Well, it's been a fairly intense couple of months blogging. My cousin Linda's death, followed by my week in England, and the ongoing spiritual journey through Lent and on to Easter.
I'm still excited by the idea vested in Rebekah's Eighth Day message this past Sunday, because it fits so well with my "Live as if we mean it" commitment and the "Gourmet Initiative."
RANDOM: But the next few weeks will feature posts that are more random, and less specifically coordinated (other than the foundational premise of Eighth Day). They may also be lighter in tone... although that is very much dependent on what God is up to in my life that particular morning.
This morning it's the promise of another amazingly splendid Spring day! Scout Labradoodle is very excited about the house being open, and she's continually walking out onto the porch (to breathe in a little extra pollen!), sniffing the air, and strutting around the house like this time of the year is the best idea ever. "Spring - my favorite thing!"
I love the constant sense of gratitude Scout brings to our home. "Thanks for waking me up!" "Thanks for taking me for a walk!" "Thanks for my bowl of food!" "Thanks for petting me!" "Thanks for looking at me - I think I'll wag my tail!" "Thanks for being my family!"
Sometimes our cat, Darth - lying peacefully, motionless for five or six hours - looks up when Scout's tail is beating the floor mercilessly, and raises one eyebrow appraisingly. "Poor simple fool," he seems to be saying; "If you understood the deep irony of life, like I do, and the tragic extent of your ignorance - you wouldn't be so irritatingly happy all the time... yawn...."
There's a purity in Scout's approach to life that is disarmingly profound. Why not celebrate every little detail as if it were designed for our pleasure and our care? Why not simply enjoy the blessings we have rather than always wanting stuff that's out of reach? Why not embrace what's right there in front of us and be grateful? Why not live as if the faithfulness of God - something we love to sing about - was actually true and had some relevance to our day-to-day lives?
Jesus was very clear about the spiritual efficacy of such a posture when he was wrapping up his "Sermon on the Mount."
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34
I'm not trivializing the cares and the concerns that are so much front and center in our lives. I'm just suggesting that, maybe, they don't always need to be front and center.
Woof.
Derek
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