Gently, softly

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

"24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we left Davidson hall, our destination, Ocean County Citadel, NJ. Our journey would span many more years than the two hours plus traffic, it would take us to reach Ocean County; we were on our way to visit officers from years gone by. "What good can come of a group of youth workers going to meet the old retireds?"

The Retired Officers Fellowship which meets in South Jersey has members whose officership has taken them all over the world. Commissioners, Colonels, Lt. Colonels & Majors, indistinguishable in their civilian clothing, only recognized for their faithful service when they would joke with one another, "Well, Commissioner, what do you think?" "Major, stop talking I can't hear the question!" It was beautiful, true joy; it was difficult not to be taken up into it all. As we sat at lunch discussing life, they would share about their grandchildren and they could not help but show their pride in them as their discussed their various achievements. These men and women were about people.

Neither of my grandparents, nor my parents were officers, and yet there was a connectedness I felt towards these heroes. I think it was their Grandparentness. ;)My Papa Davie always has a smell of strong tea about him, that and Old Spice. My Wee Gran, smelled like Oil of Olay, what happy smells those are for me. Needless to say, both are common to the generation I found myself in. And then there are their hands.

My Wee Gran had very veiny hands, I used to play with her hands as she was sitting, it amazed me that her hands had so much extra skin on the back of them; I would sit and move it around, always falling back into the place it had begun. I loved her hands; they were workers hands. She baked dumpling (fruit cake)and bathed weans (children)with those hands, peeled apples and combed hair. She was a silly Wee Gran, she would pretend to be the Incredible Hulk; she was amazing. We, (my brother, sister and I,) would sit at her feet as she peeled apples and oranges for us to eat, cutting them into bitesized pieces. She was a wonder; when my siblings and I were naughty, she would tell us that she was taking my Mammie back to Sunny Bellshill ;) We would greet, (cry) she would giggle and then get a row from my Mammie. My Wee Gran had the same joy the Retired Officers have, contagious. No one ever said, "I don't want to go to Wee Gran's!" Everyone moved as quickly as possible to get there as soon as possible.

All of my ministry has been focused on youth work; I've heard many catchy phrases about "youth being the Army of today"; "the youth are not the future, they are the Army of the now!" All of it is true, I'm not turning my coat, but I feel strongly, that the Army of yesterday is equally the Army of today and that they have much to teach us young whipper-snappers; I'd give anything for their wisdom and knowledge, for their intimacy with Jesus and their hands; their wrinkly hands...

What good can come of a group of youth workers going to visit with the old retireds? Joy, highly contagious joy.

What's your temperature?

It has been 5 months since I lasted blogged, and as I type this, I have a thermometer hanging out of my mouth because I'm sick; and quite sick and tired of being sick.

Since being sick I've watched 3 episodes of October Road, 3 episodes of Lost and I've lost count how many episodes of Faith & Hope that I have watched. Surely there must be a better use of my time?

As a sit around in my pj's I get annoyed with the fatigue that I feel; I get hungry but don't want to cook; I'm tired, but I'm fed up sleeping! What seems to be the absolute worst is that I have myself for company! Could I please escape this apartment? Nope, not yet at least. So I take my temperature, when I'm really bored, every half hour. I know I'm not that sick, because my temperature hasn't been higher than 101 degrees Fahrenheit, praise God; the whole temperature taking thing merely seems to be a source of entertainment for me. Which makes me think... a dangerous sport for any opinionated individual, what is my spiritual temperature? How would I even know how to take it? What is the spiritual thermometer?

Prayer. I believe that the spiritual thermometer is our prayer life. Can you answer the following questions?

1. Do I pray or do I whine out loud?
2. Do I give God my 'shopping list' and then turn in for the night?
3. Do I make time to listen to God?
4. Do I hear God?
5. Do I read the bible?
6. Do I practise spiritual disciplines?
7. Do I receive correction when necessary?

Jesus says,

2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:2-4

If we know His voice, then we follow Him and if we follow Him, we're all good! We're being disciplined by Jesus! Hallelujah! The key; to know His voice. How do we know His voice? We listen to it, through the bible! The more we know Him through His Word, the more we will be able to see Him through His actions. When you don't know someone you can't predict what they are going to do in a given situation; you don't know them, you expect nothing from them. When you know what someone is capable of, you expect more, much, much more.

God is impressing on me a desire for truth, after all, it's what sets people free! Being that Jesus is the Truth, surely if I knew Him I would know truth? When we know what is true, we spot what is false so much quicker.

Revelation 3:15-17 (MSG)
15-17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

Stale and stagnant, I was reading about stagnancy today;

"To illustrate, let me share a story I once heard involving two artists who were asked to paint pictures of peace as they perceived it. One painted a quiet, still lake, far back in the mountains. The other painted a raging, rushing waterfall which had a birch tree leaning out over t with a bird resting in a nest on one of the branches.

Which truly depicts peace? The second one does, because there is no such thing as peace without opposition. The first painting represents stagnation. The scene it sets forth may be serene; a person might be motivated to want to go there to recuperate. It may offer a pretty picture, but it does not depict the rest of God."

In scripture when we are instructed to be still and know that He is God, (Psalm 46:10) still is a verb; it's a doing word; (as Miss Thomson taught me!) it is not stagnant. I can't think of stagnant without thinking of nasty water, we have living water, (John 4.) We cast our cares upon Him, (Psalm 55:22) in the knowledge that He is God and He has it under control.

Do not be stagnant in your faith, do not be luke warm! In the Salvation Army we sing about sending the fire, how about we sing about sending a fever?