Lords Day

In our church we call Sunday “the Lords Day”.  I hadn’t heard it called that till we got to this church. It is a good reminder to me to focus. . It is not God that needs us to sing and pray to him . He isn’t lacking in some way and we have to help Him out. Someone who has given you everything you have both in this world and the next does at the very least deserve our undying affection . If a human being took you out of a slum and put you in a palace  you would tend to be grateful I would hope.Especially if you were being an obnoxious creep when he took you in and paid all your debt with not just money but pain and suffering on your behalf, you would be grateful and shocked I hope.

So today is the day to be shocked and awed in a good way.  Jesus did not have to die for me, But He did.

If my son died for someone else I would not want them to just forget it . I would want them to be dang thankful . Wouldn’t anyone?

 

The Cold Pool

When you go to the Korean Spa , two things you get over really fast. First you have to walk around naked. Its all female in there so it doesn’t matter but if you aren’t used to that you might find it unnerving . Many people won’t go there for that reason alone.

The second thing is Heat. You have to get used to being in very hot rooms and pools and staying in them for as long as you can. The first few times you might have to get out of everything and just cool off so you won’t get light headed

The thing most people spend the least amount of time in is the cold pool. It is pretty chilly and there is a waterfall to stand under and let it beat on your shoulders. I would say most people in there avoid that pool.

Getting in the cold pool for the first time is shocking, especially after all the hot pools and rooms. You have to mentally tell your legs to keep walking into it or you will stay in for one second and jump out. But each time you go in it becomes easier and easier till you can stay in a few minutes at a time. That is when you discover the joys  and relief that the healing cold freezing pool has to offer. Overcoming the compulsion to jump out and Making Yourself! stay in the water is like conquering some scared part of you. That feels good. Then when you body gets used to the cold, the water shocks your body into releasing toxins  which does make you feel better too. Exhilaration is the next stage. It a so fantastic to get almost a shot of energy that surges through your body after a plunge. That is why the Finnish people jump into snow pools. Good clean fun on a molecular level.

All this to illustrate how other things in life are like the Cold Pool.

When you are scared of pain, which is most of us all the time. Just throwing your self into something knowing full well it will not be comfortable  is probably the greatest exercise you can do. Thats why people bungee jump. It makes you stronger, better, smarter, cleaner, more creative, bolder, mightier, and braver.

Can you imagine Michelangelo putting the first paint stroke on the Sistine Chapel and realizing that he had a huge huge area to fill with images that would bogle your mind.

Or someone who wants to sail around the world.

Or forgive someone who hurt you .

so many levels for the cold pool.

You know what they say,

“The waters fine.”

The Best Five Minutes

What would you do if you were guaranteed total and utter success at whatever you put your hands to? If everything you cared to do , you were guaranteed would happen immediately.

There was a Twilight Zone episode that was like this. A criminal  died and he thought he went to heaven because he was playing pool and no matter what he did the balls went in the pocket. He tried to not get them in but they went in anyway. Soon he realized that he was in Hell.

I was pondering that this morning. You know that feeling that washes over you when you work all day to get the yard clean and then you survey the progress and it feels so good. Or you work out to the point of utter exhaustion and then stop and lay on the mat and just relax. You know how you earned that

 

Or you are really really hungry and you take a bite of something delicious and it is the most wonderful experience.

You can’t even feel the good unless you have something to compare it to.

My sister did a remodel of a teachers lounge recently. She boldly got the idea to redo it and even though she had no experience in redoing a room she launched out. She painstakingly went through craigslist ads and looked at many many things before she settled on the perfect countertops at the perfect price. Then she agonized over every other aspect of the room  careful collecting all the parts till one weekend she organized lots of volunteers to tear the old room apart and build new cabinets and install new appliances and furniture and curtains and decor , in a three day weekend. Her carpenter husband was going to help but he had to work. One thing after another happened and they were beset on all sides with volunteers being under emotional pain(one volunteer had his mother die that very day) yet they persevered and Monday Morning it was done and beautiful. She called me the next morning to tell me she never was so happy at the outcome and the people who would use it were so thrilled.

I know she felt high for a week after that.

All life is like childbirth. the Agony and the Ecstasy.

The best part of the journey is the first 5 minutes after you finish the vision. The first five minutes after you are basking in the glory and shock that it actually worked out.

Permission

If there was a church that focused on visual arts, I would go there. I think churches should have art galleries.

You can’t expect people to build what you think of . You might have to be the person that starts the ball rolling.

Ever since I became a  Christian, I wondered if there was such a thing. So far only music is featured. We do have sculptures at the church I go to  and I am happy for that. And they have drawings in the narthex and they have my paintings in the womens room. So it is not that they don’t have something.

But what if there was a new painting each week. a new painting done for every single sermon. what if it was behind the alter while the Pastor said the sermon.

Once I was in a church that commissioned me to  do three big paintings that they left on the walls in the building. I painted London bankers for one and I cannot remember the other two. I think one was the Tree of Life. Any who

that happened .  But I think God would enjoy his artist people doing whatever they could to glorify Him.

I think it would be so exciting and alive.

Now that I think about it the second I became a Christian I wanted to make a place like that . A place for every artistic expression. I mean really music isn’t all there is.

I am glad I remembered this in the desert Lent walk blog because I had  buried it  To be honest, I have never asked if I could do this because I figured it was too radical but maybe I am not giving them enough credit. Maybe I could do a painting every week on the bulletin. but I was thinking of something grander and I love the idea of having to illustrate one a week. It would be a challenge.  somebody in the congregation could buy it so they could keep the sermon they liked. Even if this was done for only one year, it would be great. Artists would come to that church . Bank on it. Maybe I will ask about it. But here is reality. Nobody has to give you permission to create something. You can do it anytime. It took me all day the write the last line.

Husbandville

Lots of people have husbands.

But you might not think about this

If you feed them almonds and figs

They will always be in bliss

And they will make coffee and bring you some cigs.

 

This blog was causing me a little stress in coming up with clever ideas or even thoughts for 40 days in a row.  I just wanted to write a bad poem to loosen up a little see what happened. Mission statements are sort of mind bending because you don’t want to get it wrong ,

When I was a kid there was this phrase”finding yourself” that was used quite often. Usually a young person would say that when choosing a career. But  maybe it is a constant question you should ask yourself as you age too. Things change and we grow so maybe you have to keep refining that question.

A close friend of mine said that after I write these 40 blogs, I should go back and see the patterns. That is a good idea. Maybe this day is just a piece that will make sense at the end of the road.

 

 

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