Red Ink

Scripture is written in blood the blood of Jesus Christ. Every word, every character every dot on every I is written in His blood. Without it, the words would have no meaning. No message of deliverance would be in its pages. It would be a dead book of history of an ancient civilization, not the actions of a God who invaded this world in a way that changed everything. 04/17/2003

Rider on a White Horse

He sits, straight and tall in the saddle; riding straight ahead with nothing able to block Him. His horse is white; His robe was white. Now it is crimson with His own blood; saturated, drenched, dripping with His life. And I? My robe is white, pure white. Not a single drop of blood stains my robe. It should have been the other way 'round: my blood staining my own robe; His pure white, glistening white. But it is the way it is, thanks be to Him! 09/25/09

Seeing the LightBefore 1985 blind people had limited opportunities for employment which mostly involved caning chairs, making brooms tuning pianos or being a musician. Before that, we were dependent on family or the charity of strangers. Rare was the Galileo, Milton or Homer who carved a niche for himself in history in spite of his blindness

Before 1985 blind people had limited opportunities for employment which mostly involved caning chairs, making brooms tuning pianos or being a musician. Before that, we were dependent on family or the charity of strangers. Rare was the Galileo, Milton or Homer who carved a niche for himself in history in spite of his blindness. The room in which I teach we call the "Brooms to Bytes" room since it was originally a broom factory but now is a modern computer lab. To use these computers we have many tools such as screen readers, optical character recognition software, refreshable braille displays and talking GPS. It's is not easy learning these devices and software products. My screen reader is called "JAWS." In order to use the Internet effectively, I must know 45 to 50 different keyboard commands and key combinations. All this to take the place of something you do with a single mouse click. All this technology, all this effort to learn and use these complex devices is to substitute for vision. We can spend thousands of dollars and dozens of hours learning in order to solve just one small aspect of our blindness. Is this not unlike our spiritual world? Paul said "We see through a glass darkly." We see but dimly into that shadowy realm of the Spirit. All of life on our side of the veil is but a faded sepia of heaven’s realities. We who live in physical darkness sometimes yearn for the light. We who live in the darkness of this world crave the Light Who is beyond our physical vision. We pray, we sing, we worship and are blessed; we fellowship and participate but it is a meager substitute for one moment in the sunshine of His presence, a "tool" to bridge the gap between our spiritual blindness and the time when we will see, truly see, the Sunshine of the universe. Now and ever, be Thou our vision, Lord Jesus. 2/4/08

Crown of Thorns

Well-dried, hard and sharp I chose, as one who knows; For I have chosen before, Many a time but this time more. Hard, tempered sharp, Ready and eager to pierce, to part Unresisting skin Seeking blood within The fragile skin. I picked them, Twisted them, Twined them Into a crown; A mocking circle of thorn; A parody and parable of disowning. In my zeal, My desire to steal That which was not mine, But Thine, But which you gave: Your pain my gain. In my zeal to wound The thorn thrust deep into my own not-so-tender flesh; Blood spurts fresh Staining the crown of thorns I made for You With my own crimson hue. But you wore them as I placed them; Many the points the wounds With which You healed mine own. Your wounding absorbed mine My wounding healed by thine. I inflict pain, You inflict healing and balm Oh marvelous exchange From one deranged To one fully sane. From one crushed To one made \whole. Ah Lord Jesus, how magnificent is your way; How far beyond our thought that we can pay. 1 23 12

Barker, Barker

“Barker! Barker! Barker” I sang to myself as I swung round and round the “No Parking” pole. I was four and for some reason, I remember asking my mother what “our” name was. I heard “Barker” and ran outside to fix it in memory, making myself dizzy but successfully remembering it. Unfortunately our family name isn’t Barker, but Parker, but at that detail came later. More than the incident, the childhood memory of the action that day is the sense of belonging, of family. The world became more than “I,” it became “we.” Something there was which was larger, a greater total. The experience has lasted a lifetime; There is more to me than just me. Since then, over the intervening 62 years, I have come to realize, beware, to know, to experience that I belong not only to my original five, but to my spouse, children, grandchildren; to my circumstances, colleagues friends and members of the Body of Christ. Even those whom I find distasteful, arrogant; who disagree with me, who oppose me. But there is more. A few weeks ago, sitting with dear friends over lunch, talking of our Lord, an inexpressible longing came over me; a longing for that “something more,” the Someone More. I tried to put it into words, but was at a loss. “A deeper relationship,” “knowing Him more, “nothing seemed to express the longing completely. We talked of more study, more prayer, longer time spent in these activities. But these, too, fell short. We talked of experience, of charismatic experiences and though I’m not opposed to experience, wonderful though they must be, they are temporary, with gaps in the glory. Then, over the last day and a half, a growing sense of what may be the answer has dawned. At first, the thought came, “Live Your life within me.” I realized, that, if indeed I am in Christ, that He is already living in me-I don’t need to ask for something that is already reality. Then it changed to, “You are living in me.” This seemed closer, but not quite the reality. Finally, this morning, it came to me, “I open myself to the reality of Your life lived in me and through me.” This accepts the fact of His indwelling; it is experiential without depending or even asking for sensation or experiences. It recognizes that the barrier to “knowing” Him is myself. It comes to Him with no expectations, but leaves me open to when and how He wishes to make Himself known to me. It does not exclude the possibility of ecstatic experience, of miraculous events, but does not seek them as primary. It leaves open the ways in which He will interact through me with my world. Perhaps now, I will know, recognize, experience that Reality which is the ultimate recognition of family; of belonging, of union, far beyond self, birth family, marriage, friendship and all other relationship but which makes them real and alive. May it be so. In our “real” life, our physical being, we know that life is a gift; we did nothing to conceive or birth ourselves. We breathe, eat, drink and life continues until that mysterious day when it ceases. So often I have confused the food, air and drink of study, prayer, meditation, good deeds as life in the Spirit. The life in the Spirit is a gift; it is ours. We only tend it, feed, water and air it in the external things we do to and for ourselves and others. No matter if I have memorized the whole of the scriptures, spend eight hours a day in prayer and meditation and serve others the other twelve, I have it all backward and inside out. This is not life; it is like trying to feed and give drink to a stone. No life results from these actions. But, with His life lived, recognized in me, these actions foster the life in the Spirit; Christ in us, the assurance of glory.

Two Sparrows

What is the current price for a pair of sparrows? Isn’t it one Penney? Did you know that not even one of these two sparrows can falter, stop flying, fall to the ground apart from your Father? He keeps them flying; He lets them down to their rest gently, holding them in His arms all the way. Think about it: How much more valuable are you than two sparrows? Aren’t you worth many times more? To your Father you have infinite worth-far beyond even a flock of sparrows. Even more than a sparrow, He hold you up, supports you, carries you through life and, when the time comes, lays you gently to rest, safe in His arms for your nap. (Matt 10:29, greatly paraphrased) Trembling and fearful, we fight against the inevitability of death. Medicine, surgery, exercise, diet are all enlisted to prolong life. Charlatans and quacks prey on the gullible with life-extending promises of water from the fountain of youth. When the day finally arrives, as it always does, we go kicking and screaming into the long night. But for we who believe, there is an alternative. We need not fear death. It may be even that faith’s first test is to release us from that fear-the fear of what many believe to be the unknowable. In one dimension, He came to relieve this fear: “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…” Hebrews 2:14. His death saps the strength of the one who claims power over death; He died the death that we might live. As age progresses, as the end looms larger, we can rest in the absolute certainty that there is life just over the horizon. Life’s tempests can lull us to sleep as did the raging waves of Galilee to our Lord. May every sparrow’s chirp be to you today an assurance of our Father’s loving watchcare; of His surrounding arms; of His knowing the way, having trod it before us. 10/30/13