UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The cement “aprons” to the driveways of two neighbors had eroded, sending cement debris and rocks onto the street blacktop. When the busy city repair crews finally got to our part of town, they dug out the aprons, lined them with forms, and then poured cement to “season” a few days. It was a long process, but worth it for my neighbors.

As I watched the project take place, I was reminded by a fun story about Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham. While out on a drive with someone, they came to road construction and the inevitable warning signs. As they got to the end of it and were greeted by the final sign, Ruth smiled and said, “That's what I want for my gravestone.” And that's what she got. Engraved on her burial stone is this: “End of construction, thanks for your patience.”

Couldn't any of us use that for our burial markers? But it took Ruth Graham, a devout but fun-loving spiritual “celebrity,” to think of it and order it to “happen.”

Years ago I wrote a book with the whimsical title, “When I Prayed for Patience, God Let Me Have It!” I had submitted it with a somewhat dull title (“The Power of Patience”). But I thank the joking editor who came up with one that brings a smile—and a curiosity about what's in that book. I recently thought (for maybe two seconds) that 10-word title of my book could be a good inscription for my final resting place. But considering the cost-per-letter, I'll be okay with a name and beginning/ending dates. Of course, it won't be up to me. Besides, that “ending date” (denoting physical death) for a Christian anticipates that new beginning in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

In the meantime, back here on the sunny side of the turf, I go in and out of my cement driveway apron (which didn't need re-poured), seeking to do what takes care of my family and lifts up the Lord. You know, things like going to the grocery store. (And encouraging the checker I know, whose husband has gone through some tough health stuff. Or maybe just being upbeat and offering a kind word or smile to the checker I don't even know at the Dollar Store. Or...or....)

Why bother with everyday stuff? Maybe because I'm aware that I'm still “under construction.” Day by day, as I read scripture and consider God's plan for my remaining earthly life, there need to be attitude changes that bring me closer to the character of my Savior. No doubt there are days when my presumed “halo” gets a little tarnished because I'm grumpy or in a hurry. But at the end of the day, when I think through it, I have agree with Ruth Graham that I'm still “under construction.”

If you're someone who knows me personally...well, thanks for your patience!

NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT....

Leave it to the mysteries of language development to name a kitchen tool after a music instrument associated with the Middle Ages. For years I had casually called my sturdy wired “egg slicer” a mandoline. Well, there are several spellings of the word (with its ending “e”) that denote both a more energetic kitchen slicing tool and a guitar-relative that dates back hundreds of years to Europe. Just envision a young man with his pear-shaped “guitar” serenading a young woman (usually in a coned hat) who is leaning out her tower bedroom window.

Let's settle with the simpler kitchen tool for this “blog.” Those who research idioms suggest several similar meanings for this seasoned saying: “No matter how you slice it, the outcome is the same.” To put it another way, there will always be two sides of the bread. Or, two sides to a viewpoint. (We can thank a 17^th century Dutch philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, for writing that.)

And there resides the common problem of human communication and conflict. We're not computers or robots who process bits of opinion and fact and respond with a totally correct answer. Our outlooks are influenced by life experiences, good or bad. I could slam my fist on a peeled, boiled egg and pieces would fly. Or I can slip it into my slicer (a cousin of the bigger kitchen mandoline) and have a pleasing result.

So where am I going with this? Our “slicer” or mandoline for Biblically processing life is...scripture. On our own, we're vulnerable to just chopping a life situation haphazardly, leaving quite a mess. Our “mandoline” (or “slice guider”) is a sensitive personalization of scripture and Biblical teaching.

Yes, it's hard to admit to two perspectives on the same issue, whether in business practices, life goals, or interpersonal relationships. Solomon observed that, too: “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him” (Proverbs 18:17). God has a better way, often when a deepening of faith through scripture or when adversity has “chopped us down to size.” And sometimes, if the stakes aren't that high, we have to let the other person continue to cling to his or her opinion (until they discover they're wrong!).

By the way, a related word, “Mandolyn,” is among baby name book choices for a girl, reported to have originated in Italy. Its inspiration was the music instrument, not the kitchen egg slicer!

Here's one site featuring a mandolin (and other instruments) with relaxing music selections: Bing Videos And in case you have never heard of a kitchen “mandolin” (with or without the final “e”): Best Kitchen Mandolin Slicers

LOVE DIVINE

How and when 18^th century hymn-writing “phenom” Charles Wesley wrote “Love Divine, All Loves, Excelling”--we'll never know. But the odds are that he was saddled up on his old, reliable horse, traveling between towns. That's how he reportedly wrote most of his thousands of hymn texts. Nobody knows the real number, but the best guess is 3,000-6,000. He kept a little card on his pocket to jot lyrics as they came to him along the road. When he didn't have a “jotting card” along, he'd slide off his horse at a home or inn at the next town and ask for pencil and paper--as soon as possible!

We don't know if “Love Divine” was actually  written on horseback. But we do know that Charles and his famous preaching brother John (together they rewrote spiritual history with the founding of “Methodism”) had life-changing conversions that altered the trajectory of their lives.

The men's father, Rev. Samuel Wesley, also wrote devotional poetry used for hymns like “Behold the Savior of Mankind.” (1) Reportedly, that manuscript was saved by a gust of wind that blew it out of the family home which had caught on fire. But father Samuel's fame didn't go far from the parishes he pastored. Besides, with nineteen children under his roof, life was busy. (His wife, Susanna, found a way to pray with so many little ones around. She'd sit down, throw her generous apron over her head, and that was the children's clue to leave mama alone for a while.)

Charles Wesley, despite his prodigious output, was not history's most prolific hymn-writer. The title has been given blind American lyricist Fanny Crosby (1920-1915), said to have written more than 9,000 hymn lyrics. But that number has been questioned as “low” as she often used one of her 200-plus pseudonyms.

Still, he had a remarkable gift for linking poetry to music—a gift many say was released in abundance when he and brother John (who became founder of Methodism), had a transforming spiritual experience through the influence of Moravian missionaries. Among his thousands of hymns, these are among the better known: “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”(2) (3), “And Can It Be That I Should Gain?”, “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” “Christ the Lord Is Ris'n Today,” “Soldiers of Christ, Arise,” “Rejoice, the Lord is King,” and “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”

It's worth noting that “love” and “lover” appear in the titles/opening words of some of these well-known hymns. Our culture may have commercialized “love” with the hearts, candy, and flowers associated with “Valentine's Day.” But the love of God goes way and beyond all that. The apostle John, who in late life wrote the epistle that couldn't give enough praise to the love of God, exclaimed:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1)

What can I possibly add to that statement? Amen, and amen.

1. Hymns of the Faith: Behold the Savior of Mankind - Holy Sojourners

2. Bing Videos

3. This You-tube records “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” at Westminster Abbey, with the late Queen Elizabeth and her son now-King Charles singing in the congregation: Bing Videos

 

TEACH ME, SHOW ME

Teachers hang all over the branches of my family tree. My sister taught and was a school librarian. Her daughter (my niece) is a school superintendent. My mother's closest sister taught—in Panama! My husband was an elementary gym teacher. His sisters also taught, as did a brother-in-law and a nephew. My daughter is a violin teacher. And guess what: teachers have also written enduring hymns. One is “Teach Me Thy Will” and another “Teach Me Thy Way.”

“Teach Me Thy Way” came from the heart of an English organist and amateur composer, B. Mansell Ramsey (1849-1923). A music teacher at a grammar school in Bournemouth (a beach resort on the south coast of England, about 94 miles southwest of London), he conducted an amateur orchestra and was involved in the city music scene. His music output included a children's operetta for boys about Robinson Crusoe and another whimsical production titled “Clouds and Sunshine: A Fairy Play.”But it's his hymn, “Teach Me Thy Way,” that endured though decades of hymn publication.

The hymn is based on Psalm 27:11: “Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.” It also alludes to other passages about keeping God's commandments:

“Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name.” (Psalm 86:11 KJV)

”Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art the God of my salvation; for they have been ever of old.” (Psalm 25:4-5 KJV)

More of Ramsey's story is at this site:

Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord - Hymn Story and Scripture Allusions - ScriptureWay

A vocalist sings the hymn with a stunning background of aerial landscape here:

Teach Me Thy Way O Lord - YouTube

Psalm 27:11 also inspired the similarly-named hymn. “Teach Me Thy Will,” by an early American writer-editor, Katherine Grimes (1877-1967). She had a varied resume: editor of an agriculture magazine, pianist and music teacher, explorer of Colorado Native American ruins, and—oh, yes—a self-employed copy editor. Of her 24 hymn texts, “Teach Me Thy Will” is probably the best known. Its verses describe how knowing and serving God require a daily walk of trust and self-examination.

Words and piano/organ accompaniment are here (skip the opening ad, if needed):

Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord (hymntime.com)

This video is a singalong version with a vocalist accompanying himself in a homey setting:

Teach Me Thy Will, O Lord (Weekly Hymn Project) (youtube.com)