WE WIN EVERY TIME, JUST BECAUSE
We all want to know who’s winning at a game we find interesting. We all have our battles. Whether we win or lose may largely be due to activities behind the scenes. The story of Israel in 1 Samuel chapters 4 and 5 comes to mind. They had won battles, conquered armies and had quite a reputation as a result. So reading the account about their resounding defeat from the Philistine army was tough. Thousands lay dead. When one suffers, do we not all suffer since we are all connected in the great circle of life? What had gone wrong then? Had Israel taken victory for granted or is this just a case of “bad” stuff happening to “good” people? There didn’t seem to be any apparent reason for the loss. So, it may be in what is not easily seen. Had God deserted them? Reading further, we discover that…
BIG DOORS ARE TURNED BY SMALL HINGES
Big doors, boatloads! The dismal expression Fissure of nervous tension Crossroads! Dreams unhinged? What do you see? What say ye? Now, a creek up a ways And down a ways Soft light in a dark and long tunnel Little waves soon a big one. Big door Hummel Turned by a small hinge. To big doors and small hinges and what we might learn from them! This poem celebrates how the little things might add up and one year of blogging. Yay! First of all, time goes by really fast, doesn’t it? I can remember the first post. Of course! I am thankful to have come this far and I feel like I achieved a milestone. Quotes How awesome to note that big doors turn on small hinges! It does not matter how sturdy the doors might be. They turn on little hinges. Seems a little crazy to imagine, I dare…
THROUGH THE LENS
Looking through the lens of a pair of binoculars can be such fun and feels so different when compared to our natural eyes. Images are sharper and magnified. We might experience beauty, ugliness, pleasure or pain at such times. JUDGING THROUGH A LENS We tend to make judgements by the external. Mistakes and weaknesses may be magnified through the lenses we use. “The people are giants. We were like grasshoppers in our eyes and their eyes” The Ten This conclusion cost the ten scouts an inheritance. They saw themselves as unfit to possess a good land through their looking glass. However, two scouts, Caleb and Joshua, quite unlike the ten, thought they could take the land and did so. We all have to look and draw conclusions from the images we see. Letting the glass define us though may be sort of like one letting a bird build a nest…
WHAT A DAD TAUGHT HIS SON ABOUT WORK
Work is not simply fulfilling duties, is it? There seems to be more. Ivan is a famous chef. He thought he might share his culinary passion with his young son, who seemed to delight in his dad’s cordon bleu cooking. It would be a good bonding experience, he thought, and his son might learn about work at the same time. Then, one day, they had several men over for beers and a sandwich. Ivan gave his son Pete strict instructions, adding that a line cook is like a robot. Meals are to be perfect each time. Well, Pete slipped up. One of the sandwiches was burned. Asked how he could have allowed that slip up, Pete replied that the food was free. Why did it matter? Taking his son aside, Ivan told him that he is great at this- cooking, and touched lives simultaneously on the job. So he could…
FLY A KITE
You have either flown a kite or watched someone fly a kite at some point. It can be a delightful experience on bright, sunny days when the wind is just right. Other times, the weather isn’t so friendly and we simply are unable to well, fly the kite. Photo by Zonda from Pexels Makes me think that we can’t always think or say “I have a plan and I am sticking to it” because life is a lot like sailing. You plan to sail to an exotic island but the winds are contrary. Sailing in the planned course is dangerous or impossible. You may have to make a detour or return at another time. That can really hurt. Calm seas, choppy seas, summer, winter, autumn, spring, I believe God made them all. He lets us in on His thoughts too and will not laugh at us if we ask Him.…