Quality Music and Books

This, That and the Other Thing

Good Morning, Lord!  That is the title of the book I just finished, this morning.  It’s the autobiography of George Shinn.  Excellent book!  I thought, with just a few misgivings.  He attributes his success and awards to God.  Fabulous!  I thought.  Easy reading, makes sense, and inspirational… George is a regular guy, someone like the kind of people with whom I enjoy associating.  He is a man of tremendous willpower and determination.    My “few misgivings” were that he didn’t always give God the glory–but then, a lot of people do that kind of thing.  Then, it seems, George made a huge boo-boo.  He had to go to court, about assaulting a woman, and also about a sex act.  He and his attorneys argued its consensual nature–so what? I ask.  A, Mr. Shinn had a wife of many years; and B, Mr. Shinn was still doing something that’s a no-no by God’s standards.  Midlife crisis, maybe?  Possibly, I suppose.  I don’t know Mr. Shinn.  Either A nor B fits with what I read in his book.

Yes, I still like the book, but it’s not the same anymore, is it?  Personally, I don’t want a glass house.  We all have skeletons.  Do you really want anyone to know yours?

The solution to this delemma is not to make skeletons.  Here is the problem with the solution: We usually don’t figure that out until some are already made!

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I read another book this morning, The Choice by Og Mandino.  I was caught up immediately by the drama, a man knowing he will die soon.  Mark Christopher, a successful insurance company executive, realizes what he has missed by being married to his job and resigns.  With his wife and two children, Mark moves to the New England countryside and takes up writing.  After being hard up financially but not destitute for a time, his book gets published and becomes a huge success.  The book he writes, A Better Way to Live, is another book authored by Og Mandino.

At the pinnacle of Mark Christopher’s and the book’s success, he called upon to make a choice–would he give up his life so that his son may live?  Leading up to this point, the author weaves into the story a series of mysterious messages sent to Mark by a person name A. B. Salom — Absolom, the murdered son of King David in the Old Testament, and David’s response …

“O, my son, Absolom, my son, my son would God I had died for thee.”

Anyone at all who has love for another–whether or not a parent–surely cannot help but feel the anquish in these tormented words.  Yet, here was King David whose offspring would bring the world back from the hellish future it was on the path to achieve, and the apple of God’s eye for his goodness and beauty, now experiencing the darkness of the depths himself with the loss of his son’s life.

Do you wonder?  … Do you wonder how God felt when his own Son was murdered on the cross?  Here was Jesus–not only His son, but part of Him in the Godhead–going through the most painful, anguishing torment.  Can an analogy be drawn between the two?  I don’t know for certain.  What I do know is that the book, The Choice, does make some sort of connection, somehow.

And, that is where the power of this story lies.  The unexamined life is not worth living …Socrates.  I will go one step further.  To believe with conviction one must not only examine their life, but more importantly examine their beliefs.  In order to speak convincingly, one must have the conviction arrived upon from the examination.

Let’s take one more look at the subject of this story, Mark Christopher.  Mark had everything he ever wanted and desired, then willingly gave it all up for those he loved.  He went through some struggles, then gained success and the pinnacle of his career.  Then Mark had to make a choice.  Was he willing to exchange his own life for one he loved most dearly.

You know what?  Someone did just that … for you and for me
His name … Jesus Christ.

What then will you do when faced with a choice of temptation or a choice with even more permanent consequences?  What will you do???

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The Sermon on the Mount
Contained in what is traditionally called The Sermon on the Mount are some of the most familiar biblical passages known to both Christians and non-Christians alike.  Here is where the Beatitudes lie, where Jesus teaches us the Lord’s Prayer, and where He extends the Ten Commandments.  These verses have been written about, preached about, depicted in art, turned into songs, examined theologically over and over throughout history–and most likely it will continue.

If we as Christians don’t take them into our soul prayerfully, the living, active Word in Scripture will be dead.  I don’t necessarily think this is a beginning point for a newbie Christian, because to live by what is commanded in the text is not an easy task.  Should you have begun as soon as you committed yourself to the Lord, I highly commend you.  As for myself, I believe I am ready to begin the journey.  God has laid it upon me to do so, and with Him I can do anything.

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Life begins.  We are all — every person on this planet, the children of God, created in His own image.  We are free to accept His call or reject it, but anything short of 100% is a reject, pure and simple.  You can’t take some or part, it’s all or nothing. 

As children of the always-living God, when did our life begin?  That! My dear brothers and sisters, is the question!   Where in the Bible does it say that life begins when the child becomes a “viable fetus”?  Since when does a creation not become created until we say it does?

Do you see how illogical it is to allow uncontrolled abortion?  Along with this, when is the taking of a human life, a life that is helpless to advocate for itself, not murder?  The answer, of course, is never.

This is not “single-issue politics” here — This is murder!

May God have mercy on us, may He have mercy!

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)

My thoughts for the beginning of this day are torn — I am humbled in spirit again by the fact that I am still a sinner and still sin, yet can be forgiven.  I ask sincerely for forgiveness, I reset my mind to move forward again in the path of what is right, and move on.

Have mercy on me, o God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgement.  Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.  (Ps 51 NRSV)

Days go from high to low, I read Scripture, I meditate, I pray, I listen and fellowship and learn.  Yet again, I sin … from the mountaintop to the valley.  God is not done yet.  There is more for me to know, I need His strength within me to grow.

You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.  Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, o God, and put a new and right spirit within me.   Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take  your Holy Spirit from me.  (Ps 51 NRSV)

Still, because God is faithful, I know that I have already been forgiven — because I believe, and because I asked, and because I will attempt again to set my sinful soul aside and live totally within the love of my Savior and Lord, Jesus.

When I look back over the years I see great progress in my soul.  There are many sinful ways that have been set aside completely, and the temptation to act out the behaviors is gone.  Why then, do I still sin?  It certainly is not my desire to do so.  The aftermath of shame is far worse for me, and in the process of sinning I have offended others as well as God.

I cling to the words of St. Paul … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  … For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 8 KJV)

These words have sustained me through some of the worst days of my life, and continue to do so every day.  The darkness of those days, though, is no different than the darkness in my heart every time I consciously sin.  St. John of the Cross understood this, Padré Pio understood, as have many others.

Martin Luther spoke truthful words when he spoke of the renewal of baptism … so that a truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily Baptism, once begun and ever to be once begun and ever continued … And here you see that Baptism, both in its power and signification, … which has been called repentance, as it is nothing other than Baptism. 

… For this reason let everyone esteem his daily Baptism as a daily dress in which he is to walk constantly, that he may ever be bound in the faith and its fruits, that he supress the old man and grow up in the new.  For if we would be Christians, we must practise the work whereby we are Christians.  But if anyone fall away from it, let him again come into it.  For just as Christ, the Mercy-seat does not recede from us or forbid us to come to Him again, even though we sin, so all His treasure and gifts remain.  If, therefore we have once in Baptism obtained forgiveness of sin, it will remain every day, as long as we live, that is, as long as we carry the old man about our neck. (Large Catechism)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me in a willing spirit. … (Ps 51 NRSV)

My greatest desire is to be one with my Lord and God, 24 hours each day, seven days each week, every day of the month of every year.  Thus I wait … and wait eagerly for the time when I will sit at His feet in the heavens, and time will be of no consequence forever.  I see myself gazing with awe at his beautiful, glorious countenance and pray, Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.

In the interim, I will most certainly sin again, and ask forgiveness, and then move on.  Will you please join me in this pursuit, will you ask Jesus to forgive you, love you, and make you His?  Do you wish to have a merry heart through all of the problems and dangers of human life?  Do you wish for peace?  Do you desire an end to the longing to fill the emptiness within your soul?

Come, Jesus said, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light, and I will give you rest. 

Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.

I will arise and go to Jesus … He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior … O there are ten thousand charms.
… Joseph Hart, 1759

Here is the tear, the dichotomy, the split: Though a sinner through and through, forgiven daily, my spirit renewed, the joy within stays beyond compare, for my Savior forever dwells with me there.

You can begin your eternal life right this moment by asking in faith for Jesus to come and be with you forever.  It won’t be wonderful every moment, because with all of the evil in our world that is humanly impossible.  Yet inside you this burning light of joy will grow and grow, and you will be happy in all circumstances.

When evil, mean-spirited people work to destroy you–and I have real-life experience to know that they exist, you will always have something better than they will ever have.  You will have Joy, Jesus and eternity.   And, because you are forgiven you will forgive them and pray for them, and then leave it in God’s hands.

May this day bring you blessings beyond all human measure. … babamarusia

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

DEFINITIONS:

TRAVEL: To go from one place to another, as on a trip; journey

JOURNEY: The act of traveling from one place to another; a trip

TRIP: A going from one place to another; a journey.

 

I am writing to you as I travel on my journey, a trip through time.  How interesting it is that three words having essentially the same definition are three shades of the same also.  TRAVEL refers to the movement from one place to another, JOURNEY is the explanation of the act—the self in movement, and TRIP as defined is the actual moving.

 

In terms of these definitions, the TRAVEL of which I write from one place to another would be defined as the state of my body, from infancy to old age.  The JOURNEY is my spiritual growth as a Christian, and the TRIP, or movement is through time.

 

Through it all, I cannot remember a time when my thoughts didn’t include the truth of God’s existence.  We went to church and at families dinners discussed church.  I went to Sunday School, or as we called it Church School.  I sang in the choir, directed the choir, and participated in the accompanying cultural activities.

 

I have no explanation as to why others who traveled with me on this journey fell away for reasons of which I was aware while I remained faithful.  There were the church services in the Ukrainian language that I didn’t understand—my solution was to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and follow the corresponding English on the opposing page.  Other behaviors—taught and acquired individually—that I still hear about today when I occasionally meet someone from my younger days, and how it caused the recipient of the behavior to leave the church.  I certainly understand why they turned their backs and moved on—but I didn’t do the same.

 

I still love the spirituality of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, the Byzantine art and ancient music—and never have experienced anything coming close to it in the Lutheran church.  Even so, it was in a Lutheran church where I received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not the Orthodox Church where my childhood was spent.

 

Since that moment, when God came to me in such a powerful way, I have had a passion to know my Lord and Savior, to draw ever closer to Him.  To accomplish what my heart burned to know I attended a seminary.  I read, study, and think until my exhaustion forces me to rest.

 

Perhaps the roots come from my Orthodox background with its ancient traditions, but I am drawn to books of a classic style.  I don’t necessarily mean books written long ago, I mean the style of writing.  Each book leads to more questions, more books, and longer periods spent in meditation and prayer.

 

I seek to know God and His will for my time on this earthly journey upon which I travel.  I desire to be cleansed of all that hinders my free will that opposes Him, and to be filled with a joyous spirit in all circumstances.  I wish I could say that 100% of my time is like that, but it isn’t, and perhaps just the act of being in the world as a participant precludes such an achievement during anyone’s lifetime.

 

Thank God, “endurance training” does take breaks.  Even though illogical, it is the break times why I usually make my mistakes.  Isn’t it wonderful that forgiveness happens anytime, any place, anywhere, and more than once?

 

I would like to recommend a few books and authors that have inspired me on my journey.  Maybe they will be fruitful for you also.

 

May God bless you with the richness of the Holy Spirit this day on your journey.
…. babamarusia

 

Recommended books & authors: a short list

The Holy Bible

The Little Flowers of St. Francis

Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross

The Early Church Fathers’ writings: can be read online

Beginning to Pray by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (or any of his books)

Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (or any of his books—some are very deep reading)

Books by Jeanne Guyon

Books by Watchman Nee