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"Helping Others Communicate"

HEART AND SOUL!

2/28/2022

 
I have a confession to make.  I’m a hardcore carnivore!  I’ve always preferred a little salt and grease to a little sugar and spice.  Give me a belly full of protein over a belly full of carbs any day of the week.  That’s just my preference.
 
This likely has to do with the fact that I was raised on a farm where we worked a large garden and ate vegetables, either fresh or canned, pretty much year round.  However, given that we also raised beef, pork, and chicken on that farm, early on I came to believe the old adage that “a meal is never complete unless it has a piece of meat”.  In fact, the meat was always the foundation of any meal, which was garnished with an array of vegetables.  Desert of any kind was hardly ever included.

Now, some will contend that eating red meat is inherently unhealthy.  A review of my ancestry shows that most of them subsisted on much the same diet and yet lived well into their eighties.  In fact, it seems as though the two who lived only into their sixties (my father and grandfather) did so concurrent with the advent of slickly marketed and packaged cigarettes.
 
Those before them utilized tobacco as well, but nowhere to the extent that they themselves did in the mid to latter part of the twentieth century.  In effect, they became chain smokers, consuming two or more packs daily.  (On his 16th birthday, my father his father asked for permission to smoke openly.  Sadly, he pretty much did so for the remainder of his life until his death at age 61.) 

What is more, as improvements in farming methods came along, the Jackson family’s approach to agriculture naturally became more sedentary.  Let’s just say that it was conducted more and more from the seat of a tractor and less and less from afoot behind a mule and a plow. 

I will always believe that such a combination of factors worked to sorely tax the cardio-pulmonary systems and shorten the lives of my father and grandfather.  This conviction is what compels me to exercise regularly to this day.  Sitting, as they say, is the new smoking.  And while I have never undertaken the latter, I do far too much of the former.

Thus, it was with more than a little curiosity that I read an article this week titled “These Are the Best Foods for Your Heart, Experts Say:”.  The February 28, 2022 piece, sub-titled:  “These 10 Foods Are Especially Good for Your Heart”, was written by Perri Ormont Blumberg and published on www.FoxNews.com  in view of February being American Heart Month.

The ten foods included were:  Dark Leafy Greens, Olive Oil, Avocados, Berries, Beans, Salmon, Whole Grains, Grapes, Walnuts, and Flaxseed. 

How did you score?  I did okay on most everything except for Olive Oil, Avocados, and Walnuts.  I guess I’ll just have to work on developing a taste for these.  You may be asking whether  I actually eat flaxseed.  No, but I do take a flaxseed pill twice daily.  Along with Oat Bran tablets, Garlic pills, and capsules of Fish Oil, Salmon Oil, Cod Liver Oil, Krill Oil, and other such Omega-3 packed supplements.  In short, if it claims to defeat high cholesterol, I take it! 

Plus, while I truly love beef, pork, and chicken, and regularly eat these selections for lunch, I still choose to eat oatmeal and salmon for breakfast each and every day.  Hopefully, such dietary discipline, when combined with my daily exercise routine, will allow me to live into my eighties and beyond, as so many of my forebears once did.

Now you may well be wondering why I am sharing all of this.  To begin with, I know I am not alone in my concern for my physical well-being.  A great many people are in today’s world.  But I also know how futile it ultimately is to go to great lengths to take care of one’s body if one does not also vigorously care for his or her soul.

We live in a world where clicks matter.  No doubt the article I have referenced above has drawn tens of thousands (or more) of such clicks, as curious people have joined me seeking to find out how good a job we are doing at caring for our hearts.  But how many of us will take time to inquire as to how good a job we are doing at caring for our souls?

The ten foods listed above are referred to as heart-healthy superfoods precisely because of the good effect they have on our heart.  It behooves us to ponder their benefits and consider consuming more of them.  Likewise, it behooves us to consider what we consume spiritually, and the benefit or lack thereof that such a diet has on our souls. 

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to consume a regular diet of God’s Word.  The 5th and 6th chapters of the New Testament Book of Hebrews make this abundantly clear.  Verses 11-14 of chapter 5 encourage us to begin with consuming the milk of the Word and proceed in time to consuming the meat of the Word. 

The meaning here is that new believers should study God’s Word in order to learn the most basic spiritual truths.  But over time, the frequency and intensity of their study of God’s Word should increase in order that they may mature and grow strong in their faith.  As chapter 6, verse 1 puts it, this is so that believers may “move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity”.

Of course, the writer is not just concerned to communicate that what we consume matters for the health of our soul.  He goes on to assert that we must practice spiritual exercise as well.  More than any other New Testament Book, Hebrews draws on the analogy of physical exercise. 

After rehearsing the faith practiced by a huge crowd of Old Testament believers in chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews begins chapter 12 by painting a picture of a marathon runner entering an ancient stadium as he or she vigorously competes for victory.

1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Surely all of this raises important questions for any of us who purport to follow Christ.  How’s our spiritual diet?  With what do we choose to nourish our souls?  And to what degree do we exercise and strengthen them? 

If the answer is less than commendable to any of these questions, then how can we ever expect to grow into maturity and become strong in our faith?  We are what we eat.  We are what we do.  For these reasons, we must nourish and nurture not only our hearts, but also our very souls!

STORY SOURCE: 

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/best-foods-heart-health-experts
.  The author, Perri Ormont Blumberg, is a contributing lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.  Story tips can be sent on Twitter at @66PerriStreet.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: 

https://biblehub.com/kjv/hebrews/6.htm
;
https://biblehub.com/niv/hebrews/6.htm;
https://biblehub.com/nlt/hebrews/11.htm;
https://biblehub.com/nlt/hebrews/12.htm.

HOW AND WHY

2/24/2022

 
One of the folks over at www.jojojokes.com  recently shared a version of the following story:

I just got off the phone with a friend living in North Dakota near the Canadian Border.  She said that since early this morning the snow has been coming down, it is nearly waist high and is still falling. The temperature is dropping way below zero and the north wind is increasing to near gale force. Her husband has done nothing but look through the kitchen window and just stare.  She says that if it gets much worse, she may have to let him in.

If that be the case, I’m sure glad I’m not in the Dakotas!  Still, we have had our share of windy weather and precipitation right here in eastern Tennessee over the last few days.  The wind has blown one tree completely over down by the creek near our house.  It has also littered the better part of our yard with sticks and limbs aplenty.  If we can ever get a day or two of sunshine to dry out the yard, we will then spend the better part of a morning picking up nature’s debris.

Of course, this was all to be expected.  As a child, I was taught that the month of March would either come in roaring like a lion and then go out like a lamb or else it would come in like a lamb and go out like a lion.  It seems likely, therefore, that the lion simply showed up a week early at the last of the month of February this year.

How is it that we tend to get these winds each spring?  While I readily admit that I am no meteorologist, I do recall being taught in school that it all has to do with the fact that the old earth is just shifting on its axis.  Scientists tell us that our planet does not just spin on its axis.  It also wobbles as it rotates.  For this reason, here in the northern hemisphere, daylight hours are shorter in the winter and longer in the summer.  Conversely darkness lasts longer in the winter and shorter in the summer.

The two extremes are of this planetary wobble are called the summer and winter solstices, with summer’s, usually falling on June 21, having the most daylight and winter’s, usually falling on December 21, having the least.  (Naturally, these solstices are exactly the opposite in the southern hemisphere.)

Halfway between the two annual solstices are the two annual equinoxes.  On a given day in the spring (usually March 21), the vernal equinox occurs, wherein the amounts of light and darkness are equal in a 24 hour period.  The same happens in the fall of the year at the autumnal equinox, around September 21.

(So much for my summation of seventh grade earth sciences, aptly demonstrated to our class by a gifted teacher with a flashlight and a basketball.  But I digress.)

All of this is to say that these annual rhythms of adjustment in the earth’s wobble continually impact the weather as the shifts in temperature either heat up or cool down the air, inevitably affecting its flow over land and sea.

Of course, figuring out how something happens and understanding why it happens are two entirely different things.  As I ponder the natural world, I am reminded that the why of it all is a far weightier matter than just the how of it all.  And while modern science can well address the how, the question of why will always remain above her pay grade.
 
It is little wonder, then, that theology has traditionally been known as the queen of the sciences.  For only she can properly address the questions of why.  If we ask why we have day and night, we posit that it is because the earth rotates on its axis.  If we ask why we have seasons, we posit that it is because the earth wobbles as it spins.  But what if we go a step further and ask why the earth wobbles.  Or what if we ask why it rotates.  Better yet, what if we ask why it even exists!  For that matter, what if we ask why anything at all even exists?!

After all, the ultimate philosophical question is really quite simple:  “Why is there something rather than nothing?”  And quite frankly, for all her theories, enlightening as they might be, from that of relativity to the big bang to evolution to quantum physics, etc., science still finds herself only addressing the how and not the why of all things.  There are things she simply cannot explain.

With theology, however, it is a different matter.  Why does the earth exist?  The very first verse in the Bible tells us why.  According to Genesis 1:1, the reason the earth exists is because “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Why does earth have light and darkness?  Genesis 1 goes on to tell us that God structured the world to have them both.  Why does the earth have days and seasons and resultant temperature changes?  Genesis 8:22 tells us why:  “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

An even more profound question might be:  “Why do I exist?”  Why can I even sit here and ponder all these things to begin with?  Again, Genesis provides the answer (chapter 1, verse 22) to that fundamental question:  “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Does science have value?  Absolutely.  Her role is to pursue the questions of how, and to use the knowledge she gains in the process for the benefit of us all.  And I for one am extremely grateful for these many benefits.  This is especially so tonight as I sit inside my well-lighted house all warm and cozy following the radar on my smart phone and typing away on my laptop with a soft drink by my side and music softly playing in the background, while the wind and the rain and the darkness all rage outside.

But when it comes to the greater questions of life, I’m far more thankful for the Word of God.  For it is in the Bible, and in the Bible alone, that I find the answer to the truly great questions of life.   

 
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/1.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/8.htm.
 
JOKE SOURCE:
 
https://jokojokes.com/wind-jokes.html. 

FOLLOW THE LEADER!

2/19/2022

 
I had to laugh out loud recently when I happened up behind a car proudly displaying the perennial bumper sticker stating “Let Me Tell You About My Grandchildren.”  The first time I saw that was probably in the 1970s.  Back then, of course, I really couldn't appreciate the humor.  Now, however, as a proud grandparent myself, I can definitely relate.  In fact, I find that I am willing to talk about my seven grandsons at any and every opportunity!

That being said, let me talk about one of my grandsons today.  The one I have in mind is number five.  I call him 005.  The others, of course, are known to me as 001, 002, 003, 004, 006, and yes, 007! 

Now, 00s 1-4 are all up and running. Literally!  006 just started toddling; and 007 recently began crawling - at quite an impressive clip, I might add.  But my thoughts today concern 005, who has just mastered the fine art of walking.  Suffice it to say that, as his confidence grows, he is increasing his pace daily.


Now that you have the backstory, here is the incident I want to relate.  A few days ago, through a conjunction of circumstances, yours truly was officially appointed babysitter for the morning with 005.

After exhausting my supply of distractions, including the proffering of toys, YouTube “Blippi” videos, “Simple Songs” episodes, and even attempted outright bribery with “Fruit Roll-Ups”, “M&Ms”, “Nutter Butters”, and the very popular “Goldfish”, I was desperate!
Not knowing what else to do, I decided to entertain him instead. 

I started walking around my daughter’s kitchen and dining room in a great big circle. As I did, I started taking exaggerated strides in slow motion.  To my surprise, and delight, 005 started to mimic me.  With an enormous smile on his face, he began to follow my example by taking his own version of giant steps.

For whatever reason, he was thoroughly enjoying the whole experience.  What is more, this went for quite some time.  In fact, it went on until I chose to try something new.  After about ten minutes, I stopped and turned around and started to walk backwards.  My purpose was to see if he would mimic this as well.  Surprisingly, he did not.  He just stood there until I tired of walking backwards, turned around, and resumed taking my giant strides forward.  Once this happened, he too resumed his forward progression.

In his first New Testament Letter to them (chapter 11, verse 1), the Apostle Paul encourages the Christians at ancient Corinth to follow his example.  The New International Version states: “Follow my example…”  The English Standard Version puts it this way:  “Be imitators of me…”

Paul was clearly seeking to have the Corinthians mimic his ways.  But that is not all he stated.  He put a qualifier on his that mimicry.  The reminder of his statement, according to the NIV is:  “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”  Thus, the ESV states:  “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

The point here is that even the Apostle Paul himself knew that his personal example was only worthy of being followed when it reflected the example of Jesus Christ.  As long as Paul was following Jesus, he himself was worthy of being followed.  But if he ever ceased following the example of Christ, then he himself was not worthy of being followed.

In what amounts to an example of “a little child shall lead them”, my grandson seems to have instinctively understood that I was to be followed as long as I was going forward.  But once I changed course and started going backward, he realized that my example was no longer worthy of being followed.

To his everlasting credit, he seems to have sensed that going backward was not natural.  Therefore, it was not commendable.  And thus, it was not worthy of imitation.

Believe me when I say that I took note of this!  As a grandfather, I realize that seven sets of eyes are constantly upon me.  They are looking for a worthwhile example to follow.  Woe unto me if I do not grasp this, and lead them to take giant steps forward!  Woe unto me, if instead, I choose to lay down an example of going backward rather than forward!

As a minister, the same thing applies to my example before fellow believers.  Like the Apostle Paul, I can choose to lay down either a Christlike example or a non-Christlike example.  But woe unto me if it proves to be the latter rather than the former!

In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 2-7, we read the following teaching from our Lord and Savior:

2He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

6“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble!

May I never cause any of my seven little grandsons to stumble!  May I never cause any Christian, at any level of maturity, to stumble!  May I always encourage them to take giant strides forward!  And above all, may I do this by personally and continuously following the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/11-1.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/18.htm.

RESOUNDING PHRASES

2/14/2022

 
It all started last Friday night when we had three grandsons over to spend the night.  And what a night it was.  First, we rode bikes all up and down the driveway.  Then, we picked up sticks and threw them in the creek.  Next, we went inside and filled up on pepperoni pizza and Sprite!
 
After this, we watched an episode or two of Jonny Quest before capping off the evening by taking in King Kong duking it out with Godzilla, all while munching on buttered popcorn!  We burned a last bit of energy before bedtime by wearing about ten percent of the tread depth off of a complete set of Hot Wheels car tires!  All in all, it was a red letter night for three little boys!

This was followed by a Sunday afternoon spent playing with the next two grandsons.  Perched atop the couch, we played with toy fishing rods, catching world record plastic fish down below on the carpet.  We then repeatedly slam dunked our basketball in the playroom, before a round or two of hide-and-seek.  After this, we chowed down on tacos and nachos and cookies!  What a day!

Then came this evening, when my wife and I kept the last two grandsons while their mom and dad went out for a Valentine’s Day dinner.  We wrestled and played tag, flew toy airplanes, and took our binoculars to search for “lions and tigers and bears” out in the back yard.  Thereafter, we had supper, got cleaned up, and put on jammies before settling down to a good old fashioned Disney movie before bedtime.  What an evening!

My wife and I can only hope such memories will be kept and cherished by our grandsons all throughout their lives.  They certainly will by the two of us.

But I will keep an additional memory of this past weekend as well – that of two simple phrases.  Have you ever gotten the lyrics of a given song stuck in your head, unable to get rid of them?  Well, I have had a similar experience over the past few days.  Only what I keep hearing over and over and over are the words to two simple phrases - so much alike, yet so different:  “What’s this Granddaddy?” and “Watch this Granddaddy!”

The first of these, “What’s this, Granddaddy?” must have been asked of me a bazillion times over the last three days.  Now, I will admit that I did not mind answering this question at first.  After all, it’s great to be viewed as the grand old sage who imparts knowledge and purveys wisdom.  But to be completely honest, it did get a little old after the first half-a-bazillion times.

The second, similar phrase, “Watch this, Granddaddy!”, was uttered close to gazillion times.  It was not a question or even a request.  If anything, it bordered more on a command!  At every turn, as their confidence grew and they dared to take on new challenges, they seemed determined that my wife and I should take note.  So much so that the command would continue to be repeated until we acknowledged whatever particular feat was then at hand!

Now, back home and sitting here at my desk and reflecting, I can see just how much of the human experience their chosen phrases reflect.  Have we not all grown up with an inquisitive mind?  Sure we have.  Way back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve busied themselves, first with discovering and then with ordering their world.  The fact that He allowed them to name the animals is proof that God set things up for us to learn and process and organize the world around us.  We have continued to do so ever since.

After discovering and organizing our world, the next human propensity is to interact with it.  Once we learn, we want to learn all the more.  In the process, we are emboldened to attempt things.  And once we have attempted things and succeeded, we want to attempt even greater things.

Such has been the pattern of human history ever since Adam and Eve left off merely naming things and began actually tending the garden around them, dressing and keeping it in a productive and fruitful manner.

Spending the weekend watching seven little innocent lives explore their world and their abilities within it has brought my wife and me a lot of pleasure.  I cannot help but be reminded that, back before sin ever entered the picture in Genesis chapter three and ruined so much of Adam and Eve’s lives and world, another resounding phrase was heard when God Himself repeatedly observed that everything He saw was good!

The Apostle Paul’s concluding remarks to the Christians at Philippi in the fourth chapter of his New Testament Letter to them are perhaps best remembered by his statement in verse 13 when he says:  “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  But this verse is actually part of a larger context in which he focuses on several great themes.  Among these are the needs for them to keep on thinking and learning and accomplishing in their lives.  As Paul puts it…

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think on these things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 

There you have it - learning and doing.  If a life is to be lived to the glory of God, then together, these two inextricably linked human endeavors are designed to be undertaken over and over again.

And as a child of God myself, even with a life marred by sin, I pray that my Heavenly Father finds much pleasure in my desire to know more and more of life in this world that he has made, especially as I turn to Him in an attempt to find meaning and purpose in it.  I pray also that He finds delight in my willingness to engage that world by putting my own God-given talents and skills to work within it as a means to accomplish great things, both for Him and for others.

My own imperfections notwithstanding, may my personal explorations of, and exploits within, this world that God has made be pleasing enough to Him so as to evoke many an affirmative phrase from on high!  And may the same be said of you as well.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/1.htm;

https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/2.htm;

https://biblehub.com/bsb/philippians/4.htm.

PICTURES OF JESUS

2/9/2022

 
Apparently, the world is willing to pay quite a price for a trustworthy picture of Jesus Christ.  On January 28, www.foxnews.com reported that an authentic Botticelli portrait of Jesus Christ recently sold for $45.4 million.

Apparently, a classic bidding war unfolded on January 21, 2022 at Sotheby’s 2022 Masters Week Auctions in New York as would-be buyers competed for the possession of Botticelli’s 1540 masterpiece known as "The Man of Sorrows".  The auctioneer hammered the gavel at $39.3 million – pushing the final sale price of $45.4 million including Sotheby’s commission.

For the uninitiated, Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was a High Renaissance man from Florence who labored under the generous patronage of the famed Medici family and the ascetic preaching of Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola.

His name Botticelli is actually a nickname that means "little barrel."  His best known works include "The Birth of Venus" and "Primavera" both at the Uffizi Gallery.  The earlier works both involve classic mythological scenes.

According to the article, "The Man of Sorrows" reminds art lovers that the same artist later fell under the influence of the preacher, Savonarola, forever impacting his artwork.  Savonarola’s rise and four-year dictatorship in the city of Florence in the late 1400s cast a long shadow on the artists working there at the time, including not only Botticelli, but also younger artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.

The article also relates how the auction house went to great lengths to compare Botticelli’s suffering Christ to the rediscovered painting of Christ by Leonardo, "Salvator Mundi."  That painting was by Christie’s Auction house to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince for $450.3 million back in 2017, and it later hung in a royal yacht.

Experts say that the two artists likely completed these two portraits of Christ within months of each other.  While both versions depict Christ as regal, Leonardo’s has Christ holding up a hand in a sign of blessing, while Botticelli’s has Christ in pain, bound by ropes and with hands already scarred by crucifixion. 

Still, each in its own way properly depicts Christ.  As Sotheby’s expert Christopher Apostle reminds us, “The ‘Salvator Mundi’ shows God as an icon, but Botticelli shows God in his humanity. Botticelli’s version is less rigid, but it hits you in the face.”

Mr. Apostle, who studied the work ahead of the sale, added that Sotheby’s did discover something new about its Botticelli in preparation for the auction. It seems that infrared tests reveal the artist initially started painting Christ as an infant, being hugged by his mother.  At some point, however, Botticelli was led to turn the canvas upside down and start all over, this time with the older Christ in mind.

As I read this article, I was reminded of the ultimate value that is rightfully assigned to pictures of Jesus Christ.  Granted, no photograph of Him exists.  Nor does any painted portrait of Him, in either His incarnated or Heavenly state.  But that does not mean we do not have pictures of Him.

Four of the best known of these are the ones given to us by Matthew, mark, Luke, and John.  If you want to see an authentic picture of Jesus, look no further than the New Testament Gospels that bear their names.

Paul, too, gives us picture after picture of Jesus Christ in his many New Testament writings, as do the authors of every New Testament book.  Add to these the pictures of the Messiah as painted all throughout the Old Testament.  A classic example is found in the 52nd and 53rd chapters of Isaiah.

Beyond this, pictures of Christ can often be seen in the lives of His followers.  We see Him reflected in His innumerable disciples all throughout the last two thousand years.  Hopefully, He can still be seen today, in the lives of any number of believers who attempt to emulate Him in their daily lives.

The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Corinth (II Corinthians 2:14) that God uses believers to spread the knowledge of Himself to the world.  Thus, while I may bear little physical resemblance to my Lord and Savior, I trust and pray that I bear His likeness spiritually.

Famed hymn writer B.B. McKinney understood this principle well, as these words he was once moved to pen demonstrate:

While passing through this world of sin,
And others your life shall view,
Be clean and pure without, within,
Let others see Jesus in you.

Your life's a book before their eyes,
They're reading it through and through;
Say, does it point them to the skies,
Do others see Jesus in you?

What joy 'twill be at set of sun,
In mansions beyond the blue,
To find some souls that you have won;
Let others see Jesus in you.

Then live for Christ both day and night,
Be faithful, be brave, and true,
And lead the lost to life and light;
Let others see Jesus in you.


The chorus to this well-known hymn rings as true today as the day he was inspired to write it:

Let others see Jesus in you,
Let others see Jesus in you;
Keep telling the story, be faithful and true,
Let others see Jesus in you.


Can this be said of you?  Do others see Christ in you?  To find out, take a look in the mirror of God’s Word and see for yourself.  The reflection you get will help you to answer this fundamental question.

Above all, remember that the world is desperate for an authentic picture of Jesus.  They will pay dearly to see His features represented in a meaningful way, and for the tremendous satisfaction that such an experience alone provides.

Let others see Jesus in you!

STORY SOURCE: 
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/botticelli-portrait-jesus-christ-sells-45-4-million.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: 
https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/2-14.htm.

HYMN SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/while_passing_through_this_world_of_sin.

SHOO WEE!

2/4/2022

 
As anyone who has ever lived in Tennessee well knows, each year when the month of August unfolds, the airwaves and billboards fill up with a very familiar phrase:  “It’s football time in Tennessee!”  Indeed, one wag may have put it best when he famously quipped:  “Here in Tennessee, we have all four seasons:  deer season, fishing season, basketball season, and football season!”

And yet, there is at least one more season here in the eastern part of the state.  It begins annually in February and typically lasts for about four to six weeks.  Its presence, too, is typically announced via the airwaves, only not so much through sight or sound as through smell.  I am speaking, of course, of skunk mating season!

As is evidenced by the number of dead skunks littering the roadways, they are clearly more active in this six week period than at any other time of the year.  Indeed, between here and the nearest town to where we live, I counted the carcasses of no less than four unlucky skunks on an earlier trip today.

As unfortunate as this is, I must admit that I would rather encounter a dead skunk than a live one any day of the week.  I can generally avoid contact with a dead one.  If not, it is usually only because I myself have been careless.  But no matter how careful any individual is, whether out driving or walking, encountering a live skunk can be an experience that leaves its mark!

In fact, one does not even have to see a nearby skunk to suffer the consequences of having encountered it.  As pedestrians know, the odor can linger in a given area for quite some time.  And woe be unto any hapless motorist whose automobile sucks in skunk odor through its ventilation system.  The smell will often linger inside an automobile for miles after it has passed the animal’s location.

Once, when she was a teenager living in Georgia, my wife was riding with her parents up to their home state of Tennessee to visit her grandmother for the weekend.  As they passed the state line, she rolled down the window and proudly proclaimed: “Ah, smell that good Tennessee air!”  Just then, they were all immediately overcome by the acrid smell of skunk spray!  That episode will live on in our family lore for years to come!

Still, it is far better to meet a skunk in a car than on foot.  As one who has done both on multiple occasions, I can certainly attest to this.  Passing through an area of skunk smell at 55 miles per hour is a mere nuisance compared to finding oneself afoot and face to face with an animal that has both a loaded barrel and a hair trigger!

Whenever the latter occurrence unfolds, as it has for me on more than one occasion while out walking, let’s just say that it calls for tact and diplomacy at the highest levels!  After all, as Bobby Sunderland once so eloquently put it, “A dog can likely whip a skunk; but in the end, it may not be worth it!”  For this reason, I have always chosen to give any skunk I have encountered a very wide berth!

Of course, skunks are not the only creatures that can leave a negative impression upon others.  Although it would be for slightly different reasons, I’m quite sure the same can be said of lions and tigers and bears.  And sadly, it can also be said of fellow humans!

Very likely, you know what I am talking about here.  Who among us has not had the unfortunate experience of crossing paths with a person who created a stink most everywhere they went?  And who among us has not left such an encounter with our senses, feelings, and or well-being all askew from their offensive output?!

In truth, once we encounter the likes of such a person, do we not tend to avoid them at all costs in the future?  Sure we do!  And well we should.  There are good reasons that so many of the Old Testament Proverbs admonish us to avoid foolish and imprudent people.

I suppose about the only thing worse than encountering such a person is being such a person.  In His famed “Sermon on the Mount”, recorded in Matthew 7:12, Jesus taught us to observe what has been termed “The Golden Rule”.  Therein, He told us that we should always treat others just as we would have them treat us.

And so, if you dislike encountering someone who always tends to spew offensive vitriol your way, leaving you awash in their animosity, bitterness, self-pity, or the like, then try not to be such a person yourself.  What could be sadder than having others see you in any such light, unless it is being this way and failing to see yourself as you truly are?

SOURCES:

https://skunk.com/skunk-mating-habits/;

https://sciencing.com/skunk-mating-season-8734946.html;

https://kidadl.com/fun-facts/skunk-mating-season-when-is-it-and-how-long-does-it-last.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-12.htm.

SEE ALSO:

https://www.biblestudy.org/bible-study-by-topic/proverbs/fools.html.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

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