Good and Pleasant

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Two years and three weeks separate my oldest sons. 

For years, their differences caused further separation.  Different gifts, different dispositions.  One was defiant, one compliant.  One was a straight-forward rebel; one was underhanded. The typical tensions that beset firstborns and second-borns wormed their way into our house.  I don’t want to overstate the case: the rivalry did not brew hatred.  But the competition was more than evident.   

Sibling relationships are seldom simple.

But sometimes, siblings offer some of the best friendships around. 

Watching my boys this week brings me joy incapable of containment.  Delight and approval in their role as daddy and as husband overcome me.  How much fun is it to have my sons instruct me on holding my grandsons in the most comfortable manner? 

And the pleasantness continues.  To see the friendship between brothers grow and expand is as refreshing as an ice-cold drink on a blistering day.  When one of our three-month babies fusses, his uncle is just as likely to pick him up and comfort him as his father. 

The unity between them is evidenced in a particularly special way.  Their differences in theology are not an occasion for division between them.  One son holds to believer baptism and one son holds to paedo baptism.  Tomorrow, little Noah will be baptized and the whole family will be there as witnesses.  At some future date, Preston and Gavin will be baptized and the whole family will be there to rejoice.  And, thanks be to God, there is no tension. 

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity! 

Like Wheat Arising Green

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Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been;
Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

In the grave they laid him, love by hatred slain,
Thinking that he would never wake again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen;
Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Raised from the dead, my living Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,
Your touch can call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat arising green.

~  J.M.C. Crum (1872-1958)

New Bread

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Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy and save me!
Let me lie down like a stone, O God,
and rise up like new bread.

~ Tolstoy in War and Peace
quoted by M.F.K. Fisher in How to Cook a Wolf

Isn’t this quote about perfect for Holy Week? 

Also a prayer for our young friend Isaiah, who remains in a coma.  It is a great reminder that we used to be dead in our sins and God has made us alive in Him.

God made this world chock full of pictures–symbols–of death and resurrection.  The more we look, the more we see.  Help me add to the list. 

Night and day: each day dies followed by a new day 
Our sleep is a little death; awaking is a little resurrection 
A seed dies and is buried in the ground; a new plant rises
Tulips turn brown and brittle…and come up green.
A tree becomes a skeleton…until new leaves bud
Butterflies
Hibernating bears
Drowned rice fields
Grapes are killed, crushed, bruised
Yeast is buried in flour and water
An act of repentance, a dying to self, precedes new growth

Unfathomable

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“A fathom,” he showed me stretching wide
in his black three-piece suit and silver watch chain,
“is the measure of the arms across the body from fingertip to fingertip
because fathom, or a word like it, faethm,
was the Old Northern European word for embrace.”
   
~Frank Delaney in Simple Courage: The True Story of Peril on the Sea.

This is the kind of stuff that makes my heart race:  using a word for a measurement from the universally understood action of embrace.  Here’s more.

A fathom is now a nautical measure of six feet,
but it was once defined by an act of Parliament as
“the length of a man’s arms around the object of his affections.”
The word derives from the Old English faethm,
meaning “the embracing arms.”  

from The QPB Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins   

When we speak of mysteries beyond comprehension, we call them unfathomable.  You can’t wrap your arms (or your mind) around it.  Carson, my son who worked on a seiner fishing for salmon in Alaska, said, “Something is unfathomable when you run out of rope.” 

Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how incrutable his ways!

~ Paul in the espistle to the Romans

   

Your Only Comfort

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Q.  What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

A.  That I belong–body and soul, in life and in death–
not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ,
who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins
and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil;

that he protects me so well
that without the will of my Father in heaven
not a hair can fall from my head;

indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.

Therefore, by his Holy Spirit,
he also assures me of eternal life,
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.

The first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.

There is nothing new to report on Isaiah’s condition.  The community packed a high school gymnasium for Jeff’s service this afternoon.  The other boys are either released from the hospital or scheduled to be released in the next few days. 

Wait and pray. 

That is the job we have been given. 

Troubling News about Isaiah

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Another note from our pastor:

We have heard some troubling news this morning from the neurosurgeon about Isaiah. The MRI has been read and we have learned that our Isaiah is suffering from “diffuse brain shake”. There are many bruises throughout the brain, but two particularly of great concern. One is in the area that effects communication between the left and right sides of the brain. This is very critical. Also, in the area of the brain that helps wake you up out of a coma.

We are all very concerned.

If Isaiah does not awake from this the prognosis is not good. The EEG showed a slow pattern, which was what was expected. The good news is that it did not show any signs of seizures. We need to continue to pray for Isaiah that he would awake from the coma and tell us of his great adventures. We all love him so much.

In Jeremiah 29:11-12 we read of a promise which the Prophet gave to the nation of Israel in her darkest hour. Even a candle shines the brightest in the deepest darkness. The Lord told that despairing nation. “I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans of good and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Such a people had just been trampled by an unstoppable army. But, instead of these words being trite, they were a powerful encouragement. A future and a hope are ahead, unstoppable, coming, set in the unchanging plans of God. We are told this when nothing we see can confirm it at this time. But, It is our Lord who holds the future, He has told us this and therefore we have hope.

God’s people along with God’s whole creation groan, in travail, as in child birth Paul says in Romans. We groan….waiting, waiting, waiting. But waiting in Hope, hope, hope. We shall all one day awake and we shall spend eternity sharing our adventures. But until then we wait, Pray that the Lord would allow Isaiah to wait with us.

Fine Art Friday – Sir George Clausen

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The Mowers, 1885
My husband loves this picture.
He is a man who relishes hard work; his muscles give witness to this.
We are enjoying this slice of August on our computer desktop
while in real life it is a snowy April.
The watercolor above was done in 1885.


The Mowers, 1891
This Mowers is an oil, done six years later.
Which one do you prefer: the watercolor or the oil?
In both, I think he’s captured the fluid movement of the mowers.

 
 Boy Trimming a Hedge, 1890
This dun colored piece doesn’t have the elegant light of the ones above.
The background seems too cluttered or busy.
But I like to think of this boy as the younger brother, nephew
or even son of the men above. 
Boys at work.  It just seems right.

 
The Breakfast Table, 1891-92
I believe these girls are the painter’s daughters
and the woman presiding over the table is his wife.
When I look at this picture I can just hear that pleasant
tinkle of silverware on china, a sound I love
in Jane Austen/BBC movies.

The best place to learn more about Sir George Clausen
is this blog.  From what I can gather the author is a
descendant of   SGC.
Clausen is my find of the year (happy sigh). 

Awake, O Sleeper

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Our pastor is so pastoral.  He is always there to bear the burdens of his sheep. Here are words he sent to our congregation as we continue to pray for Isaiah. The next 12 hours are crucial. 

We are called on to shoulder a great and serious burden with [Isaiah’s family].  Our Isaiah is fighting for his life. He rests in bed with eyes closed and many tubes coming from his body, but inside he is at work struggling to regain his wits. The doctors say he can hear us and so many verses of scripture have been read to him. [His dad] started reading Luke’s gospel, so each time we go in we read a little more.

This whole thing is a part of a great tragedy. One life lost and some injured and still in question. We must pray for all involved. God has sent [Isaiah’s family] more reasons to fall on their knees. [Isaiah’s mom] is saying out loud to herself. “God is sovereign…That is all I can say.” You know what? They cannot bear it. They are not living on any strength of their own. It’s long gone. They are living only on God’s grace and that abundantly.

The news of Isaiah’s situation is grave. He must wake up. As I pray with him, I see such a strong young man and I hope that he can be given more life. Pray for life. Pray that he wake up. I went in and thought, I should be telling him “Rabbits” and listen to his laugh. [“Rabbits” is a game our pastor plays with a ton of people.  On the first day of the month you try to be the first one to remember to say “rabbits”.]

As you all know so well, we are not speculating on the whys; at this point we are praying. The scene is still in motion and we respond accordingly. I was so heartened to hear of the prayer meeting tonight.. I was in the chapel [Catholic hospital] earlier praying and a Nun came up to me and asked if I wanted communion. I thanked her deeply for her compassion but I thought, what is communion if all alone and not with the saints?

Tonight as we pray together we will share communion of heart and purpose. Remember that while there is breath there is hope. Psalm 107 tells us of sailors on the sea who fighting the waves and storm came to their wits’ end. It says THEN, they cried unto the Lord and he brought them out of their distress. He calmed the storm so that its waves are still (v.28-29). We are at our wits’ end; let us cry out to the Lord.

We are entering a long trial, and at times you can feel the weariness setting in. But if God has called us to this, then He has His reasons. It will be good for us. Let us learn from Him as we take this yoke.

Waiting is the name of the game. Wait and pray. Ask the Lord to awaken Isaiah as He has done for His people so many times before.  Thank you for your prayers.

Addendum added Friday afternoon:  Hopeful news – Isaiah tried to open his eyes and move his mouth.  There is also some arm movement.  We rejoice to hear this and keep praying.  Our God reigns.

Please Pray for Isaiah

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A young man in our church, Isaiah, is in critical condition.  He is in a coma with head injuries.  If nothing changes in the next 24 hours, the family will be faced with the decision to take him off life support.  Isaiah is a faithful Christian, ready to go home.  But we’re really not wanting to lose him. 

Lord, give us strength; give us a miracle, if it be Your will.  Help us to trust You and to trust Isaiah to your care.   

More on the accident:

http://www.wallowacountychieftain.info/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=61&ArticleID=18427&TM=68645.2

Thank you for your prayers. 

 

Horrific Accident

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We are waiting for news on the status of passengers in a vehicle that rolled over a steep ravine yesterday.  A local youth pastor took a group of boys on a trip in a remote wilderness area.  He was killed in the crash.  Most of the passengers sustained serious, some critical, injuries. 

A young man from our church, Isaiah, was life-flighted to another hospital.  One single mom has two sons in different hospitals (3 hours apart).  Agony. 

This is a tragedy for the small community of Enterprise, Oregon.  The loss of the youth pastor is huge.  He was a rebel when he was in our high school Sunday School class.  But God grabbed him and gave him a servant’s heart and he has impacted many lives. 

Waiting.  Praying.  Lord, have mercy. 

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set me feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
~ from Psalm 40

Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
~ from Psalm 62