Heaven

Today is All Souls Day. Since I don't believe in purgatory...Jesus told the thief on the cross next to him, "Today, you'll be with me in paradise."

People use this day to pray for dead people, but it's like buying indulgences in Luther's day.

But...my thoughts can be on imagining Heaven...

How do you imagine Heaven?

Reformation and All Saints Days

Halloween has its pros and cons. Moreso cons. Our church has people who've come out of Satanic stuff, so it's a tender issue. It is the one time a year one could dress up to be what one might wish to be, but I think we wear enough masks throughout the year.


Jesus said "I am the light of the world" and as Christians we know the end of the story: He's already won the victory over darkness. "Hallow" means "to make holy." Halloween is the eve of All Hallows Day or All Saints Day.

In all we do, God looks at the intentions of our heart.

 With God-in-our-midst we can enjoy fall decor and apples and pumpkins and corn, and love the candy and costumed people. And I'm sadly missing my scarecrow on my porch. I didn't make one this year like I often do out of old clothes stuffed with real straw. Friends knew the key to our house (when we lock it) would be in the shirt pocket.

In actuality, I remember that October 31st is Reformation Day - when Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis on the castle door. The thesis were asking the church to reform. The castle door was used as a bulletin board and he was asking people to debate. There's more to this story that's not usually told related to the castle door.
 Luther wasn't the 1st asking for reform. It had been asked for ages by various peoples, including many female "saints". The time was ripe for him to hatch the egg that had been laid.


The Muslim Turks were on the rampage. Many people in the Middle East were escaping into Europe - bringing ancient manuscripts. The Religious and Secular Enlightenment was a result of these manuscripts. People for the first time in Europe could see the original Greek and Hebrew writings (and art). There was a surge of language study. Also, the printing press was invented, with the Bible being the first book printed in the mid 1400's.


So people were finally able to read the Bible for themselves. Erasmus actually gave the Pope a Bible he had translated from the original languages and the Vulgate (remember I told you about Jerome?) side-by-side, along with his personal notes about where the church was wrong. (Erasmus and Luther debated a lot. Erasmus never left the Church, whereas Luther did, marrying a nun - Katherin.)


There's tons leading up to Martin Luther along with his own story that's too much to tell here. All I'll say is that with the Muslims pressing into Europe from Spain and the East - kings, Popes, and Lords were so preoccupied with keeping alliances for potential battle at their borders, that Luther was not burned at the stake for being a heretic.
 His Prince Frederick whisked him off after his trial to a hidden place. During that time Luther translated the Bible.
 (Watch the movie "Luther".)

What I like most about the story, is that Prince Frederick had a huge collection of Saint relics. Every November 1st, All Saints Day, he opened his castle doors for all Europe to come and (sight-) see (maybe buy relics/souvenirs! like we do when we travel!). People did come from all Europe and on the castle door was posted Luther's 95 Thesis for all to see.
 Because of people telling all they met as journeying home, and the printing press having printed Luther's Thesis, they say that all of Europe heard of the church reform list in 4 weeks!



Did Protestantism just take off from then? If you read history, no. Law was, that a country went as the rulership went. So like with England, you have about 2 centuries of war between the Church allowing any other form of religious practice. So we swing from a Henry to a Bloody Mary to an Elizabeth, etc. Mainland Europe was just as bad. Many massacres.



As to All Saints Day--from all over, all localities had stories of people who did unique things for God. Saints are people who hear the Gospel message and live it out in their culture, usually addressing a need. Without saints we'd not have many hospitals, schools and meeting-needs-institutions. Saints live very "whole-heart-edly" (would that maybe imply that many people live 1/2 heartedly?!) and often on a tight-rope over a precipice; and are often called heretics in their time. And remember that the Apostle Paul calls all believers saints.

There were so many stories, the church started researching and 'canonized' about 400 to put in the calendar. So all the thousands others were lumped on this day. This day was originally in April or May and the Parthenon was the gathering place. Because of too many people and not enough food, it was moved to Nov 1 because of harvest food availability.

My suggestion for this time is to go ahead and do costumes, but chose a saint or hero of the faith to dress as. Know their story and share it.

I've been a part of a small group that reads scripture in a "midrash" (Hebrew) or Lectio way. I often bring a table decor that's visually in sync with the calendar or season. Visual Imagery is just as important and needed as the Rational. So for this day, I like to fill a shallow clay pot with lots of varieties of candles standing in sand. Contemplative, metaphorical me watches as the many varieties of people (candles) burn together and eventually falling on one another, igniting one another, and melting together. Such a great visual of the community in Christ.

quote

I love quotes! This is a keeper for me...

"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing."
from Redd Foxx

I am a health nut.
I can't write about it now, but I will.

Question

Which phrase is most true or the better truth?

Jesus Christ became what we are in order to bring us to himself.

or

Jesus Christ became what we are in order to bring us to be what he is in himself.

Couscous Patties

Monte wanted me to share his creation. We had some couscous leftover from supper, so the following morning he simply added some egg till it held together and then dropped spoonfuls onto a heated oiled griddle or skillet, flattening them out. Cook on both sides till golden brown.

We've tried it a few times more. He's added a no-salt seasoning full of herbs. I've added some cinnamon and vanilla, and of course topping them with maple syrup.

Love the simplicity, since couscous with added hot water is done in a minute. And love the bit of crunch!

George MacDonald Quote

I love this quote of George MacDonald's (he is a very quotable personage) and it kinda goes with what I previously blogged.

"Would God give us a drama?...He begins with the building of the stage itself, and that stage is the world...He makes the actors, and they do not act--they are their part. He utters them into the visible to work out their life--his drama...All the processes of the ages are God's science; all the flow of history is his poetry...Man is but a thought of God."

The world's a stage

I saw this quote the other day and have my theories or opinions about it.

"All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed."

I'm a big believer in the value of story. As our kids were growing up, I read lots of stories aloud. I looked for biographies and 'stories of...' say mathematics or the english language or science, rather than simply getting facts from textbooks.

In fact, I believe in 'living books' and consider text books as dead. Someone else read all the bios and fun books and extracted out the dry facts for textbooks. And then they expected us to memorize all those facts for tests! I need a 'put place' to file facts in my memory, and facts are much easier to remember when clothed in story.

Looking back my kids didn't go through the typical rebellion most kids do. I think they did so much rehearsal for life by living in so many varieties of stories from all over the world and so many eras and cultures. They 'walked in' many shoes and felt the emotions of story characters dealing with varying life choices. (And too, we're very hospitable and did invite quite a variety of people over, sharing their stories, and some of the best learning can happen around the dining/kitchen table!)

So by the time they did leave the nest, I think the world's props and settings and characters weren't all that unfamiliar. They had in a sense 'rehearsed' for life.

Centurian (Centenarian)

I'm laughing! I just read a quote from George Burns -

"If you live to be one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age."

I watched a program on TV about the growing population of centurians. (I don't know how to spell the word. Is it new and my computer dictionary isn't recognizing the word? I'm going off the root 'century'.) We were in a hotel and Dawson was switching the channel, but I told him I wanted to see what their quality of life was.

It was people who still had something they wanted to do, to wake up for. Like a scientist was still walking to the college campus he had worked at--them letting him still do lab work. An artist, saying she still had pictures in her imagination she wanted to paint. A cook still having recipes wanting to try.

It speaks loudly of what motivates us and fuels us throughout life. What is 'retirement'? Is that a time to sit in the rocker and check out on life? Do we desire to keep learning? try new things? maybe go new places?

weather

Heard it said, "there's no such thing as bad weather, just poor choice of clothing!"

I've tried to keep that in mind this year. We were supposed to possibly get snow today. But it's sunny and very windy and it's not warm! I'm not wanting to put on more stuff to do things outside today.

Luke the Evangelist

Today, the 18th, is the apostle Luke's remembrance day. Most of us know him to be the author of the Gospel Luke and Acts. But do we ever really sit and think about who he was. Today's the day!

He was a well-educated gentile Christian physician who became a companion of Paul. What inspired him to give up his career and become a follower of a zealous Jew right into jail? Luke was an outsider in an all-Jewish cast and he wrote for an audience of outsiders--gentiles. He shows Jesus as inclusive of those the religious establishment treated as outsiders. Luke is the compassionate Gospel full of human interest and sympathy. He shows Jesus as gentle, a king and merciful. Luke is often called the "Christmas Evangelist" as the season of Advent's story is told more in his Gospel.

It's believed he was also a painter and painted mother Mary. I imagine her sitting for a portrait and talking all about her and Joseph's engagement, but then a wrench is thrown in, that society couldn't understand - how do you explain a virgin birth? In her society she should have been stoned to death. He heard about the angel's visit (If I remember correctly it's only Mary that an angel didn't have to say "fear not", and was seemingly receptive to the mystery of an angel talking to her.) Luke probably felt her 'ponderings' of her reminiscing, like visiting her cousin Elizabeth, and then having an old woman and man in the temple euphoric over baby Jesus, recognizing the Messiah, "the light to the gentiles".

Then Luke alone of the four Gospel writers continues the story, as the apostles and disciples live it into the next generation. Jesus' story didn't end with Jesus, but lives on in the lives of us believers. The power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. Luke devoted his life to demonstrating that Jesus is always available to those who turn to Him. A prayerful man himself he depicts day-to-day praying, even Jesus, who prayed before every important step of his ministry. Luke showed the joy of salvation and how the Holy Spirit guided the emerging church through prayerful lives surrendered to Jesus.

(Much artwork depicting Luke have a winged ox--it's his 'emblem'. Only one writing mentions it, to say an ox or calf are symbols of sacrifice--the sacrifice Jesus made for all. But why connected with Luke I don't know.)

Saints are human people who lived EXTRAordinary lives. Each saint the church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint.

So need I go on with what this means to us?! The Gospel writers give us eyewitness accounts of God incarnate. Jesus is the pure reflection of the invisible God and He showed us what human life in its spiritual fullness looks like. We are called to reflect God's image--'image bearers' (though tarnished), created in the image of God. If turned in on ourselves, in a state of self-absorption, we cannot reflect the light of God's image.

I simply ask the Holy Spirit to guide me, as He did the first disciples. To give me an open heart to do whatever He calls me to do. And continue helping me to pray.
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I didn't post about Matthew, the other Gospel writer, who's calendar feast day was September 21. He was a Jew, but one of those lowly "sinners" since he was a "tax-farmer". Sitting in his booth he had to be listening to Jesus. He probably saw the men carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher to Jesus.

The spying pharisees saw Jesus walk by and tell Levi/Matthew to "Follow me". Despicable!! Yet Jesus turned to them and said "Those who are well have no need of a doctor! So go figure out what this scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I came to call the outsiders, not indulge the pious."
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Everyone who touched Jesus and everyone whom Jesus touched were healed. God's love and power went out from him. When a friend touches us with free, non-possessive love, it is God's incarnated love that touches us and God's power that heals us.
-Henri Nouwen
Bread for the Journey