Finding your faith
Do you feel that God is in your life?
Do you thank Him nearly every morning for a new day?
Do songs from church cause you to sing them or hum them or whistle them throughout the day?
Do you have spiritual reading material?
Do you read the Bible because you want to?
Does Gods presence help you enjoy your workday and the people around you?
Or is your life a little different than that?
You feel no one understands the problems in your life and there’s no one that you can turn to.
The act of waking up and getting ready for work puts you in a bad mood.
Your favorite rock radio station that came on with the alarm gives you some obscene words to sing.
Reading is restricted to only what is required and certainly not something to be enjoyed or enlightening.
You have a Bible given to you by your grandmother when you were young but you haven’t seen it or even remembered it in years.
Work is something to be endured and from which there is no escape because it makes the money you need to survive and stay ahead of the bill collectors.
Putting up with the idiots is worse than the work.
Taking the first step toward finding your faith is asking God to tell you about himself. This acknowledgement allows Gods presence, which by the way is available to everyone of us, to enter your life. When you turn toward God you turn away from yourself in the sense that when you accept Gods plan fro your life, hand in hand comes the realization that the reason for feeling unable to make your life joyful is mainly caused by following the wrong plan. Like it should be you at the center of your world.
When you drive by a construction site and see a new project rising out of the ground, whether it’s a house or a high rise you see workers busy at many different jobs. If you continue to drive by that site every so often you will see whatever it is they’re building, take shape and eventually all signs of construction disappear and they’re this new facility complete with landscaping, and regular looking people coming and going.
The reason those workers complete the job properly is because there’s a plan for them to follow, a set of blueprints, a thick sheaf of engineers drawings covering every detail of what is required to achieve the finished product. And don’t believe they get it perfect. As the workers follow those plans they find errors and omissions and sometimes they come up with better ideas that cause the plan to be changed. But imagine if those workers showed up and were simply directed to build say a 10 story building and given only a few photographs of something similar to go by. What kind of building do you think they could build…without knowledge of exact dimensions or the specific structural requirements and buildings codes?
That is what choosing to live you life without Gods plan is like. When you choose to fully accept Jesus Christ as your only savior and you fully accept that God has a specific and exact plan for you personally, you want to know how to follow that plan and know its details. God’s word is the blueprint and once you begin to trust and understand that His plan for you will make itself known to you each and every day for the rest of your life here on earth.
Trusting God, loving Jesus and having the Holy Spirit working within you will bring you a life with riches you could never imagine when you were trying to live life with only your own insights and capabilities at you disposal.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Gods' Care Van A Play in Two Acts
Act I
Scene I
IT IS A STREET SCENE ON HASTINGS IN VANCOUVER, A VERY ROUGH PART OF THE CITY. IT’S A PLACE WHERE LOST PEOPLE GATHER AND TOO OFTEN FIND REFUGE WITH THOSE WHO EXPLOIT THEM AND ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE NO ESCAPE. A WHITE VAN WITH CHRISTIAN MESSAGES WRITTEN ON ITS SIDE PANELS IS PARKED ON THE STREET.
A CHICKEN DANCER LURCHES PAST(STREET TERMINOLOGY FOR ADDICTS WHEN THEY EXHIBIT ERADIC BODY ACTIONS CAUSED BY THEIR ADDICITION).
OTHER PEOPLE EXHIBIT MANNERISMS AND WEAR CLOTHING THAT BLENDS THEM INTO THE STREET CULTURE OF THE AREA. SOME LOOK IN DISGUST AT THE VAN, SOME APPEAR TO BE WAITING FOR WHATEVER THE VAN MAY OFFER AND OTHER ARE OBLIVIOUS.
A YOUNG MAN AND WOMAN GET OUT OF THE VAN. THE MAN WEARS A TINY YALMACA ON HIS HEAD AND A STAR OF DAVID ON A CHAIN AROUND HIS NECK. THE YOUNG WOMAN HAS A RICH ARAB HERITAGE ETCHED IN HER BROWN FEATURES.
THEY COME TOGETHER AT THE BACK OF THE VAN ENGAGED IN EXPRESSIVE, ARM WAVING CONVERSATION WHICH WE CANNOT HEAR.
CRESSA: You’re a crazy man! There is ABSOLUTELY no way we get this van from Hastings Street in Vancouver to Jerusalem. No way!
DEVON: Why not? Don’t you believe the song the youth group from Maple Ridge sang at Missionfest last week? (He sings) All things are possible! All things are possible!
CRESSA: No this. (She smiles at his enthusiasm but shakes her head no)
DEVON: All things are possible! All things are possible! (He laughs and dances around Cressa with childish exuberance)
CRESSA: (She acknowledges that she knows his passion for a challenge.) Even if….What about
this mission? (waves her arm toward the van) God’s Care Van is touching many lives right here. Do we not change hopelessness to hope every day, right here?
DEVON: Hey, wasn’t this just a dream once? Remember when I drew that picture of God’s Care Van on the back of a scrap of paper I’d written a song on? Or even before that when I told you about how this old van parked down the stree from where I lived just seemed to be calling out to me and I couldn’t figure out why?
CRESSA: Hey,I know how stoked you get telling me about how one night you were laying in bed and it just came to you…this picture of Gods Care Van….a van that just parked by people and offered help, like some food, or some clothing or someone that would just listen to people who have something in their life they need to talk to about, or sharing the music of God with people that might come around the van to check it out.
DEVON: And look at us! Are there two more unlikely people to be out on the street sharing the love of Jesus? We blow the minds of most of our friends when they just think about me being raised Jewish and you growing up in an Arab Muslim home.
CRESSA: Yeah we’re the odd couple for sure. Maybe that’s why people don’t get that offended down here or at least we seem to get away with it.. They figure if we believe or if we think alike, maybe there is something to believing in God.
STREET PEOPLE BEGINNING TO GATHER AROUND THE VAN. HE REACHES INTO THE VAN AND PULLS OUT A GUITAR. SHE REACHES IN AND BRINGS OUT A BOX THAT CONTAINS BIBLES AND SHE TAKES ONE IN HER HAND AND OPENS IT.
CRESSA: In Isaiah 53 it says: "All we like sheep have gone astray. "
That means all of us.(waves her arm in a big circle and ends pointing at her own heart)
Each and every single person in this world. With no exceptions, not me, not you, not the Prime Minister, not the Pope. Each one of us needs a Saviour. Why? Well for starters that’s what it says so here in God's Word (holds the Bible up to them)
"Each of us has gone his own way."
In this line, God is telling us that we all have within us our biggest fault as a human being.
We want to do our own will over God's will. When we look around our world today the evidence is overwhelming. And not just here where it looks like we’re in hell. Money may seem like a saviour but it's not. So called successful people wear themselves out ! Yes! Wear themselves out looking for happiness, looking for peace in their heart. Believe it. They are often worse off for having made what you might think of as all the right decisions with their lives because they have nice things and live adventurous lives. Those that are not following Gods will for their lives are suffering as much as anyone standing here. In this verse of prophecy in Isaiah there is one solution to this problem.
"The Lord has laid on Him the inequity of us all."
This is a prophecy in the Bible written hundreds of years before Jesus but the Him God is foretelling Isaiah about is Jesus, His Son who will come and die in payment for every inequity, that means every sin or every shortfall we commit. The Lord has laid of Jesus the sins of all
human kind for all of time.
Devon: (Playing guitar softly in the back ground now becomes louder and begins to sing. As the song progress more people come around the van. Some sing and celebrate some stand and listen others peer from dark corners as if they don’t want to be noticed)
There will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus.
His arms will open and He will receive
All of His people who come to believe
And there will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus
That Jesus a Jew – most famous of all
Is who He said – went to the cross
And there will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus
Died for our sins – stands outside our door
Awaits for your call to wash sin away
There will be peace when you belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when you belong to Jesus.
When we belong to Jesus enemies will fall
When we belong to Jesus Heaven will be ours
When you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
When you belong to Jesus enemies will fall
When you belong to Jesus Heaven will be yours
When you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
Yes when you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
CRESSA: (Taking in the scene around the van) I just can’t imagine doing this in Israel. Someone would blow us up! Not to mention even being allowed in that country. Public worship is barely legal in this country.
DEVON: Hey there’s a growing movement of Jews for Jesus. Maybe God is saying to me that the timing is right for this to happen. Who better than Jesus to divert attention from all the conflict that exists there now?
CRESSA: Just because your grandmothers maiden name was Rosenberg doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as a Jew bringing news of Jesus much less the wonderful word that He really is their Messiah.
DEVON: No one can mistake a nose like this even if I don’t wear a yalmaka. Just like you…and I mean this in a beautiful way but that solid line of hair above your eyes that you call your eye brows makes you look right out of Iraq, even though you and I know its just a genetic remnant from a second cousin in your fathers lineage. We’ll fit right in, in Jerusalem.
CRESSA: I think it’s crazy talk Ted.
DEVON: (Looking skyward as if he sees what he talks.) Imagine! Gods Care Van reconnecting Jews with their true King. And Muslims drawn to us. They too can come to see that only Jesus died for sins. Think of us as world Christians. I heard someone say that not long ago.
CRESSA: This is not the 14th Century Devon. Maybe there was a time when Christians and Jews and Muslims peacefully shared Jerusalem as a holy place but a lot has happened since those times. I just don’t see it. Just look at our challenge here just reaching out to people who have lost hope and faith without any of the other baggage. I know what it means to be a Muslim. I was raised one. Believe me. I pretty much lost my family when Jesus entered my life.
DEVON: (Puts his arm softly around her shoulders) Did you see that movie (Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner? Build it and they will come. That’s what I feel inside me. I know there’s parts of my life that I’ve lost by putting my trust in Jesus. (They begin to sing)
I never knew what you could do
Until I loved you Lord, until I loved you Lord
I never knew that you loved me Lord
No matter how much I failed, no matter how much I failed.
I opened my heart and let Your love in
Life began in the way you provide
I gave you my life for what Jesus gave me
Suddenly I felt so alive, so alive, so alive, so alive
What a feeling to know God loves me
What a great joy to serve Him
To hold Him high, oh most high
Hold hands high…to Him
(repeat song and at end repeat last two lines twice
more)
A MYSTICAL NARRATOR APPEARS AS THE STREET SCENE FADES TO BLACK. A SLIDE COLLAGE BEGINS ON SEVERAL SCREENS AT DIFFERENT ANGLES. THE PICTURES WILL RELATE TO THE NARRATORS STORY.
NARRATOR: There are some things about Jews that you don’t hear much. You don’t hear much that there are Jews for Jesus. There’s even organizations like Jews For
Jesus. Jesus said to the Jews in Matthew 23:
"You shall see me no more ‘til you say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. "
Defining moments of prophecy have shaped Jewish recognition that Jesus is who He said He was. So prophetical was the creation of Israel in December,1948. So overwhelming, the victory of Israel in the Six Day War in 1967. Jerusalem is the chosen place. Jews are Gods’ chosen
people. Remember the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof when he said, ‘maybe You could choose someone else for a change’. There is such truth for Jews but for now Jerusalem continues to attract much world attention.
God is clearly saying that this is the place where His plan for His people will be executed. If Jews and their nation had been wiped out, the prophecies in the Bible would carry no weight. Their exile…. their extinction through the holocaust would have worked. Is their another such example of people streaming back to a homeland from which they were exiled?
God keeps his promises. He promised Abraham to make his name great. Look at Judaism. Look at Christianity. Look at Islam and how it has grown and Mohammed came along several centuries after Jesus. The truth is that all these are are children of Abraham. All honour the name of Abraham. In the New World of western civilization, Scripture served as the foundation for ethics and jurisprudence. The way may be shown from this side of the planet. Maybe we are the bystander with the missing piece of the puzzle for Gods’ plan. What we see in the world today are great chasms of separation between these followers. And in the human
capability for wisdom it might seem incomprehensible that they could come together. And there is one monumental stumbling block. Grace and mercy are the only weapons that bind these
children together. And the Bible tells us Grace and Mercy can only be experienced through Jesus Christ. This is a simple truth lost in the complexity of human free will. The miracle of truth that is being recognized by Jews accepting Jesus as their Saviour! There is still much to be done. Things are not nearly as they should be. The Apostle Paul referred to ‘partial blindness in Romans 11:25. The truth now is that Israel and Islamic nations do not recognize Jesus for who He is even though it can be said that in these nations they 'severely' persecute those who proclaim Him. In Ecclesiastes it says: God has firmly lodged eternity in our hearts. We cannot help that we sense that there is something more to our lives than this brief snapshot of a lifetime within a physical body that we have only for use this on earth. Believing in and serving Jesus Christ means more than an assurance of our place in heaven. It means believing that there is work for us to do before He returns.
NARRATOR EXITS.
•
Scene I
IT IS A STREET SCENE ON HASTINGS IN VANCOUVER, A VERY ROUGH PART OF THE CITY. IT’S A PLACE WHERE LOST PEOPLE GATHER AND TOO OFTEN FIND REFUGE WITH THOSE WHO EXPLOIT THEM AND ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE NO ESCAPE. A WHITE VAN WITH CHRISTIAN MESSAGES WRITTEN ON ITS SIDE PANELS IS PARKED ON THE STREET.
A CHICKEN DANCER LURCHES PAST(STREET TERMINOLOGY FOR ADDICTS WHEN THEY EXHIBIT ERADIC BODY ACTIONS CAUSED BY THEIR ADDICITION).
OTHER PEOPLE EXHIBIT MANNERISMS AND WEAR CLOTHING THAT BLENDS THEM INTO THE STREET CULTURE OF THE AREA. SOME LOOK IN DISGUST AT THE VAN, SOME APPEAR TO BE WAITING FOR WHATEVER THE VAN MAY OFFER AND OTHER ARE OBLIVIOUS.
A YOUNG MAN AND WOMAN GET OUT OF THE VAN. THE MAN WEARS A TINY YALMACA ON HIS HEAD AND A STAR OF DAVID ON A CHAIN AROUND HIS NECK. THE YOUNG WOMAN HAS A RICH ARAB HERITAGE ETCHED IN HER BROWN FEATURES.
THEY COME TOGETHER AT THE BACK OF THE VAN ENGAGED IN EXPRESSIVE, ARM WAVING CONVERSATION WHICH WE CANNOT HEAR.
CRESSA: You’re a crazy man! There is ABSOLUTELY no way we get this van from Hastings Street in Vancouver to Jerusalem. No way!
DEVON: Why not? Don’t you believe the song the youth group from Maple Ridge sang at Missionfest last week? (He sings) All things are possible! All things are possible!
CRESSA: No this. (She smiles at his enthusiasm but shakes her head no)
DEVON: All things are possible! All things are possible! (He laughs and dances around Cressa with childish exuberance)
CRESSA: (She acknowledges that she knows his passion for a challenge.) Even if….What about
this mission? (waves her arm toward the van) God’s Care Van is touching many lives right here. Do we not change hopelessness to hope every day, right here?
DEVON: Hey, wasn’t this just a dream once? Remember when I drew that picture of God’s Care Van on the back of a scrap of paper I’d written a song on? Or even before that when I told you about how this old van parked down the stree from where I lived just seemed to be calling out to me and I couldn’t figure out why?
CRESSA: Hey,I know how stoked you get telling me about how one night you were laying in bed and it just came to you…this picture of Gods Care Van….a van that just parked by people and offered help, like some food, or some clothing or someone that would just listen to people who have something in their life they need to talk to about, or sharing the music of God with people that might come around the van to check it out.
DEVON: And look at us! Are there two more unlikely people to be out on the street sharing the love of Jesus? We blow the minds of most of our friends when they just think about me being raised Jewish and you growing up in an Arab Muslim home.
CRESSA: Yeah we’re the odd couple for sure. Maybe that’s why people don’t get that offended down here or at least we seem to get away with it.. They figure if we believe or if we think alike, maybe there is something to believing in God.
STREET PEOPLE BEGINNING TO GATHER AROUND THE VAN. HE REACHES INTO THE VAN AND PULLS OUT A GUITAR. SHE REACHES IN AND BRINGS OUT A BOX THAT CONTAINS BIBLES AND SHE TAKES ONE IN HER HAND AND OPENS IT.
CRESSA: In Isaiah 53 it says: "All we like sheep have gone astray. "
That means all of us.(waves her arm in a big circle and ends pointing at her own heart)
Each and every single person in this world. With no exceptions, not me, not you, not the Prime Minister, not the Pope. Each one of us needs a Saviour. Why? Well for starters that’s what it says so here in God's Word (holds the Bible up to them)
"Each of us has gone his own way."
In this line, God is telling us that we all have within us our biggest fault as a human being.
We want to do our own will over God's will. When we look around our world today the evidence is overwhelming. And not just here where it looks like we’re in hell. Money may seem like a saviour but it's not. So called successful people wear themselves out ! Yes! Wear themselves out looking for happiness, looking for peace in their heart. Believe it. They are often worse off for having made what you might think of as all the right decisions with their lives because they have nice things and live adventurous lives. Those that are not following Gods will for their lives are suffering as much as anyone standing here. In this verse of prophecy in Isaiah there is one solution to this problem.
"The Lord has laid on Him the inequity of us all."
This is a prophecy in the Bible written hundreds of years before Jesus but the Him God is foretelling Isaiah about is Jesus, His Son who will come and die in payment for every inequity, that means every sin or every shortfall we commit. The Lord has laid of Jesus the sins of all
human kind for all of time.
Devon: (Playing guitar softly in the back ground now becomes louder and begins to sing. As the song progress more people come around the van. Some sing and celebrate some stand and listen others peer from dark corners as if they don’t want to be noticed)
There will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus.
His arms will open and He will receive
All of His people who come to believe
And there will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus
That Jesus a Jew – most famous of all
Is who He said – went to the cross
And there will be peace when we belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when we belong to Jesus
Died for our sins – stands outside our door
Awaits for your call to wash sin away
There will be peace when you belong to Jesus
Evil will cease when you belong to Jesus.
When we belong to Jesus enemies will fall
When we belong to Jesus Heaven will be ours
When you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
When you belong to Jesus enemies will fall
When you belong to Jesus Heaven will be yours
When you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
Yes when you belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to you
CRESSA: (Taking in the scene around the van) I just can’t imagine doing this in Israel. Someone would blow us up! Not to mention even being allowed in that country. Public worship is barely legal in this country.
DEVON: Hey there’s a growing movement of Jews for Jesus. Maybe God is saying to me that the timing is right for this to happen. Who better than Jesus to divert attention from all the conflict that exists there now?
CRESSA: Just because your grandmothers maiden name was Rosenberg doesn’t mean you’ll be seen as a Jew bringing news of Jesus much less the wonderful word that He really is their Messiah.
DEVON: No one can mistake a nose like this even if I don’t wear a yalmaka. Just like you…and I mean this in a beautiful way but that solid line of hair above your eyes that you call your eye brows makes you look right out of Iraq, even though you and I know its just a genetic remnant from a second cousin in your fathers lineage. We’ll fit right in, in Jerusalem.
CRESSA: I think it’s crazy talk Ted.
DEVON: (Looking skyward as if he sees what he talks.) Imagine! Gods Care Van reconnecting Jews with their true King. And Muslims drawn to us. They too can come to see that only Jesus died for sins. Think of us as world Christians. I heard someone say that not long ago.
CRESSA: This is not the 14th Century Devon. Maybe there was a time when Christians and Jews and Muslims peacefully shared Jerusalem as a holy place but a lot has happened since those times. I just don’t see it. Just look at our challenge here just reaching out to people who have lost hope and faith without any of the other baggage. I know what it means to be a Muslim. I was raised one. Believe me. I pretty much lost my family when Jesus entered my life.
DEVON: (Puts his arm softly around her shoulders) Did you see that movie (Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner? Build it and they will come. That’s what I feel inside me. I know there’s parts of my life that I’ve lost by putting my trust in Jesus. (They begin to sing)
I never knew what you could do
Until I loved you Lord, until I loved you Lord
I never knew that you loved me Lord
No matter how much I failed, no matter how much I failed.
I opened my heart and let Your love in
Life began in the way you provide
I gave you my life for what Jesus gave me
Suddenly I felt so alive, so alive, so alive, so alive
What a feeling to know God loves me
What a great joy to serve Him
To hold Him high, oh most high
Hold hands high…to Him
(repeat song and at end repeat last two lines twice
more)
A MYSTICAL NARRATOR APPEARS AS THE STREET SCENE FADES TO BLACK. A SLIDE COLLAGE BEGINS ON SEVERAL SCREENS AT DIFFERENT ANGLES. THE PICTURES WILL RELATE TO THE NARRATORS STORY.
NARRATOR: There are some things about Jews that you don’t hear much. You don’t hear much that there are Jews for Jesus. There’s even organizations like Jews For
Jesus. Jesus said to the Jews in Matthew 23:
"You shall see me no more ‘til you say blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. "
Defining moments of prophecy have shaped Jewish recognition that Jesus is who He said He was. So prophetical was the creation of Israel in December,1948. So overwhelming, the victory of Israel in the Six Day War in 1967. Jerusalem is the chosen place. Jews are Gods’ chosen
people. Remember the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof when he said, ‘maybe You could choose someone else for a change’. There is such truth for Jews but for now Jerusalem continues to attract much world attention.
God is clearly saying that this is the place where His plan for His people will be executed. If Jews and their nation had been wiped out, the prophecies in the Bible would carry no weight. Their exile…. their extinction through the holocaust would have worked. Is their another such example of people streaming back to a homeland from which they were exiled?
God keeps his promises. He promised Abraham to make his name great. Look at Judaism. Look at Christianity. Look at Islam and how it has grown and Mohammed came along several centuries after Jesus. The truth is that all these are are children of Abraham. All honour the name of Abraham. In the New World of western civilization, Scripture served as the foundation for ethics and jurisprudence. The way may be shown from this side of the planet. Maybe we are the bystander with the missing piece of the puzzle for Gods’ plan. What we see in the world today are great chasms of separation between these followers. And in the human
capability for wisdom it might seem incomprehensible that they could come together. And there is one monumental stumbling block. Grace and mercy are the only weapons that bind these
children together. And the Bible tells us Grace and Mercy can only be experienced through Jesus Christ. This is a simple truth lost in the complexity of human free will. The miracle of truth that is being recognized by Jews accepting Jesus as their Saviour! There is still much to be done. Things are not nearly as they should be. The Apostle Paul referred to ‘partial blindness in Romans 11:25. The truth now is that Israel and Islamic nations do not recognize Jesus for who He is even though it can be said that in these nations they 'severely' persecute those who proclaim Him. In Ecclesiastes it says: God has firmly lodged eternity in our hearts. We cannot help that we sense that there is something more to our lives than this brief snapshot of a lifetime within a physical body that we have only for use this on earth. Believing in and serving Jesus Christ means more than an assurance of our place in heaven. It means believing that there is work for us to do before He returns.
NARRATOR EXITS.
•
Ellis Island Wall
There's a wall of names on Ellis Island in New York harbor.
The first soil in America that millions touched
After watching homelands fade on disappearing horizons
Running to where a dream might come to life.
In a new land their journey spread out where freedom
Reigned supreme and where new life could begin
They never asked for handouts or recognition
They just bent their backs to making wilderness their home
The families that were built in just a century or so
Now fulfill a hundred times over the wildest thoughts back then
It’s a land strong and free and its inhabitants
Can work and wish with no boundaries or limits
And these people barely know how they got to be this way
Unless a God who has a plan to change it
And that’s how Valerie Iris got her chance….
To say hello and thank you to the names on the wall on Ellis Island
She’d heard Daddy say to Mommy in a fun and kidding way
As 5 kids asked where they were going if they got away for an hour or two
“I’m taking your Mom to New York City for breakfast.”
And Valerie Iris did not even know where that was.
But it was one of those little events in life that stays with you in a prairie town
And Valerie Iris always yearned to see New York City
And when she finally went, it completed a circle of life
As she touched the names on the waving wall at Ellis Island
The first soil in America that millions touched
After watching homelands fade on disappearing horizons
Running to where a dream might come to life.
In a new land their journey spread out where freedom
Reigned supreme and where new life could begin
They never asked for handouts or recognition
They just bent their backs to making wilderness their home
The families that were built in just a century or so
Now fulfill a hundred times over the wildest thoughts back then
It’s a land strong and free and its inhabitants
Can work and wish with no boundaries or limits
And these people barely know how they got to be this way
Unless a God who has a plan to change it
And that’s how Valerie Iris got her chance….
To say hello and thank you to the names on the wall on Ellis Island
She’d heard Daddy say to Mommy in a fun and kidding way
As 5 kids asked where they were going if they got away for an hour or two
“I’m taking your Mom to New York City for breakfast.”
And Valerie Iris did not even know where that was.
But it was one of those little events in life that stays with you in a prairie town
And Valerie Iris always yearned to see New York City
And when she finally went, it completed a circle of life
As she touched the names on the waving wall at Ellis Island
How Life Fits Together
Today I experienced what it feels like to tie together pieces of your life that until that moment have just dangled there in your memory. And its difficult to explain to someone other than yourself. That’s because, other than God, no one else really knows your life or how you interpret yourself, and the moments and events in your life that stick out.
My friend Richard, lost his wife 2 years ago. Just when they figured that everything was in place to enjoy the rest of their lives together, she died from lung cancer. An ironic death to add to to the agony because she was an athlete, a nurse and had never smoked.
Richard and I have played hockey on the same team for about 10 years. But our lives seldom crossed if it were not related to hockey.
3 weeks ago he attended the church my wife and I attend. We discovered that he had been invited by a lady from our church who was a friend of his wife and works to counsel people as well. Richard came up to me after the service, surprised to see me there. I am a strong enough believer to express how great it was to see him there. The next Sunday I saw him sitting alone and invited him to sit with us. This Sunday he and his lady friend sat with us on their own accord. The worship music was very moving. Pastor Art gave a very touching and powerful sermon message around the fact that going to heaven was a final step, but Jesus encourages us throughout our lives to see, feel and understand how He is always with us along lifes’ journey. Pastor Art concluded with a brief summary of his mothers life. She had passed away at 98 ½ the previous week.
Having listened many times when Pastor Art shared emotional, challenging, painful and joyous moments of his personal life with the congregation at our church, I as many others were lifted and moved by his ability to bring us closer to the fire of Christ that burns within him.
Richard stood up with the rest of us when the service ended. He was in need of some one to talk to. We stood together for about 20 minutes. Richard touched on the loss of his wife and he wanted to express some feelings about his parents who are living in Northern Ontario.
I hoped afterward that I had been able to be a comfort to him. I said that when you believe in God you come to know that everything happens for a purpose and maybe he and I sitting together in church today was no accident. I hope that in some small ways I will be able to stay connected with Richard.
During our conversation, I talked about losing my father and some of the circumstances around that.
Later at home as I ate lunch and flicked through the channels on T.V., I stopped when I recognized the movie, Field of Dreams. It is a baseball story by Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella, turned into a movie. It’s the only movie I’ve ever bought a copy of. I caught it near the end when the central figure, Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner is having surrealistic meeting with his father who had died when Ray was a young boy. Ray is now fully understanding a vision he had and a voice he heard saying “If you build it he will come.” Until this moment Ray believed that the person who would come was Shoeless Joe Jackson, a baseball player form the 30’s who was caught up in an infamous baseball scandal. But now Shoeless Joe who did come to life in the movie points to another figure on the ‘field of dreams’. Ray instinctively knows it his father as a young man, in his prime as a baseball player. He tells his wife he had only known his Dad as a shadow of this figure… worn down by life.
In the emotional conclusion Ray asks his Dad to play catch with him and they do.
In that moment I seemed to realize for the first time that I had only known my Dad worn down by life, not that he acted that way because he always showed the brighter side of his life even though I knew that as an adult, most of his energy had been given to fighting in WWII for five years and then shortly after returning home an unexpected start to marriage and family meant he was destined to provide enough to raise a family of four kids and he only knew ‘hard work’ as means to that end.
And I wondered, forcing back a tear or two of my own, what I would do with my Dad if I were given the opportunity that Ray Kinsella was given.
Although hockey is really the only sport I’ve played I knew my Dad had played a bit of baseball when he was young and in his prime and I remember him saying that my Uncle Mel had been a real pro prospect but didn’t want to leave home back in Nova Scotia in the 30’s.
So I thought that playing catch with my Dad in his prime would be a pretty good wish.
Our last plan before he died was a fall hunting trip. It never happened so as I think about possibilities, I think spending time with my Dad in his younger days in the bush of Nova Scotia in autumn would pretty much be a dream day with him.
As Pastor Art told us that his Mom was now in a glorious place meeting again her husband and others waiting in heaven, I know that my faith in our Lord needs to stay strong and grow, so that I will know without doubt there is a day when my Dad and I can begin spending an eternity together.
Richard has known tragic loss and I believe fears further loss such as his aging parents. I will pray for Richard that through the grace of Jesus Christ he can prepare himself in strong faith to understand that the plan God has for us reigns over our best abilities as human to understand the real meaning and purpose of life.
As I look back on today, it is overwhelming to see the journey that the Lord has planned for me in these past few hours. None of it is anything I planned or thought about. I am strengthened to be shown Gods’ hand on me and to gain a little more wisdom that will lead me to trust this truth even more. As God ties the dangling moments of my life together, I feel there are many more days to come during which I will feel His presence and His peace within me.
My friend Richard, lost his wife 2 years ago. Just when they figured that everything was in place to enjoy the rest of their lives together, she died from lung cancer. An ironic death to add to to the agony because she was an athlete, a nurse and had never smoked.
Richard and I have played hockey on the same team for about 10 years. But our lives seldom crossed if it were not related to hockey.
3 weeks ago he attended the church my wife and I attend. We discovered that he had been invited by a lady from our church who was a friend of his wife and works to counsel people as well. Richard came up to me after the service, surprised to see me there. I am a strong enough believer to express how great it was to see him there. The next Sunday I saw him sitting alone and invited him to sit with us. This Sunday he and his lady friend sat with us on their own accord. The worship music was very moving. Pastor Art gave a very touching and powerful sermon message around the fact that going to heaven was a final step, but Jesus encourages us throughout our lives to see, feel and understand how He is always with us along lifes’ journey. Pastor Art concluded with a brief summary of his mothers life. She had passed away at 98 ½ the previous week.
Having listened many times when Pastor Art shared emotional, challenging, painful and joyous moments of his personal life with the congregation at our church, I as many others were lifted and moved by his ability to bring us closer to the fire of Christ that burns within him.
Richard stood up with the rest of us when the service ended. He was in need of some one to talk to. We stood together for about 20 minutes. Richard touched on the loss of his wife and he wanted to express some feelings about his parents who are living in Northern Ontario.
I hoped afterward that I had been able to be a comfort to him. I said that when you believe in God you come to know that everything happens for a purpose and maybe he and I sitting together in church today was no accident. I hope that in some small ways I will be able to stay connected with Richard.
During our conversation, I talked about losing my father and some of the circumstances around that.
Later at home as I ate lunch and flicked through the channels on T.V., I stopped when I recognized the movie, Field of Dreams. It is a baseball story by Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella, turned into a movie. It’s the only movie I’ve ever bought a copy of. I caught it near the end when the central figure, Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner is having surrealistic meeting with his father who had died when Ray was a young boy. Ray is now fully understanding a vision he had and a voice he heard saying “If you build it he will come.” Until this moment Ray believed that the person who would come was Shoeless Joe Jackson, a baseball player form the 30’s who was caught up in an infamous baseball scandal. But now Shoeless Joe who did come to life in the movie points to another figure on the ‘field of dreams’. Ray instinctively knows it his father as a young man, in his prime as a baseball player. He tells his wife he had only known his Dad as a shadow of this figure… worn down by life.
In the emotional conclusion Ray asks his Dad to play catch with him and they do.
In that moment I seemed to realize for the first time that I had only known my Dad worn down by life, not that he acted that way because he always showed the brighter side of his life even though I knew that as an adult, most of his energy had been given to fighting in WWII for five years and then shortly after returning home an unexpected start to marriage and family meant he was destined to provide enough to raise a family of four kids and he only knew ‘hard work’ as means to that end.
And I wondered, forcing back a tear or two of my own, what I would do with my Dad if I were given the opportunity that Ray Kinsella was given.
Although hockey is really the only sport I’ve played I knew my Dad had played a bit of baseball when he was young and in his prime and I remember him saying that my Uncle Mel had been a real pro prospect but didn’t want to leave home back in Nova Scotia in the 30’s.
So I thought that playing catch with my Dad in his prime would be a pretty good wish.
Our last plan before he died was a fall hunting trip. It never happened so as I think about possibilities, I think spending time with my Dad in his younger days in the bush of Nova Scotia in autumn would pretty much be a dream day with him.
As Pastor Art told us that his Mom was now in a glorious place meeting again her husband and others waiting in heaven, I know that my faith in our Lord needs to stay strong and grow, so that I will know without doubt there is a day when my Dad and I can begin spending an eternity together.
Richard has known tragic loss and I believe fears further loss such as his aging parents. I will pray for Richard that through the grace of Jesus Christ he can prepare himself in strong faith to understand that the plan God has for us reigns over our best abilities as human to understand the real meaning and purpose of life.
As I look back on today, it is overwhelming to see the journey that the Lord has planned for me in these past few hours. None of it is anything I planned or thought about. I am strengthened to be shown Gods’ hand on me and to gain a little more wisdom that will lead me to trust this truth even more. As God ties the dangling moments of my life together, I feel there are many more days to come during which I will feel His presence and His peace within me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)