January 19, 2009 – The Welcome Home

The Way I See It #76

I suppose that I might have cause to celebrate. It’s a sunny day. The water surrounding our home receded at such a significant rate that we’re now able to see all of our property and much of the surrounding farmland. This is amazing. O, and I didn’t get Sbx cup #280. Maybe, had I gotten cup #280, I’d not have written the previous two posts this afternoon. I don’t know. So, today’s cup reads:

TheWayISeeIt #76
“The irony of commitment is that
it’s deeply liberating – in work, in
play, in love. The act frees you
from the tyranny of your internal
critic, from the fear that likes to
dress itself up and parade around
as rational hesitation. To commit is
to remove your head as the barrier
to your life.”

– Anne Morriss, Starbucks customer

So, I’m thinking about the freedom in commitment. I don’t know the author’s intent in the above quote – but like most of the other Sbx cup quotes – this one got me thinking and thinking about so many things on so many levels.

The freedom of commitment. I am committed to serving the Lord Jesus – and it is for freedom that He has set me free from the bonds of sin and death. My commitment to Him has brought me great comfort in that I am free from fear of rejection in death as well as in life. Now, there’s still that occasional tyranny from the internal critic – the critic that says I will fail bcz I have failed so many times before at so many things before. But the more I am rooted and grounded in faith and in the Word and in the Lord, the more that barrier is removed — that barrier of self — that barrier of fear or of pride or of doubt or of discontent. Ironically, the more *under* authority I am, the freer I am to live and move and exercise the gifts the Lord has given me. It is as I submit, I gain great freedom.

This is true in my marriage — as I am committed to my husband, I am freer to love him, to encourage and respect him, to bless and serve him — as I have said to him many times… where else would I go? Commitment gives way to great trust and freedom.

I am committed to my children — my commitment to them gives me great freedom to serve and teach them, to care for and provide for their needs. My commitment to them enables me to guard and guide them — to love and nurture them. I do not fear or have barriers that prevents me from loving them — as I am committed to their wellbeing.

Fear truly does dress up and masquerade as rational hesitation. I mull that over and think: fear and faith cannot be carried in the same bucket. For to carry one necessitates dumping the other. If I am carrying a bucket of fear, I cannot also hope that faith is contained in that same bucket.

So then, I see how great is the love the LORD has lavished on us that we would be called the children of the Highest (Luke 6.35).

“Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
psalm 37.5

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
2 Timothy 2.2

A Book and a Movie

I’m thinking about blind acceptance and emperors… the events of the days behind us and before us and a book and a movie come to mind. And I wonder what really matters to people — if it matters that there’s nothing there or if there’ll be a little child standing in the crowd pointing out the obvious. And will anyone there have the courage to see?

emperorsnewclothes being there movie

The Emperor’s New Clothes… a book. Being There… a movie.

Just thinking. I remember reading the book as a child, reading to our own children along the way and seeing that movie thirty years ago. I’ve thought of both story lines over the years as I’ve watched different societal or political trends and events. And, all kidding aside, I do wonder will there be anyone listening to the speech willing to exclaim: But he has nothing on!

cream puffs.

Blind trust is a dangerous thing sometimes. It’s what makes us vulnerable to accepting things we’d not ordinarily accept and makes us do things we’d not ordinarily do. Hope’s like that sometimes too. We sometimes want something so badly that we’ll believe just about anything for that need to be met or filled. Some will sacrifice just about anything to have deep seated longings fulfilled.

When I was six years old my mother was dating a man she would eventually marry. I so wanted to call him daddy. We took a train to his home and we visited him. While we were there I noticed that in one of the bedrooms of his home was a beautiful white bed with a pink canopy — the bedspread was white and the pillow had a ruffle and lace around the edge… the curtains in that room were ruffled. I didn’t know my mother was poor until I saw that room and I didn’t know I was born to be a princess until I saw that bed. I didn’t know we had a very limited food budget until he brought great food to our home. I wanted him to be our daddy. So badly.

I will never forget the great disappointment of discovering that that beautiful princess bed would not become mine, but belonged to his daughter and when my mother married him and we moved into his home that bed was no longer in the room that was to be my room. One of my first intense brushes with reality. It would be the first of many. I would learn along the way that oftentimes, ~~posers~~ immoral men who marry a second wife have a paved road they continue to travel and that road has many intersections. But that’s a story for another time. (O, and about that little would-be princess? Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m over it. I have a canopy bed now.)

Hope will lead people to make decisions they’d not ordinarily make. Wine or smooth speech will, too. Infatuated women bed down with total strangers because they think in the heat of a moment that someone will love them, provide whatever they need and care for them forever — believing the lies and promises of the smooth talker. Never giving one thought to the fact that that ‘lover’ will forget their name, not recall the night and will never fulfill the promises or remember the lies. Never giving one thought to the potential for deadly harm or physical disease. Never giving one thought to the lifelong consequences of giving in to someone whose seductive smile lured them into the bed of future sorrow. Never giving one thought to the fact that nothing is known of the history, track-record or actual accomplishments of the one who would use and abuse and leave behind as a discarded toy. Blind trust is a very dangerous thing… infatuation is, too. So is hope in a ~~poser~~ or ~~smooth speech~~ fool.

What seems and what is are two very different things.

So, tomorrow’s the Inauguration ceremony for the 44th President of the United States. I think many are looking for a daddy to believe in… a lover to romance them… a hero to save them. Many in our land who have been seduced by the enticing words, see the beautiful canopy bed or whatever else the mirage contains and believe the king will make them princes and princesses, too.
More later. And cream puffs? I couldn’t think of another entry title today.