My great Aunt Fish owned and operated a tea house in the small upstate New York farming village of Otego for several years. At some time or other nearly all of her female family members, including my mother, were employed at the tea house. It was a popular place for people to come for Sunday dinner. The specialties were fried chicken and steaks. Customers came up from New York City for Sunday dinner and the famous chocolate cake with a four inch high meringue icing. Auntie Fish’s pies were legendary.

The tea House was an oasis of good food set in the midst of a community of family dairy farms and rolling hills. I never saw the house while my great aunt owned it, but I was raised on stories of the place, and recipes that I still enjoy.

The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert; His righteousness live in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. (Isaiah 32:18)

That small town seemed to me to be an “undisturbed place of rest” whenever we visited it. We had grandparents and cousins and friends who were their neighbors, and it was always a welcoming place to visit. My family was treated like natives; it was always a joy to hear my parents say, “We’re going to Otego.”

When I finally read the book of Isaiah for myself I was surprised that the writer must have had a place like Otego in his mind when he wrote of quietness and confidence, of fertile fields and peace , and I thought that God surely loves the things that we love, and looks with joy on many of the things that bring us joy.
In the tumult of today’s world it’s hard to find confidence and peace, not to mention quietness and rest; but knowing that these things are in the heart of God, and that He desires them for His people, draws me more and more to Him. It’s still possible to take a drive and see the fertile fields, to witness a breathtaking sunset and a peaceful sunrise; and to know that these things are His gift to us.

Auntie Fish finally sold the tea house, and gained fame when she went to work for a department store in a near by city. She made pies for their lunch counter. It is said in our family that in one day around Christmas Auntie Fish baked one hundred pies, mostly apple.

Love in Him,
Prue

When a man believes with all his understanding that he will not die before he is raptured into heaven, he has one expectation of life, very different from one who does believe that he will die, and in fact that it will be a very uncomfortable death. St. Paul was both of those men. We who are still alive will be caught up together with those in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

(1 T Thessalonians 4;17) Later in his ministry Paul knew that in fact he would not be spared the death of a martyr: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-22)

Paul was a man of contrasts. Before his conversion he was a merciless pursuer of Christians, and held the garments of those who were stoning Steven to death. Steven was a disciple who was preaching the Gospel of Christ. Only a few years later Paul wrote one of the most enduring definitions of love ever written. He wrote 1 Corinthians 13, that ends with , And now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. The man who could hardly have acknowledged such a thing as love became the great definer of love. This would be a total mystery except for the presence of the Spirit of Christ living in Paul.

To me an even greater mystery is Paul’s saying that for him, “death is gain”, when he has earlier believed that his very real relationship with the risen Christ would preempt death for himself altogether. When he knew the truth, he never withdrew, but actually grew in faith: Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 21:13)

If there were no other evidence in the whole New Testament of the existence of the risen Christ, the life of Paul could suffice to reveal the Living God present in the soul of a human being, simply by the changes wrought in Paul and the fruit of those changes. Finally, Paul wrote: For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:6-7) Amen and Amen.

Love in Him,

Prue

The story of Hannah from the first book of Samuel in the Bible is the story of a woman whose life held little to envy. She was the second wife of her husband, whose first wife was the mother of both sons and daughters. Though Hannah’s husband loved her, she had no hope of a future when Peninnah, the first wife ridiculed her for being childless.

It was out of this need that Hannah, after fulfilling the annual obligations of worship and sacrifice at Shiloh, was prompted in her misery and need to take a direct and personal appeal to the God of Israel and pray for a son to be born to her. The God of the Hebrews was worshiped ritually, and faithfully, but apparently very seldom personally and passionately. So seldom was private, personal prayer displayed in Israel that Eli,the high priest, seeing Hannah in earnest prayer, mistook it for drunkenness in her. Hannah prayed, “ Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery, and remember me and not forget your servant, but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” Her lips moved, but she made no sound. (1Samuel1:11) Such a heartfelt prayer had not been witnessed by Eli, a window into the spiritual condition of the Hebrew people at that time. The priceless covenant relationship of the Hebrew people from the patriarchs and the Exodus had begun to sink into ritual: In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. (1 Samuel 3:1)

In such a time as this, one young woman took her need directly to the God she had heard of , the God who had brought Israel out of Egypt and had spoken to her people through Moses. Out of her desperation came a faith that dared to claim God’s covenant relationship as her own, and she was heard. After her prayer, Her face was no longer downcast. (1Samuel 1:18) Hannah did not get up from her prayer pregnant, but the most important transaction had taken place. In faith she had placer her anguish and grief in the only hands that could relieve her. Even Eli could see the truth in Hannah: Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him. ( 1Samuel 1:17) Hannah had no model for her prayer. The wonderful psalms of David had not yet been written. She relied entirely on her faith that God could and would hear her.

In this faith, Hannah is a prefigure of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Different as were the times in which they lived, yet both women trusted God and God found in each of them a faithful partner in His plan for salvation itself.

Love in Him,

Prue

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions..” ( Luke 12:13-14)

Here Jesus emphatically disconnects from the person who made the appeal to have his share of an inheritance. Jesus barely addresses the man, but turns instead to the crowd with a warning. Jesus has no sympathy or concern for this appeal.

This is a big contrast to another appeal from a sibling: “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha, the Lord answered, “you are worried about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.” ( Luke 10:40-41)

This time Jesus repeats Martha’s name and identifies with both women. He engages entirely, and even decides in favor of Mary, as he identifies with Martha as well, calling her twice by name.

These cases of siblings seem similar, but they are very different in the response they receive from Jesus. One he rejects, while the other he embraces. Maybe the difference is simply that Mary and Martha were close friends of Jesus, and the other request came from a stranger; but Jesus’ vehemence in rejecting the latter shows his disgust to the one who wants part of his inheritance. Jesus sends a warning to the crowd against greed.

Mary, on the other hand, receives high praise from the son of God. Mary simply sits quietly at Jesus’ feet and listens as he talks with his disciples. She risks her sister’s anger, but stays there anyway.

How many times have I prayed for material things instead of for an opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet? Jesus has no trouble dealing with siblings. He knows the hearts of each of us,and goes directly to the core, which is not the sibling, but himself, and our relationship to him. “When he hears bitterness and greed in the young man, Jesus withdraws with a warning. When he hears concern for “many things” Jesus uses words we all long to hear: the “better part won’t be taken away from her.” That our love for Jesus will not be taken away is a very great promise indeed.

Love in Him,

Prue

We Don’t Travel Alone

Fall has arrived, and it’s already cooler. There are still two female hummingbirds who come to our feeder, but the males have already gone on their lonesome flight south to Central America. These tiny birds fly solo for hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles twice a year, stopping at feeders and nectar bearing flowers to refuel. There’s no refueling, though, on the lonely flight across the Gulf of Mexico.

All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:23-25)

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, listening to “another voice”, than His, humanity took a long slide away from its Maker. But our Maker also experienced a loss, the loss of the intimate companionship of His own well loved creation.

Before the forbidden fruit was even digested in His first couple, God had a plan for bringing humanity back to Himself. It was a plan that would require much from God Himself, and would bring reconciliation to human beings in God’s son, Jesus.

Hummingbirds seem a long way from God’s redemption of His people, but they are fascinating creatures of God’s deign in our lives today, and for me their appearance yields hours of contemplation on the Creation. Migrating huge distances each year, every fragile hummer lifts itself off the branch and heads out alone, and many perish on the journey. Nevertheless, the species has survived in the Western Hemisphere for thousands, if not millions of years. Unlike other birds, the humming bird travels alone. It is not a social creature, but a loner. The mother tends to the nest alone, As soon as the little ones are fledged, the mother looks for a new nesting site and a new mate. The easy and the difficult are faced alone by each bird, yet the species survives. Its Creator provides: Are not two sparrows (humming birds?) sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside our Father’s care. (Matthew 10:29)

I believe that appreciating one of God’s smallest creatures can help us recognize that we ourselves never travel alone, and to find in Him hearts that can willingly migrate closer and closer to God’s own heart.

Love in Him,

Prue

God Provides

One night I had a dream of my father, who had passed away about three years earlier. In the dream my father walked toward me and said, “Your mother is doing everything right for Stephanie (my daughter), but I want her to have some of my duds.” He reached out his hand holding a Good News Bible, which I took. When I awoke in the morning I thought , “She doesn’t have a Good News Bible, only a King James , which sheseldom reads.” She was in Junior High school at the time.

That day I went to the Christian book store and asked for a Good News Bible. The clerk showed me an expensive leather-bound book, but I thought it wasn’t what I wanted. On the way out, I noticed a rack near the door with a book cover that looked like a pair of jeans. “What’s this? I asked. “It’s a Good News Bible,” the clerk answered. “We get them for the teenagers. I think that is the last one in the store.” “I’ll take it!” I said. Stephanie received it with pleasure, and I noticed that she read it, and took it with her when she went to college.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105)

You are my refuge and my shield. I have put my hope in your word.(Psalm 119:114)

All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ( 2 Timothy 3:16)

For all the interpretations and translations and paraphrases and rearrangements, the Bible has survived in the Christian communities worldwide, parts of it for four thousand years, and the whole for over two thousand years. It’s full of good stories, poems, songs and narratives, but none of those could account for its meaning in the hearts and minds of believers. The Bible puts us in touch with another life, one we discover leads to the other life—eternal life, at the same time that our God moves in our every day lives. God’s character is revealed in His Book: The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying; “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31;2-6

God’s provision for His people is displayed throughout the Scriptures. In my case, I didn’t know that my daughter had a need for the Good News Bible, but God provided for the need.

Love in Him,

Prue

Jesse was a first grader eager to learn when he came to stay with us as a foster child. I enrolled him in the nearby public school and he struggled at first to keep up with the class. At home he begged me to go over spelling and vocabulary lists. I drove him to and from school.

Jesse’s case worker visited one day while he was in school, and we had a nice talk together. At the end she suggested that she drive me to pick Jesse up after school. We waited in the long “pick-up” line until until Jesse came outside. He didn’t recognize the car, and paced back and forth near the entrance until I stood up beside the car, and waved to him . When he finally saw me, he ran to the car and panted, “I thought you forgot me!” He was clearly agitated. I said to Jesse, “You know, Jesse,that at three o’clock in the afternoon I have only one thing to do, and that is to pick you up from school. I never make an appointment to go to the doctor or the dentist at that time. I never go to the bank , or go shopping , or to the library, or talk on the phone with a friend at 3:0’clock on a school day, because picking you up is the most important thing I have to do.

Jesse smiled and I felt relieved that he had relaxed. I remembered Jesus’ words , Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21) I hoped that Jesse felt treasured , and knew that my heart was with him, too. For my part, it was certainly true.

Jesus spoke those words as a warning that sometimes , without even thinking,we place our “treasure” in “things of the world”, and drift away from what matters to our hearts: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. (Mathew 6:19)

Perhaps today we need to hear Jesus’ words every bit as much as his listeners needed it over two thousand years ago. I know that I do.

Love in Him,

Prue

The wives of Isaac, Jacob, and Moses were each found at a well. Centuries later, Jesus found a Samaritan woman at a well and revealed to her his real identity. She said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming.. . . Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you,–I am he.” (John 4:25& 26) He agreed to stay for two days because the minds of the villagers were open to accept him as the Messiah: And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:41-42)

In this encounter there is no record of any “sign” or miracle that Jesus performed except his telling the woman of her own history. For two days Jesus simply talked with the villagers, and they believed. It could be said that this small group formed the very first Christian church. Jesus sat by the well out of tiredness (John 4:6) but knew instantly that it was the Father’s will for him to identify himself to the woman who approached. The simplicity of their conversation and the resulting invitation to stay in the village must have been a sweet response to him and even a foretaste to the way the Gospel would one day spread.

While we don’t have the physical presence of Jesus with us, we do have this account from John, and many other accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. The Bible gives us powerful witness to Jesus’ words and actions. To sit and read the Bible every day is what I call “Holy Spirit reading”,done simply to hear the “voice” of Jesus and of God Himself. If his voice could move a village to believe in two days, how could his book lead us to understand more and more of his life?

St. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians that We have the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians2:16) Jesus’ mind was full of his Father. When tempted in the wilderness he quoted scripture, and never used any other word with the tempter. (Mark 4:4) Jesus turned to Scripture even on the cross…… He quoted Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15;34) If Scripture was so deeply imprinted in Jesus, how gracious a gift we have in the Scripture that he himself read. In the Scripture it can be true of us as of the Samaritan villagers :we can hear for ourselves the Word of God, and believe.

Love in Him,

Prue

A friend of mine told me of an artist friend of hers who was working on a portrait of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The artist had been to Israel to get an accurate view of the sort of sheep that are there, and had returned to finish the picture in the U.S. It was to be a gift to her church to hang in the narthex. The artist had prayed over every aspect of the picture, and she felt sure that the Lord had inspired the face of Jesus, as well as the composition of the picture. I was curious, and when my friend asked if I would like to see a print of the final picture, I said, “Yes!”

Sometime later my friend called to say that she would stop by my house and bring a print of the portrait of Jesus . I was quite interested, partly because of the hint of supernatural participation in the work. When my friend arrived and drew out the print from its sleeve, I could see that it was done skillfully and well. The sheep were outstanding and the landscape looked authentic to Israel, but when I saw the face, I was stunned. The figure carrying a sheep on his shoulders looked exactly like Kevin Costner, the actor and movie star! I couldn’t help staring, but didn’t know what to say. I praised the quality of the art, and asked if the artist had used a model . “Oh,, no,” my friend said, “She had a vision of this very scene.” “Oh,” I said, “Has anyone seen any resemblances in this?” “Well, some have seen a resemblance to Kevin Costner,” she answered. “Oh,” I said, and thanked her for bringing the print for me to see. A great deal of time, energy, cost and talent had gone into this painting.

Our spiritual, praying lives remain intensely personal, even when we pray with others. Jesus spoke to the issue of praying: Our Father. . .your name. . . your kingdom. . . your will. . . give,. . . forgive. . . and lead us. . . (Matthew 6:9-13) Jesus ‘ personal habit of praying alone to His Father inspired the disciples’ request: Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. ( Luke 11:1) The Lord’s prayer is a personal address to God which acknowledges His lordship over the disciple, at the same time that it expresses our relationship as children of the Lord. It places that relationship at the center of the prayer. If it remains at the center, we don’t have to worry about the fruitfulness of our labors or of our lives. In an increasingly invasive world of thoughts and images, more than ever we need the one who taught us to pray and who is and will always be to us the Good Shepherd.

Love in Him,

Prue