Sea Lily

Psalm 77:11-13 -- "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?"

image: Mt Everest - www.kentoncool.com

If ever there was living proof of a modern day miracle it has GOT to be Stephen Hawking. In 1963 his doctor told him that he'd contracted Motor Neurone Disease and that he would most likely only have two years left to live.

How many years have passed since Hawking was given that news? 52? And yet, from his own lips in his book, A Brief History of Time, came the words: "In that case, it would not be necessary to appeal to God to decide how the universe began. This doesn't prove that there is no God, only that God is not necessary."

Hawking reiterated this point when he said: So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator? [from the book:The Grand Design]

Why in the world are "we" spending so much time trying to prove that God isn't needed or that He doesn't exist? What possible good can come from that?

image: www.kentoncool.com

I tell you what - it was all I could do to keep myself from throwing something at the television as scientist after scientist spat out mathematical theorems and "reason" to exclude God from the amazing wonders that we call our Universe! [How The Universe Works on H2]

COME ON! What place, then, for a creator?! What place?!

Deep breath. Must NOT have stroke due to stupid people .... 

World record holder and all around COOL guy, Kenton Cool, has been to the summit of Mt. Everest successfully more than anybody else I know. From the top of the world, he's taken some pretty incredible pictures AND collected some pretty cool rocks for the geologists at Cambridge University - per the show, How The Earth Was Made. [also on H2] When back at "normal" sea level, Cool produced a rock that made international news. From a humble microscope planted on an ordinary lab table - there was projected an extraordinary image of a paper thin slice of rock. As interesting as this rock was - of even greater interest was a tiny fossil buried deep inside the compressed crystals, clumps of organic material, and lots of other stuff. 

The fossil? ...A sea lily.

image: Sea Lily [www.theepochtimes.com]

That's right - A SEA LILY. At the top of the world. Covered in snow. Surrounded by rock, frozen rivers, and big, big bright blue sky. In air so thin that no living thing can survive without the help of an oxygen tank and really warm clothing - there was discovered the ghost of a creature that lives on the floor of the ocean. 

Amazing! Simply amazing! And yet, nay sayers would use this evidence to exclude our most Amazing God - the creator of said sea creature, of giant mountain. of big, big bright blue sky. ...of Kenton Cool, even! How -- HOW can anyone look at that sliver of fossil and the vast majesty of the world's tallest mountain and NOT just - drop everything and praise God?

And furthermore .... 

In an explosion of excitement and some unique images of our celestial neighbor - came the news from NASA - that there is evidence of water on Mars!

image: www.nasa.org

Leapin' Lizards!! Water!! On MARS!! CHECK. IT. OUT!!!

...and people say that these amazing things are proof that "God is not necessary"?

How is lightning not jumping from the sky to strike these people on the head? If I were lightning - I would jolt a head or two on principal!

My fellow Earth creatures, fellow walking/breathing things that God hath, indeed created -- I, for one, will take today to be in complete and utter awe of my Creator. I will remember the deeds of my Lord. I will meditate on all of God's amazing and wonderful works! I will consider how very, very GREAT is God!

Thank you, Lord - for rainy mornings. For good hot coffee. For the cardinals at the bird feeders and the salt blowing in from the beaches.  For the stars that twinkle at us from beyond our planet and for the ability to look upon them with eyes wide open. For water on Mars. For rocks from Mt Everest. For good friends. For the church body and fellowship. For the freedom to sing Your Name and pray openly. For blooming flowers. For green tree frogs stuck to windows that allow eyes to witness throbbing little tummies moving with the beat of tiny hearts. For air conditioning on hot and humid days. 

Thank you, Creator - for the blood of Jesus Christ. For forgiveness. And for Your endless love that envelopes us - in spite of our numbing arrogance and the biting words of denial and betrayal. 

You, O God, are Great. Wonderful. Amazing.

And very, very necessary.

Pointillism

Acts 6:7 -- "So the Word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

image painted by Dan Sibley [coolhunting.com]

Intense heat and head-ache inducing sunshine beat down on the shoulders of the thousand or so people cutting stone into large blocks. Painstaking, the work was done by hand. The quarry was crawling with workers - each using a specific skill or asset to assemble the gigantic stone bricks that would make up the largest pyramid in Egypt.

The foreman for this shift of workers made his rounds - inspecting this, checking that, fussing at some and praising others - until he came to two young men silently cutting away at a large wall of yellow limestone. He hadn't seen these two before so he'd better play the part of good foreman and check on the productivity of his bright new charges.

"What are you doing?" The foreman asked one of the tall young adult men.

The first stone cutter replied: "I am cutting this stone into blocks." He continued to chisel at the limestone without missing a beat, never taking his eyes of the tools in his hands.

Making a few notes, the foreman moved on to the next young man and asked: "What are you doing?"

The second young stone cutter wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked the foreman directly in the eye as he said: "I am building a pyramid for the Pharaoh."

Indeed!

The second stone cutter recognized that he was doing something of great importance - even though he could only see the yellow limestone wall in front of him. Deep inside him somewhere - he could see the Pyramid complete....

Image: "A Sunday On La Grande" Jatte George-Pierre Seurat

One of my favorite styles of artistic expression sprung from the impressionism era in 1886.George-Pierre Seurat painted a piece entitled "Sunday In The Park" and voila! A new method of putting paint to canvas was born. When looking at this colorful image we see dogs at play, people sunning by the river, and lush green grass. What we DON'T see right away - is the millions of little dots that Seurat used to make up this relaxing little scene.

Incredible, no? Imagine a human dot-matrix printer...pretty intriguing, if you ask me. It certainly causes one to question the importance of the humble little dot.

Other painters soon followed Seurat's example and today you can find thousands upon thousands of art pieces masterfully created using pointillism. Some of them are quite amazing.

Me? I tend to outline, sketch, erase, outline some more, sketch some more ... and erase ... a whole lot. I can't begin to imagine being able to express an entire scene in full color using nothing but dots. Incredible! If you get the chance - look into one of these fabulous paintings. Focus on just one dot - then move back and take a gander at the whole masterpiece.

Wow. Just - wow!

In the book of Acts,we watch churches burst into full bloom from small and humble beginnings/seeds that were spread about the land by the twelve disciples of Jesus. [most notably Paul]. From twelve people who knew Jesus personally - came a "large number of priests obedient to the faith" and an increased number of disciples. Now THAT's what I call a big picture! An astounding number of hearts that beat to the tune of our Lord Jesus Christ can be found all over the globe! And it all started with twelve people. That's it - just twelve!

 It's wonderful!

But - what if Paul [or any of the disciples] focused only on being just one dot? What if he quit because he felt overwhelmed or intimidated with the scope of the task set out before him? After all, Paul WAS just one person and the world IS a pretty big place. What if Paul hadn't forced his eyes to see the beautiful bigger picture?

image: "Autumn" painted by JetIII circa 1983 [jetiiiart.com]

Think about Seurat's painting and what it might look like if an untold number of dots just suddenly fell off the canvas because they didn't think they mattered very much? Well now, that would be one weird and very incomplete piece of art, I'm here to tell you. An entire branch of artistic expressionism would vanish into thin air - in the time it takes you snap your fingers!

That would be tragic.

But LETHAL is the word I'd use if every follower of Jesus did the same thing.

Don't think you make a difference in an ocean of other dots all going about their own business? Not so, my friend. You - yes, YOU, little dot - have a greater impact than you realize.

Go shine dear, dot. Light up the darkness and salt the earth! You really ARE part of an amazing and life-changing whole. Train your focus on Jesus and the wonderful plans God has for you. One day - you WILL get to see THE big picture.

So go out there and be the best little dot you can be!!

...But God

Genesis 50:20b -- "But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

image: styleonmain.net [etsy.com]

The feeble mass of intertwining electric circuitry fired on all cylinders and my brain quickly registered the sting of what had just occurred - but my eyes just blinked - and blinked. I stared at my immediate supervisor sitting across from me with a smug look on her face.

Fired? But - I'd just moved into my own apartment with my 1 year old, ready to tackle single parenthood with a brave face. AND ... my parents had just moved out of state. I was only a few short days on the other side of an emergency surgery during which was removed a nasty little tumor with teeth and claws AND I'd just signed on a loan to purchase a couch.

Fired?!

With trembling hands I punched my time card for the last time at the quaint little community hospital and trudged out the door.

What in the world was I supposed to do, now?

I grabbed a newspaper at the corner grocery store on the way back home and immediately searched the job listings. [This was in the ancient days of no internet].

God is very good. He is now - and He was then. In no time flat I had a new job at a wonderful little facility close to down-town Nashville. It payed better and had a cozy work environment and I NEVER had to punch a time card. It was closer to my toddler's Granny so she was able to keep him while I was work, eliminating the need for costly day care - a WONDERFUL icing on the cake, so to speak. AND - get this - it had a full benefits package!

The thing is - when we are at the bottom of an old, dank well straining to look up in the hope of some form of daylight - we don't always recognize when a splendid opportunity is gifted to us - complete with wonderful packaging and a pretty bow. Instead - we see a box with contents that remain hidden. Something horrible might be inside and we hesitate to open it, nervous about the unknown.

But God can take our shed tears and bring about the most spectacular joy. Notice I didn't say He would take our tears away. We will undoubtedly face some pretty painful days in our life time. And some of those days may be a bit longer than we'd really like, but God's timing is always perfect. He's never late and never too early and ALWAYS, always on our side.

The next bump [or mountain] you face in the road may be a blessing in disguise. Cling to the promises of God. Look at Joseph! He was betrayed by his own brothers and left for dead. It had to be pretty dark in the bottom of that well.  ... who knew that one day the entire nation would look to him for survival and mercy?

Who knew? ... God did! And as He did in the life of Joseph - God can take our big 'ole bag of hot mess and turn it into something beautiful. No only CAN He - but He WILL!

Through The Fire

Isaiah 43:2 -- "When you pass through the waters, I will be with  you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."


In the wee and early hours of darkness, WAY before the sun decides to grace us with light - I find myself throwing off the covers and tenderly putting my feet to the floor. While my toes pop and creek along with my ankles, I can't help but think of every single step I take toward the shower. Not because of the noises my bones make - but because I know that a friend of mine is counting each and every step she'll take through out the course of her day. She has no fascination with her own feet - but instead is counting the accomplishment that comes from simply putting one foot in front of the other. Inside her trembling heart is an ache so deep that I personally cannot imagine the pain of going through it.

How is it the world doesn't stop spinning for just a brief moment to allow us to catch our breath during moments that zap us of our stength? Why does the world NOT request an international holiday? Can't we just get a moment ... to cry? To pray? To ... breathe?

Knowing that no slow moment will come to her and that she MUST get up and go to work - my friend counts the victory in each step. And I will count with her.

In Isaiah we are reminded that into every life a little rain must fall. Sometimes it's a gentle spring shower that encourages brilliant blooms to burst into a life full of color. But then there are times when we're hit with a hurricaine sporting gale-force winds, hail, and huge ocean waves that knock us off our feet. Isaiah didn't say IF we pass through the waters - he said WHEN. And then he said of our Lord - that God will be with us. We will not be consumed by the raging storm that swirls about and buffets us from side to side. We will not be overcome. We will NOT drown.

So there IS great hope in the victory of each step we can accomplish in the arms of our Lord. We know that no strom will last forever and that we will be shaped to the glory of God in the winds. Each step we take with Him is not a small victory worhty of a pat on the back - but instead, a HUGE reason to celebrate!

We are God's. He is with us. All the time.
 

Testing

Since my computer is no longer functioning and it will be some time until I can get the guys to come out and fix it - I thought I'd try to blog from the X-Box 1. So far so good. The boys hooked a keyboard up to the console and I can type using it.

So -- starting tomorrow morning - Breaking Daily will be back up and running. I have no idea how to search and post pictures into the blog from the X-Box console - so bear with me as I figure it all out.

I appreciate your patience.