“Mimi, you know that thing that’s inside an M&M—that seed?” asked Rosie, my four year old granddaughter.

“You mean the peanut inside the M&M?”

“Yes! A peanut is a seed, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes.”

“Well, why don’t we take an M&M and plant it, and have an M&M tree in our yard?”

“Because the peanut in the M&M has been roasted, cooked, and chocolate added to it; it won’t sprout into an M&M tree.”

“Mimi, you don’t understand! I would put it in dirt in a pot! I would water it! I wouldn’t forget it! I would remember to water it!

This dialogue did not end happily, as Rose was convinced that she had an original and entirely doable idea. Eventually and reluctantly she resigned herself, and never, to my knowledge, actually planted an M&M.

I believe that in our relationship to our supernatural God we many times say in our hearts, “You don’t understand!” Some even spend a lifetime believing that God does not understand their minds and hearts. Everyone has corners that he or she believes are untouchable by the God of Truth.

However, the Bible testifies to God’s closeness to us, His divine presence in our innermost being: His word is in my heart like a fire , a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in, indeed, I cannot.” (Jeremiah 20:9) He says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever–the Spirit of Truth. ( John 14:16-17)

Rose thought I didn’t understand, because she felt that she, herself, could make happen what she desired. This is the very story of each of us: that we can shape our own lives to be exactly as we want them. When God answers prayers in ways we don’t desire, we just believe that He doesn’t understand! Many times we fail to pray at all in the secret certainty that He doesn’t understand.

Human Beings are the only life form on earth who were created just for God, and in His very image (Genesis 1:2). It is inevitable that He would desire to be close to and communicating with people. We think that God doesn’t understand, but we are wrong: I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ( 2 Corinthians 6:16)

Love in Him,

Prue

When Jesus told Peter “Feed My Sheep” (John 21:15-17), he was conveying and entirely new life-style to Peter. He wasn’t suggesting an avocation for his disciple, but a radical change that carried infinite implications that Peter couldn’t possibly know I advance. What Peter did know, was that Jesus, once a carpenter, called himself a “shepherd.” (John 10:112:18) “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—I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10”14-16) After the Resurrection Jesus passed his shepherd’s staff to Peter. The Bible never again mention’s Peter as a fisherman, but only as the great disciple who accepted Jesus’ staff.

Even though Israel had once been exiled from their land and eventually returned to their home, the image of a shepherd was deeply embedded in Israel. Abraham, the father of the nation,and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob were all shepherds. In the land of Egypt the twelve tribes were all shepherds at least until their slavery, and the division of the land of Israel was made for shepherd families. The exodus was consummated with the blood of a lamb on the lintels of houses. Israel’s greatest king, David, was a shepherd.

God elevated shepherds when David told King Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. . . . The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. (1Samuel 17:34-37)

Though herding sheep was no longer highly esteemed in Israel in Jesus’ time, all Israelites knew their heritage as a nation of shepherds, and at Jesus’ words, some became believers. ( John 10:21) As a Hebrew, Peter knew the centrality of shepherds and shepherding to his people. He knew, too, that Jesus placed himself in the center , and that the sheep, mentioned in parables and in lessons, were going to need a shepherd who would die for them. Jesus said: The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. (John 10:17)

When Peter said”yes” to Jesus , he knew for certain what kind of shepherd he would have to be. Peter said, “Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.”(John 21:17)

Love in Him,

Prue

“I see that you have some nice knives,” said a friend to me when he returned from my kitchen where he had gone to wash his hands. “You left them wet by the sink. It would have been better not to wash them at all, than to lave the blades wet.” Sam worked for the firm that manufactured the carving knives I had received as a wedding gift. I thanked hem for his advice, and went to the kitchen to wipe the knives.

Many years later Jack took the knives to be sharpened, and was rewarded with the admiration of the sharpener. He told Jack that he had never seen these by now discontinued knives in such good condition. I couldn’t help remembering Sam and the incentive he had given me to be sure that the knives were always dried.

Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rekabites, “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: ‘You have obeyed the command of your forefather Jehonadab and have followed all his instructions and have done everything he ordered. Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: Jehonadab son of Rekab will never fail to have a descendant to serve me.”

(Jeremiah 35:18-19)

For more than two centuries, the Rekabites had refrained from drinking wine, living in houses, sowing seed, or planting vineyards, all because their ancestor Jehonadab had said that they should refrain from these things. They were a people who believed in the Hebrew God, but were not descended from Jacob (Israel). God held them in high esteem purely for their faithfulness to their ancestor. It was their perseverance that won them God’s approval and His promise at a time when all of Israel was facing Nebuchadnezzar’s armies. Jehonadab had said to his family, “You must never drink wine. . . . then you will live a long time in the land where you are nomads.” Then Jeremiah offered them wine in the Temple in Jerusalem, and they refused. (Jeremiah 35:6-7) They were not the “Chosen People”, but, unlike the Israelites at that time, they had kept faith, albeit with their ancestor. I believe that the spirit of obedience is precious in the eyes of God. It is a spirit of willing connection with another. The Rekabites followed their ancestor exactly as God desired to be followed by His people.

I was embarrassed to know that I had left wet knives by the sink, and had to be reproved for it by Sam, but it was a joy to remember every time to be sure to wash and dry them thoroughly because they were worth it. I still use those knives and I’m still grateful to Sam.

Love in Him,

Prue

Nowhere in the Bible does any Old or New Testament person tell us that we must learn to forgive ourselves. Indeed, if it were possible to forgive ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Savior God. Yet, many times I have heard someone say regretfully, “I know, of course, that God has forgiven me, but I still can’t forgive myself,” as if God’s forgiveness, though nice, is irrelevant to our peace of mind and spirit.

It’s true that reflection on our own wrong doings can help us understand ourselves and our world, but to continue to feel guilt over them in the light of Christ’s death and resurrection, is to miss the new life that we can have, even before we go home to Him. Worse perhaps, is the notion that we have higher standards than the Lord’s for forgiveness of our own sins, and, while He may forgive, “I still cannot”.

Accepting God’s forgiveness is accepting Him as our God. It is one of the very reasons of the incarnation of God in Christ on earth. It’s the priceless gift experienced anew whenever we confess and know that we are forgiven. It is actually an acknowledgment of another Person who is infinitely better than one’s self, and yet accepts and even loves us.

In the 1959 movie ,The Hanging Tree, starring Gary Cooper as Doc Frail, his character rescued a young thief named Rune, and threatened Rune with exposure in order to force him to be the doctor’s assistant in a gold mining camp. Doc showed Rune a bullet that would prove Rune’s guilt. Rune worked conscientiously in fear, until he confronted Doc with the demand that Doc give him the bullet, and set him free. Doc Frail just said, “I threw that thing away a long time ago,” and Rune knew that he could have left at any time. In his service with the doctor, Rune had become a valuable aid and gained respect in the mining camp.

Corrie ten Boom once wrote, “When we confess to God, He buries our sin in the deepest part of the ocean, and then erects a sign that says ‘No Fishing!’ (Tramp For The Lord, by Corrie ten Boom) I believe that we hug our sins because we misunderstand the saving grace of God: “The Lord, compassionate and gracious God, Maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. (Exodus 34:6&7)

When it comes to forgiveness of our sins, both Doc Frail and Corrie ten Boom have it right: I threw yours away a long time ago, and: No Fishing!

Love in Him,

Prue

After his resurrection, speaking to his eleven disciples, Jesus said, . . . Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:10)

These words have come to be called “The Great Commission”, and have inspired generations of missionaries from all over the Christian world. They are a direct and powerful charge to Jesus’ eleven remaining disciples; but there is another commission from Jesus given to one particular disciple that perhaps reaches even more of believers.

It carries with it forgiveness, redemption, and a path for the churches. Jesus said, Feed my lambs, Take care of my sheep, Feed my sheep (John 21:15-17)

Like the Great Commission, this directive comes from the resurrected Christ. It goes to the apostle Peter alone, and functions to re-instate Peter from his earlier denial of Jesus.

Feed My Sheep is addressed to the one disciple charged to be the Rock: And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18) Peter’s commission is to the churches: Feed My Sheep . It’s a directive that includes young and old, women and men. Not everyone can go to all the nations or baptize throughout the world , but everyone can feed His sheep, and take care of His lambs.

Feed My Sheep is the domestic side of the Great Commission. It’s the side given to the Rock upon which the church is built. It is the very work of the church to love the Shepherd, and feed His sheep. This commission gets less press in many of today’s churches, but it is as powerful and strong as the commission called “Great”. It is a sharing of our lives with both our Shepherd and His sheep. It can be achieved in any environment and in the simplest ways; in the nursery with a newborn , in the used car lot, in the kitchen at home, in the office or onsite at work, in the grocery store, the bank, the classroom and in the church. Feed My Sheep is a commission for life itself. The repentant and redeemed disciple received the commission and remained faithful to it for the rest of his life. The Holy Spirit enables us to feed His sheep once we have, like Peter, recognized His presence in our lives: You are the Christ, the son of the living God. (Matthew 16:15)

There really is a commission for everyone, and though they don’t all look alike, they come from the same Kingdom.

Love in Him,

Prue

My grandmother was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the WCTU. Growing up, I never saw a bottle or a can of an alcoholic beverage of any kind in our house. But my father had a curious habit of calling us children up the stairs, “What’ll you have?’, for us to respond, “Pabst Blue Ribbon!” What’ll you have?” “Pabst Blue Ribbon !” “What’ll you have?” “Pabst Blue Ribbon BEEER!” after which, my grandmother would quietly retire to her room, shaking her head. It was great fun for us children, followed by a lot of giggling. We didn’t even know the meaning of the words.

Today I think that Dad was somehow re-asserting his leadership in the house when our grandmother was staying with us. Nana was a devoted Christian, but was also intolerant when we didn’t always share her views.

“One person’s faith allows him to eat anything, but another eats only vegetables. The one who eats anything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.” (Romans 14:2-3)

The judgmentalism that Paul describes is a turning away from the loving acceptance of God. From the earliest days God expresses His abundant love, and makes clear that it is the motive behind His every action. He describes His hope for His people through Moses: This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses. . . that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. ( Deuteronomy 30:19)

It’s not easy to love an invisible God, but that is what He clearly wants of us, and what He makes possible Himself to us, even more today since we have such a “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1)

My mother made herself scarce when Dad shouted up the stairwell and we answered, but I never heard her complain about the event. My grandmother never mentioned it to me, though she may have said something to her daughter; and Dad did his performance until we were too old to appreciate it. He didn’t need Nana’s presence to do the “yell.”

I believe that there is only one glue that is holding us together:

We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Love in Him,

Prue

Standing in a 20 foot high circle in County Cork, Ireland, is a stainless steel sculpture by Alex Pentek, of nine huge eagle feathers arranged in a circle reminiscent of a bowl. It was erected in honor of the Oklahoma Choctaw Indian tribe.

The information for this story appeared in the September- October issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

The Choctaw tribe suffered the famous Trail of Tears beginning in 1831. They were displaced in the winter from the Mississippi valley to the Oklahoma territory, a trip of over 500 miles. It is estimated that a quarter of the 15000 people died on the trip.

In 1847 the Choctaw were struggling to survive in Oklahoma when Indian Agent William Armstrong met with the leaders of the tribe, some traders, and some missionaries, and read to them from a pamphlet about a white people, thousands of miles away in Ireland, who were suffering a potato famine, in which ultimately a million people died and two million emigrated to England, the U.S., and Canada. Some of the people listening in that room began to weep, and on that day a collection was started which grew to a still unknown amount, but probably between $174 and $710. The money was sent to New York where it was labeled “Contributed by the Children of the Forest. . . the Choctaw Nation.” It was used to buy grain and other foodstuffs for Ireland, and soon forgotten by the tribe, and by many of the Irish; but in 2018 the Irish Prime Minister visited Tuskahoma, the capital of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, to thank the tribe, and establish scholarships for tribe members who wished to study in Ireland. During Covid, funds were sent from Ireland to other tribes in the U.S. Who were especially hard hit.

“We want you to know, brethren, about the grace of God which has been shone in the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part, for they gave according to their means, and beyond their means, of their own free will.”(2 Corinthians 8:1-3)

The action of the Choctaw came from the simple recognition of a kinship with another people’s suffering, and a desire to help relieve that suffering. In the eyes of God that simplicity is greater than massive rescue programs: “This poor widow has put in (the Temple treasury) more than all the others. All these people gave out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:3-4)

The Choctaw’s gift has come to be known in Ireland simply as “The Gift”; but the sculpture in County Cork is named “Kindred Spirits.”

Love in Him,

Prue

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God. . . (Deuteronomy 10:12)

When Peter saw the miraculous catch of fish he fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man! Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for men.” (Luke 5:8)

One of the great contradictions in the Bible is the issue of the “fear of God”. Throughout the Law, the Proverbs, and the Psalms is the injunction to fear God. It is the very beginning of wisdom.(Proverbs 9::10); but in both testaments there is the contradictory message, “ Don’t be afraid” when encountering God. These words were spoken to Abram, Joshua, Mary, Joseph, Peter, and others, all who received unexpected encounters with God.

I believe that this is one of the very crossroads of the Gospel itself, for it is one of the places where the person of Christ Jesus makes the difference. Peter’s fear was like Moses’ fear at the burning bush when he hid his face. They were both afraid of the truth about themselves in the presence of Holy God, and it is Christ who says, Don’t be afraid (of God) that transforms Peter into a disciple.

I once heard a young man say, “Where does anyone get the idea that they should fear God? Don’t we all know that God is the “good guy”? Don’t we know that He helps us, not hurts us?” Though the young man may have been sadly Bible ignorant, I have come to believe that Jesus’ words mean exactly what they say. “Don’t be afraid” of God or man, for fears warp our characters and keep us from receiving the eternal and amazing benefits of Jesus’ resurrection.

Peter hardly knew his own fear until he was in the presence of God’s son. It was Jesus who lifted the fear, so that we may call God our very own Father.

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified. (John 6:19-20) Jesus said simply, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They had not asked to see him, or even prayed at all, but “It is I” was all they needed to lose their fear. It is still all we need today to know that all is well. When we are frightened of God or man, Jesus still says to His own, “ It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Love in Him,

Prue

In a movie I watched recently, the housekeeper had promised the family to make a mushroom stew for their dinner. She was starting out to the woods to pick fresh mushrooms when a young woman staying with the family grabbed her basket and walked off with it, saying, I’d love to pick mushrooms! I’ve never done it, but it must be fun, and how hard could it be?”

The housekeeper knew that there were poisonous as well as good mushrooms in the woods, but she did not protest, and allowed the young woman to take her basket to gather the mushrooms.

The story meandered on with other characters until near the end as the family gathered for dinner to enjoy the mushroom stew. When the visitor announced that she had picked the mushrooms, everyone except the housekeeper dropped his or her spoon. “You let her pick the mushrooms?” demanded the host.
“Oh, do you really think I would use those for the stew?” answered the housekeeper. “I went to the market and bought fresh ones. They’re quite good this time of year”. Disaster was averted and everyone agreed that the stew delicious. The housekeeper’s discretion in allowing the young visitor to pick the mushrooms unattended prevented an awkward encounter with the family’s guest.

I wonder how many times our God has gone before or around us to protect us from our own selves: “The Lord will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore “ (Psalm 121: 7-8).

Sometimes our lives become so “linear”, that is, calendar connected, that our relationship with a timeless eternal God becomes blurred, indistinct; and we turn away. The Bible shows us that the limits we live, with while known our God, are not his limits for us: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 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 8:26-27)

The housekeeper knew the guest’s mind and the state of the mushrooms in the woods, the needs of the family, and her own desire to serve the stew. She knew, also, that she could meet both needs and desires by her non-confrontational action.

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). In the same sermon Jesus tells us: “Everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7)

Frustrations mount in our world but the Lord holds out his peaceful hand to each of us.

Love in Him, Prue

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Once I had the opportunity to see two great blue whales partly submerged, and then one of them breached, off the coast of California. My sister and brother-in-law had arranged a whale viewing boat trip for this very purpose, and just before the captain was about to turn back to the dock in disappointment, he received a message that the whales were quite near, and on the surface, and so we made it to the site, and it was indeed a sight!

The great blue whale is said to be the largest animal that has ever lived on earth. To my surprise these two seemed docile and even gentle at the distance from which we watched them. I couldn’t help thinking that they knew why we had arrived there, and they were not displeased. They rolled over and dove and resurfaced, it seemed just so that we could see them better. It was interesting to note that out of the water their skin looked simply gray, but viewed through the water, they were very blue.

The experience was awesome to me and I was conscious that I had seen creatures with whom I shared planet earth that I had only imagined before. How much more there must be that is still unknown to me.

In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom expresses her love for creation: When there were no watery depths, I (Wisdom) was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before He made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth, I was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep His command,. . . then I (Wisdom) was constantly at His side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence, rejoicing in His whole world and delighting in mankind. ( Proverbs 8:24-30)

The Great Blue whale is indeed a phenomenon; it is frequently referred to as the “gentle giant” of the sea. It lives on ingesting millions of tiny krill every day, and is observed to be gentle and friendly toward human beings. It’s heart is as big as a Volkswagen. Viewing the whales, I couldn’t help thinking of creation. The Creator of thisphenomenon is mine, as well. : “Through Him (Jesus) all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” ( John 1:3&4)

The whales showed me that there is more light than I had ever imagined.

Love in Him,

Prue