Sweet Words from Maine

Commending God

A new beginning in Prospect Harbor , Maine

Another beautiful day begins on the Maine Coast, where there is always something old to be taught and something new to learn …

Down east accents murmur and drift across the water as this old salt and his unseasoned stern man (maybe father and son) plan the day and begin their work adventure together. During the course of the next few hours, their conversations will shift from idle banter and gentle ribbing to long and comfortable pauses. They will vacillate from solving crucial, national and world political and social issues to a more practical, informal, but essential mentoring on how to lobster fish. At day’s end, the young stern-man may not have realized it but will have become more knowledgeable about the “where and how ” of lobstering. He will have received solid, time-proven information and skills that one day will help him be successful on his own.

Mentoring has been the “best practices” method of generational teaching since antiquity. Thousands of years ago, Moses stressed that the key to raising a successful nation was teaching children in their homes about the greatness of God, about His awesome efforts to save and restore people, and about His godly principles for living: “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied……”. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)

The Psalmist concurs: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:3-6)

“… tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done….that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; (Psalms 78:2-8)

Those commands are eternally important reminders that this sacred responsibility to teach and to model God to children and family primarily belongs to parents, not to Churches or Synagogues, Church Schools, Sunday School teachers, or sermons and catechisms. Those have important supportive roles to play but are not meant to be the primary ones.

God has given each of us unique stories of His goodness to share. As we live out and tell the accounts of our lives, hopefully we will consider and relate how God weaves His great redemptive love story through out all of history including our own personal histories. He pursues us to do good for us, to save us, and restore us to Himself. That narrative stretches throughout all generations, centers on the crucified and risen Christ, and will continue until time ceases. That message brings meaning and confidence to life. It is crucial that God’s unchanging story be shared so others may live in light of His love, purposes, and eternal hope.

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 89:1)

We can do that even on a lobster boat!

Whose Hills These are, I think I know…

Camden Hills across Penobscot Bay from Caterpillar Hill, Maine

One wonders who the Psalmist was and what was running through his mind when he wrote down the words to this beautiful song:

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

Was he an old man trudging along a country road taking him back to the place where he belonged? Was he catching his first glimpse of the hills of home after seventy years of exile in Babylon? Had he worshiped and felt God’s presence on Mount Zion as a young person and was overwhelmed with anticipation and appreciation of returning to that sacred place?

Or was he a young man on the same journey to Jerusalem, to the home he had only heard about, to the hills he had never seen but longed to because he knew God’s blessing was again on that place.

Possibly he was just a pilgrim on his way to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple. Along the treacherous journey, he anxiously surveyed the dangerous hills filled with thieves and robbers, and he confidently thought about the Lord and the safety found in Him?

Maybe he was a hiker enjoying Israel’s countryside. As he gazed upon the glorious hills, his contemplation was interrupted by the awareness of all the “high places”, the altars to other gods and other religions. He was horrified at the extent of paganism in the Holy Land, and his mind turned to grateful thoughts of the one, true, living God, who was the personal Keeper of His people.

Whatever the context, the message is clear! The Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Heaven, is a faithful, powerful, loving and compassionate Guardian of His people! He is sovereign over “the hills”. “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night…” (Psalm 121:3-6)

No matter what physical or spiritual challenges the Psalmist would meet on his journey ahead, he had total confidence that the Lord would preserve his life from evil. With God’s strength, he could conquer whatever came into his life. Temptations are many, varied, and insidious and are found in our own hills of desires and cultures. We create idols of heritage, wealth, intellect, personal abilities, relationships, positions, philosophies, and world views. Although these may be good things, they become as evil when they supplant God as the source of our security and happiness and purpose. Our earnest prayer must be, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver from evil.”

We understand the Psalmist’s confidence. If “…God is for us, who can stand against us?” When we faithfully look beyond the hills where our unhealthy desires and spiritual enemies lurk, our Creator and Heavenly Father gives strength and protection and meaning so that our foot will not slip. “…the LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” (Psalm 121:7)

And ultimately the journey ends in God’s eternal presence. “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.“(Psalm 121:8)

Full Sails

July is a great month for sailing in Maine. Watching sails appear and disappear on the horizon makes one yearn for swift winds and stiff breezes, to hoist sails, and to be propelled into open ocean with its invisible boundaries, clear horizons, distant skies, and the mysterious deep.

The forces that compel us in life are complicated and multi-factorial because we are willful, emotional, broken creatures. We are driven by certain desires, the love of power, the compulsion to possess, competitiveness and pride. But the Westminster catechism very succinctly simplifies what ancient Jewish and Christian Scriptures agree upon. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Those should be the true winds driving human behaviors and attitudes.

Some would say God is egotistical because He created us in order to bring glory to Himself. But that is twisted thinking. God bestowed on mankind the greatest possible honor by creating us with a nature capable of godly behaviors and attitudes and by granting us the best possible life within His goodness and protection. But in our self-willed pride, we lost our righteousness, tarnished the intended God-likeness, broke our relationship with God, and have lived in turmoil ever since.

We know both intuitively and by experience what the Psalmist knew. He recognized his need for restoration and renewal because he had neither the moral ability nor moral compass to be totally upright without God’s assistance. ^“For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!” (Psalm 143:11) ^“For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. (Psalm 31:3) He couldn’t live “rightly” without God’s power and righteousness . That is the “why” and “how” of redemption. We need restoration, and God is the only One who has the power to renew us with righteousness.

Neither our creation nor our salvation are egotistical endeavors by God. Redemption is a work of incomprehensible, loving grace and painful generosity to restore us to whom we were made to be. Because we are flawed and he is not, Jesus Christ has provided the perfect atonement for us. He can be our redeemer and our righteousness because “He is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:13-15). He held the glory of God intact throughout his earthly life. And redemption is “for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7).

Furthermore, “Faith does not rest on the wisdom of man but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:5) Faith is not simply knowledge but arises from a transformed heart that lives the Gospel with God’s help. It is manifested through learning to live reconciliation and forgiveness, graciousness and mercy, justice, generosity and honesty. The Apostle Peter understood believers to be the expression of God to the world around them and said they are “called out of darkness into his marvelous light” “to show forth the excellencies of him who called you.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Hopefully, the sustaining wind of faith fills our sails. If it does, we will head toward that mysterious deep of achieving man’s chief end by living “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6).

Morning Prayer

A new day with its fresh possibilities is best begun with thoughtful consideration of our Great God, whose purposes for us are grand and wonderful and whose thoughts toward us are “precious” and “vast” and more numerous that “the grains of the sea”. (Psalm 139)

Praying Psalm 143 is a wonderful way to start each morning and especially those unclear mornings when the day ahead is clouded in uncertainty, when there are difficult decisions to make, or when there is physical, emotional, or spiritual pain. Remembering and meditating upon God’s great power and grace to us through Christ enables us to pray as the Psalmist did with an unwavering trust in the sovereignty and love of God, with a renewed desire for His presence, with an open, honest search for His will, and with an expectation that He will show up when we are believing, grateful , thoughtful, humble people who thirst for Him.

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land…

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put trust in you. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:5-8)

Peace Like a River

Perhaps you can hear the song rising from the heat soaked cotton fields?

I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul
I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean, I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul
I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul

How could a destitute, abused, humiliated, oppressed, enslaved and homesick people who were forced to endure sun baking, back breaking work sing “I have peace like a river in my soul”?

Enslaved through no fault of their own, those African Americans epitomize the fact that peace doesn’t have to be an external reality to be an internal reality. Conversely, the absence of conflict, dissension, or violent opposition will not guarantee an internal sense that all is well with one’s soul.

There will always be those who want to dominate and subjugate others, whether kings and their armies, politicians and their ideologies, religious extremists and their fanaticism, powerful adults and their spousal, child and elder abuses, or children bullying others on the playground. There have always been murders, pogroms, wars, racial discrimination, prejudice, inequalities, and slavery whether against the Irish, Jews, Palestinians, Bosnian Muslims, or Native Americans. Countries around the globe from Africa to Asia and Russia, from Europe to Greece, from the Balkans to India and Vietnam, and many more have practiced ethnic cleansing.

Why does malicious stealing of another’s peace by manipulating, overpowering, diminishing, killing, or abuse bring some kind of evil satisfaction? We were created with a capacity to love God and others and were provided best principles and boundaries for living good lives, which included respecting and helping each other. But there was a wicked turn in Eden, where man lost peace with God and fellow men and became troubled–the results of diverging from God’s purposes.

Israel’s journey gives us perspective. Their national protection and personal peace were intertwined with God. Their experiences of oppression and slavery help us understand a bit about the dynamics of peace. The prophet Isaiah gave them this word from God when they were exiled in Babylon: ^“Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;…

Disobedience, unfaithfulness, and cultural compromise defined their relationship with God and resulted in “unrighteousness”, the absense of peace, and their destruction. However, despite that folly, they were not left hopeless. God’s message continued with the hope for redemption and restoration but also with a warning:

Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob”…“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:17-22)

Like the beleaguered Israelites, all men will live unsettled and possibly disastrous lives when they exclude God and fail to heed Isaiah’s prayer and exhortation: You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

Since we have proven ourselves frustratingly incapable of fulfilling the Law, self-effort and rule-making as an attempt to only lead to despair, self loathing, divisiveness, and self-righteous, legalistic, punitive attitudes and behaviors rather than leading to joy and peace. But relief is near! Whether we seek personal or world peace, the answer lies in a relationship with God that is more than an attempt to keep the Moral Code.

Centuries prior to the Christ’s birth, Isaiah called the coming Messiah the “Prince of Peace” because Jesus came to restore our broken relationship with God, to bring us the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:7), and to repair our human relationships separated by animosity and prejudice. His birth was announced by angels singing “Peace on Earth, Good will toward men.” The Apostle Paul told the Jews and Gentile Christians in Ephesus that Christ had torn down the wall between them and that “He is our peace.” (Ephesians 2:4) Jesus is Heaven’s answer to our peace-problem

The power of love, and therefore peace, lies within hearts touched by the grace and mercy of God. Our leaders and we, the people, need a transforming faith that begins to comprehend and live out that great mercy, grace, and hope given through Christ’s payment of our sins. Gratitude for spiritual renewal and for reconciliation with God should be reflected by respecting, valuing, loving and forgiving others. Such a faith begins to fulfill the Law. It desires to love God with all ones being and one’s neighbors as oneself.

It would be a great day if we believed the truth of redemption and saw peace like a river flood this land!

Becoming Gold

“… let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

This Great Blue Heron stood staring into the river for what seemed like hours. He never lost hope as he patiently watched for his meal, and his perseverance eventually produced satisfaction. He is a reminder that patience, stamina, and the confidence of good endings are characteristics of a life of faith.

Christian belief is more than an intellectual conviction that there is a God or an assent to a system of doctrines. Authentic Christian faith encompasses the whole person and involves one’s will and emotions as well as the mind. It entails trusting and submitting to what God has revealed and has done through the sacrifice of Christ, and it is evidenced in desires and efforts to live out the love and mercy and forgiveness granted through the Good News of Christ. Fidelity and confidence sustain it. The Apostle Peter encourages us to “… make every effort to supplement your faith ……with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love…..” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

One’s faith journey isn’t always easy. Our fallen world, our personal brokenness, and our culture constantly conspire to chip away at our devotion.”Bumps in the road”, hardships, and other sufferings are adversaries that lead to doubtful minds. Educational experiences slant us toward humanism; peer pressure encourages cultural norms that conflict with faith standards; inadequate spiritual mentoring and teaching leave us spiritually wanting. These things and others oppose our faith but don’t necessarily deliver the knockout punch! In fact, the converse can be true; the worst and harshest of troubles, oppression, and antagonists potentially produce and purify faith. “..suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, (Romans 5:3-4)

Suffering is a refiner! Job would verify that. He lost family, wealth and health but knew that God was present in his sorrow. And although God’s purposes were unknown to Job, they somehow were of great value to God and would be to Job. Job’s conclusion was: ^“But (God) knows the way that I take; When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10) Centuries later, James concurred and continues to speak truth to believers of all centuries: ^“…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:3-4)

So, endurance through adversity and opposition is crucial for a successful faith-run which is worked out in the context and encouragement of Christ himself: ” I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)

Distorted Reflections

^”Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, …” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Fall Reflections, Taunton River, Sullivan, Maine

If you want an impartial assessment of yourself ( and probably you don’t), spend some time under the innocent but brutal scrutiny of a three-year-old. Recently, while I was playing with my granddaughter, she offhandedly revealed that I have big ears, hair in my nose, a big belly and several other observations which I conveniently have forgotten. However, after a quick mirror check, I was disappointed to see that she was quite observant.

We easily distort reality because we have bruised psyches, lack personal insight, and allow ourselves at least a modicum of magical thinking! Neglect, rejection, bullying, abuse, and bad choices contribute to a negative sense of self worth. Misperceptions such as an exaggerated fixation on a specific or imagined bodily defect may lead to significant psychological and/or social dysfunction such as anorexia. Narcissistic personalities overplay the importance of self, position, and appearance. And we all have idiosyncrasies and quirks which may be annoying or offensive to others.

In C. S. Lewis’s somewhat amusing but seriously probing book, The Screwtape Letters, a demon named Screwtape writes a series of letters to assist his nephew, Wormwood, who had been given the responsibility of derailing the faith of a new convert to Christianity. Wormwood’s goal was to confuse his “patient’s” mind so that his faith would be rendered superficial, hypocritical, ineffectual, and effectively denied. A bit of Screwtape’s advice was: “You must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has lived in the same house with him or work in the same office”

We laugh! But the point is that we are spiritually prideful. We don’t believe that we are sinful and condemned. However, the reality is that Holy God knows that we are unholy people, and we know we need redemption. Faith begins with the raw honesty that we are all incapable of perfection, and so we need God to rescue us, which He lovingly does through Christ, who paid the penalty for our broken natures.

Self examination is more painful work than denial and delusion, but we have help keeping our feet to the fire: “…the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

Scripture keeps us honest. It exposes us, warts and all. But when we come to terms with our brokenness , we find healing, completeness, and love. Such was the journey and prayer of the Psalmist.“…Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51: 7-10 )

Whose Story?

Last week we remembered D-Day, that historic day which began the joyful reclamation of Europe from tyranny but which was tragically stained by the tremendously sad sacrifices of young men dying to restore liberty. Remembering people and events from our past helps to define us as people and as a country, to understand and evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, to celebrate our successes, and to correct or atone for our errors. It guides us forward to a changed future.

The reflection of Fort Knox in this window reminds us not only of a different war for freedom (Revolutionary) but also of how relevant history is to our current life of freedom. Although until fairly recently, we have accessed historical knowledge through the reflections of oral and written stories and facts, the lens of modern audio-visual technology now allows us to experience history as it happens even though it has happened before our time! And we can relive some of our own experiences! As I was thinking about this blog, my brain kept playing the tune and hearing the lyrics of “Wonderful World” emanating from somewhere out of the din and fog of the past. So, I turned to the internet and started reliving the 70’s!…

“Don’t know much about history, don’t know much biology. Don’t know much about a science book, don’t know much about the French I took. But I know that I love you, and I know that if you love me too What a wonderful world this would be…”

Those are simple words sung to a catchy tune! (check it out if you don’t recognize it!) But within that song lies the profound fact that our greatest need is to be loved! This past week, our country experienced protest marches and endured riots stemming from very deep national and personal hurts and mistrusts because we neither understand nor value each other. We either lack the skills or do not have the will to love and to treat each other with the respect any human should extend to another human.

Love is the overarching theme of the Judaeo-Christian narrative which is God’s story about His gracious offer to free mankind from the tyranny of ourselves. It is about the ways He values us and protects us with His love just as He did Israel, to whom was given the promise, “For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you..(Deuteronomy 20:4)”

And He has done that for us; Regardless of skin color or ethnicity or social status or gender, God draws all people who will believe to Himself and to His Kingdom. He lovingly moves throughout this corrupted creation administering mercy and justice in order to redeem everyone of us. He fought the decisive battle for our liberty through the sacrifice of Christ, who took the wrath and just penalty for our sins so that we would be completely forgiven and not face condemnation if we trust. He showed us love through mercy so that we might live lives of mercy and forgiveness. As a result, we can confidently sing with Martin Luther: “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.” And we can agree that all who live are valued.

His story is about salvage and renewal. We all need it. We are all part of the problem, but He will make us part of the solution if we will let Him!

Just A Glimpse

Andrew Young, a Scottish poet, compared his ongoing but somewhat futile quest for meaning to searching for lady slippers: “…I peer in every place: Seeking for what I cannot find/ I do as I have often done/ And shall do while I stay beneath the sun.” (Lady-Slipper, Orchid)

We “see”, and we are amazed at our unique world. But how often does that translate into awe of God? Or even to a glancing thought of Him? Do we ever get a glimmer of why God viewed His creation and said, “It is good”?_{(Genesis 1:11-12)} Generally, we prefer to be analytical and shrug off theological truths about the amazing source of a sunset, the physiology of a cell, the complex and unifying functions of our bodies, the mysterious appearance of a giraffe, or the vast DNA variants found, not just in the Galapagos Islands, but in the whole earth.

St Augustine didn’t give us much credit for making a meaningful connection between our lives and what we observe: “Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

God majors in creative uniqueness. He parts seas for His people, speaks in thunder and lightning on mountain tops, reveals His purposes through stubborn donkeys, and appears to us as a poor Rabbi, Jesus. _{(Numbers 22:30)} _{(Colossians 1:15-16) .} Sometimes, especially during personal chaos, God unexpectedly speaks to us in a “still small voice”, calming our personal unrest and giving us a glimpse of Him as He did Elijah. _{(1 Kings 19:12)} However, Job’s experience was different. In the midst of his sufferings, self-pity and struggles with God, God inspired him from a whirlwind, “Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.” Through creation’s marvels, Job began to understand that he never would be able to explain everything, and he saw God’s transcendence, His sovereign justice and purposes. _{(Job 37:14; 38:1)}

A couple of years ago, a friend walked me through his woods to a secluded place and a hidden patch of stunning, delicate, pink and white Lady’s Slippers. Their captivating loveliness quietly but beautifully announced God’s magnificent imagination. These small flowers clearly declared the huge message that God has imparted glory to His creation.

“Meaning” is there for our viewing and consideration! “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. (Psalm 19:1) Our lady’s slipper not only provides us with a glimpse of God but also a peek at ourselves. We are manifestations of God’s loving creativeness. We are made to shine with the glory of His beautiful character. We have tarnished the glory, but He offers to restore us through redemption n Christ. _{(Genesis 1:26) (Matthew 5:16) (1 Corinthians 2:7 (John 3:16)}

Slack Tide

Oddly enough, this canoe facing a setting sun reminds me of two people, my grandmother Viola Bancroft Preble (1886-1973) and Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892). They never met but briefly were contemporaries! My grandmother loved to read his poetry to us when we were children. One might question the appropriateness of reading The Charge of the Light Brigade or Crossing the Bar to seven- or eight-year old’s, but she loved drama and literature, and we loved her and listening to her. And we were not traumatized!

In Crossing the Bar, Tennyson metaphorically envisions his life finishing at a “slack tide”, that moment when the tide is full and when the sea quietly awaits the transition from in-coming to out-going. It is the turning of tides when movement stops before reversal. Such is the twilight moment of “crossing the bar” when mortality transitions to immortality, when the spirit silently leaves its earthly abode and enters the after life.

Crossing the Bar

Sunset and evening star
   And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
   When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
   Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
   Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
   And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
   When I embark;

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place
   The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
   When I have crossed the bar.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tennyson saw no need for drama, for moaning, or for a sad farewell at his death which he approached calmly and unafraid because He had faith in the One who had guided him through life, the One who had risen from the dead and had promised to prepare a place for him, the same One of whom the Psalmist spoke:“For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death.” (Psalm 48:14)“You will guide me with your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:24)

The confident expectation of those who believe is well stated, “I hope to see my Pilot face to face , When I have crossed the bar.”