Seeds For Thinking

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

Scripture: Paul wrote, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” 1 Timothy 4:16, NIV

Henny Penny, my black hen;
She lays eggs for gentlemen.
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten
Henny Penny, my black hen.
Old nursery rhyme

Unlike the hen in the nursery rhyme, our black bantam hen prefers that the fruit of her labors do not go to feed gentlemen, or ladies, either, for that matter. So she hid her nest away where aforesaid nest robbers could not find her. However, the date of her last regular appearance was duly noted on the calendar, and twenty-one days later - the length of incubation for hen’s eggs - I was anticipating her reappearance with chicks.
Some of the other residents of the barn knocked over a few bales from the hay stack, and Lo! I spy a hen looking out at me from a crevice between the bales thus exposed to view. A quick check showed that chicks were indeed hatching. There were five at that time, with more eggs to go.
I left her for a time to finish her work. Cheeper(s) by the dozen - almost! She finally came out with eleven chicks. And I am positive she was smiling.
I am always amazed at the vitality of newly hatched chicks. Once the entire clutch of eggs has hatched, mama hen has them on the go. She will typically hunt for food almost immediately, as she has been fasting since the first egg started to hatch. At first, they stay pretty much under mama’s feathers, and she guards them well. Soon, however, it is scratch and cluck, a special mama hen cluck, that means, “Dinner is served.” The chicks dive after the choice bit of food she has uncovered.
This is the time I most enjoy, watching as they learn about the world around them. I put out a chick water bottle for them to drink, and sat back to watch. They cocked their heads, and examined this new intruder into their world, but did not recognize it for what it was - a source of water. Finally, mama hen went to the waterer, dipped in her beak, and tipped back her head. Quick as scat, eleven little chicks were around that waterer, dipping and tipping!
While chicks are drawn to mama hen’s cluck, it is her actions that model proper behavior and relationships to things in the world around them.
Lest we forget, our own little ones, children and grandchildren, learn quickly from what we do, both good and bad. Our words may inform, but our actions demonstrate what really matters. We need to “model the message” in our culture that runs so contrary to Christian beliefs. We are to be living examples, not only to youth, but to the world as a whole. Read Paul's letters to Timothy, and “be diligent in these matters.”
August 8, 2004

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

* Comic Relationships
* Scripture: Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. Proverbs 16:18,19, NKJV

Ah, Memories! there is nothing quite like dipping down deep into the memory bin, stirring them up a bit, watching them swirl around, and grabbing onto one or two for a trip down memory lane. I did a little stirring recently when I ran across an internet web site about comic strips - Don Markstein's Toonopedia™ Home Page. Talk about traveling back in time!
Many of the strips from the days of my youth were represented. I especially enjoyed “Out Our Way,” by J. R. Williams. It opened a new world for me, because he drew upon his experiences working in a factory, with cowboys on the range, and typical family situations. There was “Our Boarding House, “ with the ever pompous Major Hoople and his long-suffering but efficient wife, Martha. Some, like “Smokey Stover,” were pure foolishness, but the made-up words fascinated me, like “Foo’ and Notary Sojack.”
I have had a deep interest in the comic strip technique that goes beyond the quick bit of life or humor. All the essential elements of art, writing, film and video presentation all represented, and distilled to a potent essence. I used comic panels to illustrate the techniques of picture composition, movement of the story line, and compression of time in teaching television production.
I still use selected strips in teaching Bible studies. My maternal grandfather had no use for the comics, considering them to be a bunch of rubbish. Never-the-less, I find that they can be used effectively in making a point, or fleshing out an illustration.
Keep in mind that they do not have to be Biblical (although sometimes they may be, the occasional “B.C.,” or “Peanuts,” for example.) An illustration presenting what ‘IS NOT’ can be just as effective as what ‘IS’ if used properly.
Take relationships; that is what the Bible is all about, after all. Our relationships to God, and to each other - God’s creation.
I got to thinking about the characters in the “Bringing Up Father” strip, created by George McManus, about a poor Irish laborer named Jiggs, who doesn't understand why his ascension to wealth means he can't hang out with his friends, and his nagging, social-climbing wife, Maggie. Nouvea riche! Off with the old life, forward to the new, upward mobility into society. At least as far as Maggie is concerned. Art, voice lessons, fashion. Putting on airs.
Jiggs? He prefers his old friends, and corned beef and cabbage at Dinty Moore’s. The artist drew Maggie with a most critical expression on her face where Jigg’s indiscretions were concerned.
Relationships! Between husband and wife, within the family, to friends, both former and future. A place in the social order. Values, laying up treasures. Pride and humility. The higher and lower seats.
Got any ideas yet?
August 7, 2005

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

Scripture: James said, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” James 4:8, NIV

A picture isn’t always enough! True, a picture preserves a moment in time, but there are so many pieces of information missing. Unless it is a three-dimensional hologram, we see only a flat, one-sided view. Even special photographic techniques, such as used in the 3-D movies, can not even approximate the real object.
Our family once visited the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, arriving just at dawn. I have pictures of the sun coming up as a thin, red line over the northeastern rim of the canyon, while the depths below are still shrouded in darkness. Soon, the walls directly under us were touched by the first rays as the sun began its climb into the heavens, and I took pictures of that. When I pull out my photo album, that instant of time is a reminder of what we saw years ago. However, the photo in no way approximates the full scope and dimension of the scene laid out before us. Even if I close my my eyes, and try to reconstruct the vast panorama from memory, the detail is lost. I recall that the colors, shadows, and texture changed minute by minute as the sun made its ascent, but try as I might, though, the “feel” of the experience will never equal that of being in the presence of the spectacle.
Two of our four granddaughters spent a week with my wife and I. What a pleasure! We have pictures of them on our shelves, but they serve only to remind us of the real thing. How can you package a three-year-old on a flat piece of paper? Even a video falls far short of capturing the full essence of an ever changing personality. True, I’d like to capture the sound of her silly little giggle while she is listening to a funny story, and I will make some video recordings, but it could never replace the rest of the “body language” that goes with it. She giggles, she wiggles, everything is in motion. The eyes speak a thousand words, changing instant by instant to mirror the perception of one seeing and hearing so many things for the very first time. Memories are made not just of sound, or even of an image, but the nuances of everything taken together. What will her memories of those moments be, years from now? Perhaps some day we will again share the experience, and giggle a little as we recall a visit with grandparents one grand summer.
We would have missed so much if we had not made the trip to the Grand Canyon, nor invited the granddaughters to spend the week. Yet I am reminded that so many miss so much by not seeking out, and spending time with, God. Even the Bible, in all its vastness, pales into mere words on a flat page if the full Glory and Presence of the Lord is not experienced. We need to be constant in prayer, active in listening to God’s counsel. We need to be faithful in worship, gathering with those who also seek to worship and listen. We need to practice daily those relationships that build up the Body of Christ. Knowing only that something exists, even God, is not the same as experiencing the fullness thereof.
July 6, 2003