Quality Music and Books

There is a certain sense of satisfaction in being right, and even a notion of superiority.

I’ve got it

Want you to have it

Unless you get it

You just might not make it

To Heaven.

The problem is, we can’t all be right. 

Christians today go on and on about how the world is not a good place… the end is near… the tribulation is coming… we are all supposed to respect and honor everyone else’s truth even though we disagree.  Yet, as Christians we know that we cannot—that God is the truth, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior… that He lived and died and rose again though we didn’t deserve His free gift of salvation.

So then… what about us?  What are we Christians doing to ourselves?  We judge, though told not to do so.  We lump whole bunches of people together by denominational name and non-denominational name and decide the whole lot of them aren’t saved because they don’t hold to the exactly the same theological tenets that we do.

Do you know what the biggest detriment to the furthering Christianity in the world is today?  It’s us Christians.  Jesus said when he was accused of being beelzebub, A house divided cannot stand.  Yet, we Christians are very divided—and by what?  I invite you to think hard about what exactly really is important for each of us to believe without compromising what Jesus taught.  I invite you to not judge others in groups, and to leave who is truly saved up to God.   

Jesus said, a new commandment… to love as I have loved you…. Are we really doing that when we discount anyone by our group’s rules of who and who is not a Christian?  Jesus gave us the Great Commission to go out into the world…  how are we to do that when we are seen as smug, filled with superiority and rightness?  Do any of us really believe others don’t know what we are thinking?  If so, we are not serving God honestly.

Oswald Chambers, in his Studies on the Sermon on the Mount put it this way:

Another truth we do not sufficiently realize is the influence of what we think over what we say.  A man may say wonderfully truthful things, but what he thinks is what tells.  It is possible to say truthful things in a truthful manner and to tell a lie by thinking.  I can repeat to someone else what I hear you say, word for word, every detail scientifically accurate, and yet convey a lie in saying it because the temper of my mind is different to the temper of your mind when you said it.  A lie is not an inexactitude of speech, a lie is in the motive.   I may be actually truthful and an incarnate liar.  It is not the literal words that count but their influence on others. (p. 29)

Let us hold to what are the truths of Christian faith, loving each other and witnessing honest love for all, respecting differences that are not essential, and leave salvation in the hands of the Lord who will call every one of us to account on the day of his choosing when He will judge each one of us individually.  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.    … babamarusia

Mary (babamarusia) & Rick May are owners of the webstore, www.QualityMusicandBooks.com.  

Quality Music and Books as a retail store is being moved to a new location and currently open only by appointment.

Today was a great day, yesterday was too–and so was the day before…..  Everyday IS a wonderful day when your spirit is joyful.  I really have no theme tonight, I have thoughts. 

Regarding my state of Minnesota, the political push is still on like it is everywhere else.  The 10 o’clock news is just finishing up, and as usual we watched channel 4–WCCO ( CBS ).  This station is the tried and true for news–not for weather, though.  The weather team goes quite overboard when the thunder starts rolling.  In fact, you might draw an association between the ridiculous number of ads and the ridiculous amount of time spent covering inclement weather.

That being said, there was one night that WCCO was our lifeline.  It was the spring of my 7th-grade school year.  That day was very strange.  As I walked home with my classmate, there was no breeze, no sound, and hot.  There was that elusive feeling of anticipation, from which no point of origin could be assessed.  It was also the night of the science fair.  John, my brother, and I both got a ride back to the school after dinner, and while he went his way, I went mine.  We have another brother–he was still pretty little, only three years old.

I went to one of the larger lecture classrooms, where I assume there was someone I knew giving a presentation.  Our principal announced over the loudspeaker that there was bad weather predicted, and that we should all stay where we were.  Not moments later the wind blew in through the one window fiercely, and a man went to close it.  No sooner had he stepped away the whole window blew into the room with glass flying, then it went dark.  I remember that night like it was yesterday.

I was pretty scared.  When everything stopped students, parents and teachers went into the hallways to make our way out the front doors.  I was given a sweater by one of the boys in my class.  We looked into the gymnasium where the roof had peeled back like the top of a sardine can.  Later we heard that in the home economic rooms everyone stayed safe inside the closets.  Almost out the door, I reunited with my brother, followed not too much later by our step-dad meeting us outside in his car.

The school was not quite one mile from our home, but it seemed like a long, eerie ride.  Pulling into the driveway we saw our mom with pin curls in her hair and huge tears rolling down her cheeks while she attempted to  lift the garage door with my little brother in her arms.  There had been some kind of announcement about wires down everywhere, and that was true.  Fridley Senior High, accross the street from the Junior High, was also damaged and caught fire.

So, there we were, the five of us huddled together in the dark living room around this little transistor radio that sat on our formica end table, tuned to WCCO.  Those voices, so familiar to us from constant hearing, were like a lifeline to safety.  Twice we made our way down to the basement.  That sound people describe–it’s exactly what they say.  A tornado going overhead sounds just like a train–a train going quickly by with you standing right next to it.  Little David was too young to understand what was happening, and he never left mom’s arms. 

The next day we realized how fortunate we had been.  For though the tornadoes had traveled right over our house and neighborhood, they touched down in a different area of Fridley.  We lost our roof, not our house.  Mom made it into an adventure–baths by candlelight, guarded by the National Guard.  We couldn’t use our telephone to call out, but relatives and friends called in to us. 

School ended very abruptly.  Our seventh-grade class had one or two days together as a group in the gymnasium of another school before we were done for the summer.  We had each other and our home.  Others needed to relocate and rebuild.  I still have those old newspapers showing the huge tornado over Moore Lake, and I still watch and listen to WCCO.  Don Shelby, Mike Fairbourne, Mark Rosen, I really like you guys–and that’s one of the reasons this station is so exceptional… there aren’t many changes.  Boone and Erickson–well, after the tornado night I listened to them on the way to classes at the University, on the way to work, and at night before bed.  I don’t know those guys, but at the same time I do.

Getting back to my thoughts for the day, one of the news items was this tax that our Minnesota environmental people want to add on to our sales tax.  WCCO talked about that, because that is where the lottery money is supposed to be going.  It turns out that this little tiny bit of every dollar goes to the environment out of all that is spent by people on scratch offs and other contests.  That in itself is shameful, but there’s more. 

You see, in Hennepin County where I live, work and do nearly all of my shopping, we are already paying an additional tax.  It’s the tax imposed upon us by our illustrious governor Tim Pawlenty–the one where he “saved” the Twins.  I am very happy that those who like sports still have their baseball team.  As for me, I am helping to save the Minnesota Twins for them.  Well, Minnesota and Governor Pawlenty and environmental people, if I wasn’t saving the Twins I might consider helping you out with my tax dollar.  As it is, I don’t have “only 60-some dollars” added to my taxes to shell out for you.

Here is my suggestion for the environmentalists.  Get your p’s and q’s in order and get more out of the lottery money, or else wait until we are all done with our current cause and then come back with your request.  In case you didn’t notice, a LOT of people including me are hurting–and a lot are hurting much more than I am.

Next thought:  WCCO had a report about Al Franken.  One of the topics was how sorry he is for offending people in the past with his so-called humor.  Franken’s wife, Annie, said that he never intended to offend anyone at all–he’s just a “teddy bear.”  With all due respect, Mr. Franken, you need to sharpen your brain cells if you didn’t know you would offend people with your commentary.

Then, of course, there was the offensive ad run by Norm Coleman where he shows Mr. Franken using very bad curse words when describing Christians.  Yes–the sound was absent.  Yes–it was plain as day what was being said.  Al’s comment about it?  “Sometimes I have gone overboard.”  Don’t you like how Mr. Franken stereotypes all Christian conservatives into one group that he hates?  Do you think he still doesn’t hate us?  Here is how I compare his comment: It is no different than Michelle Bachman’s statements made when pressed.  Both show truths that they would rather not be known, only because they want your vote, not because they don’t mean them.  There you have the two extremes–far left and at the same time offensive, and far right–also at the same time offensive. 

The sad part about Franken is that he will most likely win the election.  Why?  Because there are three candidates and the votes will go three ways.  I feel sorrow for both of them.  They have so missed the mark in judging others. I don’t know them, never met them, yet they have made judgments that will affect me.   What will be, will be.  Que sera, sera.  What should we Christians do?  Pray for them, and continue strong in our faith–my faith is what upholds me.  God is God of both the good and not-so-good, and he will use whatever negative and bad for His glory.  I firmly believe this.

One last comment about these two people should they be Minnesota’s elected representatives in Washington D.C.  They hold opinions so strong that I can’t conceive of them being able to represent all people in our state.  Here is where a difference shows itself– in the inherent character present in our presidental candidates and running mates as opposed to Franken and Bachman.  Though I absolutely do not agree with Mr. Obama on very important issues, I respect him and feel that he would make a good president–though he will make decisions with which I will not agree.  My conscience leads me to conclude, however, that I would rather not vote than vote for him. 

Another thought:  There are a whole lot of people in our country that feel rules and laws pertain to everyone but them.  What is it?  Conceit and vanity.  When this happens, those breaking the rules make themselves more important than others.  It’s like dealing with people who make up rules while playing Monopoly because they are losing.  Funny when it happens while playing the game in good camaraderie, very unfunny in real life.   It is taking money without earning it from others who did.  In the scheme of things, these behaviors are low on the character scale of life.  In the long run, the ones being hurt will be far better off than those doing the hurting.

You may see the comments above as a negative diatribe.  However, in the scheme of things all of it is of little consequence because faith and belief in Jesus are all that matter.

May you think carefully, vote wisely, and then let it go–resting with peace in your heart because God is ultimately in control. 

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.  … babamarusia (Mary Katherine May, owner of Quality Music and Books in Osseo, Minnesota)

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1Thessalonians 5:18 KJV

Would you believe that according to the statistics posted on www.adherents.com, 85% of the population in the United States of America declares themselves Christian?  It does make a person wonder, doesn’t it?  Since 85% of us– almost every person in the U.S.A. is Christian, why are we then in such a mess?

How has greed, so putrid green and ugly, reared itself up to become as large as the Sears Tower in Chicago?

How has self-interest before anything or anybody else served if we are living as Jesus taught us to live?

How come there is so much crime, murder, abuse, addiction of every kind, all over our nation with victims of every race and income level?

Why have Christians in the everyday world been silenced so as to be “politically correct” when there are so many more of us than them?

It is absolutely mind boggling, isn’t it?  I believe the answers to these questions are both convicting of the Christian faith as well as denial and complacency.  In many ways, because Christ taught His followers to love, be compassionate, fair, humble, and respectful, some of the above and more have been given a free token to do as they will.  In many other ways, though, we Christians are complacent, gullible, and desire to have both worlds–and thus essentially deny Christ and His demand for us to give 100% of ourselves to Him.

I had an interesting conversation recently about this issue.   As we spoke, the subject of when we were saved came up–by the baptism of the Holy Spirit–and what a difference that made.  This person relayed to me that before the salvation experience when asked, the reply was always “I am a Christian.” 

After all, what else would I be?  I’m not Hindu, Muslim or Budhist, I live in the U.S., so I must be a Christian, right?

I celebrate Christmas … give gifts, have Santa coming down the chimney, eat dinner with the whole family … so I’m a Christian, right?

I try to do the right thing, be nice to people, don’t tell too many lies.  That means I’m a Christian? 

Truthfully, I don’t know what’s in anyone’s heart.  The doubt does crop up, however, and actions speak far louder than words.  The fact of all of this is, though, is that I really don’t believe at all that if 85% of us in this country were living our lives 100% by the teachings of, and in obedience to Jesus Christ, our country would have nearly as many problems as it does — but it would definitely still have problems!

What makes it different for Christians, or supposedly so, is that we have made the choice to answer Jesus’ call and live as He taught, within the parameters of our faith.  The problem is that as forgiven sinners we still make mistakes, and we still are in the process of becoming more and more like Jesus.

Within every group of people that adhere to a belief system there will be those who are at both ends of the extremes, and those in the middle.  Go too far with the rules and you become legalistic, go too far in bending the rules and the faith can’t be found: either way-either extreme, it is difficult to find Jesus teachings being lived out.  Without, however, the extremes there is no middle ground.

As stated above, I don’t know what is in anyone’s heart, and thus can speak only for myself.  My calling is to do the very best I can to love all people with compassion.  I don’t always do such a wonderful job, and after a mistake I am always determined to think first the next time.  I take seriously the judgement, and the New Commandment to Love as I have loved you.

Sometimes, though, it is necessary to speak up…

Speak up over injustices brought upon those who cannot defend themselves.  Speak up when the eldery or those who are mentally challenged are abused in any way.  Speak up when you see injustice brought upon others by those who have evil, destructive, selfish motives.

Then, pray these situations into the hands of God and leave it there with Him.

Jesus gave me 100%.  He asked no return, no conditions, no tit-for-tat… and I can do no less for Him.  If I am overboard on anything, it is in my love for my Savior, who by some wonderful miracle saved me from myself.

There are many who would say I am absolutely nuts … crazy … a weakling to need something like God to make me happy.  There are those like Al Franken who is running for the office of Senator from my state of Minnesota … a lot of others like him, who will say they hate me and others who believe as I do, use curse words, and say that I am forcing my faith upon them.  Here is the truth as I see it: Why does the way I live my life bother you so much if it isn’t true?  As a human being with a thinking mind, how can I force you to believe anything? 

The last fact here at this early hour of the morning is this:  Christians are not called to be silent.  However, just as in any other faith there is a lot done in the name of the faith that has nothing to do with it — and I think we have seen more than enough examples of that in our good ol’ USofA. 

To my fellow Christians, committed 100% to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, stand firm in your beliefs.  Don’t hide your light–put it on the hilltop for all to see.  Love others as Jesus has loved you.  Be compassionate, caring, forgiving, and understanding.  Leave the rest to God–he says to do that, too.

Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus…    … babamarusia

Baby, Child of God

     Newborn baby, child of God, woven together in mother’s womb, known to God always from the moment He formed your innermost soul.  Did God look on with amazement while you grew ears and a nose?  Did He smile as you wiggled around in the tight, little space, marveling at your ingenuity?  Did he hold your hand to comfort you when music played too loud, or a car backfired?

    Newborn baby, child of God, was there a frown of sorrow on his radiant countenance when you were born to a mother and father who would never truly care about your well-being as he did, parents who wouldn’t love your life more than life itself?

     Newborn baby, child of God, born to parents who have waited for you and now bask with the glow of morning sunshine as they hold their tiny treasure.  Though sorrows and troubles will most surely come as you journey through your earthly life, God will guide your mom and dad as they teach you to cope with all that may come your way.  They will make mistakes, and you won’t always make the best choices.  Yet, through it all He will see you through.

Dear Child of  God, sent all too soon to your heavenly cradle, rest in blissful slumber in the arms of your Lord, away from the troubles and cares of this sinful world. 

    Unborn baby, child of God, was His gentle caress enough comfort when you went home to heaven before you could even breath a single breath because you were unwanted?  Did His tears flow as you slipped away, filled with pain?  Did it make sense to Him that your parents didn’t think you were a baby eager to be loved?

Ah! Child of God, named or unnamed by anyone on this earth, you have always had a name given to you by your heavenly father.  You were and always will be loved and adored for eternity.

… babamarusia (Mary Katherine May)

 I am writing today as a response to what I have witnessed happening in the church where my husband and I were attending– I say were, because the situation there has become so out-of-whack, so painful, that we can no longer find sanctuary there.

Here I  must tell you that I participated in discussions about the problems and where the blame must be placed, and it with great sorrow that I admit it.  What my actions resulted in for me is that I became a part of the problem.  It takes very little weakness to get involved in the fray of destruction.  It takes great strength to stand firmly in the Word in God and rise above being a little, little person.

Please believe me when I say this.  If your church is having problems, rest assured that you are not alone.  Churches small and large from their conception after Pentecost have experienced conflict in varying degrees.  As to why, there is a very simple answer.  As to how to fix it, there is also a very simple answer. 

As to how to get from one point to another — therein lies the problem.

I do not speak as an expert, I speak as one who has experienced the situation multiple times.  So as to what I say here, I hope that as you read you will see some logic and reasonable choices of what you may do in your situation.

 From where does the initiation of conflict come?

It is part of the human nature to be in conflict, and a part of that conflict is the need for control–of our own situation and of others.  Ah! You may say, But that is before we are transformed into new beings by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Those who remain in conflict are not really Christian, there has been no true transformation for them.

If the measure of the amount of conflict outwardly shown and within the soul were the measure of whether or not a person is truly a Christian, there would most likely be one–and only one–teeny tiny church on this planet because no more would be needed.

Look at it this way.  If our transformation into Godliness were completed by only one zap we would not need the continual saving grace of Jesus Christ, because His work would be complete.  The Apostle Paul in Romans 7:19 would not need to have said, For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Peter, knowing Jesus intimately and believing in Him without doubt would not have denied Him three times.  The Corinthian community would not need have been admonished.

I write hear as a sinner, one in the same rotten boat as everyone else.  I relate to what Paul says in the verse above, as I suspect you would also if you looked honestly into your own soul.  Human free will is a blessing–and also our downfall. 

With it we decide for ourselves all too often what should not be left to God to handle. 

We look at how we have been wronged and how we might obtain justice, even though it is at the expense of others. 

We may call where we worship God’s church yet want to control what goes on there, having our way and letting all who don’t roll over take the highway, not caring how much damage inside their hearts they take with them.

We bend the truth or sensationalize just enough (after all, it’s just a little lie — right?) so that our agenda looks better and more appealing to our support group. (What?? Do you think God turns His back when a little lie is told?)

We may go around agreeing others about how terrible it is, how the truth is impossible to find, and at the same time join in with everyone else in keeping the ball rolling by spreading rumors and offering unsubstantiated opinion.

When it gets to the point where our Christian walk is compromised by our lack of control over our own free will — what then?  We have not only then opened the door for Satan to come in, we have written an invitation with Jesus’ blood and sent it off to hell to tell him we are ready and waiting.

This–this awful, horrendous breakdown of the Christian church that can and does at times turn more evil than you or I could imagine ahead of time becomes a snowball rolling downhill after a blizzard.  It becomes the eye of an hurricane out of control.

Do not ever think that your church is immune.  Rather, gird yourselves as the Bible tells you to do by putting on the full armor of God, always staying close to His word in Holy Scripture.

What does Holy Scripture tell us about how we are to conduct ourselves?

Speech: Ephesians 4:29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

Actions: James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

When wronged: Matthew 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Forgiveness: Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Judging Others:

• John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
• Matthew 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Power & Control: James 4:1-4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Please look with me carefully at James 4:1-4 under this consideration.  In the Christian sense the church is not the physical building where we come together.  The building is an inanimate object built with inanimate things.  It is a place to habitate.  What the Christian church is comprised of is people as the Body of Christ with Jesus as its head. 

When there is conflict, have we who make up the Body of Christ not lusted after our own interests?  Have we not lusted for control and power?  Have we not sold out, prostituted to human desires the Body of Christ? 

Where then has the Head of the Body of Christ (Jesus) in which the thinking mind resides gone?  How can Jesus tell us to come back to Him, to stop in our tracks and reverse the destructive path we are speeding down if we have set Him down somewhere unknown?  How many nails shall we pound back into His resurrected body as we re-crucify Him?

How many of us, if not all, place our own agenda in the foreground and call out as the Disciples did at their last meal with Jesus as in Matthew 26, Is it I, Lord? — without knowing, without understanding, that when a church breaks down we are all part of the problem, that every person needs to ask for forgiveness?

The answer to why forgiveness in not asked brings human nature into play.  It is foolish pride.  Yet, in 1Corinthians 1:27 Paul states that the foolish was chosen to confound the wise.  Does it matter that you may feel that you have done no wrong?  No, it really doesn’t matter. 

There is only one who in the end needs to know who was right and who was wrong, and that is Jesus Christ who is coming again and will judge the deeds of all.  In the meantime, is your justice/power and control of your desires so important as to supercede the good of the whole Body of Christ?  Are your needs so important that you allow Satan to come into your church and wreak havoc on the innocent as well as the wrong doers?

Moving on from here, what are the options when you find  yourself in this situation?  Here are a few ideas.

1. If you are finding yourself in conflict because of wrong doing, pray and pray and pray for guidance as to whether you should leave for the well-being of your church, or if you should stay and attempt to work it out without bringing everyone into your problem, thus (most likely) taking sides.
2. Remembering that the first reason you are in church is the relationship between you and Jesus Christ and to be spiritually fed, think upon whether or not this can happen with unresolved conflict.  God gave us the body of believers for support and also to do His will here on earth.  Can you fully support and involve yourself in this work if you are going to remain in conflict?  Should you be going to communion?  If you answer yes, then stay.  If you answer no, then move on.
3. Have you yourself, without any doubt in your mind, followed Biblical teachings regarding whatever is the root of the conflict–every single teaching?  Have you held no anger towards the offending party/parties? Have you gone to them first alone, then if necessary with a witness?  Have you never lied or manipulated to get your way?  Have you turned the entire situation over to God to handle and are in complete peace?  Have you said nothing hurtful to anyone?  Have you not gossiped or spoken about it with other believers?  If you answer yes–then you are Jesus returned to earth.  If you answer no–which will be the truth–then you need to ask for forgiveness. 

Talking about the need for forgiveness does not count.  Asking for forgiveness counts.  Asking to protect your own interests yields a minus.  Trusting in God and doing the right thing yields a plus.  Blaming everyone but yourself may get you an eternal trip to a warm place.  Being honest will most likely get you a walk up those golden stairs and through the pearly gates.

Where then will the justice be for those who have been wronged?  Here is the plain, honest truth.  There may not be justice on this earth at anytime.  You may think you cannot live with this outcome.  I am telling you that is possible by doing the opposite of what is logical–by praying for those who you feel have been wrong, by forgiving them in your heart from the very first moment the wrong happened, and then repeating these two steps over and over again.

Trust and believe God when He says He will take care of you because He will–if you let him.  It make take a short time, it may take a long time, but you will have peace.  I have been there, done that, and it works.  Guaranteed.  Justice is an outward action that ultimately gives no one inner peace — the reason it is called “inner” is because it needs to come from within, from your forgiven soul through the grace of Jesus Christ.  He is the one who heals the heart and mind.

May God bless your journey each and every day.
babamarusia — Mary Katherine May

Very few of us have no attachment to a material object.  The visual of affect, a smell or sound will bring back memories of loved ones now gone or wonderful past times.  Although as Christians our allegiance is not to be with things of this world, the comfort drawn from these objects, especially in difficult times, is not all bad–it is only when they replace or exclude God that the line must be drawn.

Yet, how many sentimental material objects do we need?  If some should be sacrificed for monetary reasons–well, that is hard but reasonable.  Don’t get me wrong–I have still plenty of sentimental items–but over time my need for them has lessened.  At the same time my dependence upon God has grown.  Material objects won’t be with us for eternity, but God will.  They can be destroyed by fire, tornado or hurricane.  God will still be there.

Here in the USofA, it is our flag that is the symbol.  It stands for our strength of spirit, those who have given their lives for our freedom and for their brothers and sisters in battle.  It stands for who we are–a melting pot of the world.

As Christians, we have had symbols that rose to prominence, and then dimmed in importance.  The symbol that will never change, that stands out as a beacon shining forth from a lighthouse, is the empty cross.   It isn’t a passive symbol, either.  The empty cross at the same time both pulls at our heartstrings and shines out radiantly for who is not there.  It stands for the gift of freedom–freedom to live through hard times by clinging to the hope of a better future, and freedom from all of the ills of our wretched human nature.

Christian music also reflects this passion in its hymns and songs.  Some will say that there is no place for sentimental words–songs that speak of our personal feelings, and then I must respectfully disagree.  What is in our souls where the Holy Spirit dwells is not passive.  On the contrary, what resides there is deep passion that overflows for the love of our Savior Jesus Christ and the strength of an all-encompassing God.

In sorrow we desire the words of What a Friend We Have in Jesus or the Gaithers’ Because He Lives.  When we look out at God’s creation what comes to mind is How Great Thou Art.  When our love overflows, I Love to Tell the Story  bursts out, and when we first accept Jesus’ invitation who among us doesn’t think of Just As I Am?

There is a place for it all–just as there will be, until the very moment of death, the invitation to ask for Jesus’ forgiveness and become one of His spiritual children.  God’s door is always open.  He is waiting for you, just as he was waiting for me.  So, if you haven’t asked Him yet, do it now.  Believe me when I say this–it will be the best decision you will ever make.

babamarusia

Babamarusia is Mary May, owner of Quality Music and Books, a Christian book store in Osseo, Minnesota, and publisher of this blog.

The national holiday of Memorial Day, designated in 1868 to remember the men and women who never returned from battle, is a sober event this year.  News reports daily name the soldiers killed in Iraq, and when those we know make it home there are tears shed in the joy of that moment when we know that they are “out.”  Out of Iraq, that is.

War does not affect only the generation who live it.  The consequences continue into the future.  My grandmother left her home in Ukraine just moments before the outbreak of World War I, and the family–mother, father, and children were split not only by an ocean but also by the experiences of the ones who were cut off when borders closed.  It would be twelve years before they were reunited in the U.S.A.  It is interesting to note that my grandmother, Pauline Rychley Koshuba Haydak and her sister, Anna Romanchuk were the two that lived to the century mark while their siblings who came after the war died much younger.

   My father’s generation defended our country in World War II.  He came home–but died in 1957 when I was four years old from a horrible cancer, one caused by whatever he was exposed to during the war years.  Is he a casualty of war?  Though others may differ, I believe he is.  Now 50 years after his death I am trying to fit together enough pieces to make a story about a man I never knew.

From Korea my cousin’s husband came home–he also fought in WWII.  She didn’t know him then.  He lost an eye.  In his later years the shrapnel that filled his legs began to move.  It caused an infection and loss of bone and he needed to recuperate in a nursing home for a year.

Vietnam–what can one say about this war–excuse me, conflict.  I was attending the University of Minnesota at the time.  There were so many young men that were going to school on the GI Bill even though the battle was still being waged because it lasted so long.  As I would look out at the campus, too many men were in wheel chairs, missing limbs, emotionally scarred.  The dreaded draft numbers sealed their fate–I cannot imagine what it was like when the envelope came.  For some Canada was an option. Enlisting in the Navy was too–because then you might not have to actually be in Vietnam, just sail by.

And now those of us who weren’t alive the day Pearl Harbor was attacked know how lives are changed in an instant–when war came home to the U.S.A. on 9/11.  Watching the Lehrer news show on public television–well, I can’t watch the end.  My heart is heavy with sorrow and tears flow when the photographs of men and women fallen in battle are shown.  It was only a little over a month ago that my friend’s husband came home.  Those tears of joy and thankfulness still erupt when I think of it.

This is what Memorial Day is all about–the fallen.  Wonderful people who are gone from this earth, never to be a part of the lives of those who love them until the end of days when Jesus Christ returns.  Does this give solace?  For most who believe it will in time, as hopefully the memories of times shared will also.

And what about peace?  Pray for peace–with God all things are possible.  Do I believe it?  I long for it.  Yet, we have been battling over our differences since Cain and Abel.  Even we Christians who preach Jesus’ commandment to love as I have loved you cannot get along among ourselves.

If you have plans for a three-day holiday, please take time to remember the cost of those who serve for all who live in the United States of America.  Let us hope for the future where God’s radiance outshines the sun, and still pray for peace in a world gone awry.

Through the green leaves of the trees I look up to the sky
And consider God, the artist who created from on high.
I think upon the splendor in this glorious world of ours,
Comparing it to conflict here at home and distant shores.

Confusion reigns within my heart for God is peace, not war.
Souls forget the love within in, humanness comes to the fore.
Emotions flare and reason flees, all thoughts of love are tossed
Where are the speakers for the dead—who shudder at the cost?

The speakers are not silent, they cry out to Him above
Who is our only hope for peace, and some day it will come
When all the Saints will ever live within the light of joy
And cries of happiness, not pain our voices will employ.

Glory! Hallelujah!  …that God is still the one
Who gives the chance for calm to reign because he sent his Son.
To Him who listens patiently to all our fervent prayers
He’s always present, never failing us because he cares.

When the focus of our eyes upon the world that we can see
Is this old earth of toil and woe, then look up and through the trees.
Set your heart to what can’t be seen, to what only God can give
The peace that passes understanding because our Savior lives!
Mary Katherine May
August 9, 2006

CLICK HERE to here bugler playing Taps.

Welcome to the Quality Music & Books Blog! 

Having spent my growing years in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, I learned to say the Lord’s Prayer in both English and Ukrainian.  Although I do not understand the words when reciting or singing this prayer in Ukrainian, the remembered reverence when used during the Divine Liturgy, church functions, and at family dinners still makes for a very spiritual experience.

After marriage I began attending a Lutheran church with my husband, where again the Lord’s Prayer is used as part of the liturgical worship service.  I was quite surprised–or maybe simply naive–the first time I heard someone say that the prayer taught by Jesus and recorded in the Gospels as being just a prayer, not the only prayer, and certainly not necessary in a worship service.

A recent conversation with a pastor in the Nazarene church about the Lord’s Prayer and their only occasional use brought me to ponder upon my opinion for the necessity of praying it so diligently and regularly.  Here, without knowledge of the original language, I will rely on the King James Version ( KJV ) of Matthew 6, a chapter brimming with instructional teaching from our Savior Jesus Christ.

Taking specifically the passages on the prayer, I refer first to verse 9.   After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father …. In this translation “After this manner” certainly does not give firm direction for use in the same manner as the bread and wine for communion.  There Jesus uses the word “when.”  Also, verse 7 gives further instruction about prayer, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; …  This may certainly imply that repetitious recitation of the Lord’s Prayer is not even correct for this is what  “the heathens do.”

Here is where I offer my own approach as another viewpoint: It is very easy to fall into the habit of repeating memorized prayers without thought for meaning.  For example, musically speaking there are two ways to practice.  Learning difficult music takes hours of practice with many repetitions to achieve success.  One may execute these repetitions without much thought, or one can concentrate not only the written notes being played but also on the interpretation of what is heard.  With the first notes will be learned but nothing will actually be said, for notes without expression are only sound.  With the second there is thought and a story is told.

It is the same with this prayer if used without thought for it’s content.  The Lord’s Prayer as used in Matthew, given the text, may be the prayer of choice, or it may be an example for how to pray.  I suggest that if one is praying words mindlessly that it would be best to change what or how time spent in prayer is being used.

Recently I asked a group of fellow Christians their thoughts on the use of this prayer during worship.  Overall, the consensus was that those whose churches did not use it regularly would like to see it used more often, but were okay with its absence.  All used it during private prayer.

If like myself the Lord’s Prayer is used during private devotions and during worship at the church my husband and I attend, then I must ask for God’s guidance and the mind with which He has blessed me to be certain the reciting is active.  To achieve this I vary the prayer’s wording and also sometimes which portion will be emphasized, and also truly think about what I am saying.  Sometimes I fall into the thoughtless rut, at which time I start the prayer over.

If the Lord’s Prayer is not regularly prayed, then certainly it should be as a model for prayer structure … After this manner therefore pray ye … 

For further reading about the Lord’s prayer I include the following links.

To hear the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic, the Language that Jesus spoke, CLICK HERE.

The Lord’s Prayer in English throughout history, Old English, Middle English, Modern English : CLICK HERE.

The Lord’s Prayer contains a preface and seven petitions.  CLICK HERE for a brief explanation of each portion.

Wikipedia, the Free Online Encyclopedia Article on the Lord’s Prayer : CLICK HERE.

The Orthodox Church in America article on the Lord’s Prayer : CLICK HERE.

The Lord’s Prayer in Contemporary English

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread, and for give us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.  For the kindgom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.  Amen.

Try this ending to the Lord’s Prayer.

For the kindgom, the power, and the glory are yours from time eternal with no beginning and no end.  Amen.

Sunday, 18 February 2007

Thinking about my mom again today.  She was a pretty special lady.  This is the two of us on my wedding day in 1974.  Since I posted about her recently, I won’t go into detail.  What I am going to do is post some of the phrases she used frequently–they are words by which I still live and find encouragement.

• New Challenge:  I know you can do it!  I have great faith in you.
• When you are helping customers always treat them like you want to be treated.
• All you need is a pair of roller skates so you can go faster.
• Work hard and be good.
• Two wrongs don’t make a right.
• Older people have earned the right to be called Mr. and Mrs.
• Honesty is the best policy.

This Sunday has been spent with my friend, Chris, who lives in the upper peninsula area of Michigan, outside of the small town of Daggett.  The area where her home is at one time was called Banat, after a particular group of Germans who emigrated to this remote place.

She lives in a beautiful home built by her husband from wood he farmed from their property.  It is full of warmth and comfort–and when you stand outside, it is silent–absolutely silent. 

This morning we attended her country church of the Swedish Covenant denomination.  We sang, men and women prayed, and again I was renewed by the Word and their witness.  Perhaps that is why I think again of my mom, who went to the Plainky Plains church of which I wrote in a recent post.

Before driving to see Chris, my kindred spirit friend, I stopped on the way from Minneapolis in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where my daughter, husband and two children make their home.  The kids had been sick, and she needed to be at work on Friday.  I telephoned Chris and explained that I would be leaving after Ruthie got home from work–I knew Chris, a mother of three and grandma herself, would understand.

As babies who don’t feel good do, since it is their only way of expressing their feeling, the two little ones cried quite a bit, and it was like musical crying babies.  I couldn’t think of one more thing to try that might comfort them, when our one-year-old fell asleep.  His sister, barely three months old, settled in my arms as I rocked back and forth, singing Oh, You Beautiful Doll — the same song I sang to her mom when she was a baby.

I was able to lay her in her crib–and it was then she smiled at me.  Complete innocence, just for the joy of being, no holds-barred smile.  It brought tears to my eyes the sight was so incredibly beautiful — and I thought.

Before we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are the crying children, full of hurt and anger and past wrongdoings–lots and lots of baggage.  Then, sometimes for reasons unknown to us, we accept His invitation to come into His arms and be held close with love, and it often brings a peace so overwhelming there are no words to adequately describe it.

We then become the innocent, pure infant with a whole new life begun and no writing of the faltering past.  We can smile for the joy of smiling and there are no lies behind our eyes.  And the peace–if it has never happened to you, that’s okay, I can tell you what it is like.

It is like where I am now, in a remote spot in Michigan, where when you walk outside there is complete silence and calm–incredibly, unbelievably, wonderful.

There is another place we can go to leave the world behind, and that is whereever two or three are gathered together in Christian fellowship, such as a church.  Orthodox Christians have a slow, calm, peaceful hymn that they sing without instrumental accompaniment during their Divine Liturgy, the Cherubim Hymn.

“Let us, who mystically represent the Cherubim and sing the thrice-holy hymn to the life-giving Trinity, now lay aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all, escorted invisibly by ranks of angels. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”

The Crosses

Hear the leaves of the trees softly rustle …
A background chorus for the solos of the birds.
The captives of the earth listen in hushed silence
As the symphonies of seasons pass by.

I stand among my ancestors and they come to greet me.
The souls who toiled so willingly in life, enduring hardship,
Now rest in wait for the coming day when I shall join them too.
I feel their love and peace permeate my innermost self.

We have this common bond, you see.
For I have the life I do because they gave it to me.
Their toil has given me freedom.
Their hardship has given me strength.

And … I remember …

I see great grandma standing amidst the tall, undulating grass.
Unashamed, tears drop to the ground beneath.
Quietly she moves among the white painted crosses
Giving a gentle carressing touch to the ones she loves.

I see grandmother and granddaughter look one last time at each other
Imprinting within their minds and hearts
What will have to last until each sees the other again,
Always longing never to be apart.

Now I look within so that I too may imprint in my heart
The visible and unvisible that I see until my return.
For though I stand among the crosses, what is before my eyes …
Are my beloved.
© Mary Katherine May
June 12, 2006

Nine years ago today, February 14, my mother died at the age of 70 from a stroke.  That morning, just before 5 a.m., I was awakened by the telephone ringing.  “Mom is on her way to the hospital by ambulance,” I was told. Just a few minutes before midnight she was gone.

February 13 that year was a Friday, and that was the day Mom said goodbye.  You see, on Friday we were all there–her children and grandchildren, and her three best friends.  In the evening we had spoken by telephone, and she said, “You know, today was a really good day.”  Even today that sentence brings sweet tears to my eyes and memories of my mom.

Eleanor Wakaruk was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but lived her childhood years in Canada.  Her parents were Sam (Simon) Wakaruk and Katarina (Katherine) Gorman.  Katherine was the oldest of eight children.  Her mother, Wasylyna Koshman Gorman, emigrated with her family to Stuartburn, Manitoba, Canada, in 1899, from Halychyna (Galicia), now known as Ukraine.

The families were very poor in Halychyna, and they never had great monetary wealth in Canada, either.  What they were rich in was faith and family bonds.  When my mom, Eleanor, was two and her brother Tony was four years old, the family of four went to Grandma and Grandpa Gorman’s farm located next to the Rum River.  Katherine was sick with “consumption,” and there she died.

Sam left the children there and came back to Minneapolis.  At first Eleanor and Tony lived with Aunt Lena and Uncle Bill Wakaruk, and then went to live with their grandparents.  At sixteen she returned to Minneapolis to work and lived with another relative’s family, and at nineteen she married my father.  Our family had four also–father, mother, brother and sister–until my dad died when I was four years old.  My memories of my father are dim, but Grandma Gorman lived until her 98th year. 

There are fond memories of summer trips to the farm.  Grandma planted a long row of peas so that we could go out to the garden and eat as many as we wanted.  My brother and I would climb into the pigpen and try to have the pigs give us a ride.  One of the outbuildings was where Grandma kept her cream separator, and in it was a double bed for overflow company.  It was a big deal to be able to sleep in the “grenva.”  Grandma cooked on a large wood stove.  There was no telephone and no running water.  Dishes were washed in a pan outdoors in the summer, and of course the facilities were located in a one-room building behind the grenva. 

Grandma’s English was almost non-existant, but love does not always need to be spoken to be known.  We could see it in her eyes and when she smiled, and in her tears as the car pulled away from her house to go home.

There were traditions that may seem archaic in today’s world that my mother upheld in her own home–and yet the reasons behind them are still good.  Sunday was a day of rest.  Washing clothes, sewing, cutting with scissors–these were work and not allowed.  Food for Easter dinner had to be table ready the day before, because cutting with a knife would be work.  My cousin Jerry recalls that on summer Sunday’s Grandma would spread a blanket on the ground and listen to records on the wind-up record player.

Not so far from the farm is the place where the little church at Plainky Plains stood, and across the dirt road is the cemetary where many of my family were buried.  Grandma may have been Orthodox, or she may have been Catholic.  The church had an Orthodox cross, but Grandma prayed with a rosary.

I remember Grandma sitting on her bed, holding the rosary and whispering her prayers.  During our summer visits, we would go to the cemetary with her, and she would move from grave to grave saying prayers for her loved ones–this is what the Orthodox do.

In June of 2006, my cousin Jerry and I drove to Canada.  We visited relatives in Winnipeg, and then spent a day going to places around Stuartburn that held memories for us.  The church at Plainky Plains no longer stands.  Yet, as we walked the ground that now instead holds a remembrance marker, it still felt like a holy place.  Across the road at the cemetery we walked among the crosses.  There is no physical evidence for what Jerry and I experienced.  (I felt that they were glad we came–that they hadn’t been forgotten.)  Yet, it is proof enough for me that love and goodness live on, passed from generation to generation when lives are lived well.

I believe that the people who were the church body of Plainky Plains loved God and truly worshipped with humble hearts–this is the spirit that lives on, in this consecrated ground and within the hearts of those to whom they have shown the way by how their lives were lived.

Having been taught both Orthodox and Protestant faith traditions, I cannot say if prayers do any good after death.  Yet if for no other reason than to honor my grandparents’ ways, I prayed for those buried at Plainky Plains for family whose names I could still read on the crosses.  I hope for all of us to have a good accounting when Jesus Christ returns, and that we will one day worship and praise God together in Heaven.