2007
Good Fences And Other Thoughts
On Fences
Today is the anniversary of Robert Frost’s death. I’ve always loved his poetry, especially Mending Wall, even though I think his neighbor was right. A wall between us and Mexico will make us better neighbors; in spite of all the little elves running around Congress saying it isn’t so.
On War
Looking at the relative death rates of the U.S. and Iraqi Army versus the terrorists (call them insurgents if you like; I contend that “terrorist” is more accurate) brought to mind the Battle of New Orleans. There are some interesting parallels and a critical difference. It was an incredibly lopsided victory. We lost 13 troops, they lost 385; they had 1,186 wounded, we had 58. The initial inaccurate reporting has become part of history; the battle didn’t occur in New Orleans, it was in Chalmette. (To those who say this is for convenience’ sake in explaining the location, because New Orleans was the nearest big city - nobody ever heard of Bull Run or Karbala, either.)
It was also ultimately a waste of time, militarily, because the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed. But the political aftermath included sweeping Andrew Jackson into the White House. Iraq is not a waste of time in the larger war - Iran, the country that declared war on us in 1979, is basically surrounded. It is receiving incredible pressure from within and without right now, even from Saudi Arabia, which is no friend of ours but can at least be depended on to look out for it’s own interests. The way our time in Iraq ends will affect us politically for decades to come, and the consequences won’t just stop with the political.
On Blogging and God
Recently I all but stopped blogging so that I would have more time to devote to getting back on track spiritually. So far, that hasn’t happened, but I am at least getting more work done. Or I was. I’m not sure what happened to my back, but it really hurts to sit or walk. The only reason I’m taking percocet for this is that I’m out of vicodin. I still managed to get to church Saturday, and interestingly, during worship the pain was relieved. It wasn’t related to the fact that I took a percocet before church, because during the sermon I was in pain again. Unbelievers might suggest that the pain pill kicked in, then wore off. Nope, the timing doesn’t work for that. They might say that I distracted or hypnotized myself to relieve the pain. That’s tough to argue against logically since this is experiential. All I can say is that’s not what happened. During worship, I focused on God and He relieved my pain. It’s not the first time He’s done that, and the lesson in it is profound.
I know I’m not the only Christian who fails to have a steady walk, but it still baffles me why I’m like this. This is not the open rebellion I used to engage in. If I chose not to admit the problem, no one would know. I want God to be actively back in my life the way He used to be. I need Him. And yet, I can’t seem to bring myself to pick up my bible except to carry it to church. I can’t seem to focus my mind enough to pray. Past experience tells me that this dry time will end. As the expression goes, I’m willing to be willing. I’m getting to the point that I’m waiting, and even becoming eager, for God to prune away enough so that I will become fruitful again. In the meantime, I won’t be blogging much.
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January 30th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
As I read through the above 18 responses I was STUNNED that no one picked up on your public cry for help. Are we that insensitive that when a Christian tells her readers that she’s struggling with her walk with Christ, all we can do is talk about politics? Good grief!
Laura, I’ll be praying for you over the next few days. I’ve been down this road recently, and I’m a pastor — full-time in God’s Word and service. I’ve found that busy-ness and exhaustion can crowd out my love for God. So can cherished sin.
There’s only one solution: you have to WANT to be restored, and then you have to pray CONSTANTLY to be restored. You also have to be honest with yourself and God, and confess your sins. Give God no rest until He has filled you with His Spirit again. Pray through Psalm 51 every day: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right (steadfast) spirit within me.”
Only He can do that — and with a poverty of spirit you must receive it. Don’t forget Isaiah 66:1,2.
And I can gaurantee you from my own experiences that when He sees that you’re really serious about it, He will draw you close again.
Then keep praying that HE will SUSTAIN your spirit. I find I have to pray that prayer every day, or the world starts to pull me back. I have to recognise that without His work in my life I have a poverty of spirit that I despise.
Blessings!
January 30th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
Al,
Thank you. Don’t be upset about the previous comments on this post, though. They’re not really comments, they are trackbacks - other blogs have linked to this post because it is an open trackback post. They did this using Linkfest Haven Deluxe and quite likely never even read this post. It’s an easy way to increase your readership - by having these posts, and by linking to other’s posts. And it helps with Google, which is a big priority for me because I get referred for several big porn searches (no, really!) and I refer those searchers here. Naturally I want to keep that up, so even though I don’t post much lately, these open trackback posts help make up for it.
Your advice is, of course, spot on. I’ve been down this road before too, and that is what ended it on other occasions. It’s very frustrating to me to have this ebb and flow in my Christian life - although over the years it is far less dramatic, and I can see over time how my walk has begun to level out. I’m just not nearly as steady as I would like to be.
Well, He who has begun a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.
And thanks… your comment was much appreciated.
Laura