Bad Dog

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A few months ago I wrote about Bo, our Boggle (Boston Terrier/Beagle mix). (See July 20, 2010 post)  But there’s something I didn’t tell you about Bo.  As Sam observed this week, Bo is a really good pet, but she’s a really bad dog.

It’s like this: Bo is always sweet around us, her family.  She likes to play and fetch and curl up next to whoever is lying on the couch.  She sits and shakes paws and greets us at the door with tail wags.  She rarely barks and a doo-doo mistake in the house is highly unlikely.  Bo has never bitten anyone and only showed me her teeth once, when I tried to take away her food.  Understandable.  She’s a really good pet.

But when Bo gets anywhere near another dog, she turns into a bloodthirsty maniac.  The hair along her spine rises up and she begins to schnuffle (a barking/snorting thing).  Bo must give off some kind of offensive aura because other dogs also turn into bloodthirsty maniacs in her presence.  In our one attempt to go to the city’s dog park, we cleared it out in a matter of minutes.  Nobody likes to play with Bo.

When we go out for walks, she prances right beside me and smiles up at me….until another dog approaches.  Then she goes into attack mode and I can barely control the ferocious beast.  Quite often, I will turn around and go the other way when I see a probable confrontation converging.  Her reputation in the neighborhood isn’t good.  Nobody knows she’s really a sweet thing, except those of us who live in the house with her.

 Bo looking out the window.

      Bo looking out the window as a dog walks by.

Is this behavior limited to canines?  Do human beings have similar issues?  I mean, do people sometimes act sweet and loving in the house of God and then snarl and schnuffle at others on the street?  Are there some folks who just give off bad vibes and seem to bring out the worst in others?  I’m not pointing any fingers; I’m just asking: are there some really good church-goers who turn into something else outside those walls?

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.  1 John 4:20-21  (Message)

The Loss of an Hour

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“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

Last November, I wrote about the gift of an hour.  Now we have to give it back.  You’d think losing an hour would be a real downer, but Daylight Savings Time has a redeeming quality: it’s a sign that spring is coming.  In light of that good news, it’s hard to get too worked up about moving the clock ahead.  Time is fleeting, after all.

Back in the day, when the kids were little and we homeschooled, we had a really long timeline up on the wall, covering 1400 A.D. to 2000 A.D.   It wrapped around the dining room and continued down the hallway and back entryway.  When we moved to a different house, the timeline went all the way around our big open basement.  The kids added all kinds of visual reminders to the one-of-a-kind border depending on what they were studying, whether it was history, science or literature.  As the years went on, the timeline filled up and became a real work of art that summarized twelve years of educating four kids.  I found it ironic that our last kiddo joined the ranks in public school in 2000, the year our timeline stopped.  The day my baby walked down the street to his new school with his new backpack, I took down the timeline.  It was a very emotional day for me.  This is what I wrote:

“It’s the end of the line.  The end of the timeline, that is.  Six hundred years wrapped around our family room.  Four children’s educations wrapped around my heart.  K’s renaissance people and famous Americans….  S’s world wars and sports heroes….  A’s presidents and favorite authors….  J’s inventions and discoveries…  It’s all rolled up (I feel it in my stomach).  The wall is so bare (I feel it in my heart).  It’s the end of our line of time.”

Time is fleeting.  So losing one hour?  Not such a big deal!

Casual Worship

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“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  John 4:23

Yesterday I heard someone say, “There’s no such thing as ‘casual worship.'”  I can’t stop thinking about those two words.  What is casual worship?  Is it more than wearing holey jeans and an old tee to church?  Let’s dig into it.

I always start my digs by going to Mr. Webster.  Casual: 1) without definite or serious intention; careless or offhanded.  2) seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic.  3) irregular, occasional.

Next, I turn to Mr. Roget.  Casual: nonchalant, relaxed, blase, easygoing, lackadaisical, perfunctory, purposeless.

Usually, my next stop is at biblegateway.com to see where the word pops up in the Bible and then take that word and look it up in the original language (Hebrew or Greek).  However, the word “casual” isn’t in the Bible.  Huh.  I follow up by going to all my favorite Bible study and commentary sites and come up with nothing.  Hmm.

It seems that being nonchalant, lackadaisical and occasional doesn’t have a place in true worship.  Or anything else pertaining to an intentional walk with Jesus.  Speaking of Jesus, I can’t think of one time he was indifferent, offhanded or purposeless.  In fact, in light of the extreme measures He went to in order to save our souls, how can we even dare to offer a half-hearted, perfunctory (def: superficial, unenthusiastic) type of worship?

Let’s do the opposite!  Look up the antonyms!  May our worship this week be deliberate, intentional, motivated, purposeful, careful, passionate, fervent and full of spirit!  These are the kind of worshipers the Father is looking for!  May He find it in us!

March Madness

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Hold it.  I’m not talking about basketball here. 

I’m just saying: March really makes me mad.

Dear March, 

  You are a scheming, underhanded deceiver; pretending to be spring one day, then turning around and slapping us in the face with winter the next.  How dare you turn on us, you fickle, conniving month.  March, we detest you for it.  Just when it appeared the end of the race was near, you tripped us and sent us sprawling.  Tired of snow, Me

Dear Winter,

   Can’t you take the hint that we just want you to go away?  You are the company that doesn’t know when to leave.  We try to be polite and take into account your spontaneous and reckless nature, but eventually your welcome wears out and our tolerance for you is gone.  Winter, it’s time for you to go.  Longing for spring, Me

See?  March.  Really.  Makes.  Me.  Mad.

As in angry.

And maybe a little crazy.

                              

    

 

Tests

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Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart.  Deuteronomy 8:2

When I was in school, tests were given in order to know what was in my head.  I was pretty good at memorizing lists of information the night before a biology exam.  Making up acronyms to help recall facts was kind of fun and I would pace back and forth across the living room reciting my secret codes until I had them all down.  (For instance, Fly Away Right Before Midnight = the vertebrates in the animal kingdom: Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, Mammals.  Oh!   And ToMMY was a real fun guy – fungi – get it?  Toadstools, Mold, Mushrooms and Yeast. Hey, it worked for me – I remembered that one after 30-some years!)

The next morning I could walk into the classroom and regurgitate the data onto each correct blank; by afternoon, however, most of it was forgotten.  The system got me through high school with pretty good grades, but, unfortunately, not much real knowledge.

God’s tests are run a little differently.  He’s not as interested in what’s in our heads as much as what’s in our hearts.  And the only way to find that out is to spend some time wandering around in a hot, dry desert without food and water.  When we are in a position where we can’t make it on our own and our only hope of survival is complete dependence on God, it won’t be long before whatever is in our hearts comes leaking out: either grumbling and defiance or surrender and obedience.  It’s true: when you are being squeezed, whatever is inside will come out.

The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and all your soul.  Deuteronomy 13:3

Sneaking Off to Vegas

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Last week, PB and I snuck (sneaked?) off to Vegas.  As in Las Vegas.  Nevada.  To see our niece perform in her high school musical.  Honest.  Most people who take a long weekend to Sin City go to see shows and gamble in casinos.  Driving down The Strip was just about enough stimulation for me.  I felt a little out of my element, I guess.  Thankfully, my brother-in-law and his wife have a lovely home in a very normal residential area of the city.  And they let us stay free, drive their car, and eat whatever we want out of their refrigerator.  We had a good time hanging out together; their kids and grandkids provided plenty of entertainment.

On our way to the airport Sunday morning, a billboard caught my eye.  It had a picture of a long-legged woman on it with the caption, “JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF WRONG.”  I admit, it caught my breath.  What is the right amount of wrong, exactly?  Just enough to feel like you are getting away with something without getting caught and having to pay any consequences?  And, right and wrong according to whom?  And, how do you know when you’ve had the wrong amount of wrong?  Is there a wrong amount of right?  Or a right amount of right?  I honestly don’t know where to go from here, so I’ll stop this madness. 

This I do know:  our niece’s play was the best show in Vegas.  She’ll be a star someday.  And our great-niece sings the most fantastic songs about goats you’ve ever heard.  And kids grow up fast when there are big gaps of time between visits.  And there’s nothing like spending time with family you don’t get to see very often.  And I love my little midwestern town.  I’ll leave someone else to figure out the other stuff.

Rebellion

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“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.”  Exodus 32:9

Our women’s Bible study continues trekking through Exodus with Moses and all those “stiff-necked” Israelites.  That’s a term we don’t hear much anymore.  It means rebellious, stubborn, haughty, unbending, difficult, pig-headed.  The image of an ox unwilling to yield and refusing to put its head through a yoke by stiffening its neck captures the meaning of this word.  I happen to know a few “stiff-necked” people; in fact, I know one really well: me.

But what if I put that rebellious streak to good use?  Instead of rebelling against God and His great goodness, what if I rebelled against evil and sin and all the bad stuff in this world?  What if, when I’m tempted to give in to my flesh, I say, “You can’t make me”?  What if, when I want to fly off the handle and let some hurtful words fly, I say, “Self, I refuse to give in to you”?  What if we were pig-headed and became intensely difficult people for Satan to deal with?  What if our Enemy just got sick of us because of our rebellion against him?  Can you and I be stubbornly committed to following Christ and put that stiff neck to good use? 

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29-30

Perfection

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“As for God, His way is perfect.”  Psalm 18:30

I like people with crooked teeth.  I enjoy being around women who don’t have a totally “put together” look.  I love my friends who have a few gray hairs and a few extra pounds.  It must be hard to be perfect – it just isn’t my thing. 

That’s why I didn’t mind when Christina Aguilera made a little mistake when singing the National Anthem at the Superbowl.  My goodness, how would any of us do singing a solo in front of 107.5 million people?  In ridiculously high heels, no less?  But this is what poor Christina faced before she even got “home of the brave” out of her mouth:

Christina Aguilera “mangled”, “botched”,  “goofed up”, made a “major mistake”, was a “disaster”, and “screwed up in the worst way”.  Those words must have made her mom mad.  I would have been. 

My younger daughter once sang the National Anthem at a high school football game.  When she finished, there was the usual applause that translated, “Let’s get this game started.”  But my husband and I looked at each other and said, “Wasn’t she great?!  She got a standing ovation!”  Never mind that everybody always stands up for the Star Spangled Banner and the clapping wasn’t really for her so much as for the team running out onto the field.  As parents we tend to see things differently, I guess.  It’s our right.

Mistakes are refreshing, in my book.  Goof ups are endearing.  I hope Christina blew it off.  I hope her mom told her not to listen to all that talk.  I hope we all face the fact that nobody’s perfect, except God. 

He is God and I am not.  What a relief.

Favorites

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Of the twelve disciples, Jesus frequently spent time apart with a trio: Simon, James and John.  The threesome was often chosen to go special places alone with their Teacher.  They were also the only disciples given nicknames:  Simon was tagged “Peter – The Rock” and the brother duo of James and John was labeled “Sons of Thunder”.  I was always under the impression that those three disciples were Jesus’ favorites, but lately I’ve been wondering.  Instead, what if they were the most unpredictable and mischievous and that’s why Jesus kept them close to him at all times?  Perhaps Jesus took them with him up on the mountain because leaving them behind might have caused all kinds of trouble down below.

When my dear hubby was a little boy, his mother kept him very close to her side.  At three years old, little Blake was already entertaining for large church groups, singing “Open Up Your Heart and Let the Son Shine In” and “I Love to Go to Sunday School”.  But as soon as the last note was sung, mom whisked her little performer off the stage before he started in with all manner of shenanigans.  PB* loved working a crowd, even as a toddler.

The story is told about one particular Sunday morning in the four-year old boy’s life.  As his mom was watching from the choir loft and his dad was preaching from the pulpit, the little guy was up to no-good in the pew.  He wasn’t being bad, just distracting the lovely Methodist folks during the sermon.  So Rev. O stopped his message, had his youngest boy come up front, and sat him down on a folding chair facing the congregation until the closing prayer.  An extreme measure, to be sure, and likely to cause intense psychological scarring to most children.  Not so for our little man.  Dad had hoped this would be a discipline that would end all horsing around during church forever.  But PB looked out over that assembly and discovered a rapt audience.  Now instead of a few pews of eyes watching him, he had the attention of the whole place and he was in his glory!  It was the beginning of a long and successful ministry.

Isn’t it funny how the little ones that try us the most, often grow up to do great things?  Is it because we held their hands a little tighter and kept them a little closer?  Did that strong grip plant a sense of security in them?  I think it did for Peter, James and John.  And PB.

*PB – Pastor Blake, my dear hubby

Promised Land

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I have always felt bad that Moses didn’t get to enter the Promised Land.  After all, he did spend 40 grueling years with a bunch of stiff-necked people in a desert.  Because of one little incident, Moses was disqualified and didn’t even get to reach his little toe over into the land of promise.

Evidently when God says, “Speak to the rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water,” and instead you speak to the people (“Listen, you bunch of rebels…”) and hit the rock not once, but twice – you’ve crossed the line.  Moses lost it, and God was dishonored in front of a million Israelites.  Frustration can push you over the edge sometimes.

Just before Moses died, God had him climb a mountain (again) and allowed him a panoramic view of the Promised Land.  Oh, how Moses must have longed to see the 40 year mission to its completion and lead a glorious march into Canaan.  But, a glimpse was all he got.  Which is why my heart skipped a beat when I read Mark 9:4, “And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.”

Jesus had led Peter, James and John up a high mountain.  Suddenly, as Jesus began to transform before their eyes, Moses and Elijah appeared.  And where were they?  Smack dab in the middle of the Promised Land, that’s where!  By God’s grace, Moses finally made it!  Sure, it was 1,400 years later, but how sweet of God to allow Moses to stand on that mount with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6