postaday

No Airbag, Bees and a Dog Pack

Bikes in the mold of the Schwinn Stingray had two distinguishing characteristics: chopper handlebars and a banana seat. This particular day the handlebars would prove to be my undoing. Fortunately, I was able to eventually father a child, so things turned out all right. I was riding one day with Alan and David. They had normal bikes with narrower handlebars and managed to make it down the narrow gap between Alan’s house and his garage. I was last in line, trying to catch up (the usual situation) and so had built up a head of steam. David went through. Alan went through. My bike, unable to make it through, stuck fast between the two buildings. However, not for the last time in my life, inertia proved to not be my friend and my body shot forward. Now, the bolt that held those handlebars was in an unfortunate position vis-a-vis my sensitive place. In hindsight, an airbag might have served me well. Maybe even a balloon. Anyway, after a terribly uncomfortable ride home and an embarrassing examination by my mother, I was pronounced fit for taking it easy and watching cartoons, or whatever else was on that Saturday afternoon. Maybe Wide World of Sports. “The agony of defeat.” Ouch.

To be continued…

Ed. Note:
The author apologizes for the juxtaposition of the words: “sensitive place” and “hindsight.”

Enough

Shout to God in times of grief
I won’t tell you to hold back
or pretend I know
you
I don’t

But I’ve been someplace dark before
and the only light I found
to lead me home
was a cross

a place
all bound together with
the greatest sorrow
and joy

where God’s Son
went to die
and claim victory

cross

He said, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me–nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42
The physical and emotional pain we can quantify, horrific as it was, but as Jesus took on our sins and became sin, (God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21) the spiritual pain took everything Jesus went through to a new level. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” Matthew 27:46 Take the time when you felt most alone and multiply that by any number you know and it can’t approach the spiritual agony Jesus went through. But we know death was conquered in this unprecedented act. Jesus died, He was buried, He rose again and appeared. His victory became our victory.

It’s all Ahead of You

No matter
however old or young
it’s all ahead of you
destiny is inspired
knowing you’ll sing

Best be working
on your theme song
make sure
that
you sing it true
make certain the lyrics are all
that they can be

notes

Tender moments
followed
by grand notes
borrowed
from a chorus
sung long ago
a memory
dimly
responding
simply
plays well
fast or slow

If people
start hearing you
round the town
whistling
a braver tune
worries
tossed to the
side
like castaways

They’ll remark
to each other
listen closely
I’d rather
miss anything
other
than that

We can now end our day
in no more
satisfied way
’cause its made all
our hearts
so
very glad.

Relinquishment of Control

Will your car start tomorrow morning when it’s time for you to go to work? Will a freak storm level most of the town you live in? Will your future wife walk into your office, look into your eyes, and see something that she can’t really describe, but which irrevocably changes both of your lives? I sometimes play that game in my mind, where I go back in time, but this time I’m armed with the knowledge of what has already happened. But what if you went back and changed one thing? What if you decided to get your car fixed before that day it wouldn’t start? What if that change in timing meant you turned your head at the wrong time at the office and that magic moment never happened? Going back in time doesn’t seem like such a great idea now, does it?

thelordreigns

It’s easy to see how our meddling with time could mess up our future. We aren’t meant to have that kind of power. But what would change in your future if you gave control to God? What if you actually became so sensitive to God’s voice that He didn’t have to keep hitting you over the head to get your attention? You might say, “That would be great, nothing bad would ever happen to me, because I would always be in God’s perfect will!” Wrong! Even when we do our best to listen to God, stuff happens. A lot of those happenings are things we don’t like. But God knows what we need, long term or short term. His plan is always best, even if we don’t understand. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Father, let me know you so well that I trust you to read the map.
I won’t constantly stop the car and complain that we are going the
wrong way. When you say, “Turn here,” I won’t ask you if you’re
sure, I’ll just turn the wheel. Let a peace wash over me that tells
me I will get to just the right place at just the right time to have
the future you’ve designed for your servant.

Sustaining His Children

Sustain
verb (used with object)
1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.
2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).
3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.
4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.
5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.
dove
Through the trials we experience in life, we know that God sustains us. It isn’t a matter of if, it’s simply a matter of when. As the Psalmist says in 119:50, This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me. Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22

Revival indeed.

Heavenly Father, thank you for sustaining me.
In quiet times of peaceful comfort, I rejoice.
In times of emotional and physical trouble, I have faith:
faith that even though your purpose is not always clear to me, your vision of my future goes far beyond
anything I could ever imagine.

Beautiful Savior, forgive us our doubts which we hold close and worry, like a dog
worries a bone.
Acting as though watching and waiting will keep trouble away.

Surprises do not exist for you.
You knew me before I was born.
What we believe is too much,
you have given the resources for.
What our needs are
You’ve already sworn.

We made a profession of carving concern
Now let us study your promises for your own
and by the light of your passion learn.

My Mobile Heart

A thousand miles or a few
you carry my heart with you
I want to be with you
wherever you breathe
Time grows heavy and still
passing away from you
Tides murmur the sound
of long restless seas

Lord, if you would
construct a storm
to move the world
like a globe of snow

shaken by a child

rearrange north south
east and west
make every path
bring her home

make fewer the miles

Just let me see

You’ve

brought her home

to

me

For Lack of Sleep

When I’m running short of
sleep sleep
and my thinking isn’t
very
deep deep
conversation may become
diff
icult
Land o’ Goshen! I could even in
sult
for lack of the proper
syn
apse
whole nations have been known to
coll
apse
So a wise man in
times
like
these
should correct the
sit u ation
by getting some
zeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

“I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike…”

Somewhere I have a photo of myself standing next to my first faux Stingray bicycle on Christmas morning. My smile is huge. A bicycle for a young person means freedom. For the first time, you’re able to expand the physical boundaries of your adventures. The narrow, two lane road we lived just off of saw a lot of traffic because at the time, a small Navy base was located at one end, just off the beach. My family ran a tow service, and periodically a young sailor would drive too fast or too drunk or both. Later, you could tell where the accident had been, due to the new stretch of wooden fencing. I wasn’t allowed to ride my bike on that road since my parents were afraid I’d be run over. Later, when I was older, that five-mile-road between town and the beach was one of my favorite jaunts. bicycle

As I got older, of course, the bikes got bigger too. I put a lot of miles on a Schwinn Varsity that I saved my money to buy. I think it cost around $100. I later regretted buying the small frame, because I got my big growth spurt the next year and raising the saddle was not a perfect solution. I’ve never been much of a mechanic and some lessons along that vein are learned the hard way. One morning I decided to ride the 15 miles to our county seat. Later, I would make that same trip with my sister and my bike would be stolen, only to be returned to me by the police when we made our way there to report the theft. But that’s another story. The day before my first ride I had worked on my bike, mostly cleaning and doing minor adjustments. The brake pads on this model were mounted in such a way that they slid in one end of a bracket. It was important to have the open end facing opposite the direction the wheel was going, otherwise the pressure of the wheel would slide the rubber brake pads out and you would lose the ability to stop. I learned the hard way that I had put the brake pads in backward when they popped out about halfway down a hill connecting to the main thoroughfare. Several drivers witnessed my demise, so after laying my bike down to avoid the traffic at the bottom of the hill I got up and waved that I was okay. Later, after I had made it home, I was listening to a local radio station. The on-air host told about going to work that morning and seeing a bicycle accident. He described exactly what happened to me. The only thing that could have made it better would have been film.