Living Statue of Liberty

This is a photograph made up of 18,000 WWII soldiers. It seemed fitting to share it on Veteran's Day. God Bless our Veterans!

"On a stifling July day in 1918, 18,000 officers and soldiers posed as Lady Liberty on the parade [drill] grounds at Camp Dodge. The photo, taken from the top of a specially constructed tower by a Chicago photography studio, Mole & Thomas, was intended to help promote the sale of war bonds but was never used."

More info here. You can click on the photo to see a larger view.

Marching One-by-One

Did you ever see the movie, "A Bug's Life?" If you have kids or grandkids, I'm sure you did. One of my favorite scenes is when the ants are all marching in a row, bringing the food to the big rock for the crickets (they were crickets, right?) to eat. While they are marching, a leaf falls across the path and panic ensues. They have absolutely no clue how to get where they need to go if they don't have a path to follow! Luckily, Flick shows up and guides them along another path they can take to reach their goal. Whew! I was always amazed at the sheer stupidity of the ants for being such blind followers that they would have walked off a cliff if the bug in front of them did it first.

Yesterday I was made keenly aware of how ant-like I can be. To drop off the daughter at school, we drive through a big circular drive in front of the administration building. At the end of the drive, we can turn right or left; both directions lead to a driveway that takes you to a city street. 90% of everyone goes left, though, because that particular exit is the most direct route downtown. The line to get out that way gets long at times, so I turn right. Not the most direct route, but it gets me there with less frustration. Back to yesterday. I drop the girl off and proceed to plan the rest of my day. Before I know it, I have played follow-the-leader, turned left, and am stuck in the infinitely long line to get out of the parking lot. Sheesh. That's what I get for not thinking. I followed others into a mess.

On a spiritual level, this is a really easy trap in which to fall. It is much easier to not think for ourselves and follow people's teaching who seem to know more than us about the Bible and spiritual things. The problem with that is even smart people do dumb things once in awhile. And sometimes people who we think are smart are really diabolically clever and intentionally leading us astray. I have a great deal of respect for my pastors and other leaders in the Christian community, but I hope I would never blindly follow any of them. My standard needs to be God's Word, not the word of any man (or woman).

I know people who consider themselves Christians and ask me questions they should be able to answer for themselves with a small amount of Bible study. They respect me and trust what I tell them, but I could be lying to them. I encourage them to seek out the answers in scripture for themselves, even give them the verses, but they'd rather just follow what I tell them to do and not take the time to know for sure that I'm telling them the Truth.

Such laziness is tempting. Reading and studying scripture takes time and can be confusing. Certain books in the Bible are downright frustrating or scary (Revelations, anyone?). Seeing the Truth with our own eyes, discussing what we are studying with God through our own prayer time and weighing what others are saying on the scales of scripture through own efforts is imperative if we want to follow the correct path; the path set before us by God, not by man.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16

Just One Word

WHY?

Thoughts on Friendship

I love spending time with friends, especially really good, best friends. Over time I have had to face the difficult truth that while many friendships can last a lifetime, the depth of those friendships is fairly transitory. Maintaining closeness when there is so much in this world to distract us is difficult. Family commitments take priority and occasionally need to be our primary focus. Our jobs can require a large chunk of our attention at times. We may enter a season where the Lord has reasons of His own to call us away from close friends, either for a short time or forever. The important lesson in all of this is when close friendships seem to stall, no matter what the reason, we shouldn't take it personally. If the friendship was as deep as we think, such friends would discuss anything that might leave hard feelings. Most likely, it is life circumstances that take our friends from us, not anything we've done. All relationships experience a certain ebb-and-flow according to life circumstances, but the best friendships endure over time. Knowing this, we need hold our friends closely, but with open hands.

I made a list of the qualities I enjoy in a really good friend and found I have one friend who fits the bill 100%:

- Someone who is willing to hear me out when I am struggling with something.
But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears. - 2 Samuel 22:7

- Someone who enjoys my company.
But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me -Psalm 42:8a

- Someone who's company I enjoy.
and through each night I sing his songs,praying to God who gives me life. -Psalm 42:8b

- Someone who challenges me to be my best self.
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. -Ephesians 4:1

- Someone who is not afraid to have difficult conversations with me.
For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life -Psalm 6:23

- Someone who isn't easily offended when I do something stupid.
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. -Psalm 86:5

- Someone with whom I can let my guard down.
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." -Genesis 16:13

- Someone who lets their guard down around me.
This is real love -not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. -1 John 4:10

- Someone who stands by me when others walk away.
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother -Proverbs 18:24

- Someone who's affections are with me, even when we can't be together.
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. -Matthew 28:20b

My Lord is all of this and more. Earthly friendships come and go, wax and wane, but my friendship with God is eternal. Bless His Name.

Puttin' on the Brakes

Dear hubby came down with the flu on Wednesday evening. By Thursday morning he was more miserable than I had ever seen him, so I sent him to see the doctor. He has the flu and this flu has triggered shingles! Poor thing. I have never seen him in such acute pain before. He's a tough guy and hasn't even missed a day of work over this, but the slightest touch can make his knees buckle. He works in a relatively isolated office surrounded by a welding shop, so there is no risk of encountering pregnant women or children. Still, I wish he would take the time to rest.

Why is it that we are prone to looking at resting time as wasted time? Why is there such a push to be constantly productive? When did we demote stillness to a status somewhere below taking out the trash?

I don't have a deep spiritual answer for this one. I'm a little tired and in need of rest myself. Say a prayer for my fella when you can. Pray for moments of rest. Thanks.