Ragamuffin Gospel

Safe Places

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“…maybe on the days we want out of our lives — it isn’t so much that we want to die from shame, but *hide* from shame. But let’s remember: shame gets unspeakable power only if it’s unspeakable. Shame dies when stories are told in safe places.
You know what? Your scars are proof that you’re a kind of bulletproof — because living through the hardest battles proves you can live through any battle. You can trace those scars and let it feed your courage and feel no shame for the wars you’ve come through, no shame for any of your broken.
And tonight we’re just going to take heart — take His heart
and pour a brave and willing love like His
over all the open wounds…
that we may even now
take hope” (Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way). #TheBrokenWay #StrengethingPrayers

Normally, I like to share my own thoughts, but this one practically begged me to share it. I’m positive that someone out there needs this tonight, someone who’s battled shame for a long time and needs to know that there’s hope and freedom just around the corner in one of those safe places.

You’ll never know the freedom over the power of shame until you can find your brave and share your stories– even the hardest and most shameful ones. As my pastor said, healing takes place when the worst moment of your life that you never thought you’d ever share with another living soul becomes the first line of your testimony of God’s deliverance.

My prayer is that you’ll find someone and somewhere safe to tell your shameful secrets so that they no longer hold you captive. Then perhaps your story will encourage someone else to tell his or her story. Someone will her their own story in your words and find their own healing.

 

Oktoberfest 2017

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I did another one of those wild and crazy spontaneous outings and trekked over to Nashville’s Oktoberfest over by First Tennessee Park. A good time was definitely had by all, all being me.

Truthfully, it wasn’t completely spontaneous. I decided the night before that I’d at least make the attempt to get my German on. Still, when I set the address in my GPS, I felt like the adventure was really beginning.

The journey was far less stressful than I feared and I found parking for a reasonable rate just outside the festival area. It was a minor miracle.

I partook of some good bratwurst with sauerkraut, followed by funnel cake. My adventures always seem to center around meals and food.

I will say that I preferred Oktoberfest when it was in Germantown (not to be confused with the city just outside of Memphis). It felt more authentic in the midst of older homes instead of smack dab in the middle of hipster apartments.

My favorite was the Nashville Cat Rescue mobile unit, for obvious reasons. My own little rescue kitten, Peanut, has seemingly tripled in size since she adopted me just over three months ago.

I saw one tabby that looked a lot like my Lucy, and I was tempted for a brief moment to take him home. Hopefully, some other Good Samaritan adopted him.

There was actual German music at this festival. I was impressed, though I confess I prefer Greek music to German.

It was crowded, but not overcrowded, and the weather was ideal for an outdoor event like this. After a long (and satisfying) week of work, it was the perfect way to unwind and take in some culture at the same time.

Sometimes, those semi-spontanous trips are the best. Every now and then, it’s good to just go and do something you’ve never done before (or in my case, haven’t done in a really long time).

Stop Your Fighting

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“Stop your fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth” (Psalm 46:10, CSB).

I keep thinking about this verse in light of all that’s going on in the world. All you have to do is to look at the headlines to see that violence and hatred seem to have full sway. All you have to do is look at social media to see that hostility and intolerance (that are not limited to one end of the political spectrum) are still alive and well.

But God says to us tonight, “Stop your fighting.”

The traditional translation of this verse says, “Be still.” I’ve also seen it rendered as “Cease striving.” I saw one just now that said, “Desist.”

Any of those will work. The idea is that once I recognize that God is supreme and sovereign, I understand that it’s no longer up to me. I can let go of anxiety and fear and embrace surrender to the God who’s already defeated every kind of hostility through Jesus on the cross.

I can still speak out against injustices and violence, but I also can trust in the God who will make all things right. I can do my part to make my world a better place to live, knowing that God still works all things together for good.

Stop your fighting. Cease Striving. Desist. Be still and know that God is still in control.

 

 

Bridges Giving Way

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“When bridges seem to give way, we fall into Christ’s safe arms, true bridge, and not into hopelessness. It is safe to trust! We can be too weak to go on because His strength is made perfect in utter brokenness and nail-pierced hands help up. It is safe to trust! We can give thanks in everything because there’s a good God leading, working all things into good. It is safe to trust! The million bridges behind us may seem flattened to the earthly eye, but all bridges ultimately hold, fastened by nails. It is safe to trust.” (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are).

Lately, it seems that chaos is in control. I read recently about yet another mass shooting, this one in Las Vegas on the last day of a music festival. I wonder yet again why someone would want to fire a semi-automatic into a crowd of people.

It seems more and more that death and natural disasters are becoming the norm, and security is an illusion.

Then I read the last page of the Bible. The last page doesn’t end with “and they all died.” It doesn’t end with “they tried to make the best of a bad situation.”

The Bible ends with God making all things new. Or as C. S. Lewis put it, the end is in reality the true beginning of the real story, of which all of history was merely the title and the table of contents. This real story goes on forever and each chapter is better than the one before.

This present story is filled with heartbreak and sadness. The story that’s coming will be about how God wipes away every tear from their eyes and how there will be no more sadness or weeping or death.

So I say, “Come, Lord Jesus. Until then, be with us in the midst of turmoil and hardship and suffering. Be with all who mourn. Be our safe bridge to cross when all the world gives way.

Amen.

The Return of October

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Once again, October is upon us. We’re entering yet again into my favorite time of the year.

Today was a pleasant reminder of why I love this month so much with the very fall-ish weather. I could almost smell the pumpkin spice in the air (though my personal preference if I have to choose is the salted caramel).

I’m completely aware that this is still the wonderful state of Tennessee and the warmer weather is far from done for the year. I expect there will be a few more days of 80+ degree weather (though hopefully no more 90+ days).

Still, the advent of October means that Halloween is on its way, and after that comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. October means bonfires and changing colors of leaves and crisper temperatures.

My one and only gripe about October is that I wake up in almost complete darkness. It looks and feels like midnight and my body doesn’t want to get out of bed. Still, I’ll take that if it comes with all the goodness that October brings.

Happy October, everyone!

Three Months Later

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Three months ago today, I went into the Williamson County Animal Shelter hoping to pick out a kitten after my Lucy had crossed the rainbow bridge 9 days earlier.

It was a bit overwhelming at first, as there are so many kittens and cats in need of good furr-ever homes. I actually took a few kittens out and played with them to see how friendly and playful they were.

I had it in my mind that I wanted the cat to purr when I picked it up, but none of the cats I looked at did that. Maybe they were nervous or shy, but none of them seemed overly friendly.

I had a little male tuxedo kitten picked out and ready to take home. He was in the carrier and all that was left was for me to sign the papers and he’d be mine. Or I’d be his. I’m still not sure how exactly that works.

That was when I heard the most heart-wrenching piteous mew. I turned around to see a little black paw reaching to me from a cage behind me. I saw this little tortie kitten begging me to take her home.

I went over to the cage and she reached out and stroked my hand. She was purring. I knew then and there she had picked me to be my next cat. The tuxedo kitten went back to his cage with his mates and was probably adopted later to another good home.

I found out that my little tortie had been found stranded on I-65 when she was rescued. To this day, I don’t know if she was alone. I don’t know if she was actually on the interstate or in the median between the two sides.

All I know is that she rescued me. She gave the love I had for Lucy a new place to go.

The old saying is still true. God does work in mysterious ways, but I’m learning that those ways always turn out way better than my ways and my plans ever could.

Here’s to what I hope will be at least 17 years with Peanut, my little tortie.

 

Encore

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“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE” (G K Chesterton).

I’m all for maturity, but I believe in some cases we would do well to grow younger. Not younger as in acting childish but more like having a childlike wonder and awe.

God, for all the wonders and miracles you did in days of old, we say to you, “Do it again.”

God, for all the mercies and grace you have lavished on us today, we say to you, “Do it again.”

God, for every time you give us not what we deserve or have earned but what Jesus has earned for us, we say to you, “Do it again.”

May we never tire of God’s great mercies or grow weary of His unfailing love and grace toward us. May we be as astonished at our own salvation with each passing day as we were the day before.

God, as you have faithfully acted throughout all our days and nights, do it again.

 

 

More Magic Movie Moments from the 80’s

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I finally got around to this 80’s classic. It only took 30 years, but I found this little gem on Netflix and decided to take a break from Sons of Anarchy for a trip down Nostalgia Lane.

The movie features a young Patrick Dempsey, better known to most people these days from his role on Grey’s Anatomy, and Amanda Peterson, who sadly passed away in 2015. It also stars the red-headed kid from The Burbs, but in a much less creepy role.

What I expected was a bit of light romantic comedy fluff done 80’s style. What I got was a lot deeper and more meaningful treatise about the price of popularity versus the ultimate freedom in being true to yourself.

The movies I like and tend to gravitate toward are movies I can relate to, and I could certainly relate to this one. Patrick’s character starts off as a bit of a nerd, buys his way into popularity, loses himself, and eventually . . . well, I’m not big on spoiler alerts, so you’ll have to find it on Netflix to find out what happens.

There’s something magical about a good 80’s movie. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know that it’s missing from most of the newer movies I’ve seen. Maybe it’s that 80’s movies have a kind of fantastical quality that, if not completely realistic and believable, is fun to visit for a while.

I just may be forced to break down and buy this one on blu ray to add to my already ridiculous movie collection.

 

I Need a Vacation from My Vacation

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I loved my vacation with the family. It was great and a good time was indeed had by all. But I need another vacation to recuperate from the previous one.

I need a few days where I can hibernate in a hammock with only the occasional bathroom and food breaks. No television, no radio, no smart anything. Just that hammock and a good long book. And the periodic coffee beverage.

I also want to eat all the chocolate my grubby little hands can stuff into my face without getting fat. In other words, I can’t always get every little thing I want and it’s probably a good thing I can’t. Not everything I want is good. Or beneficial. Or realistic.

In the mean time, I will settle for one very comfortable bed where I can hibernate. Until 5 am tomorrow morning.

Pleasant dreams, everyone.