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Posted July 23, 2010
"WOODPECKER MUSINGS"
So what?
I can be a hummingbird if I wannabe,
beats bashing my brains out trying to suck
ants out of a tree. I can recreate
myself into any character I choose,
call me Ishmael or call me whale
besides, I might prefer to be on a liquid
diet every now and then. Beats asparagus puree.
I could be fasting - no red meat - you never know.
Just because my head is red doesn't mean squat.
Don't some of you guys wear mullets?
I just like being different, traveling
incognito, zebra of a different stripe.
Why didn't you put out a plate of insects
for me like you put sugar water out for hummingbirds?
I feel like I'm being discriminated against.
And why are you watching me?
Go away woodpecker papparazzi
or I'll migrate to California
where I hear everything is free
and I can get more than sugar to sweeten
my water to take me higher and higher
and I can become famous and, oh yeah,
deal with more woodpecker papparazzi.
Then again, perhaps I'll go back to pecking wood
after tomorrow, after I pretend to be a zebra
who's heard sweet grass mixed with clover
tastes pretty good even if it's not smoked.
Perhaps I'll go back to pecking
wood, if there are any trees left standing.
If there's anything left to peck
and don't even dare ask me how many
pecks can a woodpecker peck if a woodpecker
would peck pecks.
"FORGET THE WIZARD OF OZ"
I recently had a young man ask me about Bible doctrine. He said, "But the Bible's been translated
so many times, it really doesn't mean anything now." Another woman said the same thing to me. Unfortunately,
that's what a lot of people think these days.
I tend to disagree and reading the Bible fascinates me. I'm always interested in the writing style of each author who
penned their book while under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The style of writing might change during
the era in which they wrote, however, the same message flows throughout and the meaning of the entire story has
never changed.
I recently read Jeremiah 10:5 in the NIV: "Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." This verse is in a
chapter about God and his views on idols and idol worship. In a later verse the message from God through Jeremiah is warning the people: "The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered." The people were
relying on handmade gods they'd made from wood or cast from gold or silver. Those household idols had to be propped up
or supported in niches by a railing to keep them from falling over.
I thumbed through the King James Version and found the same verse: "They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
As I was reading, I said, "So which is it? No wonder so many people are being confused!" When I looked up the words
for scarecrow and palm tree in Hebrew - two entirely different things - I discovered they were actually the same word but with two definitions. The Hebrew word tomer means 1) date palm and 2) scarecrow. A word associated with tomer is tamar and means palm tree. When I thought about it, either way it's translated - scarecrow or palm tree - they both convey the same message. Palm trees stay in the same place just like scarecrows. They don't move. They might stand tall and erect, swaying a little with the wind, but neither get up and walk around and come to life. Well, maybe in fiction stories like The Wizard of Oz, but
in real life - nonfiction - scarecrows have to be helped down from their poles every now and then to be restuffed. And then
remember, Dorothy was only dreaming after she'd been hit on the head in Kansas during a tornado.
So then I thought, better see what the Apologetics Bible says: "Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk." Okay, now we have a scarecrow guarding cucumbers instead of melons. But when I thought about it, melons and cucumbers might have a different shape and look different, they still grow from a vine and have seeds inside. I began to think about baby believers or seekers reading that verse and giving up their studies because of the different
translations. A verse like this is what weeds out the tares from the wheat. Either a person keeps digging for the true meaning
and why the wording is different, or they give up and continue in the dark wearing garden gloves and hanging
onto their spades and trowels while clicking together their ruby slippers and never knowing the truth. They're
constantly saying, "There's no place like home," with no understanding of how to get back there.
It doesn't matter if there's a palm tree guarding an oasis of water, or a scarecrow guarding a patch of melons, cucumbers, or a few rows of Silver Queen corn. The meaning of the verse is still the same. Worshipping that scarecrow or a palm tree to keep evil at bay while trying to find the yellow brick road won't do a bit of good because they aren't capable of saving anyone. The yellow brick road will always be hidden in the forest and in real life, there will always be flying
monkeys and pointy-hat witches with green warts out to get us, figuratively speaking. God's message was, "The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered."
Just as poets and writers may have different thoughts and ideas about how to describe the soughing of wind
before a storm or the steady persistence of a January drizzle, so did the translators of the Bible when choosing the definition of a word that is the same but has
two different meanings. As long as the integrity of the verse doesn't change, either palm tree or scarecrow could
be used. The story is still intact. In its entirety, the message has the same meaning. God is still saying in essence, "Forget the Wizard of Oz - he's a charlatan with nothing but pretty words - depend on Me."
"MEMORIES FROM DR. SEUSS AND THE WHITE RABBIT"
Photo credit - Kathy.
Posted July 17, 2010
Posted July 10, 2010
Irmgard L. Williams, sister writer and story teller, has allowed me to post an article from a new book she's working on, Gifts Galore - The Legacy We Leave Behind. Having had a peek at several stories she's included, this is my fave:
Memories From 'The White Rabbit'
My first trip to the San Diego area was marked with excitement for many reasons.
One reason was that I would make a stop at LaJolla, a few miles away, that would be like
visiting an old friend. Here the quaint book store, 'The White Rabbit' is located.
Outside the store, was a huge concrete statue of a white rabbit. Inviting enough by that, I sensed what I had been told. This was the store where Dr. Seuss usually did his first signings of many of his books after 1948 when he and his wife moved here.
Theodore Seuss Geisel was not published at first, but through much determination, he
wrote to a world of little and big children alike that were fascinated by his gift of writing.
After teaching many decades, I knew that if you don't keep it interesting, there is
little learning. Reading is the foundation that can change everything in our lives. Lucky
for me, I was blessed with primary grades. There I began, but I soon learned that the
books of Theodore Geisel were adult reading, too. OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO, has
been a gift from me to many student teachers.
Included in my curriculum, my read-alouds to the class included current authors, but
always Dr. Seuss. March gave me an opportunity for a month of learning about him, his
goals, and his quotations that are so relevant to life. He deserved a special shelf in my
classroom that would emphasize the gift of humor in stories that made us laugh. But each
book also gave us something to live by. Those quotes were carefully penned on sentence
strips that hung around the room and were easily memorized.
"A person's a person, no matter how small."
"The more that you read, the more things you will know; the more you
learn, the more places you'll go."
These quotes were appealing to my students, especially when the children began to
include him as someone they knew as a friend. When his eighty-fifth birthday came in
1990, they asked me if they could send him cards. So time was given to create a large
envelope of their hand-crafted birthday cards. In time, I received a piece of his 'cat in the
hat' stationery with a note of thanks penned by him. That just fueled their fire for reading.
I carefully copied that note and sent it home so the parents would understand its worth.
In 1991, we learned of the loss of Dr. Seuss. Carefully, the children penned notes of
condolences to his widow. It wasn't too long until we received a note of thanks from her.
Every March my new class would receive copies of these two copied notes. They would take them home with a simple explanation on the back, so parents would recall one of the authors that they had probably grown up with.
As I walked away from 'The White Rabbit' that lovely day in May of 1998, I marveled
that here lived one of the greatest children's writers of all times who took a little time to
encourage and gifted a few words to little children, and a big child at heart, too. As tears
nostalgically fill my eyes, I sensed his whisper,
"Don't cry when it's over. Smile because it happened."
Posted July 01, 2010
FINAL TAPS AND THE BIGGER PICTURE
The mountain you see through this tunnel vision shot is Lookout Mountain located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Buckle of the Bible Belt, Southern States, USA. Coming over the ridge cut of Missionary Ridge on Interstate I-75 never ceases to take my breath away. I've seen that mountain my entire life and if I relocated to another city, that image would be forever imprinted on my forehead beneath my Tennessee bangs.
It's the same mountain where you can see crystal clear water from Ruby Falls running deep inside a cool-dark damp place, Rock City's famous Swinging Bridge outside, and the place where I get claustrophobic - Fat Man's Squeeze. It's also the same place where the famous Incline Railway runs from the bottom of the mountain to the top, the same place where hang gliders come from all over the world to test their bravado and soar like red tail hawks circling for rabbit. But the biggy - it's the same mountain that General Ulysess S. Grant and the Union Army scaled to defeat the Confederates in the midst of a fight for Chattanooga during the Civil War. Called "The Battle Above the Clouds," my ancestors who lost loved ones and those who fought beside the soldiers and lived to tell about it would tell you today there wasn't the first civil thing about that war - some colorful belles of bygone days calling it that Horrible Misunderstanding and the War of Northern Aggression.
This is one of the mystic views from the Chattanooga National Cemetery. I used to visit this revered plot of land before gathering my children from school nearby if I arrived early. I have friends and family buried here. It's always been a peaceful place for me to come even though sadness permeates the hallowed ground. One of the most memorable times caught me during the beginning of an enchanting whirlwind snowstorm with some of the fattest snowflakes that had ever passed between my lips. I'm a sucker for snow cream.
A friend of mine who graduated from nearby McCallie High School remembers the time when he'd walk outside the classroom and couldn't see the mountain in the background due to smog. I, too, remember when Chattanooga was so polluted, I couldn't see the top of Lookout unless it was a crystal clear day. We girls not only had bad hair days, we had BSH - bad smog-hair days. Now that we are one of the top green cities in the nation - don't all ya'll pack up your quilt racks and move here - the view is incredible, even if our surroundings are some of the bloodiest battle grounds of that barbaric brotherly war.
I recently heard a young man say, "Jesus was all about love and wouldn't want us fighting each other. We're commanded not to kill." The young man thought war was wrong. In an ideal world that's true, but unfortunately, none of us live in an ideal world. Not everyone owns a WWJD bracelet - What Would Jesus Do? And there are those of us who might own one to match every outfit - I'm not putting myself on a pedestal or claiming to own a WWJD bracelet - who sometimes forget to turn the other cheek when the gauntlet has been thrown. Though the Lord knows I try. Oh, how He knows! I'm skyping him every day - he can see and hear me but He just doesn't come in clearly enough on my end to suit.
The Bible teacher pointed out to the young man, "In the Hebrew, the word used translates murder, not kill. In the Old Testament, King David and his best friend Jonathan were soldiers. God gave strength to the Israelites to defeat their enemies." God also promoted David when he killed Goliath in battle - choosing him to be king instead of the disobedient King Saul. Man being man, God knew there would always be wars and rumors of wars until the last King - His Son - took the throne.
But what about the War Between the States - the so-called Civil War? Surely Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, both stalwart Christian men, knew that slavery was wrong - no man should be held in bondage - and they both knew God's Word. They knew the Bible from front to back and not piecemeal as some are fond of reading it today, never understanding it's true meaning, only taking out the bits and snippets they feel suit them on any given hallelujah Sunday. Heaven help them if they crack their Bibles and point to Matthew 27:5 and read, "And he went away and hung himself."
The Civil War was more complicated than most. It wasn't only about slavery, it was about the bigger picture. States Rights - a form of freedom - played a huge part in why men of their caliber went to war in the first place. Just like people today knowing adultery is wrong, of course back then they knew permanent slavery was wrong. Men had been selling themselves into slavery since the beginning of time as indentured servants allowing them to work and buy their way out of servitude after serving approximately seven years. That's what enabled so many of our Scot-Irish ancestors from across the Big Pond to migrate to North America since they had no money to pay ship's passage during hard times. And of course, the African American slaves were captured and sold to the slave ships by other tribes in Africa during their own tribal wars. Mankind has always thought up ingenious ways to profit from another piece of flesh. This was nothing new and is not new now. Slavery still exists in foreign countries and sometimes here though hidden.
But in the heart-depths of Lee, Stonewall and others, they knew perpetual slavery was wrong. They also knew that a state's loss of freedom was a danger. And soldiers and their loved ones on both sides were praying to the same God for victory during a time when Christianity was rarely questioned in this country because the leaders founded the United States of America on Christianity.
I don't pretend to know all of the answers or the motivations fueling people's intentions - the Civil War has always torn at my heartstrings and I've studied it extensively. However, I do believe God is in total control and allows certain things to happen for a reason. We must stand strong. "Those who know your name will trust in you, for You Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." (Ps 9:10 NIV) There was a time when God's people went to war at His command against their own because of a horrendous atrocity but didn't win the first two battles. Upon further inquiry, He then told them to go back and fight again and the battle would belong to them. That was during a civil war between brother Israelites. Precious lives were lost.
And looking back, I wonder if the Israelites realized that wandering in the wilderness was all about obedience and learning to depend on God instead of worrying if their shoes matched their pocket books. Back then, the women didn't have to worry about different sizes and styles for business-day shoes, church-day shoes, party-dress shoes, fat-day shoes, pregnant-day shoes, plantars faciatis-day shoes, or bad bunion-day tenni-pumps. Ladies, are you out there! Can I get a witness! They all wore sandals that miraculously never wore out. I'm sure after forty years the message sunk in. Obey me. They could never have taken the Promised Land if they'd all been doing their own thing with the mantra It's All About Me! Obedience was crucial.
And when I read the Bible from front cover to back cover from a writer's perspective, there's no way dozens of authors could have written a book that long over several centuries and it all fit together like a giant puzzle, each chapter falling into perfect place. God begins from the beginning of Genesis and tells the reader exactly what's going to happen. Knowing this, if a competent general had access to a fool proof Battle Plan from the Commander-in-Chief of his army, plus access to the battle plan from the opposing army's commander, wouldn't he read both to gain strategic knowledge to out-fox the enemy and win the ultimate victory?
Most people use the excuse that they've lost their faith because of what they experienced or witnessed in their churches while growing up. And that could be true, however, what's stopping them from reading the Battle Plan at home? So many are foundering in the dark without their spiritual armor and swords. They're missing out on the key to activating their spiritual swords that's hidden smack dab in the middle - the WORD.
I urge everyone to begin at Genesis and not give up while battling through the begats until you reach that final battle scene. Once you begin to read and understand, you'll no longer see the mountain top through tunnel vision, the entire tree will be removed as you begin understanding more. It's crystal clear, with no pollution to it, who will be winning the final battle and where that mountain top will be located and that no earthly general's army will be able to scale it. Hint: It won't be in the Bible Belt and there is no Swinging Bridge nor a Fat Man's Squeeze. It's then you'll understand that though we dread hearing final taps and mourn our loved ones, no life lost for freedom and God's Plan is lost in vain.
When the last final taps are played, we won't be worrying about BSH - bad smog-hair - or looking through tunnel vision at only part of the picture. We'll be able to see an entirely bigger vista stretched out before us. I hope to meet you one day on the Mountain Top.
Happy July Fourth and enjoy those hamburgers and hot dogs and save room for the watermelon and homemade strawberry ice cream. Of course if you're from across the state line - Georgia - yours will be peach!
Scripture reference for the Israelites fighting against their own brothers in a civil war against the Benjamites: Judges 19-20 (God ordained battles - the first two were lost before God gave the final victory. As long as they kept their eyes on Him and stayed focused, even though they lost thousands of men, they won the final victory.)