Lord, teach me. . . .

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither. –C. S. Lewis Little slice of Heaven How often do you think about what comes next ? When someone mentions Heaven, what goes through your mind? Great food? ( That chocolate silk pie looks heavenly! ) Beautiful music? ( And Heaven and angels sing! ) Streets of gold? Never having to lift a finger again in eternal rest? (That one sounds pretty dull to me. . . .) So many descriptions of Heaven, in Scriptures and in other books, some that make sense and some—well, some that, for some people , might make the alternative sound pretty enticing. How often, during the course of a day or week or even longer, do you stop in your tracks, look around and wonder if you died and went to Heaven— and didn’t even realize it ? How often are you nearly overcome by the beauty of your surroundings? One children’s book, about a rather daft family, tells how after a power outage, when the lights come ...

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. --Albert Einstein My late husband owned a sign shop. He would always say, “Some people spend their whole lives searching for a sign. Me? I make ‘em!” Sometimes, the sign you’re searching for is right under your nose. Here are a few: Impossible Whopper . Does it ever feel like the life of faith we profess is just too good (or too much) to possibly be true? If those burger guys can make a burger out of plants that actually does taste and chew like beef—suspend your disbelief. Have faith in the One who never grows discouraged. Live Bait! When Jesus walked along the shores of Galilee, he was looking for folks who would be fishers of people . Ones whose lives were attractive, whether they even spoke a word. Ones whose presence makes folks want what they’re offering. Are we such people today? There are plenty of artificial lures out there, drawing people’s attention with their sparkle and dance. But there s...

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so. . . . One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. --John Donne I have a confession: I have come to realize that I kind of enjoy officiating at funerals. I enjoy talking with the family, getting to know their parent or child or best friend through their eyes and their memories. We weep together; we laugh together. And we begin to understand that one aspect of eternal life is the way we keep telling those stories, keeping that person alive in our hearts and with our words. No one alive today is anywhere near perfect. So why are we afraid to allow our humanity to shine through when someone we love dies? Tell me your stories about the time they bought that lottery ticket—and won big time ! The time the woman who won blue ribbons for cooking managed to forget to depressurize the pressure cooker slowly—and wound up with stewed...

I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart! (Where?) --Old campfire tune Joy. That deep sense of well-being and effervescence, it seems, that pervades our being, filling and carrying us in unexpected ways. There are a lot of joy-filled people in Scripture: Sarah, who embarrassed herself by laughing at the angel's promise. When that child Isaac was born, I know her heart was filled to overflowing. Noah's family, upon realizing the waters were receding, finally-- whew! Relief and joy-- and a fresh start. The psalmist, realizing how great his LORD was, filling so many pages of our holy book with unbridled joy. Peter, realizing it was the risen Christ preparing breakfast on the beach-- so overjoyed he splashed his way through the shallow waters, completely oblivious to any sense of decorum at all. That's joy! But for all the joy-filled moments and stories in the Bible, in my opinion none tops the very first story. You know-- the one whe...