her. She, the doctor, also gave me advice after the examination. When I stopped at the window to pay , the receptionist said,”The doctor said there is no charge.” I was surprised, and felt that I had received a remarkable grace.

It happened also when Jack and our daughter were rehabilitating animals that had been hurt or were sick. When we took a wounded squirrel to the veterinarian, he gave us medicine and advice and took time to examine the animal. When I tried to pay him, he said, “I don’t charge for the wild ones.” I felt again the simple grace of unselfish generosity.

In the Book of John, the very defining characteristic of Jesus the Christ, is this grace that can sometimes be seen in our ordinary lives: The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:17)

Through all the noise of an election season in America, the evidence of grace may still be found. Grace, the free and undeserved gift of God to us of salvation itself is like the sharing of food from a mother to her child. Without paying attention, we can miss the life-giving power of the gift of such favor: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

Some days we fail to experience even a glimmer of grace in our world, but the apostle Paul wrote, also in his letter to the Roman Christians, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more . . . so also grace might reign to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20)

The world doesn’t always recognize grace, or even accept it, and grace is sometimes hard to find, but Jesus promised, “ I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. ( John 14:18) The surprising presence of Christ in our lives is pure grace.

Love in Him

Prue

Throughout the Bible God’s spokesperson’s appeal to the “hearts” of the people of Israel: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God , the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all our strength. ( Deuteronomy 6:5)

Jesus said, The good seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering, produce a crop. (Luke 8:15)

From the beginning to the end God seeks the “good heart,” the heart that can receive Him. Some times when it seems that all is lost, God says that He will give His people a new heart. David, when he had sinned greatly, begged God to give him a new heart: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51;10), and Ezekiel tells us that God said to His exiled people, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, ( Ezekiel 36:26)

In looking at our hearts God is looking for one of His own creations with whom He can communicate: The eyes of the Lord roam to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. (2Chronicles 16:9) It’s the hearts of His people that God seeks and promises to help.

One day three disciples walked with Jesus up Mount Tabor and learned who was the one who was in the very heart of God. Peter, James, and John all heard the voice of God say,This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! (Matthew 17:5) All three disciples fulfilled the words of David from centuries earlier: Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. (Psalm 24:4)

The heart of God is larger than the universe He created, but it was revealed to three frightened disciples that night on the mountain. More than two thousand years later that revelation helps us know the heart of God, the heart that yearns for us to share with Him our own hearts. From the Old Testament to the New, the heart of God beats from book to book and chapter to chapter. The message is the same. The Lord loves us with all His heart, and has given us His son.

Love in Him,

Prue

In “The Devil in the Dark”, an early episode of the Star Trek series, with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, the two of them visit a planet where they encounter what appears to be a very large rock in an underground mine. The object, called a “Horta” is clearly alive, and is presumed by both Kirk and Spock to be the cause of the deaths of some of the miners as well as their own crew members. Kirk insists that the Horta be annihilated before it can kill any more of his men, but Spock thinks that it may be the last of its species, and should be preserved for the sake of “science” In a famous scene Kirk apologizes to Spock for asking Spock to use his uniquely Vulcan power to “mind meld” with the Horta, evidently a very primitive life form. Spock willingly agrees to attempt the mind meld and begins the process when he breaks out with deep and loud exclamations of emotional pain. The contact with the Horta reveals to Spock a fully sentient being with a rich and complex emotional and intellectual life who insists that it is not the one doing the killing, but in fact his own children are being killed by others. Its life is being consumed in grief for the destruction of its own kind. The Horta had been wounded, perhaps fatally, and conveyed to Spock that it was glad to be dying, as it would then be released from the horrible pain of witnessing the end of its entire species.

Spock could not help the Horta, but Dr. McCoy showed up to heal its wounds, and Kirk sent out the word that the miners were not being killed by the Horta, but that miners and Horta could live in peace and vastly improve the lifestyles of both. The Horta survived to see his children prosper.

When God sent His son to earth to live among a fallen people, He didn’t need to apologize, as Jesus was willing to become one with the human race. He knew at an early time that his arrival on earth would end in his own death. Jesus Told his disciples, Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:22)

Jesus’ brief visit to earth, in which he participated in the lives of the Hebrew people, caused him to grieve over his people’s lack of understanding and adherence to other gods. Jesus’ motive was nothing less than the salvation of his people, the delivering of eternal life to a people who could barely understand. His life touched the entire world. His life touched even Gene Roddenberry, the author of Star Trek.

Love in Him,

Prue

The Centurion said, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one to ‘go’, and he goes, and that one ,’come’ and he comes”. . . When Jesus heard this he marveled. . . Then Jesus said to the Centurion “Go!” Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. (Matthew 8:8-10)

This is a remarkable moment in the ministry of Jesus and so in the relationship of all humanity to our God. Jesus, who did not need to be told what is in a man (John 2:25) was amazed, and “marveled” at a Roman Centurion who boldly compared his life as a soldier to Jesus’ life as the son of God. He compared his military life, built on unconditional obedience, to Jesus’ life in his Father God.

Nothing at all about Jesus could be tangibly compared to a Roman Centurion. Jesus had no place to lay his head, relied on contributions from others, held to no schedule, moved about teaching and preaching, and healing, while the Centurion lived a highly structured life and received a paycheck . He followed orders as he was paid to do. He lived by clearly defined rules among others who lived by the same rules.

Nevertheless, the Centurion looked at Jesus and saw himself in the one and only one quality that they shared: obedience to authority. The Centurion was obedient to Rome, and Jesus was and is obedient to God. It was enough for the Centurion to be bold enough to ask for Jesus to heal the Centurion’s servant.

The Centurion understood that selfless obedience was a source of great power, and, more importantly, that Jesus’ obedience was to God Himself. Jesus, standing near Peter and the other disciples, responded with, “I have not seen such faith in all of Israel!”

(Matthew 8:13)

I have wondered if it is still possible to surprise Jesus such that he would “marvel.” In giving flesh and blood to His son, the Father allowed him to marvel at finding the work of His spirit in an unexpected place. Every one of us has places in our heart that have not been accessible to Jesus, places of fear, or bitterness, cynicism, or hated, or unbelief. Where one of these locked places opens up unexpectedly, I believe there is marveling in heaven at the event and Jesus marvels.

Love in Him,

Prue

My neighbor watched as I told my three year old daughter and her friend to look both ways before crossing the street in front of our house. “Be sure to look both up and down the street,” I said; and then we watched as she and her friend stared up at the sky, then down at their feet by the curb. “What are they doing?” my neighbor asked. “They’re looking up and down,” I said as I went to the curb, held their hands, and walked them across. Again I explained to the girls that we were looking to see if a car or other vehicle was coming on our quiet street. The girls were seriously trying to obey my directions while missing the point entirely.

Jesus said to them (the disciples) , “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:14-16)

The qualities that Jesus observed in children must have been many, but the quality of simple obedience, based on unconditional trust is one that he looks for in adults to find their trust in him and in his Father. Such a trust is vital to a relationship with God, and Jesus sees children displaying it more clearly than most adults.

Simple trust shows up in some of Jesus’ parables as well. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus tells of a man who tells both sons to work in their vineyard. The first son said “No”, but later, he did go. The second son said”Yes”, but then he never went. There is no mention of punishment in this story, but only of the choices that two sons made. Jesus said that the first son, who, like a child, actually went after saying “no,” was the obedient son (Matthew 21:28-32). The first son’s moment of rebellion was swallowed up by his changing his mind and obeying his father. It’s a simple story, but it reveals Jesus’ sense that willing obedience in His children is close to God’s heart, whether it’s immediate or delayed.

The willing obedience of Jesus himself when he prayed to His Father in Gethsemane, “not my will, but yours” is the act of total obedience, the fruit of the unconditional love of his Father.

When I saw the little girls looking up at the sky, and then down at their feet, I laughed, but I was touched that they took such pains to follow what they thought were my instructions. Jesus spoke to his people about “such as these.”

Love in Him,

Prue

When we first moved to Spring, Texas, our only daughter was two and a half years old. I hoped that there would be other children near by, so we were delighted to find that the neighbors on each side included little girls nearly her age. As they grew older the three of them became friends and moved about in each others’ homes. The other two girls came to seem like family to me, and I was friends with their mothers. Today if one of those two women, both of whom live far away, arrived at our front door, I would welcome her as my own.

Maybe this is why it’s so easy for me to believe that God loves those who love and companion His own son: How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the mountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart. (Psalm 36:7-10)

The Psalms are full of spontaneous expressions of love and sweetness in the psalmist’s relationship to God. Sometimes they almost burst with expressions of joy and fulfillment.

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. (Psalm 37:23)

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. (Psalm 119:103)

Paul, who initiated the arrests of Christians and had them imprisoned, wrote, Love is patient, love is kind. . . It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

(1Corinthians 13:4-7)

These are words of love expressed thousands of years apart. When we read them, we are listening to the love of God for ourselves.

Love in Him,

Prue