For most of my life I have believed that Jesus’ words, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48), were either hyperbole from Jesus, or a mistake in the transcribing of the Bible. It occurred to me that no one knew better than he the universality of human imperfection.

From one struggle after another with the revelation of my own imperfections, and the subsequent renewal of friendship with the One without imperfection, I have changed my mind, and now think that Jesus’ words were both an invitation and a map for a life journey.

They are an invitation, not to become complacent with our own imagined “Perfections,” but to recognize that perfection is in our spiritual family, and that we can be participants. Every time we accept forgiveness from God His perfection becomes part of us, for we have accepted His Character. Jesus certainly knew this, and that we would be able to know it after his resurrection.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Perfection lies only in God, who in His great love, has lavished upon us, His creation, the forgiveness that unites us to Him in all His perfection.

I once dreamed that my father, who had died two years earlier, said to me, “I want Stephanie (our teen-aged daughter) to have some of my duds.,” and he handed me a “Good News” Bible. In the morning I went to a bookstore to find such a Bible, and at first was told that there were none in the store except an expensive leather- bound edition. As I left the store I noticed a rack near the door with a denim covered paper backed book and I inquired about it. “It is a ‘Good News’ Bible,” I was told. We carry it for teenagers. Even high school football players come in to buy this one. It’s the only one left.” I joyfully bought it and gave it to Stephanie, who took to it right away, and it went with her to college. Some time later I told her about the dream.

Jesus never tells us to do that which cannot be done. Staying close to him is all that is required to end the struggle.

Love in Him,

Prue

Unlikely as it may seem, every year scientists around the world are announcing the official discovery of previously unknown species of animals and plants. In 2021 it was discovered that a certain whale, previously misidentified, now named Rices Whale has been swimming with others of his kind in the Gulf of Mexico, and is already nearing extinction. Several new types of wild orchids are discovered every year, not to mention reptiles, birds, mammals and insects. Some scientists estimate that only about 20% of the species on planet earth have been identified and classified.

While concerns for the climate crisis, envision a world on the brink of collapse, the discoveries of an orange colored bat found in West Africa or of two new species of owls in Brazil, open my imagination to a world untouched by anxiety or fear for the future. Even the newly discovered endangered species are unconcerned with their own predicaments.

The birds that make the phenomenal migration across the hemisphere to destinations that are shifting and changing are entirely unselfconscious in their preparations and flights. Their focus is simply survival and many of them have been supremely successful for generations.

“God saw all that He had made and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Every new discovery brings joy to those engaged in studying the natural world, Every new species, animal or plant, brings surprise and delight, no matter how endangered or fragile it is. We, too, look at what God has created and see that it is indeed “very good”.

“To even wicked people, what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

May these discoveries lead us to put aside our fears and anxieties , if only briefly, and rediscover our own Maker in ever more wonderful ways.

Love in Him,

Prue

Spring fever at our house takes the shape of intense yearning to go swimming outdoors. The grandchildren can hardly stay away from the pool and end up with their feet, legs and arms dipped into 52 degree water and assure me that “It isn’t really cold at all.” By August they have moved on to other pursuits. Swimming is still fun, but not at all urgent, and if the water is even cool they lose interest quickly.

The first full immersion of the year prefigures the summer with all its pleasures. It conjures up the past and promises for the days ahead , beside delivering sheer pleasure in the moment. It is altogether satisfying.

“You have made known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.” (Psalm 16:11) God certainly knows about the yearning for a joy that is full and real and everlasting; He provides in us both the yearning and the fulfillment. Jesus in his prayer to his Father and our Father said, “I am coming to you now, while I am still in the world, so that the full measure of my joy may be within them.” (John 17:13).

When we think of the world and of the Father God, there seems to be a big hazy gap between us, as if we are so different from Him, that neither He nor we can truly bridge the gap. But Jesus makes it clear that his joy is our joy, and that he knows exactly where and how that joy exists for us. The first swim of the summer may be a foreshadow, but the joy we have in him is without end.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17). Spring, summer, fall or winter the yearnings remind us of the One who fulfills them all.

Love in Him,

Prue

Have a Chat

“Mimi, could we have a chat?” It was one of my four year old granddaughter’s several delaying tactics when I was putting her to bed. Nevertheless, I said “Yes”, and turned around to sit on the side of her bed. “What would you like to chat about?” she asked. I answered, “Maybe you could choose a subject.” After a moment of thought she said, “I’d like to talk about the animals who live in the ocean.”

And so, we did talk from what little I knew, to the quite a bit that she knew, about whales and sharks and dolphins for a few more minutes until she thought she was ready to fall asleep, and I turned out the light and left.

The memory of that chat stayed with me as a sweet encounter without strings attached, and I was grateful to God for his creatures of the sea that my granddaughter had never actually seen but only imagined from stories and pictures.

Sometimes while praying in the early morning I think that God Himself loves a chat with us about things we have never actually seen, but have read about in the

Bible. A chat is perhaps the simplest form of sharing ourselves with another. Ideally a chat carries no “baggage” that separates, but only shares thoughts.

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised” (Genesis 18:17) And so began the conversation between Abraham and the Lord concerning the fate of Sodom , and particularly the fate of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. It was a chat between unequal friends, and several millennia later we visualize it and re-read it many times.

I believe that God loves to chat with His creatures. He loves to be invited to chat, to engage in conversation with one who believes in Him and even loves Him: “The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ He answered, “because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.’” (Matt. 13:11-13)

Not everyone is willing to chat with God, but for those who choose Him, not only the truth about whales and dolphins, but the very secrets of our holy God can be shared. I believe He is waiting to chat.

Love in Him, Prue

Easter is like the parable of the Prodigal Son: “This son of mine was dead and is alive again! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again!” (Luke 15:23&32) and so they celebrated with feasting and rejoicing. What was lost had been restored.

The job of Christ in coming at all was for this very thing, to restore to our Father the children, whose own ways had separated them from their Father. Jesus came to bridge the gap, to reunite the family of God, and to make a pathway for more and more reunions.

Easter is also like the parable of the Lost Sheep: “And when he finds it he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” (Luke 15:5) When Jesus rose from the dead he carried all of humanity on his shoulders and for over two thousand years we have responded to his direction: “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”

Jesus made it possible for each of us to turn to him for forgiveness to be restored to his Father and our Father at any moment. We can consciously put aside our “own way” and experience a reunion with Him that makes our hearts sing and rejoice. Easter can occur in us at any moment in time because it happened to him in both time and eternity.

On the morning of his resurrection Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to y God and your God.’” (John 20:17). From that very moment we became brothers ad sisters of Christ, children of his Father God; and, as Paul has told us, “if children, then heirs.” (Romans 8:17)

Once at a church picnic I saw the two year old son of the pastor following my father around. I asked Dad who he was, and he answered, “He’s my grandson.” I was surprised that Dad’s heart desired a grandson, and was delighting in a surrogate for that time.

I believe God’s heart delights in His children and looks forward (in eternity!) to more and more fellowship with his “little ones.” Jesus’ death and resurrection opened the door for that fellowship. On Easter we can rejoice and acknowledge our wonderful Father God.

Happy, Happy Easter!

Love in Him,

Prue

Recently PBS presented a program called “Magnificent Beast”, the subject of pigs, their history , their characteristics, and their role in the religious life, especially of the Jews. During an interview, a rabbi said, “ Not eating pork or pork products is part of who I am. It’s part of my identity.” I couldn’t help thinking that “not eating pork” was also part of the identity of Jesus of Nazareth.

The program explored many theories for the cause of the “taboo”, acknowledging that it had Biblical origins, and finally concluding that it was a device for separating the Hebrew people from all others and ensuring that they retained their unique identity.

As I watched I wondered why no one suggested that it was also an opportunity to relate to and ,in fact, obey a direct order from their Father God. Searching high and low for some natural and feasible explanation, the writers of the show seemed to miss the most simple and obvious explanation. The rabbi identified with the Torah, the Word of God as he knew it, the very thing God asks His people to do: “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach; it is not up in heaven, so you have to ask, ‘who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?. . . No, the word is very near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.. . . For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands” (Deut. 30:11-16).

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill them.” (Matt. 5:17). In the Cross Jesus fulfilled the law by offering himself to his Father. Because of who he is, God’s own son, God accepts his obedience as worthy of covering all the disobedience of the entire human family. As Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Redemption is so easy for us, because it cost God so much.”

I believe that whether we eat pork or not, either way should lead us closer to the love of God.

Love in Him,

Prue

Try as we might, we can never replicate the events of Palm Sunday, for they are followed by the cataclysmic events of the crucifixion. The joy that was expressed in the streets of Jerusalem when people waved palms and threw their garments on the ground, is not the same as our joy, for ours is augmented by the knowledge of the Resurrection.

Nevertheless, the crowds who celebrated Jesus’ entry into the city were a foreshadow of the parades and demonstrations that would continue for thousands of years in Easter celebrations. In those precious moments of Jesus’ journey are shown the spirit of a people in recognition of the presence of their God in the person of His son. It was a spontaneous display that even the disciples did not foresee.

“Centuries earlier, though, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. . . and the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.” (Isaiah 40:3&5)

The incident we now call “Palm Sunday”, when people cried out, “Hosanna to the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!” (Luke 19:38), remained in the consciousness of Christians everywhere since the scriptures were written. It has enduring meaning because God intends it to have eternal meaning.

When Isaiah wrote “Make straight a highway for our God” he wasn’t calling on the government to build more roads, but upon believers to open their hearts and minds more fully to the divine life of their God.

Jesus knew the importance of the celebration of his presence in the midst of his people. He said, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:40).

Palm Sunday starts the roller coaster of events of Holy Week at a high place, only to plunge into the somber events of the Last Supper , the arrest, and Crucifixion of Christ. Palm Sunday is a distant glimmer of Jesus’ identity and greatness, intended to cast a light on all subsequent events, and for us and all believers to see in the palms and branches the prophesy of Isaiah and the promise it contains for all generations. It’s a long light that reaches into both the past and the future. Like all else in Jesus, it draws us toward his own eternal life.

Love in Him,

Prue

Never Dated

Reclining in the dentist’s chair watching a home renovation program on his overhead T.V. , I learned that the kitchen back splash, identical to the one in my own kitchen, was “dated, and had to go”. It was in good condition, as is mine, but its “datedness” made it impossible to live in the house. It was a shock to see it and process the thought that my kitchen, of which I’m quite fond, is utterly unacceptable as a living space, because the back splash is out of date. I had been living with the comfortable illusion that some things were inherently good, and that my back splash was one of them.

I began to think that “datedness” could be an evil that could be applied to virtually everything around us: our clothes, hair styles, furniture, choice of books and entertainment, cars, houses, and especially our Bibles!

There is unlikely to be an older book in our collections than the Bible, and there is probably a mindset that considers its age an entirely disqualifying fact. After all, what can possibly be gained from reading (and re-reading) material that is thousands of years old, even before the age of indoor plumbing?

What would it mean to encounter the mind of a bronze age man such as Abraham? What would it mean to worship the same God that he worshiped? What would the unfolding of the stories of centuries of individuals who followed and communicated with the same God that we Worship? Would we have a perception of timelessness, that would make a difference in our lives? Every voice in the Bible says that it does: “You believe in Him, and are filled with an inexpressible joy” (1 Peter 1:8). “I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. (Song of Solomon 2:3&4). “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you” (Psalm 63:3-5).

The voices of those who have faith in an eternal God are never “dated”, for they come from the Spirit that is timeless, and always new. “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5) The newness of God is eternal and for believers it is the promise of a lifeline to Him. Instead of being “dated” in Him, we are eternally loved.

Love in Him,

Prue

Open the Book

On Easter Sunday much of the Christian world will stand and sing the hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, a song written by Charles Wesley in the 18^th century.

Charles Wesley was a Methodist minister who wrote in his journal of his own conversion: “May 13, 1737. I waked without Christ, yet still desirous of finding him.” He continued by telling of a visit of some friends to his apartment, as he had been ill. He and his friends practiced the custom of “opening the book”, which amounted to literally opening the Bible at random, and reading the first passage on which their eye rested. On Charles Wesley’s second attempt his eye rested on, “He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:3) “I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ,” he wrote in his journal. “My temper for the rest of the day was mistrust of my own great, but before unknown, weakness.”

The fruit of this conversion was six thousand , five hundred hymns, including “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”, composing an average of three hymns a week for the rest of Charles Wesley’s life.

Both Charles and his brother John Wesley were preaching from Christian pulpits before their conversions, without experiencing the peace and joy they observed in others, and even discerned in the Scriptures, Their conversions were remarkable by human standards, but the fruits of them testify to the presence of a supernatural God who shared His very Spirit with both brothers. Charles’ songs joyfully testify that Christ shares his life with us all. The morning after Charles “opened the Book” he wrote:

He left his Father’s throne above

(so free,so infinite his grace!),

emptied himself of all but love,

and bled for Adam’s helpless race.

”Tis mercy all, immense, and free,

for, O my God, it found out me!

( “And can I Be”, vs. 3)

The history of salvation is rich with the richness of creation itself, for each soul is uniquely known to God. Charles Wesley demonstrates the truth of Jesus ‘ words, “Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

(Matthew 7:7)

Love in Him,

Prue

“Now then”,said Joshua, “Throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God out Israel” (Josh. 24:23).

For a long time I believed that Joshua was asking too much of his people to adopt tunnel vision in relation to their God and turn away from all the “souvenirs” they had collected over the years from Egypt to their entering the Promised Land.. Those objects undoubtedly brought comfort and familiarity to a homeless people for forty years.

Then I read, “He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your hear and all your soul and live.”(Deut.30:5)

It seemed to me that in light of this promise, that giving up “other gods” was like giving up a pasifier in the process of. Growing up. So many things that we cling to tur out to be “other Gods”: relationships, entertainment, games; it’s Impossible to list all the “other gods” in our lives.

The amazing thing about Joshua’s order to “throw away” is that God has prepared the way, and turned the command into a promise.

During Lent we can throw away those things that blurr our vision of the Lord who promises to “circumcise our hearts”, enabling us to love Him.

Even the smallest movement in our spirits toward the God of the Old and New Testaments is noticed and welcomed by God: “ And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God’”. The young man’s “wisdom” lay simply in agreeing with Jesus that the most important command is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” ( Mark 12:34).

When there is the smallest movement toward yielding to such a command, we, too, “are close to the Kingdom of God.” Every day in Lent we get closer to Easter Sunday when we celebrate the fulfillment of all these promises. We are not far away.

Love in Him,

Prue