Be Still

Good morning from sunny Virginia, where if you didn't like the weather yesterday (78 degrees), you may like it better 8 hours later at 38 degrees.  Just sayin'. 

That's why I woke up this morning unaccountably quite cold.  I flung open all the windows last night because I love the fresh air, but didn't check the weather report for today.  Not checking the weather is one of those cheap thrills I like to give myself, demonstrating my devil-may-care attitude about how many pills are left in the bottle, how far below half my gas gauge displays, and where my keys are at any given time.  I live life on the ragged edge.

So as I woke up this morning and pulled my blanket off Lulu (she had a fur coat) and on to my icy feet, I looked up to the Bible verse that has been over my front bedrooom windows for several years now.

"Be still and know that I am God," Psalm 46:10.  I don't know about you, but I have a terribly hard time being still.  I want to be running, going, jumping, and doing.  I want to tweak a vignette, call a friend, paint something, cook a new enchilada recipe, go to Starbucks or find something cool at Goodwill.  I need to use Murphy's Oil Soap on the hardwood floors, read for my graduate school class, and hang a load of wash on the line.  Being still is a hard thing for me, as is keeping my mouth shut.

My wonderful friend, Terry and I have been doing something new with Bible study.  It was Terry's idea.  We are not studying anyone else's thoughts (like Beth Moore or Kay Arthur, as fabulous as they are), but are instead going through shorter passages of the Word and looking up key words and phrases.  This technique has really been opening our eyes, even though we know the basic definitions of the dictionary words.  The practice illuminates many shades of meaning to what we read, especially in familiar passages.

I go to Dictionary.com, where today's Word of the Day is "masticate" in case you were wondering.  To me, "masticate" sounds far less appealing than what you do with a mouthful of birthday cake.  In any case, these are the definintions for still.  That is "still" the adjective, not the "still" that moonshiners use.

1. remaining in place or at rest; motionless; stationary
2. free from sound or noise, as a place or persons; silent
3. subdued or low in sound; hushed: a still, small voice.
4. free from turbulence or commotion; peaceful; tranquil; calm
5. without waves or perceptible current

Oh, if I could only learn to remain at rest, to be free from noise, to be hushed with a still, small voice, and without commotion!  God doesn't call us to anything which isn't possible, so if He says, "Be still," it isn't really a suggestion or an impossibility. 

I had been particularly busy and frenetic of late, doing my best impression of the Biblical Martha (Jesus said, Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things).  God can use everything in your life, though.  He has used health circumstances to bring me to an "all stop."  The most recent thing has been pneumonia.  I've been sicker than I've been in years.  But, it hasn't been a bad thing at all.  I've had to get still, slow down, and revaluate.  I'm thankful for a military heath care system that had me in a bed getting treated three minutes after I arrived.  I'm thankful for free prescriptions and effective medication.  And I'm thankful for the chance to be still and figure out what God wants me to do next. 

Just before I go, I want to share with you the other thing in my line of vision when I wake up, because no posting from me is complete without a vintage thing. My grandmother, Helen got me started on a love of tea, teapots, and tea cups.  These are on the bureau in the bedroom.  They look vintage, but both are newer.  I picked them up very cheaply at Goodwill. The plates are old and were purchased for under a dollar.  That's what I love about the cottage-y, shabby chic look. It doens't have to be expensive.

Stormy Weather

Greetings from damp Tidewater area, Virginia.  I sipped my morning Earl Gray, listening as great gusts of wind rattled our windows and wet tires outside whooshed their drivers to school, to work at the shipyard, the Naval Hospital, the Norfolk Navy Base, and parts unknown.

When the weather rages ugly outside 256, I always think about the storms, weather-related and metaphorical, that this old house has witnessed over all the years.  World War I, the Depression, Jim Crow Laws, World War II, Korea, the Civil Rights era, Vietnam, and on and on and on.

Today's reading in my "The Journey" devotional?  Coincidence?  I think not.  "And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had been built upon the Rock."  Matthew 7:25

The God Hunt

All of us have access to God, but each has different access. Our great chance lies precisely in our unlikeness. God's all-inclusiveness manifests itself in the infinite multiplicity of the ways that lead to Him, each of which is open to one person.

Martin Buber

Laminin - The Glue of the Human Body

Have you heard about laminin? Lamimin is a protein found in the human body, which is used to connect cells together. It has been described as the glue of the human body.

Here’s the definition according to Wikipedia:
Basically, laminin is a protein found in the "extracellular matrix", the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the "basement membrane". It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules.

The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1, and B2 chains.

What to learn more? Check out this short video from You Tube. It will knock you over with its inspiration, humor and scientific evidence of God’s glory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

And may I add just one more thought to Pastor Louie’s wonderful presentation? Please note the last sentence from the Wikipedia definition; “The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1 and B2 chains.” Or should we call them instead; “The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.?”

Is life hard right now? Are things coming at you so quickly that it seems difficult to stand up under it? Jesus promised that the Kingdom of God is within you. Has science now proven this in an actual tangible way, for those of us who have the figurative “ears to hear” that Jesus talked about? The glory of God is truly within us. Do you have a chronic illness? Take heart, because the triune God is holding you together. Literally. Glory to God!

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and IN HIM ALL THINGS HOLD TOGETHER. Colossians 1:15-18

J. P. Morgan Didn't have a Clue

We enjoyed our trip to New York City right up to the last minute. As we were checking out, our bellman noticed the Bibles we were carrying. Greg let us know that three Guttenberg Bibles were on display at the Pierpont Morgan Library. We checked our bags at the hotel and took a cab cross-town to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Johannes Guttenberg is the father of the movable printing press. Only 48 of the Bibles he produced in the 1400’s are currently in existence. Three very good copies are in the Pierpont Morgan Museum, two printed on paper and one on vellum. Printing Bibles was his life’s work. You can learn more about the Morgan here: http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibition.asp?id=7

I was in awe of the three Guttenbergs on exhibit, the first ever mass-produced vs. copied by hand by scribes. I switch Bibles each year. I generally use paperback Bibles, because I write, highlight, underline, make notes and just make a mess of mine. That's a picture of my Bible up there with the page open to one of the Psalms I have a tooled leather cover with handles that I use to hide all the mess, since I don’t write all over that.

I held my Bible to my chest and tried not to cry as I contemplated the differences between my Bible and those that were displayed. The Bibles on display were exquisitely rendered with gorgeous type and initial capital letters. Each Bible was unmarked in any way. They were, however, also protected by glass, untouchable, terribly costly in their own time and priceless in ours.

My Bible, a paperback Amplified version, cost under $20, although it is priceless to me. Almost everyone can afford a Bible today. Any church would gladly provide a seeker with a free Bible. The Gideons give them away to motels. How thankful we should all be for the great availability of Bibles in our time. We have any number of direct translations, paraphrases, parallel Bibles with several versions in one, Bibles on CD and every kind of study aid imaginable. Many of us do not take advantage of these materials, but they are there for us to explore the Word of God in all of its richness and complexity.

I moved on to view J. P. Morgan, the financier’s, office. The Pierpont Morgan Library is his former residence. The office was vast and imposing with a soaring ceiling. The walls were covered in red flocked velvet. Treasures lined the walls and chair rails, from ancient Egypt to ancient China and the European Renaissance. It was breathtaking.

What do you imagine, in the midst of such treasure, that J.P. Morgan gazed upon as he sat at his desk working? The painting of Madonna and Child by a Medeival artist and monk? A priceless Chinese horse figure? A Renaissance tresure? J.P. Morgan looked at a very large portrait of himself over the fireplace in front of him.

J.P. Morgan apparently spent time looking at himself. He had many, treasures, but I think he might have valued them more for their monetary value than for their history or for what they represented. Let’s not make that mistake.

It is easy to make old J.P.'s error. The Bible talks about idols that are man made and have eyes that can’t see and ears that can’t hear. Our homes can become idols, our careers, our exercise time or anything else that comes before our time with God.

Let’s take our focus off making ourselves and our possessions our idols and seek us first the kingdom of God. Let’s look instead to the Author and Finisher of our faith.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord. Corinthians 3:18