Revelations and Transitions

With yesterday marking the beginning of Advent, and tomorrow the beginning of December, this blasted blog is long-past due to be up and rolling. There are political and social issues out there in sore need of soapboxing, personal experiences to share (most of which I can't expect you to care about, though), the occasional stinky pun to lay out under your nose… and matters of faith to desmudge and illuminate. And I've misplaced some of my formatting/coding tricks, so for now things may be a touch drab, or messy, font-wise.  

(On a side note, all is well with friend Gwynne; she's still working hard at getting hard work, while entertaining her friendly fuzzy felines. Since I last posted here (rather troubling to read, too), she I have gotten together a number of times here, there, and elsewhere just to hang out and walkie-talkie, plus enjoy the occasional obscure movie. And we did manage to make a low-budget day-trip this past summer to an East Coast resort-town, with some plans (well, fantasies for now) of further forays. And there's more to say in her regard – even pictures to put up here – but just no time or space or sequiturity for it just now.) 

So, yes; all's well – your Aging Child here has been busy (and occasionally unemployed!) since early this year, and I still am. An old girlfriend (she's not that old) of – and I still find the span too huge to grasp – over thirty years ago tracked me down via the web, and we've been tossing the occasional note back and forth. No, there's no personal interest; I'm still fully intent on donning the white collar, or at least a good hoodie. But it's good to have a connection with that somewhat wilder, looser (and frequently stupider), and more-innocent period of my life. 

We'll call her – oh, I don't know; let's try "Keiji", even though she's technically not 100% Japanese. 

This weekend, Keiji forwarded me a rather inspirational piece: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Keiji S
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 10:40 PM
To: A. Gene Childe
Subject: Fw: Revelations 3:8 

I thought you might like this Keij 

----- Original Message ----- 

Please read

Revelations 3:8 

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! 

The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, delete it. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. If you need God to open some doors for you...send this to ten people.  Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing.

You probably get plenty of emails like this, too. Don't let them bug you; some folks are so enriched in blessings that it just overflows. This one so hit me at just the right time that I had to pass it along to fellow-friends who appreciate the regular uplift, too, and prefaced it with this: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Aging Child [mailto:AGeneChilde@YouWho.com]
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 12:47 AM
To: 'List, Mailing'
Subject: RE: Revelations 3:8 

Happy first week of Advent, everybody! 

Revelation 3:8 includes the passage, "I have left an open door before you, which no one can close"… which resonates very well with the classic inspirational line of "If He leads you to it, He'll lead you through it". 

The hardest thing is simply to trust as we step out into space… the second-hardest is to willingly turn our lives over to Him so he can lead us to the cliff (with wings or mattress), or to the door. And the third-hardest is to consciously make sure that we aren't leading ourselves to a door, a precipice, that He doesn't want us to pass. 

"Jesus, I trust in you" is a phrase and devotion I took to heart years ago… yet still find so terribly difficult to live by. Still, it's carried me through some particularly tough moments, and I'm counting on it to continue doing so. 

This kind of trust, for most of us, is something we consciously have to venture, again and again, over and over. But it's the regular (yes, and repeated) prayer and meditation, and our own acts of mercy and forgiveness, that can attune us more closely to what our Lord's will is for us. 

We don't have to pass this message on to ten people – or a hundred – to receive God's blessing… His blessing is a grace, and so is given to us freely (and often quite undeservedly). Yet it does help, still, to bear a genuine kind of witness to the faith which guides and saves us. 

So, even more than merely forwarding an email, say a prayer for somebody, especially someone you haven't prayed for lately. Pray for ten people. Whom do you like the least? Say a prayer for them. Likewise for someone who likes you the least. 

And do something for them, most especially in this just-beginning season where we celebrate our Lord's arrival: give something to the poor, the needy, the shut-in, the alone, the forgotten, the hurting; be His instrument, even if in just a little way. We must be His hands: whether hands to aid those who need to know and feel God's love and compassion, and hands to fold together and pray. 

Love,

Gene 

Among those on the list were longtime friend – and political opposite (to the point where I may well have ground my molars flat over some of her viewpoints) Ms. Anon E. Mouse… no stranger to this blog. She responded – and with less-than-happy news: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mouse, Anon E. [mailto:AEMouse@SOL.com]
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 11:23 AM
To: Aging Child
Subject: RE: Revelations 3:8 

Good morning Gene, how is my good friend?  Thank you for sending me this message.  My email “forward” friends seem to know what to say… [My husband] and I separated in August.  At first I was alright but with other things happening, it’s gotten harder and harder to maintain, plus I was never emotionally all right around the holidays.  But I do have my two boys [i.e., her dogs], Quincy & Taz and just to remind you I’ve attached a couple of pictures.  They’re the loves of my life. 

Hope things are going well for you.  Are you still at your two places of employment?  I will continue to send you emails for the controversy J  You’re liberal, I’m conservative but we’re friends, I think even if at times we don’t agree.  I apologize for not being able to check Snopes or other sources I just can’t always, but I’ll leave it to you to correct the error of my ways. 

Take care, Always, Anon 

Though too often I’ve banged some rather impressive head-sized dents in the wall here over her politics and stances, this word from her brought up a very different hurt on her behalf; I wrote back: 

-----Original Message-----
From: Aging Child [mailto:AGeneChilde@YouWho.com]
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 5:05 PM
To: 'Mouse, Anon'
Subject: RE: Revelations and Transitions 

Good afternoon, Anon: 

And I'm so sorry to hear about you and your husband! I have to add this to my prayers… and I think you know also that one of those tough things for you to do – and you very well may not be ready for it yet – will be to pray for him; you've already got the rest of us praying for you (and with a further reason, now, too). 

But right now it may very well be a matter for you more to just continue keeping one foot in front of the other. Each step leaves a little piece of the hurt behind you, and the piece of hurt that you carry with you… also grows smaller, until it's barely a grain of sand (a large and painful grain, sometimes, but still…)… at which point it starts becoming a pearl – by the same and likewise clichéic process that makes diamonds out of lumps of coal. 

And speaking of lumps of coal: don't let the Christmas/holiday season bring you down this year. Yes, there's one less gift under the tree, and one fewer stocking by the fireplace. But – third cliché in two paragraphs – we need to take to heart, and keep it there, the reason for this season. It's not about equinox or eggnog, snowmen or cinnamon-stick; it's all caught up in John 3:16: For God so LOVED the world… 

That is the love that is real, that sustains us, that draws us; it is the love that does not fail, always forgives, does not leave us, and waits patiently for us those many times we allow ourselves to turn aside. The best image to carry (while not forgetting His terrible death on the cross) is that of the little child on His lap, in His arms. This is us… and not just how He calls us to be, but actually where He calls us to be. 

Whitney Houston wasn't quite right; what she sang about was only the second-greatest love of all, at very best. The greatest was – is – the love that was ultimately to die for us, and rise for us… and which we celebrate each December (and must not forget) as the love that came to us as a helpless infant, dependent Himself on the love and care of others… one day to teach us, too, of great and supreme love. 

It is at the heart of the Season, under the star, in the manger, and within our hearts. 

Regards,

Gene