past, present, Future . . . Part 3
“Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead . . .” Chapter XV, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis I have been thinking for some time now–really, since they gave us Sam’s diagnosis–about the future. The funny thing about the future is that it doesn’t really exist. We buy eighteen month calendars and fill them up, and many of us mamas out there could flip three or six or even nine months ahead and tell you what, exactly, we are going to be doing, and what each member of our family will be doing, on any given day. We put our finger…
past, Present, and future . . . Part 2
“Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead . . .” Chapter XV, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis “Love to the present.” Hmm. Why did he say “love?” Why not “attention” to the present? We all know that love, according to 1 Corinthians 13, is “patient . . .kind. It does not envy [or] boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never…
Past, present, and future . . . Part I
“Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead . . .” Chapter XV, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis One of the first things I want to do when I get to heaven–right after hunting my dear son down and loving him a whole lifetime’s worth–is going to be to get in line for a C.S. Lewis lecture. I sometimes fantasize about what it will be like to sit at his feet–maybe his good friend’s, J.R.R. Tolkien’s, too–and listen to them as they smoke pipes and drink beer and toss around theology like a beach ball. I have studied C.S. Lewis’…
Look for Jesus
“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Luke 24: 13-16 I wonder all the time about this passage. I think about the roads I have been on, when my entire vision of my future has been buried in the ground. The moments of shock quickly morph into the stark reality of what my life would now be, disastrously altered. For years after our…
Run to Jesus
“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him . . .” John 11: 20 John 11 paints a familiar image. Jesus’ friend–Lazarus, whom He loves–becomes ill. His family loves Jesus. Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, each have personal relationships with Jesus. Martha knows exactly what to do when trouble comes: call Jesus! With confidence she sends out the dispatch. With confidence she soothes her brother and sister: “Jesus is coming, we have nothing to fear.” But He doesn’t come. Lazarus gets sicker and sicker. Mary and Martha tend to their brother, trying to remain calm . . . Where is Jesus? Why isn’t he coming?…
