HOLEY

 Holey, holey, holey—such is the denim jeans fad we've had way too long. It amazes me how a piece of clothing is deliberately “distressed” to raise its “style appeal” (and price). I've learned distressed denim goes back to the “punk” movement of the 1970s when torn pants and jackets expressed “punk rock” anger toward society. Many accessorized their “rebel” fashion with safety pins and slogans. By the late eighties, with the emergence of hard rock/heavy metal music, the protest fashion continued as a political statement.

Jeans have come a long way since the mid- 1880s, when businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis found twilled cotton could become a hardy fabric for work pants. Metal rivets helped hold the thick fabric together. It was just what rough-and-tumble workers of that era needed—be they farmers, laborers, and even gold-diggers!

As the lowly work pants evolved into denim jeans “fashion” in the next century, there came so-called "must-have" designer brands featuring stonewashed, acid-washed, ripped, skinny legs, and tapered ankles. The 1990s saw baggy jeans. The early 2000s (oh, shield my eyes), the low-cut ones. 

So where am I going with this? Maybe my concern that the “grunge” and “acid rock” eras have infiltrated our present-day culture with more than all their “anti” messages. I ask why—in a land where there is so much natural beauty—the clothing of its inhabitants should be so...tattered. And that the “tattering” commands a higher price!

In Bible times, both men and women wore simple tunics with belts and shawls. Yet there was a sense of beauty for clothing. The busy “Virtuous Woman” of Proverbs 31 was commended for her thrift and home-sewn fashion sense (“fine linen and purple”). As “fashion” became a status symbol, early Christians needed counsel about the secular culture's emphasis on fancy braided hairdos, excessive jewelry and showy clothes. The apostle Paul offered a countercultural standard: “I want women to dress modestly with decency and propriety... with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (1 Timothy 2:9-10).

Culture is a fluid thing. We've come a long ways from the era of gold miners donning sturdy denim overalls while they swished their pans of pay dirt in a stream. Or farmers, slugging through the daily, dirty work of crops and animals. Or mill workers in gritty factories. They mended clothes to help them last. They certainly didn't intentionally “distress” them with bleach or scissors!

I'm aware that the Christian community embraces many opinions for clothing standards. What bothers me is a cultural trend birthed in such twisted places as the “punk rock” era, that scoffs at a divine plan of beauty and order, promoting fabric messages of ruin.

Do I own “distressed” jeans? Yes, and no. I have some way-too-old “yard-work” jeans with frayed creases that I mend with iron-on patches before they become embarrassing. But I only wear them in the yard, never in public. As I kneel in dirt with claw and trowel to care for our yard, I think how the God who arrayed the earth with astounding natural beauty certainly deserves honor in our clothing choices. And maybe ripped/distressed/bleached jeans, which originated as symbols of anti-God values, just don't cut it (oops, pun intended).

HOW MUCH MORE?

The "crowns" on our neighbor's garbage cans
are good "proof" of the overnight snow dump

After a nose-reddening, finger-numbing January cold snap, we knew “it” was coming. The snow. And even though the weather forecasts warned us of a “dump,” it still was an “I can't believe this” event when we woke up and saw nearly two more feet of snow outside. (Thirty miles away, closer to the mountains, Bavarian-themed Leavenworth residents opened their doors to three feet of “white.”) Bundling up and grabbing snow shovels for a strenuous digging out as snow continued to fall, our thoughts were “How much more?”

Later, resting from a session of shoveling, I thought of another “how much more” series of questionings I'd recently read in Psalm 13. Actually, in my translation, it was “How long,” and the speaker was David, who was weary of trying to keep one step ahead of his enemy King Saul. “How long--” David asked repeatedly (vv. 1-2):

*Would God Forget David and hide His face?

*Would David wrestle with doubts and sorrow weighing his heart?

*Would the enemy seem to be winning this conflict?

No surprise, God has heard a lot of frustrated, exasperated questions--“how much more?” or “how long?” The prophet Habakkuk, watching the unraveling of his nation, asked, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2). Even in the “Revelation” John had of future events, Christian martyrs waiting in heaven asked, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (Rev. 6:10).

OUR HOW-LONGS?

In our times, whose “how long” questions are likely to be:

*How long will we endure the pandemic and all its frustrations and sorrows?

*How long before we can simply be with people, and our kids go to school in a “normal” way?

*How long before the different opinions people hold about the pandemic won't matter anymore?

Or, more sobering:

*How long will we grieve those who go to eternity without having Jesus as their Savior?

David's Psalm 13 is a brief six verses, but it packs a lot of punch. After his honest, unhappy “how long” questions, followed by reminders that he'd appreciate God's answer, he articulates what he knows to be true:

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me. (vv. 5-6)

Depth by porch

You might outline this psalm as “questioning,” “complaining,” and finally “affirming.” And that's a good description of how our faith grows. The dailiness of life's deadlines and dead-ends, defeats and denials, may leave us reeling like we're buried under two feet of snow. But there's the “but”--the hope.

The “rest of the story” of our snow-shoveling was that we got unsolicited help for the task. And even though we went to bed with sore muscles, we got through it—enough to literally “get through” to the street and mailbox. A week later, the snowpack had melted by half.

Not all our “how long” questions are answered so quickly. I've faced difficulties that have gone on for years. Even though I wish I could “shovel them away,” God allows them to remain in my life. Because—as the psalm emphasizes—they teach me to trust in His unfailing love (v. 13). And maybe also (v. 6) to sing praises to Him. (And I don't mean the pop holiday song, “Oh, the weather outside is frightful...” even though it was!) 

SOFTLY AND TENDERLY

A monthly series on a beloved hymn of the faith.

A publisher's rejection led to one of the most loving “invitation” hymns of all time: ”Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling.” Written—both music and lyrics—by Will Lamartine Thompson, it was widely used in the American and British crusades of evangelist Dwight L. Moody. The evangelist appreciated the hymn (and its author) so much, that as Moody lay dying in a hospital—with restricted visitors—he especially asked that Thompson come. The story is that Moody told him, “Will, I would rather have written 'Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling' than anything I have been able to do in my whole life.”

That kind commendation went to a someone known all his life as a gracious, simple, and sincere man. The youngest of seven children, Thompson was born in 1847 in Ohio to a merchant and banker who also served two terms in the Ohio State legislature. His mother was active in social and charitable work. Thompson began composing music in his early teens. First educated at a nearby college, he furthered his music studies at the Boston Conservatory of Music and in Leipzig, Germany.

At first, Thompson wrote secular and patriotic songs but faced early disappointment when a Cleveland publisher offered only $25 for his work. He returned home, prayed about it, and then went on a business trip to New York on behalf of his father. While there, he showed his songs to another publisher. Two would become hits: “My Home on the Old Ohio” and “Gathering Shells from the Sea.” He'd become known as the “Bard of Ohio” and became a millionaire through his music royalties.

But something else tugged at his heart. He was a member of the Churches of Christ, which sought to return to the New Testament's original teachings and practices. After attending a meeting in which Dwight Moody preached, Thompson decided to dedicate himself to writing only Christian songs. He established a music company, publishing “Softly and Tenderly” in his first song collections in 1880. His Christian quartet books would sell two million copies. Besides “Softly and Tenderly,” his most popular songs would include “Jesus Is All the World to Me,” “Lead Me Gently Home, Father,” and “There's a Great Day Coming.”

Altogether he wrote 71 hymn texts. He once recalled how words or melodies would come to him at odd times. He admitted: “No matter where I am, at home or hotel, at the store or traveling, if an idea or theme comes to me that I deem worthy of a song, I jot it down in verse. That way I never lose it.”

Despite his wealth and success, Thompson remained a simple and sincere man. He was concerned that because famous musicians performed in large cities, the small towns and rural areas didn't have such exposure to good music. He involved himself in the solution, loading an upright piano on his two-horse wagon and driving it out into rural Ohio to play and sing his own songs in small churches.

Little did he realize that more than a century later, his music would be performed before millions, via television and movies, by such stars as Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Carrie Underwood, The Andrews Sisters, Pat Boone, Rosemary Clooney, Anne Murray, Amy Grant, and the trio of Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, and Kelly Clarkson.

In 1909, Thompson became ill during a tour in Europe, and died a few weeks after returning home. Did the words of “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” come to him during his last hours? We can only imagine.

Anne Murray sings this hymn on a You-Tube with classic spiritual art:

 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=%22softly+and+tenderly+jesus+is+calling%22&view=detail&mid=12E05E9284AB2FEE0B0C12E05E9284AB2FEE0B0C&FORM=VIRE0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3d%2522softly%2band%2btenderly%2bjesus%2bis%2bcalling%2522%26form%3dANSPH1%26refig%3decccf1808d704d09b4f12b313d98fca2%26pc%3dU531

GOD'S SEARCH ENGINE

I often wake way-too-early, but instead of tossing and turning, and fretting and fuming, I listen to the quiet voice that says, “Seek my face.” Actually, there should be a capital M and F in that quote—Seek My Face.” It's from Psalm 27, where David expresses his desire to go deeper and stronger with God. It's well-marked in my Bible:

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. (27:8)
There's a similar request in another well-known psalm:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.(139:23)

As I write this, I think of the memorable hymn written by revivalist J. Edwin Orr, “Search Me, O God.” It was featured in this blog in the Oct. 15, 2021 post. The whole idea of “heart-searching” should be a year-round part of one's spiritual walk. But maybe the opening of a new year, when many decide on a “New Year Resolution,” is a good time to revisit that essential behavior of Christ-followers.

Years ago I read Joanna Weaver's best-selling book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. It's one of many of her fine studies on living for Christ. In that book (pp.28-29) she paraphrased a pamphlet by a long-ago evangelist for the Free Methodist Church, E.E. Shelhamer (1869-1940). His passion was encouraging people toward holy living. The ten points he developed in this pamphlet, called “Traits of the Carnal Mind,” are worthy of “revival” for the revival we need in these trying times. He prefaced his list with this advice: “Reader, the Spirit ALONE can interpret and apply this tract to your individual case. As you read, examine yourself as if in the immediate presence of God.”

His main ten “search me” topics are below, but consider going to the original text to let God speak of changes you may need to make this year—or even this week:

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=13978&forum=34

Here's a summary of his list of the “carnal” (sin-prone) mind. The website includes his short explanatory paragraph after each—definitely worthy of reading and considering.

1. A secret sense of pride....

2. Love of human praise....

3. Stirrings of anger or impatience....

4. Self-will—a stubborn, unteachable spirit...

5. Carnal fear.....

6. A jealous disposition....

7. Lustful stirrings...

8. A dishonest, deceitful disposition....

9. Unbelief, a spirit of discouragement in times or pressure and opposition...

10. Formality and deadness....

If one of your desires for 2022 is to walk closer to God, this might be the list you need to search your heart. I'm tucking a copy in my Bible for those times of prayer and reflection when I, too, like David, desire a closer relationship with God, “my light and my salvation...the stronghold of my life” (Psalm 27:1).