Of all things March...

And so it is March. March Hare. March Madness. March Break. March of Dimes and March of the Penguins. March is the month that gives us Fat Tuesday on the 8th and Ash Wednesday on the 9th. March gives us St. Patrick’s Day on the 17th and National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day on the 24th. March gives us National Potato Chip Day on the 14th and not to be outdone, National Potato Chip Dip Day on the 23rd. March just seems filled with notable days.

March. Will it come in like a lion or a lamb is not our biggest question about March, I think. The big question is when will it be over? Because it seems to me that March is a month of waiting. Waiting for Winter to be finally and fully done. Waiting for Spring to muscle it’s way out of the ground and out on a limb. Waiting for warmth to take such hold of our days that we forget what real cold feels like. Waiting for yesterday to be folded up like a lawn chair and tomorrow to unfold like the arms of a child reaching up to you.

So it seems that March yearns ... for fresh starts and new beginnings, for the implied promises of the season to be kept. March is a leaning forward kind of month, always straining ahead to see what is coming. And what gets missed in all this? March.

There are 31 days in March and every one of them is gift from God. But if we keep looking beyond them for something yet to come we forget to unwrap all the 31 gifts that are March. Perhaps we should sit back, settle in, pour a cup of coffee and simply be at home with March. Spring will find us when it’s ready. But March is here now for the taking. So take it.

…just thinkling

Thanksgiving in February

Ah, February. Why is a month so short feel so long? Maybe it’s because February cannot make up its mind. February has a squeak to it because it’s “a hinge month”…Winter still holding on and yet Spring struggling to emerge. The squeaks of February are the sound of a car door opening on a cold morning, the sound of snow underfoot, the sound of the cat who was just let out wanting right back in. All because it’s February.

But two things give me hope in this confused and dreary month. Two things give me cause for thanks. One is Punxsutawney Phil, the celebrated ground hog of Ground Hog day. Apparently this year Phil did not see his shadow on Ground Hog day which apparently means an early spring. (I saw my shadow and my Marilyn says it’s a bigger shadow than it used to be, but that’s a story for another day!)

Yet no matter how cold or wet or snowy it is today, no matter who saw their shadow on Ground Hog day, the blessed truth is, Spring is not far away. God planned it that way. Isn’t it great that the Lord of Creation gave us Spring to look forward to and rejoice in!? I would despair if February was followed by another February all over again! I can wrap a lot of gratitude around that thought.

My second cause for thanks is Valentines Day.
(BTW, did you know that St. Valentine is by tradition, the patron saint of lovers and epileptics, travelers and bee keepers? Bee keepers?! Makes me wonder why honey is not the sweet of the season instead of chocolate, but that too is a story for another day!)

Let’s be certain of one thing, Valentines Day is totally a manufactured event, a reason for Hallmark to sell greeting cards, florists to sell roses and corner drug stores to sell chocolate.

So yes, to be sure, much of the love that is at the center of Valentines Day is sentimental, guilt driven, mostly vacuous and truly commercialized. But only if you let how the culture marks that day shape how you mark that day. Can it be kept in some authentic way we haven’t considered before? Why simply write it off when you can leverage it for something of real value?

St. John of the Cross, 16th Century, a truer saint than Valentine will ever be, wrote that “If you put love where there is none, then love is there.” So if Paul was right in I Corinthians 13 (and he was, btw!) that the greatest of all Christian virtues is love, then putting that love in someone’s life, has greater power than chocolates or flowers or any other sentiment to move hearts.

And it’s not given out of guilt. It’s given out of the will to love. Who in your world needs to be loved? Into whose life could God be prompting you to put love? Because if you would put love where there is none…where it is lacking or missing… then love would be there. Not the hollowed out sentimental kind. But muscular love…the love of God filling the human heart being put where it is needed most.

So am grateful that February offers me a day to consider who needs something of the love God has poured into my life, put into their. Maybe this February would be considerably warmer if we hijacked the sentiments of Valentine’s Day and instead, put real love where there is none. Because then, love would be there.

…just thinkling

A timely word ...

When God…

When God wants to drill a man
And thrill a man and skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part.
When He yearns with all is heart
To create so great and bold a man
that all the world might be amazed …
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
those He royally elects!
How he hammers and He Hurts him,
And with might blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which only God can understand;
While his tortured heart is crying
and he lifts beseeching hands.
How God bends but never breaks
When man’s good He undertakes;
How he uses those He chooses
And with every purpose fuses him,
By every act induces him,
To try God’s splendor out-
God knows what He’s about!

Anonymous

That Unforgettable Christmas...

Growing up in the north, there was really only one sport that mattered to us kids: hockey. And if you didn’t get a hockey sweater or a hockey stick for Christmas, you were considered seriously deprived. Well, imagine getting both! Pure glory!!

I was about 5 at the time it happened. My father had received some kind of bonus from his work at the steel mill. There was lots of talk about it in the house. But still, with an older brother and sister and a baby in the house, none of us kids were getting our hopes up.

Christmas Eve came and we got our stockings special delivery as usual. My Aunt Mary did them up for us. She used real socks with the second sock tucked inside. (What every kid hopes for Christmas, right?! A pair of socks!)

No matter… there was always an orange in the toe of the sock, an apple in the heel, lots of hard Christmas candy in between and usually the kind of nuts you had to use a nut cracker to open. And I don’t know how many Christmas mornings I awoke with a candy cane stuck to my pillow.

But that Christmas morning stands out among all Christmas mornings for me…and it was clearly reflected under the tree that year. I had never seen so many gifts. And since hockey sticks were never wrapped, I spotted mine right away and immediately thought how great it would be to get a new hockey sweater, too. I had a hand-me-down one from my older brother Peter, but never a new one. Could this be the year?

Well, a picture speaks a thousand words, doesn’t it? It was the Christmas of my dreams, the one to remember forever. Across so many years and so many Christmas’s it’s funny what stands out. But I think I’d trade all the Christmas’s I have ever known for that great one in 1956 when I got the stick and the sweater.

So from my Marilyn and my household, may this year be your year to remember! May it be filled with lasting memories for you and your household. And I hope you like your hockey stick!

And by the way...I'm the adorable one on the right! ;-)

just thinkling

Leave it to George...

I have always admired the art of Norman Rockwell. He expressed so well the fabric of life in a America in his time. It's hard not to warm to his images of Thanksgiving.

But long before him, our first President framed it so well, perhaps none of us can add to the wisdom of his thoughts on Thanksgiving. Can I offer it to you as a worthwhile expression of thanks that would be helpful to reflect on as Thanksgiving day draws near?

Giving Thanks for Thanks Giving

“Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country.”

George Washington, 1779

What struck me as I read this the first time was the clear focus on God and on prayer. I was remined that when we are thankful, we honor the Source of our thanks: the Living God. But we also take note of the vision of good men and women who saw the power of thanksgiving to shape the human heart with humble thanks to God. So as we pray during these days, let us thank God for all He is and all He has provided for us in this land.

...just thinkling

What the Bible Doesn't Say Is Important

What Matthew 5:3-12 does not say:
Blessed are the overflowing in spirit, the always ‘up’ people, the always bright and smiley crowd who never seem to be down but always overcoming … for theirs and only theirs is the Km of heaven.

Blessed are those who are bubbling over with joy, who have story after story to tell of how great their experiences of God are and how wonderful their life is going and how things could never be better … for they and only they will know comfort.

Blessed are the strident and the important and the powerful people who write all the books and teach all the seminars and travel the Christian speakers circuit sharing their great wisdom and insights and five easy keys to success… for they and only are obviously the ones who will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the latest technique or the latest teaching or latch onto the latest trend or have read all the newest books that give them the inside track on becoming spiritual giants or finding personal significance … for they and only they will be filled.

Blessed are the triumphant and the winners who go from victory to victory, who need no help and show no weakness and never let God down … for they and only they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are those who do lots for God and never miss a meeting and have their kids in line and their answers all lined up for any question that may arise, who always make a good impression and project the best of Christian conduct at all times … for they and only they will see God.

Blessed are those who are right all the time and “in the know” and have verse for it and can stand head and shoulders over those who are obviously in error in their Christian understanding of truth or practice … for they and only they will be called the sons of God.

Blessed are those who never seem to wrestle in prayer, who always walk on the sunny side of the faith, who are well liked, who have their choices constantly affirmed by those around them and their deeds praised in the gates … for theirs and only theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

And blessed are you when people think you’re the best thing since sliced bread, when they accord you status and glory in who you are and what you have accomplished in life, and wonder aloud how the Kingdom of God ever got along without you up ‘til now … because you and only you will be rewarded in heaven like all the other really significant Christians who are dead and gone but were just like you.

Remembering...

I did a re-write of an old piece of work that is meant to prompt you to simply remember. I used portions of it the Memorial Day Sunday and the smiles it evoked were worth it. When you get to the end, I wonder what you'll be remembering from days gone by that I didn't mention but we're memorable for you.

I want you to simply remember. As we used to tell our kids, remembering is going backwards in your mind. So go back ... back before the Internet or Microsoft, before Ipods or Ipads, before cell phones or blackberries, before Playstation or Nintendo or Xbox, before WiTV and SUV and DVR. Way back...

I'm talking about long, long ago. All the way back to hide and go seek at dusk. To Red light, Green light. To hopscotch and double dutch and the playground sounds of girls rhyming out word while skipping. To jacks and marbles, to kickball and dodge ball. To Giant Step, and May I? and Red Rover and Hula Hoops. To Scooters and Schwinn Bicycles. Are you there yet?

Back to the taste of salty lips from eating too many sunflower seeds. Back to smarties and penny candy, to Jolly Ranchers and Wacky Taffy, to Red Wax Lips and orange popcicles you had to split down the middle with your sister. Back to the Good Humor man. Back to the milk man and the bread man, to the fuller brush man and the Avon lady all coming to your door.

Back to running through the sprinkler, sitting on the curb, jumping down the steps, jumping on the bed. Reading comic books by flashlight. Transistor radios tuned to a world series game being played in the middle of the day. Pillow fights, sleeping in a tent in the yard counting stars, playing in the rain. Running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Being tired from simply playing all day. Remember that?

Back before Cheers was only a re-run, before bicycle shorts and bicycle helmets, before seat belts and sun block and hand sanitizers. Way back. Back to watching Saturday Morning cartoons, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, Fat Albert and Road Runner, He-Man and Superman,. Rainy Saturday afternoons with the Three Stooges or Abbot and Costello or Art Linkletter.

Then weeknights of the Honeymooners, then Jack Paar then Johnny Carson. Way back to when you actually had to behave and be good so you could get to stay up to watch Leave it to Beaver or My Three Sons … Andy of Mayberry or Happy Days… the Flintstones or the Muppets. How 'bout back to Howard Cosell and the beginning of Monday Night Football.

Catching frogs in a creek or lightening bugs in a jar. Collecting bubble gum cards and actually chewing the gum. Playing with a sling shot or playing with your first Barbie Doll. Owning a red rider bb gun or your first cabbage patch doll. The smell of a ball glove and the relief of not being the last one picked. Climbing trees and big family picnics. Back when it was ok to play Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians. Back when danger was a sharp pointy stick or a mean dog.

Back to when a large square drawn in the dirt was considered a fort with walls and you could not get in. Back when a big cardboard box was a days worth of fun. When a towel tied around your neck gave you the ability to fly. When you pretended to be invisible and began to think it might be working when your parents pretended not to see you. When blankets spread over the dining room table and chairs kept the monsters out.

Back when grandparents were really, really old people. When around the corner seemed far away and going downtown seemed like really going somewhere. Real terror was getting lost and real relief was being found.

Back to when it seemed everybody went to church and nothing much was open on Sundays. When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up, if you had one. When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got there. When nobody owned a purebred dog. When popcorn popped in a pan on the stove with oil, not in a bag in the microwave. When laundry detergent boxes had free glasses, dishes, or towels hidden inside the box.

Back to when your mom wore nylons that came in two pieces and all phones hung on a wall in the kitchen. When all of the male teachers at school wore neckties and the female teachers had their hair done, everyday. When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time. And, you didn't pay for air for your tires. And, you got trading stamps to boot!

When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him, or make him to carry groceries into the house, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When it was considered a rare and great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents. And when milk went up two cents a quart and everyone talked about it for weeks.

Back to when they threatened to keep kids back a grade in school if they failed...and then did it. When being sent to the principal's office felt like a death sentence and still that was nothing compared to what was gonna happen when you got home.

Back to sitting on the porch, back to hot homemade bread and butter. Back to an ice cream cone on a warm summer night. Three choices: chocolate or vanilla or strawberry. A million mosquito bites it seemed and sticky faces and fingers. And the dreaded moment when your mom would lick a Kleenex and then wipe your face with it.

Back to when summer seemed endless and you just hated having to come in at night. Back
to memories so rich with life you might wonder where all that life has gone. But boy oh boy, those were some days.

Now…didn't that feel good just to spend time remembering?! They were good experiences then, and they're good memories now … when we remember to think about them. And that’s the problem: we forget to remember.

...just thinkling