DON'T GO THERE

What do you do when your life is rocked through no fault of your own? I asked that after my family was hit by a drinking driver. Hundreds of miles from home, we had a totaled car and personal injuries. But we survived. The cuts, sprains, and broken teeth got repaired. The emotional and spiritual wounds, however, took time. That's why I was grateful for the principles expressed in a book by another drunk-driver victim, Whitworth College professor Gerald Sittser. One night in 1991, while Sittser drove his family home from an event, they were hit by a drunk driver  who veered into their lane at high speed. That man died—along with Sittser's wife, mother, and one of his four children.

Left a working single parent of three with a huge hole in his heart, Sittser somehow had to move forward. With God's help, he did. His book, A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss (1995) wrestled with the why's of innocent suffering. That was followed in 2000 by The Will of God as a Way of Life (both published by Zondervan). Recently, re-reading that second book, I was struck by the succinct but powerful truth that we grow either better or bitter through hardship. And bitterness is a wretched way to live. Sittser wrote:

There is nothing we can do to change our past. It is as hard as granite, as immovable as a mountain. What is done is done. Regret, bitterness, revenge—none of these can alter what has already happened. No matter how many times we say “if only,” regret cannot alter our past. No matter how bitterly we brood, blame, and accuse, the wrong done to us will remain as it is. No matter how often we rehearse a plot of revenge, we will never be able to reverse the course of events that created our pain in the first place. Regret, bitterness, and revenge will only ruin us. We will become prisoners in our own dark souls, suffocated by our own brooding thoughts. (p. 159)

So what's the solution when bitterness is eating you up from the inside out? Sittser's counsel:

1. Confess your bitterness, failures and responsibilities to God.

2. Be willing to forgive. “The one who suffers the most from bitterness,” Sittser said, “is the one who is bitter. What infection does to the human body, bitterness does to the soul. It consumes. The antibiotic used to treat the disease of bitterness is forgiveness” (p. 163).

Research on mental health, he observed, has affirmed that “forgiveness mitigates depression and anxiety, increases self-esteem, and improves physical health and emotional well-being. It releases people from living in bondage and allows them to live in freedom. Forgiveness heals the soul” (p. 164).

In my case, I made something “good” of something “bad” by speaking out for sobriety for a decade at “education seminars” required of convicted drunk drivers. Sittser brought good out of his nightmare by searching scriptures and encouraging others in their struggles through his thoughtful, articulate writing and speaking.

But we don't need to speak and write to forge a path of healing through pain. This verse has been an anchor for me in my pain: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25). The prophet was telling his nation (Judah) not to give up on God, despite a natural disaster (locusts that stripped the land) and impending takeover by an enemy nation.

Bitterness is a dead-end road. If life has brought us pain and sorrow, we can dwell on that and grow more bitter. Or we can shovel up those dead locusts that stripped our lives bare, and—with God's help--plow fresh ground for crops of hope and healthy relationships.

GOD WILL TAKE CARE...

Part of a monthly series on inspiring hymns.

Can you name the author of the hymn titled “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”? If you said “Andre Crouch,” you're partially correct, for that phrase is in the Gospel song that the well-known musician of our times (1942-2015) composed when only a teenager. But it's possible he was influenced by a song written several generations earlier, that also had that title. Its author was a Canadian-American pastor's wife, Civilla Durfee Martin (1866-1948)--her unusual name meaning “civil, respectful.” She was married to Walter Martin, who after his Harvard education became a Baptist minister but later switched to the Disciples of Christ. Civilla was the lyricist, and he the tune-writer of their hymn-writing team as they lived and served churches and colleges and did evangelistic work in New York, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Another hymn for which she is better-known was “God Will Take Care of You,” and which was prompted by a comment by their nine-year-old son. One Sunday Walter had a preaching assignment at some distance from their home. However, Civilla was very sick that day and Walter wondered if he should cancel the preaching trip. While they discussed their options, their little nine-year-old son piped up, “Father, don't you think that if God wants you to preach today, He will take care of Mother while you are away?” Walter decided to go ahead and preach. When he finally got home, Civilla was feeling much better. Plus, while he was away, she'd written a new hymn based on their son's remark. Within an hour, Walter had written a melody for it. Before the night ended, some teachers at the school where he taught came by and sang it. Later that week, it was sung at a school assembly. Its next stop was a hymnbook—the 1905 “Songs of Redemption.”

One story told of its impact concerned entrepreneur J.C. Penney, who had descended from a long line of Baptist preachers. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, Penney's businesses soured. His health suffered greatly, even to needing hospitalization. Filled with despair, one morning he heard singing from the hospital chapel. The lyrics, “Be not dismayed whate'er betide/God will take care of you.” He went to the chapel service and his worries were transformed to hope as he realized how much God cared for him. Eventually, the store bearing his name became an American retail giant.

Another song, written about 1903, was inspired by the faith of a bedridden saint in Elmira, New York, whom Civilla visited. While reading and singing to this person, Civilla asked if she sometimes got discouraged. The woman responded by referring to the Bible passage about God's care for even the sparrows. Soon after, Civilla found some paper and a pencil and quickly composed the lyrics. Well-known Gospel song composer Charles Gabriel set it to music. Half a century later, in 1958, Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson would make “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” her signature song. Ethel Walters also famously sang it in the 1952 film “The Member of the Wedding” and at Billy Graham Crusades.

Other lyrics by Mrs. Martin, better known in earlier times, included “The Breath of the Spirit,” “The Old-Fashioned Way,” and “Wonderful Love.” But it's her songs about the power of the Blood and God's watch-care that have endured for more than a century after they were penned.

Sing along with this You-Tube with beautiful scenery:

God Will Take Care of You - Hymn - Bing video

GIVING THE BEST

The "prop" for this old graduation cap is full of air--
hopefully not the condition of its former wearer (me)!

Graduation time! Who didn't know of someone who graduated high school or college this year? With the moving of the tassel comes great dreams and great aspirations. Yet often, the high of “graduation” is followed by the low of reality. Relationships change. Jobs are scarce. They're supposed to move on—but to what?

Imagine the dashed hopes of youth after America's Civil War. Casualties—death and disability-- devastated families. Years of war left the country in financial shambles. The country's youth wondered what, really, was their future? Then in 1881, out of the ashes and disillusionment of that conflict, a youth evangelical group was birthed in Portland, Maine. Founders described its purpose as “to promote an earnest Christian life among its members, to increase their mutual acquaintanceship, and to make them more useful in the service of God.” Its membership soon spread to the British empire and beyond. By 1906 there were 67,000 youth-led Christian Endeavor societies, with more than four million members, across the world.

This was no local high school Bible study/fun night. Its membership pledge reflected the founders' desire that youth have a useful place in the church:

“Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for strength, I promise Him that I will strive to do whatever He would like to have me do; that I will make it the rule of my life to pray and to read the Bible every day, and to support the work and worship of my own church in every way possible; and that just so far as I know how, throughout my whole life, I will endeavor to lead a Christian life.

“As an active member I promise to be true to all my duties, to be present at and to take some part, aside from singing, in every Christian Endeavor meeting, unless hindered by some reason which I can conscientiously give to my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. If obliged to be absent from the monthly consecration meeting of the society, I will, if possible, send at least a verse of Scripture to be read in response to my name at the roll call.”

Leaders of the organization started publishing materials, including a hymnal for meetings, edited by Rev. Howard Grose, a Baptist minister who wore many hats during his life: university president, history professor, and editor of Christian Endeavor Journal for 23 years. He wrote the lyrics for a Christian Endeavor hymn. It was matched to a tune composed by a prolific British ballad writer, Charlotte Barnard. The hymn's lyrics follow the organization's encouragement to give God the best of your life, not the scraps:

Give of your best to the Master; give of the strength of your youth.

Throw your soul's fresh, glowing ardor into the battle for truth.

Jesus has set the example, dauntless was He, young and brave.

Give Him your loyal devotion; Give Him the best that you have.

The three verses and chorus to this hymn can be found here:

Give of Your Best to the Master > Lyrics | Howard B. Grose (timelesstruths.org)

The late Robert Cottrill, who wrote extensively about hymns, recalled his own father's high standards that reflected the values of Christian Endeavor. One night, he said, his father was leading the choir practice at their church when a young man slid in late. When the senior Cottrill asked why the youth was late, he just shrugged and said nothing. “At which,” the younger Cottrill recalled, “my father stunned him—and set the bar for all of us—by saying to the latecomer, 'The Lord doesn't want your spare time.'” (1)

If the hymn lyrics don't convict you, read 2 Peter 1:5-7 about ways to live out one's faith. And check out Ephesians 4:3 which in the King James version uses that key, get-with-it word, Endeavor.

(1) Give of Your Best to the Master | Wordwise Hymns (accessed June 5, 2021)

CLOUDED THINKING

I was cloud-watching that brilliant sunny day as I waited for my husband to finish his errand. As this cloud floated by, a name came to mind: “Elijah.” One of the mega-events of this Old Testament man's mega-prophetic life concerned a cloud....and on that hangs a lesson.

Here's the backstory out of 1 Kings 17-18. A bunch of bad kings had come to the throne, and now decadent King Ahab and his even worse wife Jezebel were in charge. In thundered the prophet Elijah, who told the royal duo they'd pay for their sins with an extended drought on their land. Elijah went into obscurity for a while (stories than included Raven Restaurant and a widow's miracle), and when he emerged he was ready to take on Ahab. The stage was Mount Carmel, where he faced the priests of Baal, the religion of Ahab's decadent wife Jezebel. With a miracle fire igniting a water-drenched altar, Elijah won the showdown. The people who'd once chanted “Hail, Baal,” now shouted, “The Lord—He is the God!”

After, ah, eliminating Baal's priest collection, Elijah left the scene, ending up on a Mt. Carmel viewpoint looking out over the sea. He curled up into a ball to pray. He'd experienced the 3 D's of disappointment: a dry brook, a depleted cupboard, and a dead boy. Each time God had intervened with miracles. Now Elijah prayed for rain for the parched land.

“Go check the sky above the sea,” he told his servant. That happened six times. Nothing. The seventh time, the servant said he saw a cloud the size of a man's hand rising from the sea.

That was good enough for Elijah. With miraculous speed, the cloudy wisp became a stormy black sky. Then came the wind and horrific rain. The drought was over.

There's more to the story, of course, but that tiny “promise cloud” in Elijah's story encouraged me. No, I'm not comparing myself with Elijah. But there have been times I prayed desperately for negative situations. When I saw no progress, God seemed to be saying, “Wait on My time.” The answer to one situation happened like a clap of thunder and then a horrific downpour—so swift and tumultuous came the answer, in a way I never imagined.

About that time in my scripture reading, I was in Psalms, and these verses in Psalm 26 were like crashing thunder:

Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind, for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

The rest of the psalm talks about hanging out with people who share your faith, “proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds” (v. 7).

We may not be Elijahs, ordained to condemn unrighteousness in spectacular ways. But we can be like him in waiting prayerfully on God to do the impossible. Even when the answer seems as fragile and unlikely as a little cloud drifting across the sky.

Feeling besieged? Hopeless? Spiritually dry? Keep praying. God has His timing for umbrellas, for laughing in the rain.

WORTH IT ALL

Memorial Day is Monday, and my husband and his sisters will go to a little country cemetery to "take care of" their relatives' graves there. I cannot do the same for my parents, but from time to time I stop at our city cemetery to reflect at this grave marker for my "spiritual grandma," an older lady from my church who loved on me like the daughter she never had. She lived almost the same time as the author of a hymn about heaven that continues to comfort many.

On Wednesday, May 12, 2021, a 41-year-old Swiss man died soon after standing on top of Mount Everest. He had just achieved his goal of reaching the summit of all seven of the world's highest mountains. But he didn't live to come home and celebrate. And he wasn't the first to succumb to the mountain's thin air and brutal weather. Every year, the death toll rises.

Was it worth it all? Esther Kerr Rusthoi had her answer to that question, but it had nothing to do with mountain climbing. Instead, she was looking in the distance to that final breath between earthly life and eternal life. She had reason to wonder. Born in 1909, she suffered poor health and died in 1962 at 53. But her life was filled with more than illness. She was known as an author, poet, composer, singer, and evangelist. She served as an associate pastor at the Angelus Temple on Los Angeles. With her husband Rev. Howard Rusthoi, a military chaplain, she was known as a “revival broadcaster.”

Probably her best-known legacy, however, was a hymn that revealed her yearning for heaven. Its begins talking about days that are too long, trials too hard to bear, and the temptation to complain, murmur and despair. Except—someday, Christ will appear to take us away to our eternal home. The song's chorus broke out in victory:

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase.

So bravely run the race 'til we see Christ.

Two more verses affirm the joy when we cross that “great divide to Glory, safe at last.”

But Esther's story is not complete without telling about her three-years-older brother, Phil Kerr, a music evangelist credited with more than 3,000 songs and choruses. The twosome were born to parents who did missionary work in Arizona and Old Mexico, and at San Pedro (Calif.) rescue missions. Esther and Phillip were exposed at young ages to informal evangelism through music. Their parents would invite neighbors over for a program that included music, games and Scripture quizzes.

After Phillip grew up to be a talented pianist and conductor, and an ordained minister, he found his niche in revival services and crusades. In 1945, Phillip started “Monday Musicals,” a Christian music talent show to encourage young Gospel musicians, held at large venues in southern California. He also gathered Gospel songs into a hymnal that sold more than a million copies. One of his books, Music in Evangelism (1939), was widely used as a text in music departments of Bible schools.

In 1949 Phillip and another Gospel musician were asked to help with music at the Christ for Greater Los Angeles crusade. It was the first big crusade for a young evangelist named Billy Graham, who would go from there to a life of worldwide evangelism.

Phillip died in 1960, two years before his sister Esther. One of his friends described the Gospel songs Phillip wrote as “light and lilty”--with titles like “Melody Divine,” “I'm Glad I'm a Christian,” “This Is Why I Sing,” and “I'm In Love with the Lover of My Soul.” And as Phillip “summited” at the door to Heaven, he probably would have agreed with his sister's lyrics: “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” 

Join a group singing this song at this website:

When We See Christ it will be worth it all! - Bing video

BOLD ADVERTISING

Passing through the small Eastern Washington town of Colfax is like a step back in time. Drive down the main street, and you can't miss the old-time advertisements painted on buildings. With the value of today's “trendy” denim jeans depending on their rips and bleach holes, this sign was certainly an anachronism! Imagine the warranty in the sign's last line in today's culture: "A new pair free if they rip"!

Yet I was reminded how each of us is an “advertisement,” so to speak, of the Creator God. He created us “unto good works” that He planned long before we took our first breath (Ephesians 2:10). He intended us to be “letters from Christ” to our world (2 Cor. 3:3). His teachings are to be on the tablets of our hearts (Proverbs 7:3). His truth is “rip-proof.” But sin ripped up the original, perfect plan.

Christ offers the “new pair”: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

These days, instead of building signs boasting of superior craft, our towns have graffiti, typically sprayed at night, advertising disrespect. In the spiritual realm, it's not different—and it's not all that old. The apostle Peter pleaded with his “flock” to watch their behavior because it advertised the status of their hearts: “Therefore rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 1:2). Those problems weren't unique to the First Century. When I've been the victim of someone's written or vocal graffiti, God often reminds me to keep examining my heart, so that I “advertise” a gracious person, not one intent on revenge.

Every day, those who claim to be Christ-followers write ads for their faith via their behavior. It may not be spread across the top of an old brick building, but it's visible in ways we may not even realize. Especially in these times of Covid precautions and complaints, our faith is on display through what we say and do, even when we least expect it.

By the way, I could use some of those replacement guaranteed jeans....mine are chore-worn and starting to look like the $100 intentionally-ragged jeans sold at boutiques—and that's not my style! It's a fashion trend I just don't understand!

MAKING THE 'GRADE'

I was sewing a little dress for my 4-year-old granddaughter when the pattern's directions reminded me of a word I hadn't heard in a while: “grade.” Reaching back to my high school home economics classes (half a century ago!), I recalled the revelation that “grade” refers to how seams on curves (like for collars or faced arm holes) needed to be clipped and then one side cut closer to the seam stitches. That way, when turned right-side out, the seam wouldn't be as bulky. So “grade” I did.

That got me thinking about how Christians need to undergo some “grading” by the Master Tailor. I'm not talking some A-B-C (like in school) of how “spiritual” you are. Rather, it's how He sees parts of our fallen personality that need to be cut away so that His better plan for our lives can be achieved. That's the point of Hebrews 12, which focuses on how spiritual discipline (trimming and cutting ungodly traits and habits) is part of God's plan to grow us as children of faith. “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best,” Hebrews 12:10 says, “but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.” The eventual result is to be “a harvest of righteousness and peace” (v. 11).

The Bible doesn't give a lot of ink to seamstresses, but we can rightfully conclude that hand-sewing clothes of hand-loomed fabric was an intensive process. The Old Testament priests wore specially-hand-tailored and embellished uniforms (Exodus 28). We also know about a New Testament believer, Dorcas, who gifted the poor with her sewing (Acts 9). Jesus' clothing included a seamless undergarment, so special that the soldiers who crucified Him gambled to see who'd get it (John 19:23-24).

Perhaps a better picture of the value of handcrafts comes from the construction of the temple. It wasn't thrown together haphazardly. The stones were cut and groomed to precision measurements before being taken to the temple building side. And there's the analogy. The Christian walk is not just “saying a prayer” and then making minor lifestyle adjustments. It's a radical change from the original raw “me.” It's letting God chisel away the rough and ungodly parts until we're shaped for His kingdom:

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)

To pull it back to the imagery of clothing construction, we're to be like carefully-crafted garments to reflect the holiness and beauty of God. Haphazard living—ignoring sin here and there—is like a wiggly zipper or a puckered collar. When God decides to “grade” (trim) us in the process of spiritual growth, He has good reason for it.

The little dress (sundress or jumper) I sewed my granddaughter wasn't perfect, but it was the best I could do. I made the skirt extra full so she could twirl in it and pretend she was a ballerina. She will outgrow it, of course, as I hope she will also outgrow childish ways and steadily become a woman of God. It will mandate regular “grading”--trimming away of attitudes and behaviors that are wrong—but the end result will be worth it.

Yesterday was my mother's birthday. She was born in 1919 and died at 59 in 1978, leaving behind a crammed "sewing room."