Signal Flares

One of the apps on my phone sent me a “Signal Flare” email because my battery was getting low. If the battery completely died, the phone couldn’t respond to requests to locate it was lost. So, just before it died, the Lookout app set me a map of where my phone was getting ready to go dark.

In the movie Life of Pi, Pi shoots flares from his raft in a vain attempt to be noticed and rescued by a passing ship. He falls into dispair as the ship doesn’t notice his flying fire trails and continues on its course.

Too bad we don’t have an app that automatically senses when we are low on resources and sends out a flare for help. An alert to others when we are in danger of not getting home on our own power.

Some folks use social media as a flare for friends, updating their status on Facebook or tweeting about their hard day. All those “copy and post this” are flares to see if anyone sees them. 

Cell phones, even before they had GPS directions, were used by the lost to find guidance. (In my family, folks have been known to call ask a relative to “walk with them” to their goal via their computer with Google Street View!)

An old school way of social connection is church participation. More times than not, a new person coming to worship, especially after a long absence, recently has experienced some trama or crisis in their life. Will anyone see him at church? Will God see her? 

Hope you notice the flares sent up around you, and change course to bring the lost and alone back on board. I also pray that when you are sending up flares, someone helps walk you home.

Enrichment

Some rights reserved by Patricia van CasterenThe apes at the Cleveland zoo get newspapers at meal times. I thought that was odd. Do the younger ones friend each other on Apebook?

I was confused by how interested the primates were in getting deep into the morning edition until I realized that lunch was wrapped in the newspaper tubes. They had to tear the paper apart to get their meal. 

The reason for their frustration was explained by one of the attendants. When the zookeepers hide the food they provide for the animals it isn’t teasing them. According the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo website they are providing them with enrichment which addresses “an animal’s social, psychological and physical needs.” It just looks like teasing. I can’t wait to tell my grown children that all those years I was enriching their lives not teasing them. Well, maybe I can wait.

Teasing isn’t a major focus in the Bible, but tempting (sometimes tranlsated “testing”) might be thought of as extreme teasing. Do you feel teased/tempted/tested by God? Mother Teresa of Calcutta who spent her life working with the poor, said, “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.”

When life gets a little stress-filled, I mean “enriched”, I sometimes think of when I visited a hosptial bound member during a hectic week. We reflected that she would love to be out running around with too much to do…while I would love to just spend the day in bed.

I hope you experience today as enriched by God.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

- 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 

Bible quotation from The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Leap the Day

Hope today is a good day for you! It is extra one, Leap Day! 

Me, Mom, and Tom with Tim (on screen)My brother, Tim, is on the other side of the world from me in Tokyo, Japan. He is also on the other side of the clock, 14 hours ahead of my time. Last year, he video conferenced with the family during our Thanksgiving dinner and his “Black Friday” breakfast. We were together in different days.

Did you know period of time “day” is tough to pin down? It could be:

• midnight to midnight
• evening to sunset
• dawn to sunset
• dawn to dawn

Some Christian religious festivals are celebrated from the evening before the “day” (Christmas Eve) and others at dawn (Easter Sunrise). We all have celebrated “New Year’s Day” at midnight and talked about the end of the day as when the sun sets.

Years ago, after a particularly hectic morning, my young daughter declared through her sobs, “This is a bad day!” I told her that the morning was bad, but we could start the day anytime we wanted; so, we are starting a new day right now…and this day is a good one! She wiped away her tears and agreed to start a new day, at least emotionally.

I hope you are glad and rejoice in this day that the Lord has made. If it is a bad one, leap now to a good one.

Behind the Scene

Many people liked the photo of Bette Lynn and me in front of a heart sign from last week’s post. Some commented on the weight I’ve lost since last May, others on how happy we looked, a couple wanted to know about the sign and the Cove Haven resort where “Loved Lived”.

Ray Simpson performing with the Village People at Cove Haven Resort in 2011But the most interesting part of the photo cannot be seen anywhere in the photo but is a critical part of it: The Photographer. I’ve asked the person who took this photo to raise his hand.

Yes, that is Ray Simpson. In addition to being our vacation photographer, he is the “cop” and lead singer of the Village People.

This is how we got our picture taken by such an icon. We wanted to have a picture by the heart sign at the resort.

As I stood by the sign, Bette Lynn walked back the path and asked the couple walking behind us if they would take our picture by the sign. She offered the man our camera. Posing awkwardly by the large heart sign, I wondered what was taking so long. Instead of taking the camera, the man just looked at the camera in confusion. Finally, the woman with him, explained the project to him, “They want YOU to take THEIR picture.” That explanation helped! He smiled, said “Oh!” and good naturally took several photos of us. He had us review the pictures and while we were, offered to take more if we wanted. We declined his thoughtful offer and thanked him.

We thought nothing more of the hesitant turned enthusiastic photographer until he walked out on stage that night with the rest of the Village People. Bette Lynn, leaned over to me and shouted above the roar of cheers and song: “The cop took our picture!” I was confused now, (he had a microphone not a camera) then I realized the one who was working behind the scene was now stage front.

Looking at the photo, even being in the photo, doesn’t tell the whole story of who is involved in the big picture.

Hope you look behind the camera and get to meet who is working behind the scene.

Behind What A Camera Sees

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Scripture taken from The Message.
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.
Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group