Why is love so important? It is the birthplace of faith and hope. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). When my grand nephew Will was only a few weeks old his mother placed him in my arms and sat down across from me. The baby’s eyes never left his mother’s face, as if to say, “Have you abandoned me?” Though he didn’t cry, his little body couldn’t relax until I handed him back, feeling sorry for being the occasion of so much anxiety for him.

I was impressed again by the bond between mother and child, even from a very early time. I believe that little Will’s capacity for loving and bonding when he grows up was being formed even at this early day by parents who loved him. That love will be a reservoir for him, just as God’s love is a reservoir for us from which we draw faith and hope: “see what great love the Father has for us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! (1John 3:1)

It would not have mattered to Will if I were rich or beautiful or sweet smelling, he knew only one face that he trusted completely. When God sought to draw a people to Himself in an unbelieving world, He sought out Abraham and Sarah who hungered for a child. God propelled the journey to salvation with a bond that would carry on weaker and stronger for generations until His own son would appear and his mother be declared “blessed”. (Luke 1:47) One infant after another grew up and responded to the love of God and led His people for a season.

The transition from human love to love for a holy God is different for everyone. The seventeenth century scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote of his discourse with Jesus, “Take comfort; you would not be looking for me if you had not already found me” Jesus himself said, “Let any who is thirsty come to me and drink . Whoever believes in me, . . . rivers of living water will flow from within them. (John 7:38) In believing we trust and in trust we receive, for “we love because He First loved us.”

Love in Him,

Prue

Hunger

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they (the disciples) did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” (Mark 6:31)

Jesus and his disciples attempted to do just that. They entered a boat and went to a solitary place, only to discover that the crowd of at least five thousand had arrived ahead of them.

Jesus knew that he and his disciples were hungry and tired, but when he saw the crowd, he was touched by his Father’s character of compassion and willingly turned away from his needs and those of his disciples to minister to the crowd. Only he knew that his plan to give respite to his own was God’s plan to extend respite to thousands. It’s as if Jesus had one “ear to the ground” in knowing his disciples’ needs, and “one ear to the sky” in knowing God’s plan for his respite. The miracle of feeding the five thousand follows this incident, followed in turn by Jesus’ miracle of walking on water.

Postponing his and his disciples’ dinner in favor of the crowd seems to have been a greater renewal for Jesus than if the time apart had never been interrupted. As a result they shared a meal with at least five thousand people, the culmination of Jesus pouring out a spiritual meal that was more fulfilling than the bread and fish. His “eye to the sky” produced an immortal miracle that led to a second immortal miracle on the lake afterward.

As a Christian, how often my “ear to the ground” in focusing on my own needs and the needs of family obscures my “ear to the sky!” Yet, the fruits of the latter are clearly larger and more lasting than the fruits of the former.

Jesus desired to bring relief to himself and his disciples but saw an even larger need in the crowd. I can’t help feeling grateful, as through Scripture I feel part of the crowd who was fed both on the ground and in their spirits by Jesus on that day.

After they had all eaten their fill, there was time alone for Jesus and his disciples in another boat. That day and night they surely never forgot, and it still feeds hungry followers today.

Love in Him,

Prue

Mary’s Voice

A friend once said to me that since the Bible didn’t address the subject of abortion, women are left on their own to know what course to take. I agreed that the word “abortion” doesn’t occur in the Bible, but it seemed to me out of character for God not to have an opinion on the subject. A long time later, after years of Bible reading, I thought I knew His opinion.

When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill boy babies during birth, but not after birth, he indicated that a pre-birth killing was not a crime in his religion, but that after birth might be a crime. The midwives lied to Pharaoh that the Hebrew women gave birth successfully before the midwives even arrived, and so they didn’t kill the babies: “And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.” (Exodus 1:21)

At this early time the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” from the ten commandments had not yet been given. The midwives intuited the character of God from their own history and their experience of the joy of life in delivering healthy babies.

Of all the reasons to have an abortion, the Bible addresses most of them. Mary was arguably too young in addition to being unmarried. Sarah and Elizabeth were both too old. Neither was promised that she would survive childbirth, but all of these rejoiced to be pregnant. Elizabeth experienced the joy of her unborn baby when she heard Mary’s voice: “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:44)

In a later generation Susannah Wesley bore nineteen children, of whom only ten survived to adulthood. Her sons John and Charles shaped the beginning of the Methodist Church in England and the United States. We have Charles to thank for “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, which is sung in almost every Christian church today.

Unmarried, too young, too old, too many, too poor( The Wesley’s were desperately poor.), are all reasons we think of abortion. They are all reasons God thinks of blessing.

“Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb He has spoken my name” (Isaiah 49:1) The question isn’t really, “Does the Bible have an opinion?”, but rather, will we, like the unborn John the Baptist, rejoice to hear Mary’s voice?

Love in Him,

Prue

One of the most charming stories in the Chronicles of Narnia stories by C.S. Lewis is The Horse And His Boy. In spite of the horse getting top billing in the title, the story centers around the boy Shasta, a prince who is one of a pair of identical twins separated at birth, kidnapped, rescued by a knight, and raised by a poor fisherman in a far country, who had no idea of Shasta’s real identity and who treated him as a servant as he grew older.

In the story the the boy managed to escape from the fisherman on a Narnian talking horse when he learned that he was about to be sold to a military officer. The horse had also been kidnapped. Together they make up the rest of the story a they travel through hostile territory to reach first Archenland, and eventually Narnia.

Shasta had many close calls on the journey, as he had to learn to ride a horse, find food, avoid detection, and persevere in traveling with others trying to escape, as well.

As Shasta reached Archenland he met Aslan, the Savior figure in all of the Narnia stories. In the encounter Shasta is introduced to the Great Lion who reveals Himself as One who has helped Shasta throughout his life.

To his great surprise Shasta, while standing next to his twin, Colin, is recognized by King Lune, their actual father: “What came next surprised Shasta as much as anything that had ever happened to him in his life. He found himself suddenly embraced in a bear-like hug by King Lune and kissed on both of his cheeks.”(The Horse and His Boy, chapter 13) As it turns out Shasta, whose real name is Cor, is the older twin, and will become King of Archenland after his father. Shasta (Cor) never chose to leave his father and mother, but he was raised without a faith.

His arrival at King Lune’s palace was greeted as joyfully as that of the Prodigal in Jesus’ story: “While he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”(Luke 15:26) Jesus also said, “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7)

Aslan showed Shasta that his “sufferings “ were really self pity, and Shasta was changed. The Prodigal was changed when he “came to himself” and recognized his own poverty. Everyone needs to repent some times. It makes it easier to know how truly happpy it makes our Father to hear it, and to see the change.

Love in Him,

Prue

On Wednesday Jack and I had breakfast at a grocery store, sitting by a wall of windows in the eating area. Just outside the window were two young women also having breakfast, and the one facing me held in her arms a very young infant while she fed him with a bottle. The tenderness and sweetness on her face as she held him and virtually forgot her own food, caught my attention. The baby was hungry and finished the bottle before he fell asleep in her arms. I thought I was witnessing one of he greatest engines in the survival of humanity on planet Earth.

When God Himself wished to express the depth of His love for His people in the Old Testament He found no more potent comparison than the love of a mother for her baby: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though even she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15) Even earlier God in Moses expresses His love: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)

From the earliest times God has repeated the connection between His love and eternal life. When He established His covenant with Abraham, He said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if indeed you can count them.. . . so shall your offspring be.” (Genesis15:5) Later the prophet Jeremiah reports from God, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3)

The love I saw on the young mother’s face at breakfast was a reflection of the ancient and eternal love of God for all His children. Some times that love is almost captured in paintings of Mary holding her infant Jesus; and it’s no accident that this love is the love that God taps to help us understand His Character and even His motives in relating to us.

Mary’s love for her infant coincided with her love for God, as Mark Lowry’s lyrics attest: “Mary did you know that when you kissed your little baby, you kissed the face of God?”

We can’t measure the love of God, as we can’t measure God Himself, but He is generous in displaying for us images of His love and of His Person in the very world we inhabit, the world that hardly acknowledges Him, but cannot help but display His creation in every setting. Most of all ,God gives us His Book to read all the many manifestations of His Spirit on earth, and to find Him in its pages.

Love in Him,

Prue

Born Again

In the C.S. Lewis story Voyage of the Dawn Treader a young boy experiences the conversion of his character from a disagreeable self absorbed child to a caring and even courageous child, Eustace was unwillingly swept into Narnia, Lewis’ imaginary world that parallels the Christian world of England. Eustace was accompanied by his cousins, Edmond and Lucy.

In an effort to separate himself and avoid the other two children Eustace took a walk into a valley where he witnessed the death of an old dragon, and himself turned into a dragon after taking some of the treasure from the old ones’ lair. After several adventures as a dragon, Eustace encountered Aslan, a mystical lion, who is the savior figure in all the Narnia books:

“Then the lion said ‘You will have to let me undress you’ (from the dragon’s skin). “ I was afraid of his claws, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I lay flat down on my back and let him do it. The very first tare he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. . . Then he caught hold of me. . . and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing all the pain had gone.” (Dawn Treader, chapter7)

Lewis’ description of Eustace’s experience makes delightful reading because of the underlying truth in his fantasy: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”(John 3:3) Jesus’ words are as strange to Nicodemus, the man he’s addressing, as the encounter that Eustace had in the novel. Nicodemus said, “How can someone be born when they are old?” (John 3:4)

Lewis captures all the surprise and wonder and change that comes to a human soul at first recognizing the presence and saving power of God in his or her life. He includes the healing of pain, the joy of finding ones’ “true” self, the pleasure of feeling “clean”, the recognition of Someone Else to whom we matter beyond describing, the loving One who saves us.

In the end, Eustace thinks that he may have had a dream until his cousin Edmond tells him that everything that happened to him was entirely real. Eustace can’t help but believe, as he finds himself to be literally “born again” from his encounter with Aslan.

When we allow Christ to take away the crud in our lives we receive yet again “new birth”, sometimes a pain, always a joy.

Love in Him,

Prue

Small Beginnings

At four years old I was in the hospital with a tonsillectomy when an older cousin sent me a card in the shape of a toy locomotive. The first day she sent the engine, and for three more days she sent a different car, to make up a whole train. For some reason I clung to the cards and they went home with me. Even as a four year old I experienced a caring heart from an unexpected source.

Paul wrote ,”You show that you are a letter from Christ. . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (II Corinthians 3:3) My cousin never knew how much comfort I took from receiving that series of little cards. When I told her years later she laughed and said that she had forgotten sending them. Nevertheless her gift conveyed joy to me when I needed it, and it had a lasting effect.

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”(Matthew 5:16) I didn’t learn to praise God for gifts such as the cards for several years, but I did receive a loving spirit from my cousin’s gesture enough to remember it these many years.

Zechariah wrote, “Do not despise the day of small beginnings. . .” (Zechariah 4:10) when a feeble remnant of Israel had returned to rebuild their temple. The Spirit of God does achieve huge changes like the Exodus, and even Creation itself; but He also moves in the weak and small to produce great things for His people. Isaac came as an infant into Sarah and Abraham’s lives and established a dynasty that is recognized thousands of years later. A single woman’s conversation with Jesus at a well resulted in the conversion of a Samaritan village. (John 4:39).

“You are the light of the world” said Jesus to his followers (Matthew 5:14). However small we may feel, however dim our “light”, it has been given to us to shine and to be life-changing in a world of darkness. Often we look elsewhere to find light, but Jesus says “You are the light”, if you are his. Jesus shares with us his actual relationship with God as light in the world. Even if it’s only a flicker in your mind, “Do not despise the day of small beginnings.!”

Love in Him,

Prue

Recently as I walked slowly down an aisle of the grocery store, a woman stopped to complement may hair style, which was a braid wrapped around my head. I thanked her and then she said, “The Bible says that a women’s hair is her glory!” I was surprised, and quickly answered, “It also says that we shouldn’t wear braided hair.” (1 Timothy 2:9) I was again surprised that she became agitated and threw up her arms and said, “If we were perfect we wouldn’t need a Savior, but we have one!”

This conversation was so strange that it has stayed in my memory and comes back from time to time. The Bible has much to say about being overly concerned with “externals”: “Do not love the world… the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”(1 John 2:17) The writers of scripture are conscious that everything on earth can be a “snare” for our faith, including braided hair, but Paul especially asserts that “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are constructive.” (I Corinthians 10:23)

The balance of freedom and obedience is in the very fiber of Christian life. Just as freedom increases for a child as he or she grows up, our earthly journey is a growing up toward God, always accompanied by His Spirit, as children are accompanied by their parents in growing up.

That day in the grocery store neither of us spoke a really true or edifying word. We both tacked a Bible verse onto a point of view producing nothing but irritation, the very thing Paul warns against: “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” (I Corinthians 10:24) That is because Someone Else is the real “Way, and truth, and life.”(John 14:6) , and the only One whose opinion really matters on every issue in our lives.

Love in Him,

Prue

In 2020 the State of Texas acknowledged in its Handbook of Texas, that the Karankawa Indians, the tribe that had inhabited the coast from Galveston to Corpus Christie and several miles inland more than six hundred years ago, is not in fact extinct, but has been assimilated into the State of Texas while retaining their cultural history and even some of their language. In order to escape the massacres of the tribal Indians, the Karankawa assimilated the culture of the rapidly increasing numbers of European settlers in what is now Texas and Mexico. The women and children survived and kept the memories alive as they assimilated into Texas and Mexican communities. Today there are many individuals who can trace direct Karankawa ancestry living and working in both Mexico and Texas.

In the Bible a similar fate happened to the Israelites who were sent into exile in Babylon. In effect the exiled people were hidden in plain sight as part of the larger community: “Esther had not revealed her nationality and family background, because Mordecai (her uncle) had forbidden her to do so.” (Esther 2:10).

Throughout the story of Esther the fact that her identity was hidden even from her husband, King Xerxes, is the vehicle that drives the story and enables Esther herself to survive and makes possible Esther’s rescue of her people from the machinations of Haman who has schemed to eliminate all the Jews in Xerxes’ kingdom.

The Book of Esther is a story of a people living in exile away from the land of the Covenant with God; and of a young woman who risked her life for the rescue of her people from massacre. Esther is the very figure of a savior. She was a Jewess who hid in plain sight in a pagan country, and when her people were threatened, Mordecai said, , “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4: 14).

The Karankawa in Texas survived by simply assimilating. They retained their culture and attained another. Esther retained the rock of her culture, the God of Israel, while she assimilated when she was chosen to be Xerxes’ queen. In praying and fasting for herself and her people, Esther learned that her identity did not belong just to her culture, but to her God. Have we learned this?

Love in Him,

Prue

A Good Story

Almost buried in the Old Testament is the story of the young boy Samuel who hears the voice of God and mistakes it for the voice of his guardian Eli. It’s a story included in children’s Bibles, but seldom mentioned in sermons or in adult lesson books. It’s one of my favorite stories. Three times Samuel hears God’s voice call his name, and thinking that it is the voice of Eli, goes to Eli’s room in answer. “Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.” (1 Samuel 3:8)

Eli gave Samuel words to say to God in response, and the child obediently replied to the voice of God when He called again. Then the Lord answered and and shared with this young boy His plans for Eli and the near future for Israel.

Throughout this interview God never said to Samuel, “Don’t be afraid”, words that had been said to both Abraham and Joshua, as well as others when first encountering God or one of His messengers. Samuel apparently did not respond to God’s news, but when the Lord left, the boy went back to sleep until morning when he was afraid to tell Eli the message.

The voice of God seemed so familiar to Samuel, who had never heard it before, that he thought it was Eli. God had no need to reassure him; it’s as if two friends are talking. The mind of Samuel does not experience dread or fear from hearing God ‘s voice, even though the news for Eli is not good. Eli himself knows from Israel’s history that God has spoken to individuals, and Eli is able to discern that Samuel is experiencing this, though he himself is not.

Samuel listens as God tells him that Eli’s sin of ignoring his son’s transgressions in ministering to the people will not be forgiven, for Eli has not intervened with his sons to prevent them.

In that one encounter Samuel is transformed into a prophet of God. Like all the other prophets, Samuel centers his life on his unique relationship with the holy God of Israel: “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel …recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. (1 Samuel 3: 19-21).

In this amazing account we see our holy God acquiring a son for Himself and a young boy acquiring a Father for his life. Long before God’s own son appears, God seeks a son in Samuel, and finds one who will love Him as his Father. It’s a good story leading to another that will be even better.

Love in Him,

Prue