Journey into Forever

                                             "Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope."                                                                        -Lamentations 3:21         Well, it's over.  December 26.  The presents are opened, the ham is eaten, the family is gone.  Back to "normal".  Whatever normal is.  Last night, while we were sitting i...

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:  "Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the L ORD .          - Jonah 1:1-3      We just watched the production of "Jonah" at Sight and Sound Theatres for the second time.  It is a powerful performance, with so many messages for us.  Although the play follows the scripture very closely, there are parts that have to be fictionalized to make it long enough to be a 2 1/2 hour production.  In this play, Jonah was angry with the Ninevites because during one of their sieges his father was killed.  The Bible does not state , however, why Jonah did not want the Ninevites to be spared....

" Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment!"        - James 2: 12-13 "Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."        - Romans 13:10      I was unexpectedly spending the evening at the hospital with our grandson.  I knew he would be watching television, and I always have to have something to do when I'm sitting.  Can't just sit there....not made like that.  Anyway, I went to the gift shop to look for a book.  I found an author I had read before, the only author I recognized, and decided that was the safest bet.  I had no time to look and see what the book was about, but I knew this author wrote about issues of the day in a novel form.  And I knew she was a compelling writer.  The book was ...

"I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.  Now remain in my love."             -John 15:4-9      I was 10 years old, and I remember laying on my twin bed in the room I shared with my sister.  I was looking at the ceiling, listening to a radio station out of Chicago, I can't even remember the call letters now.  Thought I'd never forget them.  Anyway, I listened to this station every day, es...

Ok. I have to post this. Just too good not to share. It is written by the author I quoted yesterday, Tony Woodlief, as part of a piece about the beatitudes. In response to "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God", Tony writes:                "I have run, many times, from the love and law of God. Worse, I told myself it was He who had gone missing. "Where are You?" I would pray , though I was the one hiding. The state of our heart governs whether we hear His vo ... ice in our lives or see His face in creation. Purity of heart. That's an almost inconceivable concept in this world we've made. Who sees, anymore, through pure-hearted eyes?            I cannot help but think of my three-year-old daughter on her deathbed, no longer able to speak because of the tumor mashing into her brain stem But in a rare moment of lucidity and painlessness, ...

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.....We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.,  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."                                                            -Romans 8:18,22-25      I have said t...

"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."                         - Luke 9:23 "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him."                         -Philippians 1:29           I love quilting.  I love looking at them, pinning them on Pinterest, planning them, thinking about making them, and making them.  I haven't done a lot of them, but my retirement plan is to change that.  I can go in a fabric store and stay for hours, just feasting my eyes on all there is to see.  My friend Belinda asked me a while back if I wanted to participate in a quilting c...