Grab your tambourines and lyres!

    Philosophers, statesmen, and great writers often have trademark quotations, like: 

    - “We have just begun to fight.” 

     - “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” 

     - “Everyone thinks forgiveness is lovely until he has something to forgive.”  

    The game board of “Jeopardy” played on the Alex Trebek studio stage is chocked full of such quotes. I have a trademark statement and though my circle of influence is small, my trademark has been picked up and repeated appropriately and in the spirit in which it was first delivered. I’m confident it will out-live me. 

     It was created when my son David was participating in and sweating out a sprint triathelon. We were on the sidelines, not only to encourage him, but the other 1500 entries or at least the ones that made it to the final run. They swam, they rode bikes, and they ran. After hooting and howling through the events, I was at a loss for words that would spur them on to the finish line. So, I clapped my hands as one bedraggled participant ran up a hill and I called out: 

    - “We applaud you!” 

     That was the best I could mentally muster. It was uttered with the greatest admiration and sincerity. But it didn’t fit in with the verbiage of the surrounding crowd or in the context of such an event. At best, it might have given that straggling, panting runner an inward chuckle that incentivized him to push on. I can only hope. 

    My “we applaud you” has lived on and everyone who uses it knows where it came from, what it means, and who said it. I am usually cited. That’s a trademark! I am known, not only for the words, but for the message they communicate, the enthusiasm that voiced them and the heart that motivated them.

 

“We applaud you! We applaud you!” is exactly what I recall when I read Isaiah 30:31-32:

     The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod.  And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.

    The Assyrians are the enemy in this passage, at least the perceived enemy. My perceived enemies might have the faces of political personalities, opposing ideologists, cantankerous neighbors, or self-centered relatives. However, my vision of the LORD’s brandishing sword is really against enemies that attack a deeper stratum, my soul. Those are my REAL enemies! What great satisfaction and confidence there is in knowing that the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Creator of everything created is waving and flourishing his sword on my behalf against fear, intimidation, comparison, addiction, hatred, accusations, impurities, love of money, covetousness, selfishness, worry, grudges, and all those enemies that fight against the wellness of my body, soul and spirit. It is a marvelous sight to imagine.

     Whether accompanied by lyres and or tambourines, or with only the simple praise of my heart and lips, I can’t help but holler out to him who wields the sword and pins down our enemies, “We applaud you! We applaud you!”

The Vindication of Joseph Kennedy

If you have forgotten who Joseph Kennedy is, he is the high school assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Washington state. Not a headline breaking position or location until Kennedy knelt in prayer at the fifty-yard line after games and was joined by some of the players. The headlines, opinion polls, social media rants for and against Kennedy for making public demonstration of his faith in a public environment and accusing him of coercing those he led to comply with his religious act, followed him all the way to the Supreme Court of the U.S. A recent 6-3 decision of that court reversed the ruling of lower courts, re-instating Kennedy in his job and defending his First Amendment rights.

Juxtapose the scene of Kennedy kneeling at the fifty-yard line after a game and what we witnessed Monday night in the Bengals-Bills game. I don’t recall anyone standing up from the field or the stands yelling, “You can’t do that! You can’t kneel on the field and pray!” From coach to referee, to press crew to player, to fan and to sportscaster, the natural, immediate, spontaneous response was to pray. No one was ashamed to do it. Maybe some were ashamed because they hadn’t done that in a long time and wondered if they had right to pray now. But they, we, were all desperate. They, we, were in a situation beyond themselves. No brain, no brawn, no raising of the fist, no beating of the chest or clownishly celebrating a TD would have met their need. That was proven by the suspension of the game. No one had a heart to do what they had always done before and loved doing. This was a new ballgame.

Can you believe it, a sportscaster prayed aloud on national TV! Can you believe he didn’t get shut down for it! Why? Because when we are overwhelmed, we know that we need God. Not only was the injured football player in need, those around him and all those watching were as well.

What does God think of us who stand against Him ninety-five per cent of the time and run to him with urgency on certain occasions, like fallen towers and football players, hurricane destruction and diagnosis from our doctor? Gratefully His Word is full of promise that those who seek Him will find Him. That His love, compassion, mercy, and long-suffering nature will always turn his ear to our prayer.

Monday night gave me a new picture of a statement in God’s Word. The image of Philippians 2: 10 “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” I have always relegated that to heaven, the golden gates manned by Saint Peter and to the final judgment of man. I thought of it as a final acquiescence to the Lordship of Christ, but too late and without opportunity for redemption. Admittedly that is a doomsday rendition. Monday night I saw a far more hopeful image to put in its place.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/damar-hamlin-collapse-cpr-attempts-triggers-emotions-from-buffalo-bills-cincinnati-bengals-nfl-players/3160665/

As urgent, serious, desperate prayers went up to God for Damar Hamlin’s preservation and healing and because those who seek God, find him, I’d be interested to know how many who knelt on Paycor field found something or Someone new. Were there some with their heads bowed who rediscovered the One they had left for other pursuits, or realized how precarious life is and that a toned spirit is needed as well as a toned body. Gratefully there were those who knew what to do when our hearts are overwhelmed and they led the way to the Rock who is higher than us.

Situations like Hamlin’s happen every day. Every hour someone is in a dire situation. The kindness of God is that Damar’s was in front of a whole nation of viewers giving us all the right and opportunity to kneel on the field or in our homes and pray to God who cares more than we can imagine for Damar, his family and for each of us.

Oh, and thank you Joseph Kennedy.

 So, How Long Is Forever?

I’ve recently finished writing a second installment of a story based on the dramatic, faith-filled lives of Wayne’s grandparents, Gabriel and Nanajan Shabaz.  It is entitled, “Gabriel in Gary”.

As I was finishing “Gabriel in Gary” I enjoyed a precious reading of Psalm 136.  As I read it aloud, which is often an effective way of reading the psalms, I saw how it dove-tailed beautifully with “GIG.”  So, here’s an introduction to the remarkable story for your reading pleasure.

There are twenty-six verses in Psalm 136 and twenty-six times the phrase, “his steadfast love endures forever” is stated.  I can’t personally vouch for “forever,” but having just gone through some very old family pictures I’ve been reminded of the testimonies of my  grandparents and great-grandparents that would declare emphatically that the “steadfast love of the Lord endures.”  So, I can say with great assurance that God’s steadfast love has endured at least since 1890.

Gratefully, the psalmist gives us more substantiation for “forever.”  After giving thanks, always a good approach to the good God of gods and Lord of lords, the writer draws attention to a few of God’s wondrous accomplishments—the heavens, the earth, the sun, moon, and stars.  All wonders I admittedly take for granted. 

Wayne and I have been taking our daily walk after dark and I’m so impressed with the beauty of the night sky.  We are in a place where there isn’t much ambient light, so the stars and moon are really all you get, and they are breath-taking.  I was particularly aware during the new phase of the moon how absolutely dark the sky and our street were.  It seemed an unusually long time (of course it wasn’t) before that waxing crescent appeared. What a difference even the smallest sliver of moon made!  Until it was missing, though, I didn’t realize how much I take the moon for granted.  I guess that is because it has been there forever.

The sun, also, is an enduring wonder, set so perfectly in the sky.  Any minor deviations in the positioning of the sun would make the earth uninhabitable. Therefore, the sun is a tangible demonstration of not only forever, but also of steadfast love.

The psalmist then recounts how God’s steadfast love endured in his interaction and provision for Israel—the exodus from Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the care of the people through the long years in the wilderness and the establishment of their own nation.  Here I joined the psalmist in personalizing God’s enduring steadfast love to my own life journey. 

He brought me out of the bondage of sin and daily keeps me from that captivity.

            His steadfast love endures forever.

The many times where there did not seem to be a positive solution to my dilemma and He made a way through and with the most unexpected, improbable circumstances.

            His steadfast love endures forever.

When I thought I would be swallowed up in my poor choices and bad decisions, He turned it all into a rich experience, one to tell the next generation.

            His steadfast love endures forever.

Living through wilderness experiences with the future unknown and the present bleak, He always provided what was needed physically and emotionally.

            His steadfast love endures forever.

Aggressive enemies of fear, disillusionment, disappointment, anxiety, and apostasy have had their distorted tongues cut out and their teeth broken in the presence of God while I remained standing and shouting:  

            His steadfast love endures forever.

I aligned my own journey with what I was reading in Psalm 136.  But also, and perhaps more notably, I thought of others who are currently butted up against a Red Sea, traversing a wilderness, living in unanticipated consequences, or taunted by the adversary of their soul. 

That brings us back to Gabriel & Nanajan. Their story is phenomenal, traumatic, faith-filled, and dramatic enough to write itself and very applicable to today’s challenges.  With resounding voices, Gabriel and Nanajan join the great cloud of witnesses declaring to us:

It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever; and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast love endures forever; He who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Are you ready to see how this truth was demonstrated so powerfully in and through Gabriel & Nanajan Shabaz? Let me know and I’ll be honored to share a link to “Gabriel in Gary” with you. If you also want “Nanajan” which gives the backstory for “Gabriel in Gary” I’ll send that along as well.

Dad's Workshop

As you may know, my father passed way just over five months ago. As part of the on-going process of life, our extended family spent the last two days, putting a roof on mom’s garage and cleaning out dad’s workshop and garage. What a lot of stuff! There were soooo many nails, nut, bolts, screws, and pieces of wood. There was no way my dad in three lifetimes could have used all those things. They mostly went in the dumpster and then a man came by and took what he wanted and stuffed it into his car. I know there were some worthless things in the pile. 

But beautiful items came from my dad’s workshop when he had the strength and drive for it. So I keep my eyes on the boat shelf, the headboards, the night stand and chest, the garden cabinet, the knife rack and many other precious items that have adorned my homes. And whatever he made was intended for a particular person or was a people-benefitting project. 

The items that made their way to the dumpster were now worthless (except to the guy who rummaged through them) because they were broken, rusted, outdated, damaged, stained, disintegrated or a mystery. How many times we said, “I wonder what Dad used this for?” or “What did he have in mind for these odd pieces of wood.” 

What a perfect backdrop that the Spirit gave me in preparation for what He had for me this morning from His precious, living Word in Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. 

Those workshop items are worthless because the man is no longer in the workshop. Without his imagination those pieces of wood were just wood scraps. Those cans of nails have no home. Thankfully, Dad’s eyes – like my Heavenly Father’s – were always set on items of value -– people. And I’m eternally grateful to have been one (among many) of those people.

BYOF

We have settled into our Summer Chicago Adventure.  The true measure that we are really living here is that Thursday I got a haircut locally and did the laundry in the Laundromat on the first floor of our apartment building.  The jury is still out on how the haircut turned out, but the laundry is mostly dried, folded and put away.  I say mostly because some items are hanging on door knobs and a few hooks in the apartment because I didn’t want to pay another dollar for the dryer.  There was no way to put them in for another 10-minute, 25¢ cycle.  It was $1 or nothing.  Thus, the clothes are draped around the apartment.

But I really shouldn’t start out telling you the woes, because we really do love our 800 square-foot, 19^th floor apartment.  I didn’t realize until yesterday when I got a glance into another apartment in the building how blessed we are to have a corner space with an almost panoramic view of the surrounding city of Edgewater, Rogers Park to the North, and West Ridge and Lincoln Square to the West. 

Green spaces with lofty trees dot and soften the cityscape of brick and blacktop. Between a few apartment buildings we have a glimpse of Lake Michigan, its beach and an occasional sailboat.  A few apartment buildings nearby have lush rooftop gardens, others have decks for outdoor living and some buildings have balconies off the apartments.  We thought we would enjoy a balcony, but at nineteen floors up my knees get rubbery opening and closing the windows.  The rooftop of our building is unadorned but has patio chairs and lounges.

Two things enhance the views.  Clean windows and binoculars.  Gratefully, we moved in during the window washing season. Our binoculars are part of our living room décor, so they are always handy.  And I’m of the mind that people intend for you to look into their apartments, that is why they keep their drapes open.

Creating a cozy welcoming place to come home to is part of the summer adventure.  It is true that we could live with less for the three months we’re here, but equipping and decorating is part of the fun.  We started off well with the furniture left by the graduate student who sub-leased to us.  She left a sofa, coffee table, end-table, TV stand, book shelf, bedroom furniture, a cute Chinese-red cabinet, a dining table and four not-so-well-painted chairs. One of the first things Wayne and I do in any new residence is cover the walls.  Usually I hardly have pictures and wall hangings unpacked and Wayne is hammering nails into the walls. We brought a few familiar items with us for this purpose. 

One item is an antique Middle Eastern baby cradle.  It’s not like any cradle you’ve ever seen.  It is a 44”X33” piece of leather with a 33”X 23” fabric inset.  Around the inset are leather appliques. The leather and fabric attach to a decoratively painted pole at each end. We bought this while we lived in Iran.  For the last forty years it has been in every basement we’ve owned.  Last fall we tried to sell it at our garage sale for a price no one would pay for the tattered item it is.  But one Iranian woman came through the sale and told Wayne that the price was too low because this item is very valuable.  The baby cradle came off the garage wall, went back into the basement and is now the piece-de-résistance in our apartment.  Now that I take more time to look at it, it really is quite exquisite.

 

The first night in the apartment we started hanging our stuff and then realized that we share walls with neighbors so we stopped the hammering until the next day.  Hanging the baby cradle was a challenge, but Wayne has MacGyver-type skills and using coax cable, the window-blind opening and closing handle and twine, we got it ready to hang.  We cheered the accomplishment.

An area rug that has been with us in every house we’ve lived in adds warmth to the lovely hardwood floors and gives a sense of home.  Another small carpet hangs on the wall and two Egyptian prints pull it all together.

The bedroom is simpler, two burlap coffee bean bags purchased in Saugatuck at a coffee shop adorn the walls and our bikes help fill up the room.

The kitchen was updated a couple of years ago, so the tiny space is sleek and modernized.  The dishwasher was broken when we moved in.  The management replaced it.  It was the fastest and easiest “repair” we’ve ever experienced. When I opened the dishwasher for the first time after using it, I saw the dishes were still wet.  The dishwasher brand is one we’ve never heard of, but Wayne found a phone number and called customer service.  From them we discovered there is no dryer on the dishwasher.  When the washing is done, we must open the door a bit and let the air dry the hot dishes.  Uh-huh. The next time that is what we did and it worked.  Energy saver for sure. However we have to run the dishwasher when we will be home or awake to open the door.

Actually I usually choose to wash the dishes in the sink because there are so few of them and I can’t wait until the dishwasher runs to have clean ones. Not wanting to bring too much stuff to have to move out after three months, I’ve left the kitchen understocked just enough to make food preparation mental gymnastics.   We have four forks, four spoons and four knives.  Somehow I failed to bring measuring spoons and I need a few more storage containers.  Often by the time I’ve prepared a meal, every utensil and dish in the kitchen is dirty. Cooking requires some improvisation, kitchen juggling and a list for the thrift store, but then that is all part of the adventure. 

We really are settled in and our apartment is the cozy, comfortable and familiar place we hoped it would be.  It is simple, but our life here in Chicago this summer is simple.  This is all such a gift from God to us.  So when we are riding the express bus 147 returning from a Grant Park Summer Symphony Concert or the Chicago History Museum, the thrift store, Park Church Near North Campus, Chicago Tabernacle’s Tuesday night prayer meeting or on bike riding from Navy Pier or Jewel Osco, we look forward to unlocking the multiple locks on our apartment door and being home.

We’d love to have you come by and see our place.  Just Bring Your Own Fork.