Return to Radnor 2

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For the first time in 2018, I returned to Radnor Lake State Park. There’s something truly magical about getting back to nature, with some wildlife thrown in as a bonus.

I think I saw 15 deer, along with an assortment of squirrels plus a chipmunk and a turkey.

I still think that even though Radnor lies in the heart of Nashville, it’s almost like stepping out of the normal 24/7 world of traffic and noise into something like Narnia or Lothlorien. I almost expect to see satyrs, fauns, elves, and maybe a hobbit or two.

I’m thankful for places like Radnor Lake State Park. It’s a little slice of heaven, or what I hope heaven will be like. It’s also a place of serenity, quiet, and tranquility that never fails to put me in a good mood.

I still hate to profane the silence with words. The only appropriate response for this place is reverential awe and gratitude.

My goal is to come back a lot, take pictures, try some different trails, and just soak it all in. So far, so good.

Charcoal Fires and Forgiveness

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“The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards[a] from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread” (John 21:8-9, New Living Translation).

I learned something very interesting today in church. Yes, I do pay attention and take it all in (when my ADD isn’t kicking in).

Apparently, there are only two times in the entire Bible when the word translated as charcoal fire is used– this passage and the one where Peter betrays Jesus three times with his Lord within hearing distance. In fact, after the last one, Jesus looks at Peter.

I love how special pains are taken to parallel the two scenes. In one, Peter is at his weakest. You’d think that denying his Lord would be unforgivable. Maybe you’d think that Peter should just go back to fishing– the regular kind that involves fish and not people. He should give up on being a disciple.

But Jesus went out of His way to include Peter in His post-resurrection appearances. He said to get all the disciples — and Peter– together.

Peter thought he’d blown it. He was sure Jesus could never speak to him again, much less forgive him. Peter had gone back to what he knows best, fishing.

In this same chapter, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me, Peter?”

I like to think that’s one for every time Peter pretended not to know Him.

It’s not so much that Jesus needed to hear that Peter loved Him but that Peter needed to know. Peter needed to know that the forgiveness offered through the cross was for him as well as everyone else.

Peter spent the rest of his life living out his gratitude for what Jesus did for him in front of that charcoal fire. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing.

 

Thank You, Ruby

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“And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!'” (Revelation 14:13, New Living Translation).

I was there today when my grandmother took her last breath and entered into eternity.  It was an extremely sad moment in that I lost someone I loved, yet it was also a moment of great joy to know that she is fully alive and fully healed in the presence of Jesus her Lord.

I was blessed to have her as my grandmother. Her whole life was one of serving others and not thinking of herself. I imagine I’ll be half-expecting to see her show up in her Cadillac with a casserole at her own funeral to comfort and console her family and friends. She was just that kind of lady.

I’ve heard all my life that they just don’t make ’em like they used to in reference to cars and appliances and just about anything else you can think of. I believe this applied to my grandmother. Whatever she was made of, they don’t make em’ like her anymore. She was indeed one of a kind, very special, and tough as nails, fiercely loyal to her family.

The Bible says that those who have found hope in Jesus do not grieve as those who have no hope. We know that those we love who die in the Lord are with the Lord, and we will see them again some day.

I love that Billy Graham is quoted as saying about his own passing: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

She simply went to sleep in a nursing home and woke up in a mansion in heaven, face to face with Jesus.

Ruby, this is not goodbye. This is a “see ya later, alligator.”

A Little MCC in Person

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“This shirt is old and faded
All the colors washed away
I’ve had it now for more damn years
Than I can count anyway
I wear it beneath my jacket
With the collar turned up high
So old I should replace it
But I’m not about to try” (Mary Chapin Carpenter).

I can cross one off the ol’ bucket list. I saw Mary Chapin Carpenter at the CMA Theater inside the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville.

To say it was amazing sounds cliched but was really an understatement. It was a kind of clinic on songwriting by one of the best around.

I think that a good writer, whether it’s songs or books or movie scripts or anything else, has the ability to say your feelings and thoughts better than you ever could. You can hear a song or read a book or hear a line from a movie and say, “Yes, that’s exactly how I felt!”

It’s hard to believe she’s been in the business for 30 years. You don’t get that kind of longevity unless you’re really good at what you do and really love what you do.

I hope there’s lots more good songs to come from Mary Chapin Carpenter. I may just have an MCC road trip with all her albums as my soundtrack. Maybe one day soon.

If You Don’t Live It, You Don’t Believe it

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“Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer).

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable” (Brennan Manning)

My pastor has said on more than one occasion that if you don’t live it, you don’t believe it. In other words, if you profess to be a Christ-follower, then go out and live like anything but a believer, then your words mean nothing.

I don’t mean those who slip up now and then but those who deliberately choose on a daily basis to live contrary to the way of the Messiah.

May we strive every day to not be merely a professor of faith but a possessor of it, to go out every day and make every effort to live out our confession of Jesus as Lord.

 

Listen

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“Listen, Israel! The Eternal is our True God—He alone. You should love Him, your True God, with all your heart and soul, with every ounce of your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, The Voice).

I heard something today that I’d heard before, but it was worth the repeat. I can’t claim any originality in what follows.

The first and greatest commandment that Jesus embraced and taught to His followers is to listen. Not merely take in sound via your ear canals but to actually listen with the intent to comprehend and obey what you hear.

Jesus is saying that the utmost way we show love to God is by listening to Him. Repeatedly, Jesus says, “For those who have ears, let them hear.” In other words, “Pay attention, because this is something you really need to know.”

The greatest way you can show love for someone else isn’t by sacrificial acts of service or by words of affirmation and affection. It’s by listening to them.

I confess that most of the time I’m not the best listener. I can be engaged in a conversation and walk away and not remember the bulk of what the other person said five minutes later. I oftentimes am listening to respond and not to comprehend.

The culture doesn’t encourage listening. It’s more about making your own voice heard and talking over those who don’t share your views and opinions. The art of dialogue is becoming a lost art.

But you gain authority to speak by listening to understand. Above all, you gain wisdom by being attentive to the voice of God and constantly listening to what He’s saying.

“Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen” (Margaret J. Wheatley).

A Little MCC on a Rainy Tuesday

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The latest musical offering in the Red Sled is Mary Chapin Carpenter’s most recent album, Sometimes Just the Sky.

I added it to the rotation in advance of seeing her live at the CMA Theater inside the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s a semi-bucket list goal, meaning I never officially added it to the bucket list but it might as well have been there.

As usual, it’s fantastic. Her music lifts me out of a dreary afternoon commute on the interstate and her songs paint tranquil pictures in my mind. Good music always takes me out of the ordinary and to a place where anything, including the extraordinary, can happen.

I’m looking forward to seeing her in concert Friday at 8 pm. It will be well worth the time and money spent, I’m sure.

As usual, here’s the link if you want to sample and/or buy this instant classic.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B078KG7DZ2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522889699&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mary+chapin+carpenter+sometimes+just+the+sky

Some Days

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I feel like this is a typical Monday for most. I doubt anyone actually put literal keys into any refrigerators, but I think this little meme captures the essence of why most people loathe and despise Mondays.

For me, they come way too early in the week and last much too long. Mondays at 5 am are just rude, plain and simple. Especially when it’s still dark outside.

But Mondays are still just 24 hours long, no matter how unwelcome or unruly they are. Even the worst of days still only lasts 1,440 minutes (or 86,400 seconds if you really want to impress your friends).

The trick to getting through Mondays, whether actual calendar days or proverbial ones, is to learn to laugh at yourself, forgive yourself, and move on.

Take everyone else more seriously and take yourself way less seriously. After all, it could be you finding your car keys in the fridge one day.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

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“O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer).

It’s officially Easter. It also happens to be April Fools’ Day. It seems fitting when most of the world looks at Christians as fools for believing and living as they do.

It does seem foolish to strive for greatness by becoming the servant of all.

It does seem foolish to turn the other cheek instead of striking back.

It does seem foolish to seek to gain your life by losing it and to pick up your cross daily to die to sin and to follow Jesus.

It does seem foolish to proclaim Jesus words that He is the way, the truth, and the life in the face of so many others who would tell you that there are many paths to God.

It does seem foolish to follow a carpenter’s son who wrote no books and led no great revolts. His ministry lasted barely three years and He died as a criminal in the worst way possible.

Yet what seems like foolishness to most is the wisdom of God.

That same carpenter’s son lived sinlessly, and after dying on the cross, defeated sin, death, and hell forever by raising from the grave after three short days.

We now mark history by His life and there are billions who profess to follow this Jesus, who is both Lord and God.

So once again, happy Easter. May both your words and your actions testify to this foolishness that is wiser than the wisdom of men.

 

Holy Saturday

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“O God, Creator of heaven and earth:  Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the  coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer).

According to weather reports, tomorrow will be a wet soggy mess. And it’s also Easter Sunday. Too bad the weather couldn’t have carried over from today with its perfect temperatures and blue skies.

Still, the point of Sunday isn’t the weather but an empty tomb. Jesus may well be the only figure in history to have borrowed a tomb. He really only needed it for Saturday.

It’s true that Jesus is alive and it’s also true that He’s coming back to take His followers with Him and to rescue and redeem a fallen creation.

That Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is a sort of in-between day, coming in between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Right now, it feels a lot like living in the in-between, looking back on the incarnation and eagerly awaiting the Second Coming.

The hope is that just as surely as Jesus walked out of the tomb on that Sunday morning, He will return, just as real and just as alive.

Sure, there will be easter bunnies and chocolate and easter egg hunts. I don’t have a problem with all that. I only need to remember that above all that reigns the living and breathing Jesus. And that makes even a wet and rainy mess of a day better.