A guest on the “Antiques Roadshow” recently brought a letter from the 1950’s and a torn soiled piece of tissue displaying a lipstick smear. The appraiser was at first surprised and then confident in her estimate of between $2000 and $5000 for the two items. The letter was from a soldier who told of seeing Marilyn Monroe in a show in Japan and visiting her room back-stage. She had dropped the tissue on the floor after blotting her lipstick. The date, time, and place corresponded with Monroe’s performances for the military, and the letter was sent to the soldier’s parents. It was accepted as authentic, hence the appraisal.

The value in the tissue with a smear of lipstick lay in its “provenance,” the connection between an object and a famous or historic person or event, or as in this case, a virtual icon of America’s culture.

I have loved you, but you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob , but Esau I have hated. . .

(Malachi 1:2) In this passage the Lord makes clear the distinction between the unique place of Israel in His heart , and of Esau, who lives outside the covenant.

The principal of Godly provenance is in contrast to personal satisfaction. Those who have a close relationship (The Israelites, called “God’s People”) are of greater value to Him than those who never seek Him. The closer the relationship, the greater the loving attachment. (The Lord is My Shepherd ,Psalm 23)

It’s true that God seeks those who are lost, yet He rejoices over every soul who draws near to Him. In the New Testament, God spoke directly to James, John, and Peter , those who were closest to His son: This is my son. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him! (Matthew 17:5) When God looks at us He is looking for evidence of His son. The more He sees of Jesus in us, the closer He draws to us.

Marilyn Monroe’s lipstick is the closest anyone can ever come to that poor, famous, idolized woman. It makes a scrap of tissue with a smear on it worth thousands of dollars.

The love of Christ in our hearts is so close to God that He measures us as if we were His own children, beyond price and loved with an everlasting love. We have the provenance of Jesus.

Love in Him,

Prue

An epaulette shark © wenfisher (CC BY 2.0)

The epaulette shark is about three feet long, much of which is its tail. It is named “epaulette” because of two round black spots with white fringe-like borders , one on each side of its body. Someone once thought that the spots looked like “epaulettes” on its shoulders. It is not an endangered shark, but inhabits New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef near Australia. What makes this shark unusual, is that it has the ability to walk on land. Actually, it shuffles on its thick, paddle-shaped pectoral fins which function as legs and feet. It takes walks quite frequently into and out of tidal pools.

The epaulette shark is only one of many surprising and little known living creatures that share our planet earth with humanity. They are a reminder of the infinite shapes and forms of life in God’s creation: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived–the things God has prepared for those who love Him. (1Corinthians 2:9)

It’s easy to slip into predictable patterns in our lives until we forget that there is One who is always “Making all things new! (Revelation 21:5), and creating in the midst of His creation. When we do slip, we close the invisible doors to the presence of One who knows us better than we know ourselves. The young man said to Jesus”All these (commandments) I have observed. What do I lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:20-22)

It’s not only possessions that keep us from following Jesus. It’s also attitudes and relationships that prevent Jesus’ voice from reaching us. The young man heard the voice, but the network of his life, his many possessions , kept him from receiving the unimaginable blessing.

Knowing that the epaulette shark exists and thrives reminds me that there are other lives, beside the one I live daily: the life of God Himself who created both me and the shark. The rich young man knew he wanted perfection, but couldn’t imagine any life better than the one he lived. He was unable to make the exchange even to receive eternal life.

God said to John in the Revelation, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:6-7)

Love in Him,

Prue

Tongs

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live cooal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from th altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6-7)

It did not surprise me that God chose to remove Isaiah’s sin with a burning coal, but it did surprise me that the angel used tongs to do it. In other encounters with fire in the scripture, angels move about both in and out of fire. In the Exodus the burning bush of Moses’ encounter is inhabited by an angel: The the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. (Exodus 3:2)

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were joined in the furnace of intense fore by an angel of God, not one of them was so much as scorched; and Nanoah, Samson’s father, , after making an offering to the Lord : “as the flames blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. (Judges 13:20)

The humble tool of a pair of tongs seemed incongruous in the hand of a supernatural being and servant of God Himself, until we remember the humble person sent by God to perform the task performed by the tongs. It is Jesus alone who removes our guilt, and Jesus alone who atones for our sins. The angel in Isaiah’s vision could no more perform that feat than you or I could. The tongs were essential to Isaiah’s experience, for they delivered the burning coal from the altar of the holy of holies, the very place where, centuries later, an angel would meet Zechariah to tell him he would have a son named John who would prepare the way for the Messiah. (Luke 1:1-14)

The tongs represent that Messiah, for he is the one who will in fact atone for humanity’s sin with his own life. He will bring the salvation that is hungered for across all lands and people, and open the door for the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in and with human beings. The tongs used on Isaiah are a tiny, almost obscure reminder that the presence of God on earth was yet to be fulfilled and that the day did come when flames rested on the men and women meeting at Pentecost in a room in Jerusalem when God anointed the disciples following Jesus’ resurrection.

No longer would tongs be needed, for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection achieved God’s plan for us: Behold! I am making all things new. (Revelation 21;5)

Love in Him,

Prue

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10) Before the fisherman Simon ever became the disciple Peter, he addressed Jesus as “Master”, and reluctantly agreed to cast his net in the place that Jesus suggested, until the miraculous catch produced enough fish for Jesus to reel in three new disciples: Peter, James, and John. Peter respected Jesus, but never imagined the power that Jesus could and would display that changed Peter’s attitude permanently: Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! (Luke 5:8) He and his companions were all astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John. In the space of an instant Peter knew fear when he recognized a power he had only known in stories, and in that moment Peter was afraid with the fear of the Lord. Jesus saw it and answered Peter, Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people. (Luke 5:10) The three men then left the amazing catch on the beach and followed Jesus.

The fear that Peter displayed to Jesus was also the beginning of wisdom for Peter. It was proof to Jesus that Peter’s spirit was receptive to the Spirit of God, for he recognized God’s Spirit in the miraculous catch, and recognizing, he saw the short comings of his own life, and was afraid.

We can spend a great deal of time loving a gentle, healing Jesus, without ever encountering the fear of the Lord, but Peter’s story reminds us that Peter is the first disciple to recognize and confess , You are the Christ, the son of the living God. (Matthew 16:13 ) The fear of God forms a powerful bond with a powerful God. It leads us to recognize God in the most discouraging disguises: a catch of fish, a fig tree without figs (Matthew 21:19), and a crippled man begging.(Acts 3:1-8)

Jesus said to Peter and to the other disciples , Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. (Matthew 13:16) Peter’s eyes and ears were opened the day he saw the miraculous catch of fish; that knowledge worked the fear of God in him for the beginning of wisdom. From then on Peter grew in wisdom and love for Jesus. Peter later wrote, For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (I Peter 1:23) Peter looms large in the history of salvation and of the church. It began for him when he knew the fear of God, and Peter became more than wise.

Love in Him,

Prue

January is the month in which seed and plant catalogs arrive in my mailbox. That’s all it takes to make me start planning our back yard spaces for flowers and shrubs, and pots. Some of the plans have borne fruit (literally and figuratively) , but many more I abandoned after very little effort. This year I thought I wouldn’t even open the catalogs, but that was a vain thought. Lovely glossy pictures of healthy roses, hydrangea, and hundreds of other flowers and foliage drew me irresistibly.

This ritual, of pouring over catalogs, occurs virtually every January. It must be an echo from my father, who started vegetable seedlings every January or February on the back, glassed-in porch of our house. By early May they were ready to be planted in his large vegetable garden in New York state… The urge to plant and watch things grow and flourish seemed like second nature to my father.

As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:21) Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. . . So God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth. (Genesis9:16-17)

When temperatures are freezing, and snow is on the ground, the words of God’s covenant resound in me to plan and explore some of the infinite possibilities for new and fruitful life in the months ahead. The author of all life entered a covenant that addresses human longings as well as human needs. It’s only the beginning of a covenant relationship that would go so far as to present the Father’s own Spirit to humanity, planted in us through faith in His son. The fruit of that planting surpasses everything that was ever pictured in all the catalogs in the world, for the promise of sharing the life of God Himself is fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.

If the snow and cold of January leads us to crave the warmth and colors of spring, how much more must the trials and pressures of our lives drive us to seek assurance and respite in Christ: Fear not, little flock. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32) The promises are all being kept. Not one has failed, or ever will.

Love in Him,

Prue

Washing his hands at the kitchen sink, one of my nephews looked out the window and was startled to see a doe leap up and over his fence into the neighboring woods. When Frank looked back at the yard he was even more startled to see twin new-born fawns lying in the grass. He was sure that the mother would return, but equally sure that the fawns would not be able to follow her over the fence for many weeks. Frank was dressed for work in a suit and tie; he grabbed a rain coat and gloves and went outside to lift each fawn over the fence so the mother could nurture them in the woods. He said that the fawns didn’t weigh much, and were too frightened to struggle, so it went well. In the end, Frank wasn’t even late for work. That day must have been significantly altered, regardless of his being on time and able to do his work. It was a morning that Frank would never forget.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures .

He leads me beside the still waters,

He refreshes my soul. (Psalm 23:1-3)

In both the Old and New Testaments the image of the caring shepherd, who seeks and oversees and rescues his charges, recurs as God’s own strongest image of His attachment

to His people. The man after God’s own heart, David, was a shepherd, and so were the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s a strong, vivid picture for the Hebrew people, as well as for the rest of the world, of a caring God whose whole interest is in His flock, and whose care is sacrificial: All we, like sheep, have gone astray, each to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the lost sheep; and when he finds it, doesn’t he joyfully put it on his shoulders and go home? (Luke 15:4-5)

The doe didn’t sin by delivering her twins in a fenced-in yard, but her limitations prevented her from finding a better place. In all the Bible references, the sheep represent helpless human beings, not unlike the fawns. The shepherd cares and brings remedy to the helpless ones, in spite of their natural inclinations, that include wandering away from Him. Such tender and engaged caring is fairly rare among humans, but the Bible shows us that it is at the very heart of God’s relationship with us. Hearing Franks’s story reminded me again.

Love in Him,

Prue

A child’s paradise in the summer is a visit to her grandfather’s small dairy farm in central New York. It was my privilege to experience this for a few summers with my four siblings. I called it Paradise, because we had the run of the house, barn, fields and hill without a single chore to do. Farms used to be organized around a cycle of chores, both indoors and out, but as visitors we were free to explore the hay loft ( and sometimes discover a new litter of kittens), the creek, or ride on the hay wagon. In good weather we ate our meals on my grandparents’ back porch and slept like babies when we went early to bed.

Boiled potatoes were often on the menu for those dinners. I watched my father mash and butter his until I passed my plate for him to do the same for me. Even then I knew that his potatoes were getting cold while he mashed mine, but he never complained or even hesitated to take my plate. The house was built on the top of a hill rising from the Susquehanna River. The back porch overlooked the river.

My father wasn’t a guest on the farm, as we children were. He helped his father in the fields, and in digging a well for the house. He was almost always busy with chores. Dad liked the out doors, but he worked hard when we were at the farm.

Then the angel showed me (John) the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding it’s fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ( Revelation 22:1-2)

In this passage the angel describes the end of the sinful world as a restoration of Eden itself, as if God’s direction from the very beginning has been fully and abundantly to restore His original creation. I believe this is true, and that visiting the farm with no chores was a real picture of God’s plan in the mind of a child.

The world today is very different from the hope held out in John’s Revelation, but the evidence of God’s plan is with us still, and the healing and grace brought to us by Christ are the earnest money in the Revelation. St. Pope John Paul II wrote, “Today our feet are washed again by Jesus every time we pray, ‘Forgive us our sins.’ ” It is a gift unencumbered by chores.

Love in Him,

Prue

One of the most Christ-like passages in the Old Testament comes to us from the mouth of Joseph, the son of Jacob, when his brothers came to him after the death of their father, and begged Joseph to forgive them for the way they had treated him years earlier. He had eventually been sold as a slave to Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Joseph said to his brothers, Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ( Genesis 50:19-21)

It took a great deal of re-assurance from Joseph to convince his brothers not to fear him, for they, like most of us, couldn’t see the connection between God’s will and a person’s acceptance of God’s will. After all, Joseph had been betrayed by his brothers, betrayed by Potiphar’s wife, spent two years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and, hardest of all, he had been separated from his much loved father. Joseph was sure that Jacob believed that he, Joseph, was dead.

The words “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” could have been spoken by Jesus about the cross. I have asked myself, “Where did Joseph find the heart to forgive the evil done him?” The answer can be found only in his savior God: The Lord Was with him so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. Afterward, while in prison through the wife’s false accusations, againJosephfound favor: But when Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the warden. (Genesis 39:20-21)

Joseph had experienced dreams that he knew had prophetic significance. Now in his suffering he experienced grace of a kind not commonly found in prison. Joseph knew about his father’s and grandfather’s God, and now in exile he experienced the grace that his father had known.

When Joseph’s brothers could barely believe that they were forgiven, Joseph said, “Am I in the Place of God?” His humility opened the door to God’s grace in his life, and each of his brothers witnessed it in him. Joseph makes a break-through for the family chosen by God to walk more closely with Him, and an example that would help hold this family together, and be a light for their path for generations. To this day the story of Joseph casts a light thousands of years old on the paths of every believer. God was indeed with Joseph, and wanted everyone to know it.

Love in Him,

Prue

When I was very young, I dreaded opening the bathroom door by myself. I thought that it was possible, even perhaps likely that a lion would pounce upon me at the opening of the door. This notion stayed with me for a few years before I finally questioned myself and realized that the antique lion claw-foot tub must have conveyed the fear to my mind without my recognizing it. After that there were still threads of uncertainty, but mostly the fear evaporated.

In 1993 Pope St. John Paul II wrote in his spiritual diary, “ In the Old and New Testaments happiness has a dimension of wisdom.” When Solomon asked for wisdom, God was so pleased that He heaped upon Solomon all the other things of life that people think will bring them happiness, in addition to vast amounts of wisdom. (2 Chronicles 1:9-12)

St. Paul connects wisdom to happiness, and adds the single missing part for happiness: Let the message of Christ dwell among you as you teach. . . with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your heart. . . and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:14&16)

I believe that it requires wisdom to discern the difference between all the things that appear to promise happiness, and the reality of the happiness found in Christ. St. Paul makes it clear which is of God: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

Before I reached an age of understanding, or wisdom,even a bathtub could frighten me, but when I was old enough to understand my own feelings, those feelings no longer had a hold on me. I believe that it is true that happiness does have to do with wisdom, and that God has opened the door to that happiness in Jesus:When I was a child, I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we will see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (Corinthians 13:11-13)

There are countless lions to frighten us in our world, but God holds out to us the wisdom not to be afraid, and to find happiness in His love.

Love in Him,

Prue

When I was getting ready to move from a small town in central New York state to Spring, Texas, I was pleased and happy, but also scared and apprehensive. As the day of moving arrived, I became more unsure of what lay ahead. When the huge moving truck arrived, the driver came to the door to confirm our destination and he read, “Spring, Texas! Is that anywhere near Conroe Texas?” “Yes,” I answered , “It’s the next town toward Houston.” “Well!” he exclaimed, “You’re going to God’s Country!” I wanted to say,, “I’m afraid I’m leaving God’s country,” but I just smiled and asked, “How do you know?” “I’m from Conroe, M’am,” he answered.” I know that part of Texas.”

Those must have been the words I needed to hear, because after that very brief encounter, I lost my trepidation, and managed the move with confidence; and whenever I looked back, I thought, “That truck driver was right.!”

What does it take to believe that we live in God’s Country? God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing, so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. (Genesis 1:31-2:2)

God’s creation has fallen from the moments of its first appearance, but the fall did not obliterate the vision of a pristine world. In his book of Revelation, John shows us a picture of the restored creation: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first earth had passed away. . . I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. . . and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

Where is this ‘New Jerusalem’?, the kingdom that John describes; where is God’s Country? People have asked that question from the moment of their first hurtful experience on earth, from their first knowledge of injustice, pain, or sorrow; and many have found the answer. Jesus gave us his answer: . . . the Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20) this New years Eve, let’s seek to discover the Kingdom ourselves without doubt or hesitation, for it has been known and proclaimed for at least two thousand years. In 2024 we can know that we are from God’s Country!      Happy New Year!

Love in Him,

Prue