Vanity Plates by Carolyn

"Who am I? Why am I here?" Penetrating questions, especially when asked in an appropriate setting. James Stockdale, a test pilot, a highly decorated war hero, and prisoner of war for two years, began his 1992 debate for Vice President against Al Gore and Dan Quayle with these questions. Later, writing about his comments, he said he asked those questions to show that he was a philosopher. It did not come off that way. He was ridiculed and immediately became fodder for late night t.v.

Eventually most of us will ponder these questions. What amazes me is how many people answer them on a license plate. RU12XL? Or how about IRIGHTI? These are expressions of individual personalities.

Last Sunday we heard a message from 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong." Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." We are weak but He is strong, and when we depend on God and trust Him, His strength is manifested in our weakness.

Our culture tells us the opposite. We should be strong. We should learn how to "get over it." We should not fail, but go from success to success and teach our children the same.

When my children were small there was an all out effort to boost childhood self esteem. A popular song began this way, "The most important person in the whole wide world is YOU and you really ought to know it. The most important person in the whole wide world is YOU and you really ought to show it." In Isaiah 9:10 out of their arrogance and pride God's people say, "We will rebuild." "We will replace." But God says, "What will you do on the day of reckoning?"

Exiting church, talking about these things, we saw a license plate that said "Numbr 1 Mom." "Probably," we said, laughing lightly, "the children insisted on that as a Mother's Day gift!" But it was an apt summary of all we'd just heard. Yet, God wasn't done putting a ribbon on that sermon. Minutes later we saw another, "Glorify God."

How about you? What would your license plate say? I'm guessing it would not say, IRIGHTI "Right between the eyes."

Salsa for the Soul (by Judy)

When you think of salsa, what adjectives come to mind? Hot, spicy, fiery, zesty, piquant (from the Spanish “picar” meaning “to sting”). Salsa is currently the condiment of choice for a majority of Americans. It has a tomato or tomatillo base, with onions, garlic, lime juice and peppers to fill in the spaces. Then a creative cook can add whatever ingredients are handy – black beans, corn, avocado, cilantro, cumin. Yum!

However, there are variations on the basic ingredients, which cause a completely different dish to emerge. Heretics have been known to chop up mango, pineapple, papaya, melon, strawberries ginger, mint and other options, creating a delicious mixture, which simply can’t be called salsa.

You may be wondering where this ode to legitimate salsa is going, and what it has to do with two mid-sixties friends who delight in sharing the gospel. It has to do with a class that I am teaching at my school called Farmhands. As well as caring for lambs, bees, herbs and veggies, our students occasionally prepare fresh foods for students to enjoy – most recently, salsa. Against my better judgment, I bought the standard ingredients, and also the deviant ones. As they chopped and tossed, weeping openly over the onions, they filled two bowls to the brim.

As one student passed by, she commented, “Oh look – one bowl is so vibrant; and the other is so muted.” My first response was pleasure that a 7th grader would use such adjectives; my second to unravel the applications for a Christian. What do our congregations, prayer groups and Bible studies look like? Vibrant, or muted? Are we fiery and zesty as we make much of Jesus, or sweet, flowery and delicate? Though I recognize that there is a place for both, at the table and in the pew, it is the sharp pungency that most often encourages our spirits, catches the attention of others, and strengthens our bodies, minds and souls!

She Hath Done What She Could by Carolyn

My neighbor has four beautiful daughters. Over the years, as the family grew, one by one each joined her older sisters for our Friday afternoon Bible study. We established a routine. The first thing we do is eat! Children are pretty hungry when they get home from school and the girls love to eat and talk about what happened during the day. There is nothing like the chatter of four girls just arrived home from school!

After a while, we head for the living room where we sit on the floor, get quiet, say a prayer and listen to a story from the Bible. Quickly, they are captivated for the Bible is full of exciting, memorable, odd and unusual stories that can apply to any life; even the lives of children ages 4-12! When they hear about Noah, or Daniel in the lion's den, or Mary, as the angel tells her she will give birth to the Son of God, they are fascinated. Adam and Eve in the garden trying to defend themselves before a Holy God, grip their minds as they picture the details of snake luring Eve into eating the apple, and Eve tempting Adam into eating the apple too.

Satan is not happy with this arrangement. Lately, he's been up to some dirty tricks.

My neighbor and I find ourselves on opposing sides of political issue. We do not see eye to eye and we are both passionate about our beliefs. It has led to some very challenging and heartfelt discussions between the two of us and has put a little barrier between us for now. It is perplexing and disconserting. We both know that Jesus would have us put aside our differences and come together in Him.

What do we do about this? Agree to disagree? We do, but neither of us is satisfied with the result and I wonder where this will lead.

Knowing how hard and passionately my friend has tried to persuade others to her point of view, a story comes to mind. She reminds me of Mary, Matha's sister, who risked it all when she took her alabaster bottle of perfume to anoint Jesus before His crucifixion. Judas was fit to be tied. He said she wasted that bottle of perfume. It could have been sold and the money used to help the poor. "Leave her alone," Jesus said. "She hath done what she could."

My friend "hath done what she could" and I tell her that. No matter what the outcome, we can give thanks that our Lord has provided each of us a heart that cares for our community, for our children, and for our faith. We pick our battles, but we rest in the knowledge of Romans 8:28, that whatever happens, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." We can rest in peace!

Transitions (by Judy)

A number of blog entries ago, I wrote about the color yellow. I was reminded of that entry as I drove through my beautiful Valley a few days ago. The eye-catching yellow corn, so vibrant in the summer sun, has faded. All that remain are husks, and a few dried kernels that the birds have missed. I felt wistful and a bit melancholy. So many people say they love fall; but for me, that pleasure is always tinged with dread, for I know what follows fall in northeast Ohio, and I experience an anticipatory shiver.

These reflections took me to my youngest granddaughter, Matilda. A couple of weeks ago, she started her two-year-old program at school. The ensuing days have been a challenge – to Matilda, her parents, her big brother and her grandparents – everyone who wants her to settle in and be happy. The teacher reports that she “has trouble with transitions.”

That’s it, I thought! We have trouble with transitions!! Transitions take us out of our comfort zone; they are wilderness times, when we long for the familiar, and don’t look forward to what is coming next. Forgetting that God is in control, that he has spoken promises, and that there are blessings even in the wilderness, we become confused. I understand, sweet Tilda – your Grammie has the same ambivalent feelings about retirement!

But (a pivotal word in the Bible, and in life), I turned the corner on my Valley drive, and I saw such a sight that I braked, got out of the car, and nearly fell to my knees among the pumpkins in gratitude – for I have a new favorite color – orange! Gingery, carroty, persimmony, peachy orange. A color filled with the happiness of yellow, coupled with the passion of red. The Bible is filled with people who looked ahead and saw desiccated stalks of corn. I pray to be like Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 14 who looked ahead and saw God's land of milk and honey!

Who Is This King? by Carolyn

A couple of days ago our pastor gave a message on Jesus in the temple with the moneychangers. He talked about all the commercial exploitation and financial skullduggery going on in a house of worship. The temple had become a den of robbers and hypocrites. People were fleeced in the name of religion. This was nothing new. It had been going on for a long time

In retelling the story of Jesus' righteous anger at the wordly commerce in the temple and His outrage at how the chief priests and scribes were taking advantage of the people, the pastor helped us visualize each in our own minds, the face of Jesus. His face, which often must have had a calm and gentle look, changed. It became stern and firm. How His jaw must have been set against the sin in His Father's house. This was the temple He'd visited as a boy. No doubt, even then, Jesus had been disturbed by what He saw.

As I listened I could almost see that this was not the pale, thin skinned, somewhat effeminate, blue-eyed Jesus often portrayed in art. This was power and authority under control. I imagined dark eyes flashing with anger. A brow furrowed with passion. His mouth pursed with determination to rid the temple of such things as He tipped over the tables, coin boxes and fearlessly drove everybody out.

I remembered a book by J. I. Packer called "Knowing God." It contains a warning. "We should not look to pictures of God to show us His glory and move us to worship; for His glory is precisely what such pictures can never show us. His glory is jeopardized when images are used in worship." Pictures are unworthy for what they fail to display.

When God talks to us through His Word He talks to each of us individually. It is a personal conversation, an intimate one. When we rely on other people's images and pictures we allow a buffer or an obstacle to come between us and our Lord.

While it's true that we were made in His image, and He came to us in human form, "We must not think of Him existing in ours. To think of God in such terms is to be ignorant of Him, not to know Him." Our pastor's message, and Packer together help us remember that we should not limit our Lord. His glory knows no bounds! Who is this King? "See" for yourself!

I Love New York, More Than Ever (by Judy)

Last week I was in New York celebrating the birthday of my grandson, born Sept. 9th. On this trip I experienced the inescapable presence of 9/11 at my daughter’s apartment in Lower Manhattan. I never considered it when I made the reservations. I simply put in the Saturday return. Sept. 11th in the evening, after the birthday party.

When we arrived, I was aware of American flags everywhere; especially on the fire engines that seem to sweep through the streets regularly. The fire station down the street was draped in bunting. So were the trash trucks. I was oblivious. Friday evening we went out for dinner – a foursome headed in the twilight to a chic restaurant in Tribeca, the last neighborhood before the financial district. When we emerged after dinner, my heart turned over.

In front of us were two beams of light, so close that I felt I could touch them, two magnificent, soul-stirring columns reaching so high that it was hard to say whether they went from the earth to the sky, or from heaven to earth. It was a stunning reminder and we stopped in silent tribute.

The next day was anything except silent. The apartment was filled with five year olds delighting in a magician’s sleight of hand. But one boy’s shirt said it all – “I love New York, more than ever.” After the party we descended into the chaos of a New York street fair, filled with resilient humanity, stands with food from around the world, trinkets for sale on blankets, music floating smoothly through the air - jazz, salsa, pan pipes, a sitar, reggae, rap. Above us, the sky was cobalt blue, reminding everyone old enough to remember about that cobalt blue sky nine years earlier.

As our plane took off in the 9/11 evening, my eyes searched the sky. There they were, the beams again, cutting through the low clouds, and again I was confused – were they from man, memorializing a tragic moment? Or were they from God, saying, Here I am. In your sorrow, as in your joy.

Ah, you finally got to God, a reader of coffeepotgospel may say. But God is everywhere in this blog. God has made promises to his people – promises about his grace being sufficient, that all things work together for good for those who love and serve him, that he will supply our needs, that there is sure victory over death to those who believe, and that he is with us in the pit, in the fire, in the storm – in the faces of diversity on city streets, in the courage of a city that refuses to cringe, in love – more than ever.

Gloria by Carolyn

That's what we dubbed her, Judy and I. She is the Samaritan woman at the well who fell under God's huge blessing. By going to the well later in the day, when the other women would not be there, she bumped headlong into Jesus who was alone at the well. Imagine! What will you do, what will you say when you come face to face with Jesus?

This woman had no clue. Her response to Jesus when He asked her for a drink was typical. "Hey, you Jews don't associate with Samaritans. Why then, would you be asking me for a drink?" "If you knew who I am you would ask ME for a drink," He responded, "And I would give you living water. Again, typically, and perhaps characteristically, she combined cynicism with a history lesson. "...where will you get this 'living water?' According to her faith Jacob gave her and her people the well, so who does this man think he is anyway?

How kind Jesus is! He expands His explanation. He says the water in the well will leave her thirsty later, but the water He can provide will live forever "welling" up inside of her to a spring of eternal life.

She calls His bluff. "Sir," she says, "Give me this water so I won't get thirsty anymore and keep having to come back here for more."

Jesus changes the conversation. "Go, call your husband." Huh? She tersely replies, "I have no husband." "You are right....you have had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband."

Now she is shocked. "Sir, she says, "I can see you are a prophet." She argues about where to worship perhaps hiding behind the unimportant to buy time to think. Dodge...counterdodge. Jesus lets loose and says, "...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

She weakens somewhat, but is still strong in her reply, in her faith. "I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Pulling out all the stops, Jesus says, "I, who speak to you, am He." Wow.

Here is why we call her Gloria. She totally forgets her water jug, and runs on winged feet back to town where she is a woman of highly questionable character, and tells everyone, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" she asks. The next thing we know in John 4:39, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony." 'He told me everything I ever did.'"

Oh, to have her zeal! Her joy! Her influence! Her effectiveness! Her power! What did the Samaritans see? Were people different then? Many conversions followed. Like our Gloria, they understood, God is the fountain of life. Spiritual renewal for a carnal woman from a God who chose to teach her "God is Spirit." How ironic!