Candid Cathy — Breaking New Ground

Candid Cathy*? By the word candid I mean transparent, open and honest. 

Credit: UpTo

King of Kings Elementary Scl

Following a brief introduction, she ascended the several steps to the platform and then took her place behind the podium. Her face appeared relaxed and her eyes bright. As is characteristic of her, a smile played around her mouth, raising her cheeks. She began to speak.

My friend Cathy abandoned the faith of her childhood for several decades. During those years she experienced two failed marriages, the second of which included the sting of her husband’s unfaithfulness and the disappearance and murder of her step-daughter, and also two episodes with cancer that necessitated surgery and treatments. Following her father’s death, Cathy recommitted her life to Christ.

I first met her during her recovery from yet a third bout of cancer, which required further surgery and debilitating treatments. Severe hardships, disappointments and set-backs have come Cathy’s way, yet she has continued to grow, tackling fresh challenges and aiming at new horizons in  serving others in Jesus’ name.  

[Sorry, I don't have a photo of Cathy,
but the girl to my right has occasionally
preached in my behalf over the years.]

Several weeks ago, at the first of this year’s six inter-denominational Lenten services in my community, this intrepid lady, Cathy,  – now in her late sixties – broke new ground.

She is at ease in organizing children’s programs and teaching and communicating with kids; however, preaching a homily on an assigned topic to adults from across the age and theological spectrum in the crowded sanctuary of another church, was something new.

After introducing her message with a humorous, but relevant, anecdote, she then connected with the Scripture and gave a beautifully-crafted, well-presented presentation of Jesus’ divinity. Her text verse was John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  She linked this up with other Scriptures, such as in first chapter of the Hebrews letter.

In well-paced steps she showed why it was necessary that God Himself should provide for the salvation and redemption of humanity from the curse of sin, through His sacrificial death. 

And so, the living, eternal Word – the perfect and exact substance and expression of God Himself – came into the world in the person of Jesus, to live and love, suffer and die. Verse 14 is one of my favourites: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. . . .” (John 1:14a NIV). (Not to forget His resurrection, of course, for that part was to come later in the season.) 

Cathy’s presentation was clear and cogent. My word – you’d think she’d been preaching for decades! I thought.

I enjoy sketching elements of individuals’ lives – especially of people I know or have known personally. But why?

When my mental, emotional and spiritual gaze gets raised in appreciation, gratitude and wonder, at admirable qualities and actions that inspire and reflect God’s love and grace, I hope and pray that others will experience these blessings, too.

In her public preaching debut Cathy broke new ground. 

She continues to inspire others and raise their gaze –

including mine.

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* Pseudonym to protect privacy.

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Peter A. Black is a retired pastor – well, sort of retired – and lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond -- a children's / family book. ~~+~~

Nature's 'Free' Gifts (Peter Black)

It’s wonderful that nature offers so many free gifts, for instance, the rapturous sight of a cardinal’s scarlet plumage and the enchanting musicality of his sweet song to his mate. Necessary to our experiencing and enjoying such things are the faculties of vision and hearing and the mental capability of appreciating them.

Source:Shutterstock

Too numerous to mention, even in a single day, nature’s free gifts surround us and enrich our lives. Several weeks ago my wife and I set out on what we expected to be a brief walk along a local trail. Several days before, we noted that the wayside brambles were producing a fair crop of berries, although most were far from ripe – green, with some turning red.

However, nature surprised us during that next walk through the glen, for we spotted a patch just ripe for the picking. We cut our walk even shorter and took to picking the gleaming black morsels, instead. They’d ripened rapidly and weren’t yet picked over by other blackberry lovers. May had a plastic bag handy, so we got busy. I felt like a kid again and recalled the bountiful wild blackberry-picking days of my childhood in England and Scotland.

 

Wild berries are nature’s free gifts. Free to the birds and free to those of us who take the time to pick them. But were they really free? We paid the price in berry-stained clothes, mosquito bites and thorn pricks, and scratched-up legs, because we hadn’t dressed suitably for the job, neither had we applied insect repellent.

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That experience kick-started me into ruminating about nature’s free gifts in the wider sense – the air we breathe, the water we drink, among countless others. Although humans can produce modest amounts of water through several chemical processes (such as through the combustion of hydrocarbons and condensing the moisture generated) we don’t actually create this essential element.

However, we are realizing more and more that there’s a price to be exacted for failing to take steps to protect nature's benefits from the environmental pollution that we’ve generated. It also costs to protect ourselves directly from pollution and its consequences.

For example, nature’s bountiful food from river, lake and sea has been there for the human taking for millennia. But, as we now know, large-scale inadequately managed resources and over-fishing have reduced stocks in many areas. Also, chemical contamination from industrial effluent discharged into sewers and rivers and the toxins generated from human activity, contained in soil run-off, eventually find their way into the flesh of fish and marine life. These can potentially cause sickness or disease in both animals and humans who consume them.

We did nothing to create the great reservoirs of crude oil underneath the ocean bed or

Public Domain

underground, yet its extraction and refining incurs great cost. Gold, silver and gem mining are costly businesses, too, although they offer great rewards.

At the other end of the scale, in the classical song, the boy who plucked the pretty “rose so red, in the forest growing,” paid a price with a painful prick and a bloody finger. Enough said, suffice it to say that nature’s free gifts do have a cost at one point or another.

God paid the price of providing the remedy for the pollution of our sins and shortcomings, in giving His Son Jesus Christ up to the horrific death on the cross of crucifixion. While many people scoff at this, there are yet others who, embracing the message and receiving Jesus as Lord and Saviour, enjoy a restored relationship with the Almighty.

I’m grateful for such a relationship with God and the profound sense of belonging, with grace and peace, that I’ve received. These are His free love gifts to us. Why would anyone refuse them?

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The above piece was adapted from an article in Black's weekly column, P-Pep! published in The Watford Guide-Advocate, July 16, 2015.

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Peter's second book is a compilation of inspirational articles on a variety of themes from his weekly column. These are interspersed with brief expressions intended to encourage. Ebook edition is now available through Amazon.

 

ISBN: 978-0-9920074-2-3 (Angel Hope Publishing)

Email
Blog 

 

Peter's first book: “Parables from the Pond” – a children's / family book (mildly educational, inspirational in orientation, character reinforcing). Finalist – Word Alive Press. ISBN: 1897373-21-X. The book has found a place in various settings with a readership ranging from kids to senior adults.
Black's inspirational column, P-Pep! appears weekly in The Guide-Advocate (of Southwestern Ontario). His articles have appeared in 50 Plus Contact and testimony, and several newspapers in Ontario.

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Writing Life Ramblings – Biographical Ruminations (Peter Black)

Writing biographical pieces without your subjects’ knowledge and permission can be a precarious thing. You can never be certain beforehand whether your subjects would approve or disapprove, or like or dislike what you say about them. There’s potential for ruptured relationships . . . hmm, or even a lawsuit.

An author may be somewhat visionary and might extrapolate future outcomes based on trends and data, but is hardly a seer per se. This introduces another aspect of biographical writing that can be rather unsettling for the author.

Have you ever written about a contemporary individual in positive, affirmative terms, but later felt let down, disappointed, or more than a little peeved, when the person later fell far short of the glowing word portrait you’d painted?

I’ve had that experience—but rarely, and have more often been tremendously encouraged to find otherwise. A recent case was of a trucker I met and conversed with, in 2009 at a Christian retreat.

Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Shortly after, I wrote a column article of the encounter, in which I shared some of the personal testimony that the fellow recounted to me of his healing and how he came to Christ. I didn’t use his name—I’d forgotten it anyway—and didn’t seek his permission. In February 2010 I posted an edition of that piece on this blog, entitled, ‘Prophets’ – of a Sort.

In 2014 I included a version of that story in the book, “Raise Your Gaze . . . Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart.” I’d occasionally wonder whether the man was still alive and whether he was still mobile (prior to his healing he had severe back trouble and had lived with unrelenting pain).

The other matter of wondering concern was whether he had continued growing in his Christian walk of faith and trust in Jesus.



Courtesy: anglicansablaze.blogspot.com

Recently I saw him again and reintroduced myself. Now retired from trucking, he still loves to meet with His Christian brothers and sisters and sing and praise the Lord at his church. His back is still doing just fine. Although unable to drive now, since he suffers from macular degeneration, he cheerfully looks to God for healing of that condition. I'm thrilled that he is still "pressing on the upward way."

It’s understandable that writers who create fictional characters and the ‘lives’ they ‘live’ can feel a relational connection with them, and some even call them their babies or their kids. 

That’s different for biographers. If remaining true to the character of the individuals about whom they write and whose stories (or portions thereof that) they tell, it’s different. Biographers neither create the characters nor the circumstances in which they live their lives.

In some instances when writing a living person’s story I may begin the process already having a personal relationship with the individual. That may deepen during the process of working through the elements based on the information available, but the individual is neither my baby nor my creation, although I may rightfully regard the work produced as such.

Although I’ve had cause to grieve when learning that one of my subjects has followed a course that casts  a shadow over the earlier portrait, my recent encounter with the former trucker encourages me to not give up on painting word pictures featuring people’s real life-experiences.

He continues along the course of life that raised my gaze to give thanks to God for His gracious working in the man’s life. Redemption in action—gaze-raising joy. And that's something worth writing about!

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Peter's second book is a compilation of inspirational articles on a variety of themes from his weekly column. These are interspersed with brief expressions intended to encourage. Ebook edition is now available through Amazon.

 

ISBN: 978-0-9920074-2-3 (Angel Hope Publishing)

Email
Blog 

 

Peter's first book: “Parables from the Pond” – a children's / family book (mildly educational, inspirational in orientation, character reinforcing). Finalist – Word Alive Press. ISBN: 1897373-21-X. The book has found a place in various settings with a readership ranging from kids to senior adults.

Black's inspirational column, P-Pep! appears weekly in The Guide-Advocate (of Southwestern Ontario). His articles have appeared in 50 Plus Contact and testimony, and several newspapers in Ontario.

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Dying to Live - Tracy Krauss

Anticipation. Kindness. Fulfillment. Refreshment.

These are some of the one word prompts that were suggested at the beginning of this year. This month we were asked to speak on 'refreshment', especially as it relates to our faith. As I have been reading through some of the blog posts written by other writers, I am actually feeling refreshed. Good thing, too. I've been going through a bit of a dry spell in terms of my own writing inspiration and need a bit of refreshment.

However, it reminds me that many facets of life require a dormant period before renewal comes. Nature is a prime example. The seed must 'die' before it comes to life again. Jesus himself is the ultimate example. He died so that He might rise again. Without that death there would be no new life.

Dying to live. The paradox is not lost on me. And so I embrace this season, hopeful that 'spring' is right around the corner. Even that hope makes me feel refreshed. 

Tracy Krauss writes - and rests - from her home in British Columbia. http://tracykrauss.com

Valued, Trusted Treasure (by Peter A. Black)

Incredulous! The couple couldn’t believe their ears. A large auctioneering company was not interested in their treasures. Now in their seventies and with their children fledged from the family nest, it’s time to downsize. And so they’ve decided to build a smaller place, a home offering continued independence, yet suited to their needs and stage in life.

The new house is nearing completion, so Tony and Sophia* will soon move into their tasteful, more manageable surroundings. Recently they decided between the furnishings they’ll take into the new home – items it will suitably accommodate – and those they will let go. Sophie has a good eye for furnishing and ambience, while Tony, a retired business professional, understands investment and has a keen business mind. Both appreciate quality, heritage and antiquity. They had accumulated quality furniture and beautiful decorative collectibles over the years.

Surprise, surprise! The auctioneer informed them that the current generation wouldn’t buy their well-crafted solid wood furniture; wouldn’t be interested in the gorgeous, mellowed antique sideboard nor the antique Singer treadle sewing machine, not even Sophia’s prized Royal Doulton collection. He gave the same verdict regarding a number of antiques that formerly were expected to increase in desirability over time.

These days, the auctioneer said, young folk want furniture that appeals to them in the now, and then when they tire of it, junk it and completely refurnish their house with brand new. In fact, he was only interested in taking several small items that he thought would sell.



Good ol' stuff (but not Tony & Sophia's)

Disposable. Throw-away. Temporality. Transitory. These qualities rule nowadays. Whether right or wrong, my guess is that the couple (good acquaintances of mine) can well afford to move into their new home and furnish it to suit, anyway, with or without their receiving a good return on their quality ‘stuff.’ I do feel for them, however, in regard to their being rudely awakened to the news that the value they’d placed on their previously cherished acquisitions had seemingly evaporated into the ethereal valuation of a new generation.

Despite the many failings found among Christians and the faith community, there are treasured aspects to value. Have you cast Jesus Christ and His Gospel aside, dismissing the Bible as an old book "full of contradictions"? You find no attraction to attending church, sitting on wooden pews, staring into the back of people’s heads, singing outmoded music, and listening to a ‘talking head’ up front? I sympathize. Why would it be attractive?

But there’s enduring value in taking time out to enter a sacred space and to join others in opening up our beings to God as Heavenly Father, with grateful, appreciative hearts; to lift up our voices together in songs of praise – whether accompanied by organ or piano, or by guitar and keyboard. Instruments and musical styles may differ, but the substance of true worship pertains to the condition of the heart opening its treasures of love in gratitude to God.

I treasure the Christian period of Lent, culminating in the commemoration of Good Friday and the death of Christ on the cross for our redemption, and for the celebration of His resurrection at Easter. I don’t ever want to devalue them nor let them be cast into the abyss of unbelief and a cast-off faith. I’m mindful of this verse (Hebrews 10:35 NIV2011): ". . . do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."

Our faith – valued, trusted and treasured.

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*Pseudonyms to protect privacy.
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The above post was adapted from Peter's weekly column, P-Pep! published in The Guide-Advocate, February 26, 2015.

 

Peter's second book is a compilation of inspirational articles from his weekly column—on a variety of themes. These are interspersed with brief expressions intended to encourage.  Ebook edition is now available on Amazon.

 

ISBN: 978-0-9920074-2-3 (Angel Hope Publishing)

Email
Blog 

Antique Rocker

By David Kitz

We found it in the derelict farmhouse –

the abandoned house –

not really a house now.

For many years this home-of-the-pioneers had been used as a barn.

There in the lean-to kitchen it sat.

The ornately carved pressed back chair

looked so out of place,

yet somehow at home

in the grime and dust.

There through the decades it sat –

weathered into

its chicken coop surroundings –

A treasure sitting in the barnyard filth.

Curious,

I lifted it up

Out of the mire

Out of the manure.

Then, I saw this was no chair.

From the muck and straw

emerged the rockers.

Here was an antique, pressed back rocker!

Now redeemed

It sits in my house –

In my home –

Washed clean,

Renewed,

A treasure.

On this antique rocker

My son was nursed.

His tears were wiped.

His cry was soothed.

Here he heard the Redeemer's lullaby

Just like a hundred years ago.

Just like a hundred years ago.

Rock me gently now,

My antique rocker.

As I drift off to sleep

Rock me gently.

Let me hear the Redeemer's Lullaby.

Rock me gently now,

Just like a hundred years ago.

Just like a hundred years ago.

Rock me gently now.

From the seat of sweet redemption

Let me sing redemption's song.

Let me sing redemption's song –

the Redeemer's Lullaby –

Just like two thousand years ago.

Just like two thousand years ago.

Because you pulled me from the mire,

Let me sing redemption's song.

Let me sing redemption's song –

the Redeemer's Lullaby –

Ten thousand years from now.

Ten thousand years from now. . .

As I drift off. . .

Rock me gently,

Antique Rocker.

David Kitz is an occasional poet and the award-winning author of a passion-of-Christ novel, The Soldier, the Terrorist & the Donkey King. You can check out his other works at: 

http://davidkitz.ca/opencart/

Supreme Symbol of Help and Hope (by Peter Black)

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A disaster happens somewhere in the world, and it’s likely that—where political systems allow—Red Cross personnel and vehicles, bearing the large emblem of a red cross on a white background, are dispatched in response, bearing emergency supplies to help people in desperate need of life-sustaining essentials. (Of course, we acknowledge that much good work is also contributed under the emblems of the Red Crescent and Red Crystal, among others.)

Scores of Christian-based NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) are often there helping, funded by donations from people like many of you, who embrace the message and meaning of the Cross. My niece Gillian works for a Christian-based NGO, and recently returned from central America, where she was involved in coordinating humanitarian projects. 

Hitler’s Nazi Swastika, with its angled (let’s say, bent and broken) arms, is perhaps the most widely reviled form of cross—the antithesis of the Cross of Christ; not of help and hope, but of hate and genocide.

I’m glad the Cross is the supreme symbol of help and hope in the world. Good Friday’s commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ reminds me that out of the ugliness of crucifixion—among the most excruciating, slow and painful forms of execution ever devised—has come healing, help and hope to countless millions.

It is reckoned that as many as 1,000,000 crucifixions took place throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire during the first century AD. Intended as punishment for criminals and rebels, it also served as a warning to others. Yet, only one crucifixion, one victim and one cross led to the ugliness of crucifixion’s becoming this revered symbol of help and hope. And that was when Jesus of Nazareth—the helper, the healer, the friend—died on an old rugged cross. 

Why should this stake of barbaric execution, with its dark and bloody association with the torture of the worst of criminals, be revered and embraced as a beloved symbol? The cross is forever beautified by the One who hung upon it—the sinless Son of God incarnate who, through His sufferings and death, paid the price of all humanity’s sin and rebellion and resistance to God’s grace. 

Jesus was betrayed by a close associate, abandoned by those of His close circle, rejected by a frenzied crowd, and mocked by bigoted religious leaders who plotted his death, and forsaken by God His Heavenly Father. It was all in the divine plan, predicted centuries beforehand in various scriptures (e.g. as in Psalm 22; 41:9; Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Zechariah 12:10).

The Cross is offensive to some people, but it’s not so much the symbol, as its message (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-30). Is it offensive to your view of yourself and God? Does the biblical teaching that we humans have so offended God that we need to be redeemed and reconciled to Him, and forgiven and cleansed, offend you? Do you have difficulty accepting the assertion that we can’t do it by our own effort, all by ourselves?

The Cross strikes at our sense of self-sufficiency and self-dependence; knocks the notion that self-improvement is our pathway to our ultimate destiny and eventual delight. 

How wonderful the understanding that, since we’re unable to atone for our own sins (faults, failings, self-willed thoughts and actions, arising from human weakness) which separate us from a ‘right’ relationship with God, He in mercy provided the solution. In Jesus, God paid the debt, making possible our restoration to personal relationship with Him. 

The means was the Cross and the One who gave up His life on it: “. . . God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” (Romans 5:8-9).  

Let us embrace more than this supreme symbol of help and hope, and in faith embrace the Christ of the Cross who is our help and hope—our Lord and Saviour, Redeemer and Friend. 

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Peter A. Black is a freelance writer in Southwestern Ontario, and is author of “Parables from the Pond” – a children's / family book."  (Finalist -- Word Alive Press ISBN 1897373-21-X )

His inspirational column, P-Pep! appears weekly in The Guide-Advocate. His articles have appeared in 50 Plus Contact and testimony, and several newspapers in Ontario.

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