A Wise and Warning Word!

John Notehelfer's most recent "Sunday Musings," which he distributes by email weekly, is worth passing on and pondering by anyone reading my blog. Society has a right to expect of us as Christians a sense of balance that is sadly missing these days. At the very least it is much in need of civility in our common discourse, and who living by God's grace should be more dedicated to that than disciples of Christ? John's quote from C. S. Lewis might well be a litmus test for us all. Could it be describing you--or me--more so than the Spirit of our Lord?

"Greetings to all of you on the front lines of kingdom work abroad and at home.

"This Sunday musing is premature because we are leaving on summer vacation(s) in August. But this one I had to get off my chest -- digest it next Sunday afternoon or whenever.

"An editorial in our local paper is headed, “How a good woman was thrown to the wolves.” It was triggered by the overreaction of both the press and government to some blogger’s edited video of what Shirley Sherrod, an African-American USDA worker, said some years ago – she was wrongfully fired on the spot for those remarks about race which had been taken completely out of context. The immediate result: all the ugly finger-pointing about racial hatred consuming our talk-shows and blogs.

"The writer of the editorial is as puzzled as I am about the current trend of knee-jerk overreactions. I caught his words, 'This sorry episode shows the extent to which we’ve lost sight of the most basic elements of fair play, responsible reporting, and common decency in this society.'

"So I find myself reading this week in A Year with C.S. Lewis (July 27) his excerpt from Mere Christianity entitled -- The Real Test!!

“'Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies as bad as possible?

'If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black.

'Finally, we shall insist on seeing everything—God and our friends and ourselves included—as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.'”

Thank God for C.S. Lewis!!! Take his cautions and his test to heart, my friends."

Stop, Come, Sit

A dog is
man’s best friend
it is said.
Could it be

that dogs are
mentors too?

Say come to
Gunther and
he does come.
Say stop and
Gunther stops,
also sits.

Would that we,
told to stop,
would do so.
Or told to
come and sit,
also mind!

Gunther is
as a dog
a living
reminder
of my need
to obey.

When God calls,
asks me to
stop, come, and
sit by him,
am I as
obedient?

God’s will is
illumined
when we see
parallels
in nature
and take note.

JRH
7/24/10

The Passing of a Saint!

On April 12 (see My Blog on that date) those who knew and loved Donald Frisk were celebrating his 99th birthday. Glen Wiberg and I, two of his students, admirers, and colleagues in Covenant ministry, even sang the Swedish Birthday song to him from Salem, his home church!

Today we are grieving his loss, together not only with his grandchildren here pictured again but with the whole family of faith that is the Covenant Church--and, as God alone knows, all those around the world who have been influenced by his life and thought.

Donald Frisk as preacher, teacher, and writer remains one of the foremost theologians in Covenant history. His clarity of mind, great heart, and devoted spirit have rendered him among the first both clergy and laity have turned to for help in understanding and promoting their faith. And they never turned to him in vain.

About a year ago now I called him with a theological question and was amazed at the quickness with which he responded in dialogue--offering insights from a wide range of sources with which he was recently in touch in spite of being almost blind. Listening to talking books, his mind was as fresh and precise as ever.

When Glen Wiberg and I were last at Batavia remembering the life and spirit of Dr. Paul Carlson, I saw the servant side of the man I had valued so much as teacher. Before and after each session he was wheeling the infirm in and out so that they could participate. I shall not soon forget how moved I was as I watched him doing that.

We have lost another giant in the earth--a man of great mind and range who, like so many before him, was not bent on using those gifts to his own advantage but one who gladly accepted the call of his faith community to serve it in Christ's name, small and seemingly insignificant in the larger scheme of things that the Covenant has seemed to many others.

May we have the grace to follow in his train, blooming where we are planted and trusting God to work his larger will through each of us, wherever and however we are called to live out the rest of our days.

Peace to the memory of Donald C. Frisk! Heaven and earth are joined this day is praising God for the life he lived and the legacy he has left us in its wake.

Time Apart - Day 3

A psalmist's declaration wakens me very early this morning, looking out our cabin windows on a serene forest outside, full of life yet to come--even today--but for the moment still, as if waiting on God.

The psalmist said "I will awake the dawn," a strange claim if indeed he thought he had the power. Another translation has it, "I will prevent the dawn," an even stranger claim if taken literally. What he meant, of course, was not that he had the power to awaken or prevent a new day. He knew by faith and experience that only God can do that. His intention simply was to get up before dawn and his daily round to honor God's faithfulness and seek his presence.

Ought I do any less this day? Restlessness abounds in me--all the things I long for in my own soul and the life of my family--not to mention the whole human race. Who but God, if only we acknowledge him, can calm that restlessness and render life whole?

I am deeply conscious this morning of my need to wait on him--to honor his sovereignty, to seek his wisdom, to rest in his love. What better time than now, when all is still in the household, loved ones each with their own yearnings and need still sleeping, as well as neighbors all around?

Another of the psalmist's prayers flows out of memory, giving wings to all I feel: O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child that is within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore (131).