In his “Confessions” St Augustine mulled over the meaning of time and eternity. He passionately desired to discern their meanings. Augustine believed, as did everyone in his era, that the sun rotates around the earth. For a while he judged that time could be measured by the duration of the sun’s journey from east to east around the earth in a day, but this did not satisfy his quest for a definition of time.

When God told the Israelites that they would not enter the Promised Land for forty more years, He said, For forty years-one year for each of the forty days you explored the land- you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.”

(Numbers 14:34).

God chose forty years as years of remembrance. He chose the time so that all the people would be reminded of Him and of their connection to Him daily.

Centuries later God would say of a disobedient Israel, I am now going to allure her, I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. . . there she will respond as in the days of her youth, as on the day she came up out of Egypt. (Hosea 2:14).

The forty years of “suffering” in the wilderness were a time of bonding with God. They were a time of allowing a whole generation to grow old in the knowledge of their God, and for the younger generation to prepare for the fulfillment of God’s promise to them of occupying the Promised Land. What was delivered as punishment worked for the people as a time of growing and maturing in their relationship to God. Forty years of suffering became a time of blessing.

ST. Augustine worried and wondered over the concept of time until he didn’t. You, my Father, are eternal. But I am divided between time gone by and time to come, and its course is a mystery to me. My thoughts, the intimate life of my soul, are torn this way and that in the havoc of change. And so it will be until I am purified and melted by the fire of your love. . . (Confessions, book xi, 29).

During Lent we don’t have to wonder about the nature of time or eternity. We have forty days to experience forty years of the manna in Scripture every morning if we choose. When Augustine tasted that manna he received a measure of the fire of God’s love, and knew that it would be sufficient for the intimate life of his soul.

Love in Him,

Prue

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the forty days of Lent when we tighten our hold on the hand of God, and loosen it on the hand of worldly cares and our private demons.

There are several “forties” in the Bible, among them the forty days and nights of Moses on mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus 20:1-17), the forty years in the wilderness by the whole nation of Israel, learning to be the people of God,(Numbers 14:34), Elijah’s journey to Mount Horeb for forty days and nights in order to meet with God, (1Kings 9:8), the forty days and nights in the wilderness by Jesus while being tempted by the devil, ( Matthew 4:2), and the forty days from the resurrection of Jesus to his ascension after establishing the church. (Acts 1:3).

All of these times are pivotal for Christians everywhere, and worth revisiting in Scripture during Lent. Each period of forty was a time of major growth in the spiritual relationship between God and His whole people, or between God and an individual, even between God and His own son Jesus. Each forty brought a closer, clearer relationship between God and person or persons, until at last Jesus gives the Holy Spirit, establishing the church.

It’s no wonder that the number forty for a time span came to mean a deepening of our love for God and our surrender and commitment to Him. It takes reflection and reminding to renew that “surrender”, and hence the many ways we celebrate Lent: eating fish on Friday (or any other day), sacrificing dessert, attending church services, reading the Bible, shedding our defensiveness or “touchiness”, increasing our kindness, and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable for forty days.

That Lent has survived for so many centuries suggests that Someone more than ourselves is in the mix, Someone who seeks the closeness that we seek, who looks for us even more than we look for Him, and who knows the “look” because He has it, too. He has said, “Ask”, “Seek,” “Knock” because He wants us to find Him. There is no better time ( and there is no bad time) to respond to Him than for forty days before glorious Easter.

Love in Him,

Prue

My high school art teacher was passionate about “modern” art. Nature, he declared, was the raw material of art, but never art itself. Art required creativity, imagination and intelligence, none of which, he asserted, exist in nature. Even then I wondered how that could be true.

On Friday when I stepped outside I saw on the shrubs near or house icicles encasing the branches and hanging from them, no two alike, glistening and flashing rainbow colors in the sunlight. I remembered the words of John Adams , our second president writing from Quincy, Massachusetts: The icicles on every sprig glowed in all the luster of diamonds. Every tree was a chandelier of cut glass. I have see a Queen of France (Marie Antoinette) with eighteen millions of francs in diamonds upon her person and I declare that all the charms of her face and figure added to all the glitter of her jewels did not make an impression on me equal to that presented by every shrub. The whole world was glittering with precious stones. ( John Adams by David McCullough)(my parenthesis).

The queen’s clothing was a true work of human art. Her very appearance was artistically achieved, but Adams was moved even more deeply by the artistry of ice on trees and bushes. If the purpose of art is to reach and touch human spirits , then God ‘s imagination , creativity and intelligence on display qualify as undeniable art.

It is impossible to measure the impression that Adams received, but I know that the impression I received was sheer joy, not unlike the joy that saturates much of the Bible:

Let the mountains sing together for joy. (Psalm 98:8), I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. (John 15:11), I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:22), . . . you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible joy. (1 Peter 1:8).

If joy is so embedded in the character of God, that even a shrub full of icicles catching the sun can convey it to a soul, it is certain that our Father God is the greatest of all artists in the universe. His artistry displays endless creativity, intelligence, and imagination. In icicles on branches we are invited to share His joy, to rejoice with God at His very character and His creation. True art must be God freely sharing His creativity and finding us receptive.

Love in Him,

Prue

One of the most heart breaking stories in the Old Testament is the return of the spies from the Promised Land, and the general decision by the people not to attempt to enter the land: The land we explored devours those living in it. The people we saw there were of great size. We saw the Nephilim there. . . We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked like the same to them. (Numbers 13:32-33) The Nephilim were a tribe of giants who were believed to have supernatural qualities.

Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried desperately to counter this negative report, reminding the people of God’s supernatural rescue of them from Egypt, and His faithfulness in their travels, all to no avail. The spies even brought back with them samples of the abundant grain and fresh fruit , just as they had been told would be waiting for them in the Promised Land. Mention of the Nephilim was the turning point in their decision not to go any farther.

We all have Nephilim in our lives. In fact, we’re bombarded by terrifying Nephilim many times a day through multiple forms of the media: “taxes”, “variants”, “supply chain”, “deadly weather,” “war,” and an even longer list of personal Nephilims. They are fears that appear to have supernatural proportion, and at least partly succeed in paralyzing our wills to move forward. For the Israelites the fear cost them forty years in the wilderness learning to trust God and turn away from fear.

For us the cost of giving in to our Nephilim can be counted only in each individual. In both cases God does not remain neutral: This is how love is made complete in us so that we will have confidence. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. . . We love because He first loved us.( 1 John 4:16-19)

When God sent His son Jesus to us He sent a love that would make it possible for us to defeat the Nephilim in our lives and even in the world . Because God is greater than all the Nephilim in the world, through His love for us we have all we need to escape the paralysis of fear, and the destruction of despair. God is love.

Love in Him,

Prue

Once I had a neighbor who every fall stretched a line on a pulley from a tree near his house to the frame of the window of his study. At first he hung a bird feeder near the tree, and gradually, over a few weeks, pulled the feeder closer and closer to the window. “The birds don’t seem to notice”, he said, “and eventually I can sit quietly here in my chair, or at my desk and watch them up close.” I saw that it worked, as the feeder was quite busy and already near the house.

I will walk among you, and be your God, and you will be my people.” (Lev. 26:12)

My neighbor wanted nothing more than to enjoy the lives of the birds in a small way, to observe them and have them near him every day. Our God, on the other hand, desires to enter into the lives of His people, to”walk among” us and to be in conscious relationship with us.

The Lord, like my neighbor, is patient. He is willing to wait a short or long time before we find Him to be a welcome companion, even a Friend, and ultimately a Brother. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you Friends, for everything I learned from my father I have made known to you. (John 15:15).

The attraction of the birds was irresistible to my neighbor. Our lives, too , are irresistible to our God. My neighbor built a line to his house so that he could enjoy the birds more. God has sent a line out to us in His son, who would “gather us in” if we let him: . . . how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you are not willing. (Luke 13:34)

Some birds came to the feeder only as long as it was half way to the house, while others were emboldened to come all the way to the window. The birds were not mindful of a presence desiring to be close to them and drawing them nearer. They did not “know their master’s business”; but we can experience our God and even know His motive: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jer. 31:3).

Love in Him,

Prue

Some fifteen years ago my husband Jack was given a small sealed glass globe containing two tiny shrimp swimming around a single small piece of coral. The globe was accompanied by instructions for its care and the admonition that the shrimps’ life expectancy was about two years. The larger of the two died within a year, but the smaller one, about a quarter of an inch long, still dives and swims and rests in its watery dome. It’s unchanging diet is nearly microscopic algae attached to the coral.

I marvel at the tiny creature’s endurance, and I salute it for it’s apparent joie de vivre that communicates to me through the glass

Of the many novels and short stories of the sea written by the Polish/ English author Joseph Conrad, fourteen of them include an incident of suicide. While the suicides have various motivations there is a recurring theme of loneliness resulting in a loss of meaning in life. It’s as if suicide is seen by the author as a somehow understandable response to loneliness.

From the earliest creation God has revealed Himself to be the God of life. . . . the word (of God) is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it. ( Deut. 30:14). 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. For the Lord is your life. . . (Deut. 30:19).

If these scriptures are true, and God is truly our life, then it is also true that we are never actually alone. If a tiny crustacean finds sheer existence well worth living and experiences no self- destructive urges living entirely alone for fifteen years in an unchanging environment, it is because he finds life itself irresistible.

The God who is our life, however, has given us choices. Side by side with our ability to choose are examples like the shrimp, to show us God’s handiwork in another creature: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38).

Love in Him,

Prue

Watching Nathan Chen on T.V. deliver an exquisite figure skating performance at the Olympics in Beijing was an exhilarating experience made even greater by the announcement that some of the combination of jumps he achieved had never before been seen at the Olympics. Nathan Chen performed five different types of quadruple jumps.

He had committed himself to an unremitting program of training in order to accomplish his goal. He remained focused and concentrated and he persevered against the knowledge that the things he attempted had not been done before.

After so many years of Olympic competition it was a surprise to know that new records could still be set, and the limits of human achievement on ice skates could be pushed ever farther.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12).

In our spiritual lives as in skating, it is easy to reach plateaus when we believe that we are as close to our goals as we will ever be, but for those who persevere, God opens the door to more and more of Himself. Indeed, in His kingdom there is no knowledge of what cannot be achieved, but only the resounding promise of the “crown of life” that awaits those who love Him.

Nathan Chen’s perseverance rested on his faith that what had not yet been achieved, yet could be achieved, just as the Christians’ perseverance rests on the faith that God sets no limits to our friendship with Him, for love knows no stopping place.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed; for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

He is the well of our perseverance, the assurance that our lives bear fruit, no matter how unlikely it may seem to be or how blind we are to His handiwork. He is eternal life itself to those who love Him.

Love in Him,

Prue

Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31) These are the words of Jesus when he and his disciples had been so pressed by the crowds seeking healing that they did not even have time to eat. They are sweet words of concern for his followers. They all attempted to leave, but the crowds followed them seeking more of Jesus.

It was not to the disciples, but to the crowd that Jesus turned: So he began to teach them many things. Jesus turned from the respite he knew he and his disciples needed, to the teaching of “many things” about his Father God. ( Mark 6:34)Tired and hungry, Jesus taught and shared himself with a crowd that eventually reached at least five thousand men. This is the moment remembered as the “feeding of the five thousand” when Jesus broke five loaves of bread and two fish into enough pieces to feed five thousand plus, and had baskets full of leftovers. (Mark 6: 38-44).

After Jesus’ resurrection he met Peter and six other disciples by the Sea of Galilee where they had gone to fish. Jesus three times singled out Peter with a charge : “Do you love me?” Then, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17). From all that Peter had witnessed in his three years with Jesus he must have known that “feeding the sheep” would mean denying his own hunger and tiredness, that the task would last a lifetime, and that it was the deepest purpose of his life.

Coming apart together to rest with Jesus sounds very welcoming, until I remember that Jesus’ invitation was interrupted by teeming crowds who needed him: When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34). His compassion outweighed his own fatigue and hunger, and Peter witnessed it first hand.

I believe that God’s love for His people outweighs every other consideration in His relationship to us. I believe that we cannot measure that love, yet in every generation there are disciples , even now, hearing His voice and feeding His sheep.

Love in Him,

Prue

When I drew back the draperies in our front room Thursday morning I was startled by the brilliant light that flooded in from the sun’s reflection off the snow outside. It was a sight that we rarely see in Texas.

I had been reading about the white cloud that had flooded the tabernacle that Moses had just completed , and couldn’t help thinking of the “glory of the Lord”: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exodus 40:34). The times when the white cloud factored into Moses’ and the Israelites” lives were many and frequent. The white cloud was a daily companion to the whole nation for 40 years, and a particular message to Moses when he approached the tent of meeting.

I have heard someone say that it would be easier to believe if we had a more tangible evidence of God’s presence, such as the cloud.

Jesus is that tangible evidence. In showing himself to three disciples in the midst of a cloud on the mountain top he displayed his tangible connection to both the disciples and the Father. (Luke 9:34). From the moment that the risen Jesus said to Mary Magdalene,Do not hold onto me…go instead to my brothers and tell them “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”(John 20:17), we have been given a brother and Father in place of the cloud. We have been invited into an intimate relationship with God. We have been sweetly included in the very family of God as children and heirs: Now if we are children then we are heirs—heirs of God and co—heirs with Christ…(Romans 8:17) He destined us in love to be His sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace which He freely bestowed on us in the one He loves.( Ephesians 1:5 )

The glare of the sun on the snow pouring through the window of our cluttered home office, nevertheless opened my mind to the presence of our loving God in Christ in every corner of my life, and I knew again that even sunlight on melting snow can speak of an eternal Father God.

Love in Him,

Prue

One night this winter I stood on a deck over-looking Possum Kingdom Lake, and looked up to see a sky that had almost disappeared behind the density of stars in constellations above and apparently around me. For the first time I felt as if I were truly in the midst of the Milky Way galaxy, and I wanted to stay there. I couldn’t remember ever having seen the sky like that, but it felt entirely familiar. Identifying Orion and others helped with that.

The day is yours, and yours is the night; you established the sun and moon. It was you who set the boundaries of the earth; you who made both summer and winter. (Psalm74:16&17)

When Paul heard the voice of Jesus calling him, he answered, “Who are you, Lord?” as if the voice was familiar, but completely new at the same time. (Acts 9:3-5).

When Moses walked toward the burning bush he walked toward something familiar, the bush, and at the same time something completely new, the fire and the voice.

When we open the Bible to hear God’s voice we open a very old and familiar book, but if we read it without agendas, certain that we can hear Him, the old old book leaps into life and delivers an altogether new message to us. The Spirit of God looks for those who persevere in reading His book. For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth throughout the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are set on Him. (Second Chronicles 16:9).

There is no clearer sign of our hearts being set on God than the desire and the resolve to spend time alone with His word. Standing on the deck looking at the Milky Way made me feel as if I was in an entirely different place from my everyday life. I believe that when God finds us in His book He sees us in an entirely different place, and it pleases and sometimes might even surprise Him.

Love in Him,

Prue