Yearly Archives: 2015

As we are walking through our lives together, there are times where quietness is predominant.  We read of the the idea the we should “be still and know that I am God.”  That is a reassuring thing.

Quietness is not always a calming agent.  When God chooses to be quiet, we assume the worst.  Our questions, we figure, must have immediate answers.  Otherwise the plans that we have been working on will dissolve and dissipate (in other words, things will fall apart).

Of course, the plans we hope to accomplish may be our own scheming.  They may also be God’s plans in God’s timing for God’s purpose.  We are just trying to fill in the blanks where God has left them ambiguous for the moment.

I’m not sure which side I’m falling on this morning.  Calm and reassured, or anxious and uptight.  We are seeking a house in which to live.  Options continue to arise (for which we are thankful).  Options have also fallen away (for which we are also thankful).  God has reassured us that He is God and we are not – housing will happen.  In the quietness, though, I just wish I could hear the scrawling of a pen filling in the occupancy date!

Yesterday was Mother’s Day tea at The Foyer in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan.  My mother in an inhabitant of the facility – one of those places that truly is a home as well as a building.

Mom has been deteriorating in this last while.  She is much thinner than previously and tires easily.

A picture taking time was scheduled in the morning.  Mom was made up, her hair well coiffed, and her smile available!  The Broda chair tipped at the right angle, the camera lenses caught some great memories for us.  Then my sister and I jumped into the portrait and got a picture with mom as well.

How long does a physical body last?  Mom’s is wearing out, her pain is constant.  I am thankful for pain management, a science that has improved over the last 40 years.  That many years ago I remember visiting my grandmother as she went through the final throes of cancer.  Her pain was noticeable and I didn’t know what to do.  Dealing with the pain was not as sophisticated as it is now.

Thank God and thank those whose lives have been dedicated to providing the type of pain management that we have today.

Mom will have a measure of peace over her final days and years (if God allows) that we can be thankful for!

Does you abandon the past when you shred the papers?

For years I have kept a record, a fairly thorough record, of the happenings in my life.  For over 20 years I have journalled my daily experiences.  My file cabinets (note the plural) are full of tidbits and facts.  I even have small pieces of random paper sizes and colors that recorded events and minutiae that would otherwise have escaped me.

We are currently downsizing.  I have been blessed with a larger house, and with all that I collect and generate, a larger house yet would be appropriate.

Until I remind myself that there are no U-hauls behind the funeral hearse.

Yes, a summary of life is important to have.  Reminders that remind us.

I have watched grieving families that gingerly but firmly disposed of boxes of files and trinkets.  I have just finished reading the biblical book of Kings, detailing the lives of royalty.  Most of them get a chapter, some less.

Not quite filing cabinets of details.  Or boxes of keepsakes.

Just the core of the character.  That’s what people want to remember.  Were they God people?  Were they loving?   Were they generous?  Were they peacemakers?  Were they committed to their loved ones?  Were they gracious in word and deed?

The rest of it?  It’s all going to burn in the end.  So keep a few reminders (make it easy on the family), write your memoirs (help them remember who you are) and live life to the full for the years you have left.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we make decisions in larger groups.

I moderated a large group using Roberts Rules of Order.  That didn’t work so well.

A suggestion is on the table to go to a discernment model of decision making.  Lots of prayer and sharing our perceptions of God’s direction.

I’ve worked with that model as well.  Witness some of those “silly” decisions our church leadership has made over the past while, which have resulted in God’s blessing.

But, once again, the question is not which model works best.  The question is how we come to a deliberative assembly.  Where are our hearts at?

Although Roberts Rules of Order is designed for cooperation, a headstrong aficionado of the rules can use technical expertise to highjack harmony.  And somehow we feel we can’t overcome the rules. 

On the same order of malice, one who decides their way is the right way can use the discernment process for evil.  A simple suggestion/perception, backed by a few cohorts who agree, can seem like God’s voice.  And few people will stand against that.

Decision making is best lived in an atmosphere where we love God and love others.  Something biblical about that!