Up the Sunbeam

-- They were practically superheroes! At the very least, they were the equivalent of today's Secret Service, Special Forces and 5-Star Generals rolled into one. David's Mighty Men , 37 warriors named and honored for all time as Hall-of-Famers in the history of Israel. Many of them joined David after God had named him Israel's next king, but while he was still on the run, trying to stay alive in the face of then-King Saul's attempts to kill him. They risked everything to support and protect the man whom God had chosen to be their next king. David had been in caves and foxholes with these guys, had lived on the razor's edge of life and death with them, had been protected and defended by them, knew their names and their stories and where they were from. His relationship with them was forged in the fires of combat and they must have been closer to David than his own brothers. Fast-forward a quarter of a century . . . David has been on the throne for some 20 years...

Weighed in the balance and found wanting . . . found wanting . . . found wanting . . . Wow! Who turned up the reverb?  :) This is the loop that plays and plays and plays in my mind as I look across the scales of perfectionism at that ideal me over there on the other side.  Why can't I be like her, like the me I want to be?!! SLIM, ATHLETIC, HEALTHY AND IN SHAPE BEAUTIFUL FACE, HAIR, MAKEUP, CLOTHES ALWAYS ON TIME, NEVER FORGETS PRIORITIZES PERFECTLY, NEVER PROCRASTINATES ALWAYS PREPARED, EVEN FOR THE UNEXPECTED ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TO SAY ALWAYS LIVES UP TO HER POTENTIAL OVERCOMES OBSTACLES AS THOUGH THERE WEREN'T ANY ACHIEVES EVERY GOAL, ACCOMPLISHES EVERY DREAM ALWAYS HAS MEALS READY, GOURMET AND ON TIME AMAZINGLY TALENTED WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER, TOO HUMBLE TO THINK SO WRITES BOOKS THAT CHANGE LIVES SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSWOMAN WITH SIX-FIGURE PROFITS HAS A SPOTLESS HOUSE, LAUNDRY ALWAYS DONE NEVER HAS ANYTHING TO BE SORRY FOR NEVER INCONVENIENCES ANYONE, NEVER LETS ANYONE DOWN PE...

-- Imagine an edict has gone out from Heaven, putting humankind in charge of determining who is going to receive eternal life. How do you think people would go about it? For a prize so great to be given out, people might hold a contest of some kind, like a beauty pageant or a football game, a singing competition or tennis match. People would have to prove they were the best at something, wouldn't they? There would surely be forms to fill out . . . lots and lots of forms and disclaimers and legal mumbo jumbo--just to make sure it was all handled fairly of course. Or maybe the powers that be would decide to create a difficult quest of some kind and only the people who successfully completed the quest would qualify for eternal life, yeah, that's probably how they'd do it. Imagine the rules that would have to be followed and the entry fees that would have to be paid. I'm guessing there would be major hoops to be jumped through and hurdles to be cleared for anyone ...

-- Grace is not our native language. In our development from infancy onward, it's clear that we are neither graceful nor gracious at birth. Our first attempts at moving our ungainly, head-heavy bodies from one place to another are clumsy and peppered with tumbles and crash landings--no, we are NOT naturally graceful. When my daughter was little, I saw in her pediatrician's office a poster listing the "Toddler Rules of Possession": 1. If I like it, it's mine. 2. If it's in my hand, it's mine. 3. If I can take it from you, it's mine. 4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine. 5. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in anyway. 6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine. 7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine. 8. If I saw it first, it's mine. 9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine. 10. If it's broken, it's yours. I laughed out loud...

 "It is through the Son, at the cost of his own blood, that we are redeemed, freely forgiven through that full and generous grace which has overflowed into our lives and opened our eyes to the truth." Ephesians 1:7 (Phi) Remember when you were little and you would fall and skin your knee and your mom or dad or some loving grown up would come and "kiss it better?" I'm not sure the pain in the knee was really better, but the pain in your heart sure was! As little children, there was something so unexpected about falling down and getting hurt. One moment you were running along with the wind in your face and the world by the tail, and the next, you were on the cold hard ground, bloody and bewildered, wounded inside and out. I fell down on my proverbial hands and knees yesterday. To add insult to injury, the thing that tripped me up was my own fault. I made a stupid and costly, but very UNintentional error. Doggone it, I so want to go back and unmake that ...