Huh?

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The last time I was in England visiting our son Hans and his young family, we began chatting about the Garden of Eden. We wondered aloud about its only residents, Eve and Adam, the mother and father of the entire human race. What did they look like? Were they tall? Small? Dark skinned? Light? Were they children? Teens? Twenty-somethings?

Adam and EveEnjoying our discussion, we talked about their language. Without ever pondering this before, I’ve always assumed they spoke English, a thought that’s comical now. But what, then, did they speak? Was it Hebrew? Greek? Aramaic?  Probably not.

Most likely it was a language that doesn’t exist today. Hans got me laughing when he said, “Maybe it was the language of clicks and whistles,” and then gave me his best impression. We agreed it was too late for either of us to master that one.

All of our children have studied foreign languages in school, but most can’t use them beyond Taco Bell or The Olive Garden. Although a two year old can become fluent in any language in about a year, the rest of us need multiple years to speak even a little. The older we get, the harder it is to make a foreign vocabulary “stick.”

It’s even difficult (and can be risky) traveling in a foreign country where we can’t read signs or understand people. Mary and I once got so lost in Sweden we thought we’d have to spend the night under a bridge. Although we had a car, a full gas tank, Swedish money, and two fairly good brains, trying to follow verbal directions without the language was hopeless.

I’ve so loved listening to my grandchildren learn to speak between their first and second birthdays. I remember the day a bunch of us walked the four blocks to my mailbox with a 22-month-old Skylar running circles around the rest of us. Somebody said, “It’s a little chilly.”

Skylar immediately picked up on it. “It’s a little chilly, Mommy. It’s a little chilly, Weezi. It’s a little chilly, Gitta. It’s a little chilly, Midgee.” As she skipped along, she repeated these new words 20 times over until we were stumbling along the road with laughter. But Skylar was simply learning a language.

Klaus and SkylarNo doubt heaven will have its own language made up of words none of us could ever find in an earthly dictionary. When we first arrive in that new “country,” however, and are still learning to speak the language, surely the Lord will make a way for us to communicate with each other. Maybe it’ll be by way of the one language that’s universal even here on earth : music. If so, that’ll factor in nicely with singing our praises to God.

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.” (Psalm 100:1-2)

 

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I praise God for the perfect peace he gave me during today’s infusion. (Lam. 3:57) Please pray against nausea tonight and tomorrow, which is only mild so far, PTL.
  2. I’m thankful my feeding tube feels a little better today.

A Stoner

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Some people would say I’ve got rocks in my head, probably with rock-solid reasons. There’s no end to my fascination with stones. Despite there being unnumbered practical uses for rocks, their real appeal is their striking colors and patterns, each telling a tale of origin. God gets all the credit, and collecting and appreciating stones is, in my mind, an activity bordering on worship.

???????????????????????????????Tonight Jack and I couldn’t wait to get to the beach, and we arrived an hour ahead of the sunset. At the water line we were greeted with the mother-lode of beach stones as far as the eye could see. Never without a plastic bag in my pocket (available for collection of dog-product or stones, whichever comes first), I dropped to my knees and began picking through the bounty. Speckled, black, pink, gold, fossil-imprinted, pearl-like, striped and flecked. What’s not to love?

While bagging rocks, I sometimes think of the biblical description of the New Heaven. Part of it is a list of the different stones God plans to use in its construction:

  • Gemstonessapphire
  • emerald
  • carnelian
  • chrysolite
  • beryl
  • topaz
  • amethyst
  • jacinth
  • chrysoprase
  • jasper
  • agate
  • onyx
  • pure gold, as clear as glass

After studying descriptions of each of these foundational stones, I realized the majority of them are “see-through.” As someone who is moved by the beauty of earthly rocks, I can’t imagine the thrill of gazing at a city with massive walls and foundations constructed from these precious stones. I don’t think I could even look at it without a bag to breathe into. That’s probably just one of the many reasons we can’t be transported to heaven without first being changed.

I fully believe the wonders of heaven will knock us flat, even before we get a glimpse of God the Father or Jesus the Son. After all, several biblical personalities were given a quick peek, and falling flat was exactly what happened to them.

When I think about the splendor of heaven, I wonder if we’ll be permitted to look into God’s throne room. Revelation 4 describes this incredible scene with beautiful stones, too: “The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones… and the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.”

God has a gorgeous dwelling place planned for us, and while I’m waiting for the transformation necessary to witness it, I’m going to enjoy hunting for beach stones that are, for now, as stunning as I can stand.

“But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye…Those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Please pray about Monday’s infusion #6, completing the first third of my chemo. Thanks for continuing to pray against nausea.
  2. I’m thankful for a good weekend with family and dear friends.

Like it or lick it.

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A bad habitToday I did something I said I’d never do again, but an old habit got in the way of my new resolve. I picked up a packet… no… a box-full of hard-copy photos from the store. I’m embarrassed to say I now have 307 new prints to put into albums.

An old Chinese proverb says, “Habits are cobwebs at first, cables at last.” As the wildlife in our basement enjoys cob-webbing our 196 photo albums, I’m upstairs shackling myself with a cable wrapped around me 307 times. Now I have the undertaking of putting these prints in books I haven’t even bought yet. Worse yet, it’ll put us over the 200-album mark, a dubious honor.

What could possibly be the reason for such idiocy? I do have one. It’s the tiny but potent memory card inside my digital camera. Because I can delete any photo, I take pix with abandon, which is what brought me up against three maxed-out cards that needed clearing. The thought of losing even one good shot nagged me until I finally decided to make 4×6 copies to have and to hold… as is my habit.

My kids have pressed me to give up hard copies entirely, and I promised I would… next time. For now I can’t ignore the cry of my basement albums: “You’ve loved us for so long! Don’t stop now!”

Is photo hoarding a bad habit? Or is it a harmless pastime?

Are there any harmless bad habits?

My 307 pictures got me thinking. How many other bad habits do I have that haven’t been classified as such? What behaviors more serious than album-collecting ought to be stopped? Every bad habit has something tantalizing within it. We can’t lick it because we like it. It feeds us somehow, gratifies something, gives back in some way. If it didn’t, we’d walk away.

Experts tell us the best way to get rid of an undesirable habit is to substitute a desirable one. But since there’s already something desirable nestled within every bad habit, finding an even more desirable substitute can be problematic. It’s one of life’s big challenges.

YumIf I could figure out how to conquer my album-addiction, maybe I could triumph over other bad habits, say, my love affair with sugar. How could there ever be anything more desirable than sugar? For now, I’m just trying to think of something better than stockpiling photos in the basement. After watching Louisa reorganize her computer pictures for several hours, keeping electronic  albums doesn’t have much appeal either.

After all, dusting the cobwebs off my basement albums could be done in three minutes flat. If I’m munching on candy while doing it, two.

”For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7a)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Thanks so much for continuing to pray about my feeding tube pain and the the appointment with a GI doctor.
  2. I’m thankful the tube itself continues to feed me well.