Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* The Great Guru
* Scripture: Paul wrote, "You see, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6, NIV

To whom do you go for information? Where do you turn?
Judging from one popular concept, presented in the 'comic' strips, one goes to the Great Guru. The Seeker struggles up a mountain, and there, perched on a rather small peak, sits The Great Guru. The advice usually has more of a comic tone, rather than useful information, but what should one expect from a comic strip?
We need more practical, useful advice in real life. There are two things that I see lacking about the mountain top guru idea: Am I assured that his guruness has walked the valley below, and, what have I gained from struggling up the mountain to some guy who seems to have distanced himself from real life?
To whom do we go? To someone who is acknowledged to have a solid reputation gained from experience. A leader who has risen through the ranks. A teacher, perhaps, who has thoroughly researched the topic in question. Hopefully, one who has lived it, breathed it, met the obstacles and overcame them. One does not go to a doctor because they have those magic initials on their door - "Dr." You go to a doctor because they have the knowledge and ability to treat your illness.
We need to know that the Great Guru has "walked that lonesome valley." We want advice from someone who has encountered the bumps in the road, navigated the curves, has correctly chosen the right fork in the interchange of life, and achieved the result that we are seeking.
Some of the notable people in history did indeed struggle up the mountain to receive information and inspiration - Moses and Elijah, for example. And Peter, James and John. They had an excellent guide and teacher, by the way. Jesus, the Christ, the Very Son Of God! Jesus was preparing teachers. People who could be first hand witnesses of the fulfillment of scripture. There, they met Moses the lawgiver, and Elijah, representing God's faithful forth-tellers, the prophets.
They came from the valley of the real world, and to the real world they returned, filled with the knowledge that God had validated His Son in what became known as the Transfiguration. Fulfillment of the Laws, in the tradition of the Prophets, and the Blessing of The God over all. (See Mark 9:2-9)
Jesus has walked the valley, he has ascended the mountain, indeed to the very heavens; to Him we can go! No need to struggle up our own mountain.
Believe that He died for ALL!
February 26, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Comparisons
* Scripture: Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”, Mt. 17:20b, NKJV - See also Lk. 17:6)

Hot pursuit! I’ve seen it often, yet each time I’m intrigued by the fervor with which they carry out their mission. It would seem to be an unequal contest, reminding me of David and Goliath, yet an obvious size differential doesn’t seem to be a factor. My bird reference guide gives a typical length of eight and one-half inches for the blackbirds to the crow’s seventeen inches.
To put that into perspective, assuming that he didn’t go swat and you go splat, how far down the street would you chase a guy who measured in at eleven or twelve feet tall? Yet these little feather-weights buzz the much larger bird like fighter planes after a big bomber until the intruder is well beyond their territory. Protective, yes indeed!
As I ponder the scenario taking place over my head, I wonder if I am more blackbird or more crow. Certainly I can admire the zeal with which the smaller birds defend their territory, even though the odds are heavily stacked against them. Would that I could defend my beliefs and my faith with such fervor. I am reminded of the many times that a problem seems just too large and daunting to even start resolving it.
Then again, can the smaller birds really do much harm to the crow? I don’t know for sure, but I seldom see falling feathers, or the crow battling back. So let’s just say that the crow perceives it as more of an annoyance than a life shattering event. So maybe there are times that we should just put more things into perspective, and not make what are truly annoyances into life shattering events, and play the part of the crow to their “blackbirds.”
I got to thinking about how many times we turn it around the other way - small problems send us packing. Little things get to us, irritate and annoy us. We make molehills into mountains. Little problems seem to be big problems, and we get squeezed in the middle. Ever feel like that?
Now that’s what Jesus was talking about. Why would anyone want to drown mountains? (Mt. 21:21) He is really making a size comparison. Big, big problem, big as a mountain? Suppose you say, “Just look at that mountain sized thing that I am facing, and I feel as small as a mustard seed in comparison.” Then think, “Big doesn’t matter, to a mustard seed, a blackbird - or me!”
Little things flitting around till you feel like the crow? Just say, “Hey! They can annoy me, but they can’t put me down.”
“Mountain, go jump in the lake.”
June 12, 2005

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Isaiah wrote, “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10, NKJV

We had been there before, my wife and I, but our children had never seen the mountains. All the way across the plains and hills of Missouri and Kansas each new rise in the landscape elicited the query, “Is that a mountain?” “No,” we would say, “Not yet. When you have to stick your heads out the car windows to see the top, that’s a mountain.”
Finally, as we navigated the foothills of eastern Colorado, we could point ahead to the west and say, “Those are the mountains.” Big! Impressive, massive, beyond belief for a flatlander. Seen from the distance they appear as a great unbroken mass rising to the clouds, and capped with a topping of white, even late in the month of June. The real wonder and awe is not seen, though, until one is enveloped in the midst of a mountain range. Up close and personal, it is the small things, the varied detail, that creates an aura of anticipation for what lies around the next bend.
The road ahead turns out to be more than just up and more up. Cresting a long rise may bring a sudden vista of a valley reaching off into the distance, perhaps cradling a shimmering lake. A closer inspection may reveal that the stream has been blocked by a beaver dam, just like in the picture books, and the lucky observer may even spot one of the industrious builders in their native habitat. Plants, flowers, and wildlife unlike anything seen at lower elevations make each rest stop or pull-off point an invitation for exploration.
Seen up close, even the rocks themselves turn out to be so much more than just one big blob of stone. Layered, tipped, and tumbled, with coloration to challenge any box of crayons, the little details fill many a geology book. What at a distance appears to be solid, everlasting, unbreakable, and impermeable reveals that the forces of time and nature produce cracks, crumbling, and erosion. What rises up eventually comes down, a thought that might give pause to even the most ‘hard-boiled’ of us mortals.
There is a scale in the mountains that dwarfs us. We are reminded of forces beyond our capabilities or comprehension. To have risen a thousand, two thousand feet, only to look up and see sheer clifts and towering heights yet far above is humbling. To round a bend in the road only to see it ever higher, clinging to the side of the mountain in the distance, we realize that we must trust in not only the builders that carved out the road we travel upon, but also share the faith of those who have safely traveled this way before us.
So, too, as we travel the road of life, we see God off in the distance, omnipotent, infinite, unreachable, beyond our limited comprehension. By moving closer to Him, we enter a relationship that is filled with the splender of things otherwise unseen. Things like joy, love, and peace, just our size. Trust The Builder, and join in faith with those who have traveled this way before us.
August 28 (News) 2005

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”, Mt. 17:20b, NKJV - See also Lk. 17:6)

Hot pursuit! I’ve seen it often, yet each time I’m intrigued by the fervor with which they carry out their mission. It would seem to be an unequal contest, reminding me of David and Goliath, yet an obvious size differential doesn’t seem to be a factor. My bird reference guide gives a typical length of eight and one-half inches for the blackbirds to the crow’s seventeen inches.
To put that into perspective, assuming that he didn’t go swat and you go splat, how far down the street would you chase a guy who measured in at eleven or twelve feet tall?
Yet these little feather-weights buzz the much larger bird like fighter planes after a big bomber until the intruder is well beyond their territory. Protective, yes indeed!
As I ponder the scenario taking place over my head, I wonder if I am more blackbird or more crow. Certainly I can admire the zeal with which the smaller birds defend their territory, even though the odds are heavily stacked against them. Would that I could defend my beliefs and my faith with such fervor. I am reminded of the many times that a problem seems just too large and daunting to even start resolving it.
Then again, can the smaller birds really do much harm to the crow? I don’t know for sure, but I seldom see falling feathers, or the crow battling back. So let’s just say that the crow perceives it as more of an annoyance than a life shattering event.
So maybe there are times that we should just put more things into perspective, and not make what are truly annoyances into life shattering events, and play the part of the crow to their “blackbirds.”
I got to thinking about how many times we turn it around the other way - small problems send us packing. Little things get to us, irritate and annoy us. We make molehills into mountains. Little problems seem to be big problems, and we get squeezed in the middle. Ever feel like that?
Now that’s what Jesus was talking about. Why would anyone want to drown mountains? (Mt. 21:21) He is really making a size comparison. Big, big problem, big as a mountain? Suppose you say, “Just look at that mountain size thing that I am facing, and I feel as small as a mustard seed in comparison.” Then think, “Big doesn’t matter, to a mustard seed, a blackbird - or me!”
Little things flitting around till you feel like the crow? Just say, “Hey! They can annoy me, but they can’t put me down.”
“Mountain, go jump in the lake.”
June 12, 2005