Thoughts on Thoughts

So recently I heard some communion thoughts that troubled me. After pondering them awhile I found I needed to respond to them in an orderly fashion. Here is my response to them...

Stop It!! Stop thinking that the Blood of CHRIST trickled down from HIS Brow while HE was hanging on the Salvation's Cross!! Because you are sadly mistaken if you think JESUS'S Bleeding was minimal!!

First, Scripture notes that JESUS was whipped and beaten by Roman soldiers. Roman [& Jewish] law prohibited no more than 39 lashes to be prescribed as punishment. At the end of this lashing, can you really imagine anything but CHRIST'S Flesh torn to shreds? And that was even before the soldiers taunted and beat HIM!! Ask yourself why it was needful for Simon to be recruited to help carry the cross to the site of CHRIST'S Crucifixion. This type of torture [ruled cruel and unusual punishment by the US Supreme Court] often resulted in internal injuries.

Further ask yourself what occurred at each of JESUS'S Trials. To me at least, it is clear how provocative and upsetting JESUS'S Non-Answers were to both Jewish and Roman officials. Again do you really think that neither of these trials were carried out without any physicality involved? JESUS wasn't slapped? JESUS did not carry bruises from HIS First Trial to HIS Second? Not one mark on HIS Flesh? Nothing?

And none of these ideas of the harm done to The LAMB'S Body include the actual nailing of JESUS'S Hands or HIS Feet onto the cross. Nor does it include the wounds inflicted by the Crown of Thorns stuck to HIS Wounded Head...because let me tell you, it was not intended to be a gentle experiencing with a bare prickling of the skin. No! Those thorns were put on with as much cruelty and viciousness, as damaging and mocking as humanly possible! In all probability, our SAVIOR'S Brow ended up looking like ground meat.

As modern society steps further and further away from the reality of being sentenced to be hanged on a cross until dead, whether that took days to accomplish or the knees are broken to speed up the process; we often think six hours on a cross is a long time, when in fact, JESUS'S Finish on earth was really quite rapid. Scripture remarks on the surprise the Roman soldiers felt when they came to break CHRIST'S knees and thus hurry our KING'S End and found HIM already dead...

So even the soldiers were shocked so significantly that they felt the need to 'make sure' HE was dead by piecing HIS Chest Cavity with a sword...

And let me continue to enlighten you as to the Cross's brutal reality. 'Water' did not pour out of JESUS'S 'S Stabbed-Through Side. Blood gushed out of CHRIST'S Torn Rib Cage; accompanied most probably with bone fragments, and perhaps bits of internal organs.

We must never again allow ourselves the thought that JESUS CHRIST'S Death only brought forth a few drops of blood. Let us always remember the cry JESUS screamed:

GOD, why have YOU forsaken ME?

It was delivered from a deep chasm, a deep reserve of unbearable pain. Only because my ETERNAL FRIEND sacrificed HIMSELF in such agony can I never be forsaken, abandoned or be separated by The LORD or HIS LOVE.

Child-Like Wonder

WARNING! You may read this as "doubt". It is NOT! It is thinking about The LORD GOD like I encountered HIM as a child. Not childishly, but thinking of HIM with awe and delight. You know, like when you wondered what GOD was like before Adam and Eve.


And I realize [and you should remember] we can never completely understand The LORD Our GOD...because HE does more than we can ask or even imagine...&...my wisdom is HIS Foolishness...These are just some of my imaginings.



The other night my church held a mini-retreat called JESUS Night. Part of the evening was a time for reading and/or meditation. I [and others] could read a book or an article or my/our Bible[s] about The MESSIAH spread throughout the building in the rooms softly lit. Shortly after that time we shared fellowship over a snack and art. These ponderings came out of that communal conversation.


One of the participates, Brooke, talking about the book she read, commented on the physical danger to both Mary and her SON JESUS at HIS Birth in a stable and being lain in a manger covered with all the germs animals carry in their mouths. Because here in the USA, things are so very 'sanitary', sometimes we forget, even now, of the ongoing danger to most mothers and babies when they deliver their children in a Third World country [with the exception of the exorbitantly wealthy in those countries].....


So...


Consider that JESUS was fully human and fully GOD; and that Mary delivered HIM safely, as well as several other children. What are the implications here? Would it even be possible for HIM to die of natural causes? The flu? Bronchitis? Or as The IMMORTAL HEAVENLY HOLY SPIRIT did HE have to be murdered in order to die? Could HE not just die in an accident?

Don't mistake me. I appreciate why JESUS The CHRIST had to be slaughtered. These are "what if" kind of questions.


Also...


As you probably know, I have been puny almost since birth with such ill health that it has hounded me throughout my life, & hinders me even today. [Although I am really very healthy right now. HALLELUJAH! THANK YOU, FATHER!]
So these comments pours out of that place of long-term illness and debilitated stance.

Hebrews speaks of how having lived a human life, JESUS has felt every emotion known [and probably some that aren't], including those I have personally felt and currently feel [My Heart-thoughts are how blessed I am.] and will ever feel in the future.

But how did HE experience the emotions I experienced throughout my years of struggle & affliction? How did that appear in JESUS's Life? What shape did it take on? Did HE think of sin as the only true long-term disease with which all of us are plagued?
OR...
Was HE sickly as a child? Did HE relate to an ailing sibling and/or parent? Did HE have allergies that were annoyingly there all the time? As GOD, could The CHRIST even get sick?
Like I said, not doubt, just wondering.


And...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! Damon and Melody!

I Wanted to Share

So, one thing I learned while in San Francisco, The LORD blessed me with two church families and I want to share their websites and blog with you.

http://www.ikonsf.org
and

http://www.stjamessf.org
Enjoy!

The FATHER, The SON & The SPIRIT

So, I have been back 'home' in Texas for about 4 weeks. I am very thankful for the lessons I learned during my time with the citizens of San Francisco.
So, that is to tell you that I am alive and well, except for some broken toes before I move on to another subject.
Since I arrived home my church has talked about GOD The FATHER, GOD The SON & GOD The SPIRIT and living in step with HIM in the road map HE designed for each of us, rather than straying onto one of our own scribbles, . I was blessed by The SPIRIT with the prayer I am sharing with you during Communion two Sundays ago. Please read it as the prayer it is and add your own praise and petitions you need to bring before The LORD.
Christian Love, Blessings & Prayers,
Rachel
Isaiah 41:13

I had a conversation years ago with a woman who had buried two husbands when she met and married her 'Soul Mate.' D. had ushered her into faith in and acceptance of JESUS CHRIST, and then nurtured her reliance on and love for The LORD throughout their marriage. L. and D conceived what would be their only child, a son. When we had this conversation, this son was around age two.
That night she remarked about her awe she felt when he completed each 'first'. She glowed as she described her cooing over her son. How she had called her husband into the nursery the first time she changed a poopy diaper. Excitedly she exclaimed, "Look what our son did! Ha! Ha! Isn't it amazing? Ha! Ha!"
During Communion as I reflected on her description of her own delight over each of of her only child's feats...
I realized...
I can't imagine YOUR Reaction to YOUR SON'S 'First' Accomplishments.
LORD, was YOUR Delight like hers?
We read that all of heaven held its breath in anticipation of the birth of The CHRIST CHILD.
Is the above description why they did?
Was heaven waiting to sigh with awe and delight?
Like a mother who knows her first child is also her last, did heaven coo like that?
Did YOU, LORD?
Did heaven wait with bated breath for each of The MESSIAH'S Firsts?
First breath?
First time HE cried actual tears?
The first tooth?
HIS First Laugh?
Did YOU also delight in this manner?
This cooing?
Was this The Point of it all?
Was this The Point of The Crucifixion?
Was it about YOUR SON'S First Sacrifice?
Was that why HE was hanged, nailed to a tree for 6 hours?
Did YOU delight in HIM then?

Take Note

Sometimes this writer/editor's pen runs amok [or alternatively (some would say correctly): amuck]
I promised to write some thoughts of my experiences of late, & I promise I will do so....in the mean-time enjoy some poetry written by yours truly.

I am a pendulum swing-ing.
Who will come swing with me?
I am a leaf dancing on the lawn.
My ballet skirt is orange and red and gold.
Who will come dancing with me?
I am a water droplet rippling on the ocean's boulevard.
I ripple blue and green and gray.
I am cold and in an understatement, I am wet.
Need I ask? Who will come ripple with me?

"I thank my GOD every time I remember you." from Philippians 1 verse 3 NIV

I don't want, I do want
I don't want your pity.
I don't want your fears or your dire predictions.
I don't want to be a saint in your eyes.
I don't want to be left alone.
I do want your honesty.
I do want your physical affection even while I find it hard to start the hug and hard to end it.
Hugging is with eyes and fingers and hands and arms and lips and with bears.
I do want you to be authentic with me.
I do want your love: philo, eros and agape.
Is it not terrible to have so many meanings for a word that should mean something deeply significant?

Philippians 4:8 NIV
Finally, Brethren, what so ever things are true, what so ever things are honest, what so ever things are just, what so ever things are pure, what so ever things are lovely, what so ever things are of good report, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Brothers and Sisters,
I hope I have done that what I have "blogged" has done that for you.

Describing My Childhood Christmas

I am trying to describe what Christmas was like when I was a child, but well, since I was a child I don't really remember many details...here is one Christmas [plus Epilogue] I do remember...
When I was about five, as I recall Christmas Eve was when I discovered The True Santa was MOM!
At that time I shared a bedroom with my two older sisters, and we had been sent to bed so that, "Santa would come." I was really very excited to see what I would get in my stocking [more on that later]. In fact I as so excited I was practically jumping on the bed to the great annoyance of my sisters. Finally exasperated, one [who shall remain nameless, but she knows who she is] told me to go see if Santa had indeed come. As quietly as a five year old could manage I crept into the living, breathlessly hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa if he was still there; and what did I see?
MOM!
Over time I did learn that the Spirit of Christmas and the idea of playing 'Magi' to one's children is what it really means to be Santa. And my Mom and yours are the True Santa Claus after all.
On a side note, from then on I swore up and down that I would spoil the surprise of Santa to this sister's children. And *YIKES* I almost did one year!
One day close to Christmas, many moons ago I was absentmindly talking to my Mom about what I might want in my stocking when I heard a chair or some such squeak...OH My Cow, my niece, maybe 5 at the time and still believing in a "Real" Santa, was sitting right there. AHHHH! In a moment that had the power to break a child's heart, The LORD really blest me with fast thinking! I was able to tell her a plausible story about how many children are in the world and for Santa to be able to grant all of those wishes...that once a person reaches a certain age (I might have said age 13), their mom and dad take over Santa's job of providing a stocking. I am so glad she could and did enjoy believing Santa for a few more years.
More to Come....

My Thoughts Drift

Another Sunday in the Service of the LORD....
Preface:
So the Pacific Time Zone is 2 hours behind Central [Texas] Time. And because so many of my loved ones are set to function according to those pesky two hours, and because I really don't want to wake them at say 10PM Pacific [Midnight Central], I thought I would handle this in what I [again] thought would be a very convenient manner. I left the clock on which my computer runs set to Texas time. Leading to it always seeming like I am awake and ready to go two hours before the rest of creation, which is laid back anyway, this being California and all.
Story:
The faith community I am worshipping with meets at 11AM on Sundays. Before I left you, my faithful friends, I was not looking forward to getting up that early. Those of you who were worried about me changing while I was out here, at least in this instance, don't, I still really do prefer the crack of noon or 1PM, 3PM at the very, very latest I promise. But in the four weeks I have been in this neck of the woods 11AM seems to be late enough even to please me, especially since my sister-in-law makes fantastic baked goods.
Getting to the point...
As I held the communion bread this morning, I was thinking about that pesky time change between the 'zones'. I was thinking okay, it is not quite 2PM in Abilene...I wondered if Chelsa was in her kitchen baking Hope's bread for this evening. Is my 'gluten-free' bread made by Abby going to taste as good as her bread always does? [It was pretty good, but Chelsa is, as always in my book, the uncontested Blue Ribbon Winning Champion of Bread].
I was also thinking about time marching on...2000 years ago JESUS broke bread, blessed it, and giving it to HIS disciples, saying, "This is MY Body, when you eat it, remember ME."
And I did. I remembered CHRIST.
I remembered the first Sunday I ate the bread with a congregation, warning the lady in the white dress that this was the first time I would take communion and I was so very worried about spilling the tray, which of course, I proceeded in doing.
I remembered as we approached Christmas last year, how Hope remembered the death of CHRIST and the death of cherished friends and family in the sharing of communion in three un-traditional [non-tradition, however you want to say it] but quite lovely ways...goodbye past, standing still, walking into the future knowing we are leaving faithful footsteps behind.
I remembered when K.B. stood up and announced that after prayer, fasting, and listening to the HOLY SPIRIT move in their hearts, the elders decided the ladies of Hope could nourish our faith community by baking the bread and by serving it to the congregation.
I remembered the first time I baked bread with Chelsa, the same day I first stood up and opened my heart wide enough to share the profound abiding joy I often experience in communion.
I remembered how Janet loves the personal benediction I offer to those I commune with.
In that moment of communion today, as I sat thinking, I remembered Hope who would "Come to the table," and hopefully leave with what their hearts had been longing for tonight.
I remembered and thanked our GOD for the hands stretched behind the faithful to lift me to the hands holding mine now, and the hands I am hoping will help me spread out the bread dough that I plan to bake for all who I encounter along my walk to Emmaeus before I am laid to rest with my fathers and my mothers.
Thank YOU and You who communed with me this day, The Day of The LORD WHO Is The SPRING of LIVING WATER. Hallelujah and Amen.

More about SF, CA "ikon" Church

As I previously stated, I did not get to attend church here until October 25th. That Sunday, as I approached where "we" meet [meaning me with the ikon attendees], The HOLY SPIRIT inspired me with the song, "Sanctuary."
'Oh, LORD, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving I'll be a living sanctuary for YOU.... LORD, teach YOUR children to stop the fighting, start uniting, all as one. LORD, let's get together, loving forever. [I'll be a] Sanctuary, for you' [I personally think that this 'you' is me saying that I want to be a place of peace for you, my friends]....
I think this gift of song was both a prayer that I was asking JESUS and an assurance from HIM that I was being sent to just such a place of The LORD'S Peace and Love.
Now you should know that after Services, my brother Warren and his wife Martha picked me up and with several little girls we all went to a pumpkin patch to obviously pick pumpkins for Halloween. Several times during that day of fun and the next week or so, I realized from comments that ikon meets in what is most nicely referred to as a bad part of the city. This Sunday it finally dawned on me that we meet in an operating nightclub...yes I am naive...no I am not an idiot.
The LORD GOD constantly amazes me! "Shout with Joy to The LORD!" (Psalm 100) The song given to me before my first Sunday which calmed my nerves [and I think we all know how shy (also known as scared or being a wimp) I can be when I am unaccompanied by a friend to [quaintly termed] have my back as I step into the unknown] and the Prayer The HOLY SPIRIT gave me to write [see below] during my first communion time with ikon; with these two gift, I feel that I am in the complete security of my FATHER'S Arms. I am sure that if other people could read my feelings when at ikon's house of worship and among this group of Christians they would interpret and speak of them as reckless, especially if they worry for my health and safety.
If you know me, you may know what my two favorite words are [and no, they are not Rachel and frogs]. It is vital to know these words are only my favorite when together. "But GOD..." are my favorite words because they resound throughout every day of my life; and I challenge you to think about how they manifest themselves in your life.
Nine times one or more doctors have specifically said to my family that I had a few days or a few hours or a few minutes to live and to say goodbye to me...But GOD said no, I have a purpose of this girl who is MY Child. The number of times of hospital admission I have is more than the number of years I have lived, even more than the years I will have attained on my birthday in January. "But GOD..."
But GOD tells me HE walks with me and can carry me through this city and any I visit in the future. I might not be physically safe. But GOD says I am safe spiritually. So here is the Prayer I received. After that are a thought I had this [November 1] Sunday and song lyrics sung at ikon. Although I don't know who authored the words, I know The AUTHOR of life.
Prayer [I love to pray songs]:
'YOU are LORD of creation, and LORD of my life, LORD of the land and the sea. YOU were LORD of heaven before there was time, and LORD of all lords YOU will be. Thank YOU, I think YOU have given me another ,"peek-a-boo." I know that ikon is the place YOU have sent me to continue to bloom. Thank YOU, thank YOU, thank YOU! May we bow to the Precious NAME of our SAVIOR, amen.'
Thought:
'Bath all things in prayer.'
Lyrics:
'We are all in this together.... Walking the line between faith and fear... This life don't last forever... When you cry I taste the salt in your tears... Spell your name to GOD.'

Now ask yourself, "Is Rachel in the right place, or what?"

Sorry ...This is NOT PART 2

Okay, so this is not Part 2 of the story I told at Church October 11. Don't worry it is just postponed, not canceled. Someone emailed me and asked me to write a little about what I am doing here.
Without further ado...well that church we prayed I would be sent to, well I was sent to exactly the right one! It might not say Church of Christ on the sign [but we all know I don't care what the sign says], but they do serve weekly communion [something quite frankly I thought I was going to need to sacrifice while I was out here], so Chi-Ching [this is a prize winning sound]! I feel truly blessed by The Lord for HIS SPIRIT leading me to this church! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH GOD!!!
If you want to know who I am worshipping with, their web address is http://www.ikonsf.com
Last Sunday was the first I got to attend because of family and health reasons. But I do want to tell you what we are studying and the notes I wrote after the sermon [which they call a "conversation", Ha Ha, joke's on me, they should have said something like Today's "message" or "thoughts" because to me "Conversation" means giving you my input vocally during the "conversation"]....
From the NIV Genesis [all emphasises are mine] chapter 2, verse 15 and following...
v.15 THE LORD GOD took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
v.16 And The LORD GOD commanded the man, “You are free to eat of any tree in the garden;
v.17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
My Thoughts on the “When”
“When”? I was always taught, “If.” But “when” shows GOD'S protective nature, HIS earliest longings to save us, mostly from ourselves, from the horror that is death. “When” also reflects that the Power of The LORD includes the power to give life and to take it away. The mere fact that this word "when" [or rather its language equivalent] was told throughout the whole of Hebrew oral history and later included in Holy Scripture practically screams “THIS IS A LORD UNLIKE ANY OTHER.” Continuing...
v.18 THE LORD GOD said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
v.19 Now The LORD GOD had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. HE brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
v.20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
v.21 So The LORD GOD caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, HE took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. [Do you ever wonder if a scar was left behind?]
v.22 Then The LORD GOD made a woman from the rib HE had taken out of the man, and HE brought her to the man.
v.23 The man said,/"This is now bone of my bones/and flesh of my flesh;/she shall be called 'woman,'/for she was taken out of man."
v.24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
v.25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
My Thoughts on This Chapter [or Section of the Chapter]
GOD made Adam from dirt [it might say 'dust' or 'ground' or 'earth,' but basically dirt].
Then HE made all of the rest of the creatures, big and small, from the same dirt but HE realizes that none of them was a suitable mate for Adam?
If we presume that all of those creatures were made from the exact same dirt as Adam, none were suitable for him?
Well, what made the difference? What about the fact The LORD HIMSELF breathed into Adam's nostril to give him life, is it the difference? Or did woman [watch: “Rob Bell: Everything Is Spiritual”] need to be formed from Adam's rib in order that the instincts or the emotions to care for and protect would arise from him? Or was it a different instinct that needed to be brought forth? Maybe man had to learn to share his heart and everything else that is within him? Did Eve need to know how she was made in order that she might find the things named above within herself? Was it necessary for man and woman to have this physical connection for the “leaving” & the “cleaving” to really take place?
Or did Adam need a sense of loss of self to desire intimacy with Eve, made from a part of his body? Was it Plato who wrote about belly-buttons enabling the Perfect Mate to be found? C.S. Lewis wrote about a GOD-shaped hole in every heart that humans try to fill with all kinds of things: drugs, money, sex, you get the idea. But The Only TRUE Plug for that shape is GOD. But what if Lewis got the idea, and forgot to add the “twist”? [Isn't there always a twist in every good story in/of the human experience?] If we imagine that Lewis's puzzle piece, the one he theorized about, as being in the cookie cutter shape of a person, could maybe a toe [or even the toenail] have to be filled with a mate? Could the “plug” or the “rib” be a euphemism for the sense of connectivity and responsibility I feel [and should rightfully feel] for those I love, including the last generation [and back and back and back], my generation, and the next generation [and the next and next and next], as far as I or any Christian can reach up or down through history? As a Christian I do feel this connection and this responsibility for all people and I do desire for each of them to fill their GOD-shaped hole with The ONE TRUE GOD. Is this the connection which The LORD desired for us when HE made us, male and female? Is the ability to reconnect to/with each other, one of the points of the Salvation by our GOD, WHO sits upon HIS throne...purpose and unity? For us to declare it AND live it?
How will we know? Can we know?
Postscript:
This Sunday Aaron [ikon's minister] examined this second section of Genesis I wrote about above. He pointed out something that I like to think would have eventually blossomed for me out of my own questioning and faith process. His point was:
Part of our [meaning males and females] vulnerability and intimacy to each other and to GOD comes from the creation as a whole. Then taking the idea even further... the restoration of that ability [to be vulnerable and intimate with one another] is one of the reasons The LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD-INCARNATE poured HIMSELF out for us, to reconnect us, to allow us to expose the gooey center that is our soul.
And all GOD'S People said, "Amen?"
Amen! The point of being part of the Body of CHRIST is to be a people that when non-believers look at us, "They will know we are Christians by our love." For me, I cannot love another person if I don't give him/her a piece, however tiny, of my gooey center. I just cannot do it. And I don't want to...love you that is without giving you a space on my soft underbelly [think armadillo] on which to write your name. CHRIST called us to be gentle as doves and shrewed as serpents. If I have not been gentle with you and I profess to love you, my deepest & most sincere apologies. I commit to begin anew on how I will show you I love you. We ARE new every morning. My heart IS once again open for business. Please take out your pen and rewrite [or write for the first time] your name.
More to come...