Five of us sat on the edge of the queen beds in the hotel room--knees almost touching, an inch of wine in our plastic glasses. In the post-glow of the OSL conference we talked of the deep and abiding pleasure of praying for others, of ministering under the anointing. "I'd forgotten how good it feels." "Is it different at a conference than at the end of a Sunday Service?" "I was in this church for a while that was very committed to praying for people." "I was part of a healing service for 10 years, and it was wonderful to trust the discernment of rest of the team, to be free to be who I was in God." "Our church had a prayer room off to the side..."
"I was in a cathedral in India once, and the Lord told me he wanted this girl with metal braces healed, so I asked if I could pray for her. A year later I found out that shortly after we'd prayed, an opportunity came up for her to receive a special treatment, and now she can walk."
A year later. Amazing how sometimes a small thing ripples out on a long journey--like the Knitting into the Mystery book. Donna orders it, I write about it, Tessa orders it and a prayer shawl ministry springs up a thousand miles away. She writes a letter which sends the blessing traveling back to a workshop Donna is giving at the conference a year or two later. How many small things have an eternal effect? We speak of only the few we know about. "Grace and Mercy following." Think of all that we don't hear about--those things that ripple out in ever widening circles of blessing...unto a thousand generations. Perhaps we will spend much of eternity sharing stories--sitting on the edge of clouds, with our knees almost touching.
"And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2
A good book to take along if you're called to jury duty is The Silent Playmate; a collection of Doll Stories edited by Naomi Lewis. I discovered this treasure on our Steals, Deals and Heresies shelf for $2. First I read the stories by authors I knew: Hans Christian Andersen, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Grahame, E. Nesbit. Then, while in the holding tank awaiting jury selection, I started in on the authors I didn't know. You might want this pristine hardback even if you're not called for jury duty. It's now $7 and will soon find it's way to the children's section.
Anita responded to the LIFE RULES! question about daily biblical reading with: "My all time favorite is PORTRAITS OF PERSEVERANCE;100 Meditations from the Book of Job by Henry Gariepy. Another that is cerebral but good is DAILY WITH THE KING, W. Glyn Evans. As to commentaries, Barclay can't be beat. How can he know so much and not accept the miracles of Jesus?"
Gary responded (twice!) suggesting Adam Clarke's COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE. "His commentary on the verses is short enough to include a lot of verses, or just a few depending upon your needs for the day." Gary is attending a Steve Gregg bible study on the book of Acts at Lighthouse Christian Fellowship and has decided to tailor his daily bible study to that book. You can check out Clarke's commentary online http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/
The LIFE RULES! meetings on the first Friday of the month focus on making little changes that can turn the tide. If you can't join us at 1:30 this week, give your input by answering one or more of these five questions:
What is the first positive thing that you do most mornings?
What motivates you to 'get going?'
How do you take a break during the day?
What are you taking a break from?
What is the last positive thing that you regularly do before going to sleep?
"If you don't execute your ideas, they die." --Roger von Oech
The Gospel Blimp by Joseph Bayly is not a story about someone who refused to fast during Lent. Rather it is a short fictional account of a bright idea run amok: A group of Christian Businessmen decide to save their neighbors, along with hundreds of thousands others, by floating an aerial sign through the air. Eugenia Price says the book is "a long overdue embarrassingly accurate commentary on the feverish futility of too many sincere but pathetically misguided evangelical Christians." I thought it was a fun 54 page story. I avoided the final ten page "interpretation." Some people can't seem to just let a story do the work of a story. Yours for a dollar.
"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday."--Alexander Pope, poet (1688-1744)
Move your bloomin' ash.
Blessings,
Alliee +