REINFORCED

Our neighbor recently had her cement driveway replaced, giving us some instructional entertainment on how it’s done. So many steps! Breaking up and hauling away the old, broken pieces. Smoothing the surface, bringing in and leveling gravel, dividing sections, laying rebar and then more prep before the cement truck rumbled down our street and dumped the mix. Then stirring and smoothing to remove air pockets, final cosmetic touches, and a wait….at least four days…before it was cured enough to drive on.

The rebar step really spoke to me. The way I understand it, those strong steel rods help absorb and distribute the pressures from the weight of a car. They are the driveway’s foundation. Similarly, the apostle Paul (long before cement technology!) remarked:

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 3:11 NIV)

In this section he was addressing church divisions that had resulted from following certain spiritual teachers. Paul made it clear that he put down the true and basic foundation of faith in Christ as Savior. Any teaching that deviated from that—such as trusting in works or peripheral ideas—didn’t belong in the church. And not just the “church,” as interpreted as a certain gathering of believers. Each of us who is connected to Christ in faith is where God’s spirit dwells—in Paul’s phrase, “a temple.”

Sometimes I wonder if we have the same problem as that early church, in following a leader, or an idea, or our own sense of how to be acceptable to God. Perhaps they shared a problem common today—of people who “profess” Christ but whose behavior reveals they serve other gods, like pleasure, retribution, entitlement, and convenience. Such are the broken-down attributes of the “self-life.” Jesus expressed a similar idea when He talked about the foolish building on sand, and the wise building on rocks. The rock, of course, was the rock-solid word of God through Jesus Himself (Matthew 7:27). The “house” of the other guy may have looked okay from afar, but it was as vulnerable as a shanty when life’s tsunamis came at it.

The apostle Paul took the idea of “firm foundations” deeper when he associated the life choice of following Christ with the lifestyle of generosity. He reminded his protégé Timothy to commend believers to be “rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19).

We all witnessed that spirit of generosity as the coronavirus pandemic changed and challenged lifestyles. I had some raised-eyebrow-moments when the media featured wealthy stars and business icons and the frustrations they had in staying home…in their multi-million residences. And then there were ordinary people who respected the “distancing” advice or, because of their occupation in health, safety or food services, had to mask- and glove-up to help those in need.

Such times reveal whether there’s spiritual “re-bar” for daily strength, courage, and grace.

BRIGHTENERS

She was forty years old in 1912 when she wrote a cheery hymn with the catchy refrain, “Brighten the corner where you are.”  Though not found in many hymnals any more, a lot of folks can still recall part of its opening lyrics and chorus:

1. Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar;
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.
Refrain:
Brighten the corner where you are! Brighten the corner where you are!
Someone far from harbor you may guide across the bar;
Brighten the corner where you are!
2. Just above are clouded skies that you may help to clear,
Let not narrow self your way debar;
Though into one heart alone may fall your song of cheer,
Brighten the corner where you are.
3. Here for all your talent you may surely find a need,
Here reflect the bright and Morning Star;
Even from your humble hand the Bread of Life may feed,
Brighten the corner where you are.

Ina Duley Ogdon (1872-1964), granddaughter of a Methodist minister, would live through the Spanish flu epidemic of a century ago, the Depression, two world wars and the Korean War, the polio epidemic, and more. She wrote more than 3,000 hymns, anthems, cantatas, and miscellaneous verse—all with the humble acknowledgement that God gave her the gift of lyric-writing and without Him she could do nothing.

This lone dandelion spread its cheer in my strawberry planter!

The other day on a walk, as I witnessed the proliferation of spring’s dandelions, I thought of people like her. They bloom for a while with cheerful brightness, then allow their legacy to go where it will—much like dandelions release their helicoptered seeds to bloom again. Wouldn’t you know it: the internet has several sites for sayings and poetry illustrated by dandelions, either blooming or releasing their seeds.  Here are some:
In a world of roses, she chose to be a dandelion. 
Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away.
Some see a weed, some see a wish.
Life is a balance of holding and letting go.
Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Then, there’s one of my favorite proverbs:
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.(Proverbs 11:25) 

I wonder if one of the better outcomes of the fears and stringent rules of the Covid-19 crisis has been a renewed appreciation for the grace of sharing and caring.  Even while confined with “social distancing,” people have made efforts to reach out and spread cheer. Like sunny dandelions, flinging the seeds of spent beauty out to be replanted elsewhere. Brightening the corner...where they are.

CHOOSING JOY

"Hearts unfold like flowers before thee," says verse 1.

Be encouraged above the negatives of the Covid-19 concerns with this uplifting hymn by a multi-talented man.  If you have a hymnal, look up “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” and then read Psalm 139:14: “Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Now, consider the “story behind the hymn."

If you were in charge of assembling a hymnal, which hymn would you put on the very first page?  A quick survey of random hymnals across denominational lines yielded these first-page choices: “O For a Thousand Tongues,” “Holy, holy, holy,” “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven,” “May Jesus Christ Be Praised,” “Old Hundreth,” and “O Worship the King.”  The editors of the hymnal my church used for decades (published 1989) chose one written by a Presbyterian minister in 1907.

His name was Henry Van Dyke, and he lived from 1852 to 1933 with many lines in his resume. They included:
*Appointment by his friend, President Woodrow Wilson, to ambassador of the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
*Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy Chaplains Corps during World War 1.
*Moderator of the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church
*Commander of the Legion of Honor
*President of the National Institute of Arts and Letters
*Chairman of the committee that compiled the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship
*Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City
*Professor of English literature at Princeton
*Author of several books, including best-selling devotionals
*A friend of many, including blind/deaf Helen Keller
*Officiated the funeral of Mark Twain
*Inspirational speaker—and in that role one day he was preaching at Williams College in Massachusetts. One morning he handed the college president some lyrics he had just written.  The meter, he said, matched the tune to the movement known as the “Hymn to Joy” in Beethoven’s Ninth symphony, the last by that composer which took him six years to compose. The lyrics were inspired, Van Dyke added, by the local view of the Berkshire Mountains.

He later said of this hymn: “ These verses are simple expressions of common Christian feelings and desires in this present time, hymns of today that may be sung together by people who know the thought of the age, and are not afraid that any truth of science will destroy their religion, or that any revolution on earth will overthrow the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore these are hymns of trust and hope.”

Dr. Van Dyke wrote 23 hymn texts, but this is probably the best-known. The diversity of achievements in his life point to how God is not limited in the ways He uses our skills.  It may be through a church, the arts, sciences, or government.  In the end, as the last verse says, we are the mortals joining the happy chorus in the triumph song of life—the one that praises the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ready to sing? These You-Tube sites may help:


Pipe organ with scenic backgrounds and hymn words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObqN9c9Jro0



Unaccompanied choir with scenic backgrounds and hymn words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GisCqoTZiH0

MORNING JOY

I was surprised by the pink hue filtering through our home as I got up early one morning. I remembered that a significant storm was forecast and recalled the old adage, “Red skies in morning, sailors take warning.” Looking out the window, I was treated to a tangerine sunrise that left me in awe at God’s artistry through weather signs in the sky. The glory of it all reminded me not only of this "fresh start" adage I saw on a pillow in the décor section of a local craft store, but also of this nugget of hope in Lamentations 3:23:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

There are also more than fifty references to “joy” in the Psalms. Among my favorite:
Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5b)

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:14)

Then there is Nehemiah 8:10, a verse that a former co-worker used to  challenge me when I was in the doldrums of grief after my parents died.  Instead of a heartless “Get a hold of yourself,” she just quoted to me, “Remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength.” It was what I needed to quit looking down so much, and look up. 

Exodus 16:21 says the Israelites gathered manna—the mysterious bread of heaven—every morning. If they tried to gather more than one day’s portion, the extra rotted. Again, a lesson for taking things a day at a time, not gathering up worries and cares, but looking to the Lord, who gives us fresh starts...every morning.

MASKED

I joined the trend of making face/nose masks in late April as coronavirus concerns ramped up. These I sewed for my three grandsons from some fun fabric I had sitting around.  I haven’t seen the boys “model” them, but at least I gave it a try. I made one for myself, too; hubby has a commercial one that will last a while.

When I took an unmasked neighborhood walk one recent afternoon I saw other walkers (far away!) both masked and unmasked. I’m saving mine for ventures to places like the store where I’m in closer contact with possible bad viruses. But the proliferation of masks as the new public apparel got me thinking of other things that come out of (as well as go into) the two vulnerable holes in our heads (mouth and nose).

In scripture, the mouth was used in a metaphor about what comes out of one’s heart. James spoke strongly against loose and mean talking: “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body; it corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). His Old Testament counterparts who contributed to Proverbs didn’t mince words about “evil” or uncaring words, either.  Like Proverbs 4:24: “Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from you.”  The list of ungodly behaviors Paul warned would escalate before Christ returned included a lot of tongue-dependent activities: boastful, abusive, ungrateful, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, treacherous .... (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Such people, Paul said, would parade as believers, but really aren’t.

Scary. Sneaky. Like the Covid-19 virus we can’t see but strikes both godly and ungodly alike.

A few weeks ago, as pandemic concerns continued to occupy the media, I couldn’t miss the message  that my age and underlying health issues put me up in the “at risk” category. One night, I felt chills coming on; my temperature was indeed already pushing toward 100. I had a cough and sore throat, though it seemed more like allergies than the reported choking cough of this virus. I tidied up my sewing piles, reminded my husband where I’d written computer passwords, and told him I was headed to bed with some concerning symptoms.

In the middle of the night I woke with sure signs of an allergy-related sinus infection, no doubt thanks to intense winds blowing around spring pollens.Whew!  Nothing “Covid-y” came of it. But the incident prompted me to examine my heart as to whether I’m ready to die and meet the Savior. Is my heart clean?  Do the words that come out my mouth (influenced by my heart) exalt the Savior, show kindness, and share wisdom?  No masks should cover up those qualities!  Jesus is worthy of spreading around!