Take it from an old and well-used molcajete.......

In authentic Mexican cooking, you've probably encountered the cooking gadget known as the molcajete.  You've probably even seen them in Mexican restaurants, for plastic replicas are often used to serve salsa when the waiters bring you the initial basket of chips.  Are you seeing it? the little three-legged pot that looks like it has been carved from basalt?

Well, for those of you who are still lost, let me give you some more help.  A molcajete is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle, used for grinding various food products.  Molcajetes are used to crush and grind spices, and prepare salsas and guacamole.  The rough surface of the basalt stone creates a superb grinding surface that maintains itself over time as tiny bubbles in the basalt are ground down, replenishing the textured surface.  As the porous basalt is impossible to fully clean and sanitize, molcajetes are known to "season" (much like cast-iron skillets), carrying over flavors from one preparation to another.  Salsas and guacamole prepared in molcajetes are known to have a distinctive texture, and some also carry a subtle difference in flavor from those prepared in blenders.  Molcajetes can also be used as a cooking tool, where it is heated to a high temperature using an open fire or hot coals, and then used to heat its food contents.  Although true molcajetes are made of basalt, imitations are sometimes made of a mixture of pressed concrete and volcanic rock particles.

Now, why am I telling you about the molcajete?  Well, you see, the molcajete is my inspiration for today.  When you are making REALLY AUTHENTIC guacamole, you have to grind avocadoes, cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, onion, sea salt, and black pepper.  I don't mean mixing lightly with a spoon either.  When you grind the ingredients in the molcajete, all those ingredients get bruised and twisted and minced - yet only with such grinding force does the essence of each ingredient fully present itself into the mixture.

And people respond to "grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing" in much the same way.  Let tragedy strike upon the shores of these great states of the USA or elsewhere in our global community - grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing "our" people, "our" brothers and sisters - and we become galvanized into ONE GREAT effort to help and comfort those in need.  It doesn't matter if it's a hurricane that has torn apart New Orleans, attacks on lives and property in New York City, earthquakes in Haiti or mudslides in Brazil - when one of us is crushed in the world family, we all are crushed.  And in that time, when the pain and "realness" of the tragedy is still clear on our minds, we become more like the people God intends for us to be all along.  It's as if the "grinding, bruising, twisting and mincing" more fully exposes the finer essences of humanity.

But people are different from molcajetes, too - for the molcajete "remembers" past grindings and carries over the "flavors" from one preparation to another.  Not so with far too many people - me included.  Once the tragedy has struck and left its ugly mark on the landscape of human existence, and once the interest and concern in the story has cooled and become "old news," we let our hearts close again to the needs of this world and carry on with our own agendas, oblivious to the pain and suffering around us.

Did you notice how the molcajete works well when exposed to hot coals and open flame?  Wow!  Talk about putting your cookware to the test.  Wouldn't it be nice if we were more like that?  Get our feet to the flames and we'd automatically find our "energetic inspiration" rather than panic and heartache.  But God says that in such a "hot" moment, He is merely refining our faith and full dependence - "thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

So take a cue from the molcajete - and let the "grindings" of life release the full essence of your pure love for and complete faith in Jesus Christ.

"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow,
For I will be with thee, they troubles to bless,
And sanctify thee in thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

Selah (סֶלָה )

It really can be a YES day!

I cannot tell you how many days I have literally wasted, squandered, tossed aside, because I chose to ignore God's blessings and allowed satan to have his way in my heart.  I know that sounds dark and scary (and it is), but that's about as real as it gets.  I type those words, however, with a hope that I will in "all my tomorrows yet to be" choose to claim God's power and reject the notion that the devil has the power to destroy anything which God has so masterfully created.  But, let me give you a sample of a day "gone south."

"I woke up this morning - LATE - because I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock too many times (I hate that).  I make a made dash to the bathroom, take a look in the mirror and realize that this has GOT to be a "shave day" (shave day falls into a pattern I have created: shave on Sunday, but not on Monday; shave on Tuesday, but not on Wednesday; shave on Thursday, but not on Friday or Saturday; and start the cycle anew on Sunday).  At best, that shave is going to add another 5 minutes to my hurried prep time.  I jump in the shower and bathe off as quickly as possible.  After showering, I storm into the closet to find something to wear.  The very outfit that I think I have to wear that day is composed of a pair of pants and a shirt that needs ironing.  This day is already busting my chops - AND IT JUST STARTED!!!!!!  I don't have time to iron the shirt, so I take it to the laundry room to put it into the dryer for a "tumble iron" - OH MY GOODNESS, wash woman (that's a less-than-flattering title I give to my wife on mornings like these) has left an entire load of clothes in the dryer.  Now, I have to unload the machine and sling my shirt in.  O.K., this is multi-tasking I suppose - I can get the rest of me ready while the shirt is going through the process of "tumble ironing."  Finally dressed I sprint to the kitchen to take my morning medications.  OH MY GOODNESS, medicine woman (follow the pattern of slanderous tone and accusation) has neglected to fill my medicine box.  I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!!!!  I get one day's worth of medicine together (just the essentials) and swallow them with milk - yes, mouth to the jug, for there is no time to pour milk into a glass (literally).  I grab all my things for the day, rush out the door, get into the car, crank up and BING, the dashboard light pops on indicating that I have LOW FUEL.  I'm ignoring it - I'll gas the car after school.  Take Nick to school and head to work.  And wouldn't you just know it, some senior citizen has picked MY morning and MY route to take a much-needed tour of Cairo.  So, I ride her bumper (dangerously close) all the way to work, flip into the parking lot, realize I have two minutes to get in and sign in, holler in frustration and declare, "THIS IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF THE WORST DAYS OF MY LIFE" - all before I see the first student of the day.  "Those kids BETTER not cross me today, or I'm going to take their heads off!!!"  And there you have it, an entire day ruined - not what I had "planned" for at all."

Do you ever do that?  Go ahead and answer that one honestly - I'm basically blogging this for me.  It's just a huge pity party, and I've handed God's day to satan on a silver platter.  Not what I had planned?  That's a joke, "planning" would have changed the entire morning.  But good things CAN come from "plans gone wrong."  It's hard to believe, but VERY true.

The invention of the humble Post-It Note was an accidental collaboration between second-rate science and a frustrated church-goer.  In 1970, Spencer Silver, a researcher for the large American corporation 3M, had been trying to formulate a strong adhesive, but ended up only managing to create a very weak glue that could be removed almost effortlessly.  He promoted his invention within 3M, but nobody took any notice.
Four years later, Arthur Fry, a 3M colleague and a member of his church choir, was irritated by the fact that the slips of paper he placed in his hymnal to mark the pages would usually fall out when the book was opened.  One service, he recalled the work of Spencer Silver, leading to an epiphany – the church being a good a place to have one – and later applied some of Silver’s weak, yet non-damaging adhesive to his bookmarks.  He found that the little sticky markers worked perfectly, and sold the idea to 3M.  Trial marketing began in 1977, and today you’d find it hard to imagine life without them.

Yep, Silver probably felt defeated and out of sorts.  If he allowed himself to "put on" the spectacles of negativity, his vision would have been clouded by the fact that he was looking at his "gift" from the wrong perspective. UH OH, ain't that what I did with my "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?"

So the solution is that easy, my friends.  Take a day or situation or conversation that is going south and turn it around by shifting the focus from "negative" to "God is in control."

"God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.  Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it, trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next." 

It really can be a YES day!


Selah (סֶלָה )

Happiness is.......

Happiness is.......
good friends sharing laughter, tears and dreams,                   
knowing that someone loves you and understands you more completely than you
understand yourself.

Happiness is.......
livin' large and loving life,
in finding renewed hope with the dawning of each new day.

Happiness is.......
knowing the difference between house and home,
it's celebrating the joy and love of family, and living out the eternal truth
that home is where the heart is.

Happinss is.......
that warm, snuggly feeling you get when your heart "thumps" harder with the
realization that you are loved without compare, that life
has meaning and purpose, and that you have the potential to leave the world
a better place than when you entered it.

Happiness is.......
understanding who you are and recognizing your inborm need to be needed,
to know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made - the center of God's love and
affection.

Happiness pours freely from a heart filled with thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving World!!!!!!!!

Selah (סֶלָה )

Who am I?

Somewhere across the rolling hills
there are vast meadows painted by the sun's dying light,
and every day I venture there to immerse my body and soul
in the splendid hues of first evening.
In this place, time has no real meaning or purpose,
for time itself is only a burden of the hurried.
And in this place, the lines that exist to lend separation
from my body and the universe, all fall away.
And slowly - like a creeping, silent fog - I am completely aware
of the fact that I am no longer aware,
but aware, all the same,
that I have become one
with the true splendor and resplendency of all God's creation.

Adorned simply in the vestiture of evening,
I lie softly in a thickened patch of velvety sedge - resting as if in
Earth's first cradle - with arms and legs willfully splayed
to the starry hosts which reign above, who cast their primal
glow upon the landscape
with well-learned and well-rehearsed precision.

And in my thoughts - as often as I have been there -
resounds the one and only truth,
the truth of all the ages,
the truth that bursts forth from eons past to eons yet to be,
a truth that resonates through myriad miles of vast uncharted and unnumbered universes - the absolute sum
of everything that exists in the cosmos, including time and space itself:
"Who am I, that God should be mindful of me?"

Father, each of us make our dwelling on "Thankful Lane" when we daily attribute thanksgiving to You, who provides for all our needs.  You give us shelter from the harsh elements, food on our tables, clothing for our bodies and people who love and care for us.  We've been blessed beyond measure, both physically and spiritually, as You provided for our greatest need: salvation.  We will eternally praise You for Your goodness to us.

Selah (סֶלָה )

Somebody bigger than you and I

Although the title should technically read, "Somebody bigger than you and me", the gospel music writer who penned these words was obviously more interested in his relationship with God the Father than his need for precise grammar.  Looking past that small blunder in grammar (and appreciating the fact that it makes the entire song rhyme more precisely), one can sense the writer's full appreciation for the wonder, the majesty and the grandeur of our Heavenly Father.

I first sang this song as a teenager growing up in Dawson Street United Methodist Church in Thomasville, Georgia and at the request of my piano teacher Mrs. Myrtle Ellis.  I guess she remembered when "King Elvis" had recorded the piece - not bad vocal company for a budding singer such as myself.

At any rate, the words have somehow stuck with me over the years, so I thought I would take this opportunity to bring them to light once again.

Who made the mountains?
Who made the trees?
Who made the rivers flow to the sea?
And who sends the rain when the Earth is dry?
Somebody bigger than you and I.

Who made the flowers bloom in the spring?
Who wrote the song for the robin to sing?
And who hung the moon in the starry sky?
Somebody bigger than you and I.

He lights the way when the road is long,
He keeps you company.
With love to guide you, He walks beside you,
Just like He walks with me.

When I am weary,
Filled with despair,
Who gives me courage to go on from there?
And who gives me faith that will never die?
Somebody bigger than you and I.

Think about those words.  Think about the majesty of God and marvel at the fact that He is even mindful of us.  His palm is my refuge - my dwelling place.  He's somebody bigger than you and I.

Selah (סֶלָה )

Flying into the sunshine

I never will forget the day - though it's been nearly 15 years now.  The month was October and the year was 1995.  It's not that I'm smart about dates or have a memory like a steel trap.  I remember so vividly becuase I had just begun my tenure as a public educator - and finally had the certificate to prove it.  I was flying out of Atlanta, Georgia on my way to Branson, Missouri (through Dallas, Texas - never did understand that flight path).  The day was cloudy with wind and rain blasting against the side of the huge 747 I was traveling aboard.  We (me and the other 300+ passengers in "economy" coach) were sitting at the end of the runway, waiting for our turn to jet into the sky.  The grayness outside was not much different from the grayness I was carrying in my heart.

My mission was not one of pleasure - it was the flight of my life.  My Mom - on a "once-in-a-lifetime" family trip with my Dad - had called the evening before from a hospital in Branson.  She had somehow collected enough courage to place the call, in which she told me that Daddy had had an apparent heart attack and had been life-flighted to a nearby hospital, barely alive at the time, but holding his own at the moment.  You talk about something crashing into you from out of nowhere, I didn't begin to see that one coming.  And there I was, sitting on that plane, praying that the captain would "put the pedal to the metal" and get me to my parents, post haste.  No, there was no happiness for me on that flight - only tears and raindrops.

The captain finally announced that we had been cleared for take-off, and with tremendous thrust and mounting speed, we took to the darkened and wet skies.  I put my head back on the seat, my mind rushing with a thousand worried thoughts.........."Would I get there in time to see my Daddy still alive?.......Would I be of any use or comfort to my frightened Mom?.........Would the light of God's grace ever fall on my family again?"  At only 33 years, I didn't have a long track record for dealing with such situations or questions.  I was in "no-man's land" without a map or compass.

For some reason, I didn't lower the shade on the window next to my seat.  I know now that I wasn't supposed to lower the shade on the window next to my seat, for you see, just moments after take-off, the plane broke through the clouds (nose still pointing upwards in a steep climb) and the brightest sunshine bathed my window, sending out immediate warmth.  I sat up in my seat in total shock.  I had never before been on the top side of a thunderstorm, and from up there it looked like just a normal day.  It occured to me - DUH!!! - that the sun had been shining all along - I just couldn't see it because of the tremendous cloud cover.  And that, my friends, is the central thread of this message.

The sun always shines - each and every day.  You can count on it - it's a SURE thing.  And I'm not just talking about the physical sun that God suspended in the heavens to light our daily path, I'm talking about the sunlight of God's never-ending love.  No matter the clouds that darken our skies, the light of God's love continues to shine.  It's only through faith and believing that we can "jet" past the cloud cover of our fears and anxieties and sadness to see the ever-shining light of God's love.

This particular trip had a happy ending.  I did get to my father's bedside and he survived the ordeal.  My Mom and I spent an entire week in that hospital, comforting one another and nursing my Dad back to a point where he was able to fly home to safety and much-needed surgery.  But more importantly, God showed His tremendous love for me by sending His never-failing grace to me on a sunbeam.

Are you missing out on the sunshine?  Do clouds of doubt and fear threaten to overtake your landscape?  Has it been awhile since you've experienced the warmth of God's light in your life?  Just remember this:  God's love is FOREVER!!!!!  His love, His grace, His mercy endure FOREVER!!!!!!  You can count on it - it's a SURE thing!!!!!

Selah (סֶלָה )

It's all Karen's and Brother Dan's fault............thanks you two!!

Of all the things that I thought I would probably try, blogging had to be at the VERY bottom of the list.  You think I'm kidding?  If there was an award for being the LEAST tech-savy person on the planet, I would easily capture the crown (with no competition).

But here I am all the same, casting my "line" into a sea of seasoned bloggers - pretending that I have something to say that's worth remembering/contemplating.

And perhaps I do.

Brother Dan has been preaching about our church - FBC of Thomasville, Georgia - becoming an Acts church (that's Luke's Acts).  He ABSOLUTELY believes that OUR church can change the world.  And that my friends is the basis of my BLOG conviction.

Karen - my dear friend of a lifetime - authors, without question, the sweetest, most honest, most inspiring blog ever written.  And that my friends is the basis of my BLOG confidence.

With nothing to lose and maybe tons to win, I strike out on this voyage of faith, letting God fill my drooping mainsail and headsail with the winds likened to the mighty rushing winds of Pentecost.

Selah (סֶלָה )