Face

Make your face to shine upon your servant . . . 

 - From Psalm 31

When God makes His face to shine upon us . . . is it covered? Or did he create the human face as an important visual blessing to the world? If God's face shines upon us, does He also smile, to see our smiles in response? When He models such acts of grace and love for us, does He then expect us to do the same, to each other? Is the mouth an important part of positive communication, and of smiling, or is it really true that you can smile "with your eyes," and that would be good enough?

Science: The human face emits light. The part of the human face that emits the most light, is the bottom half: the mouth. The nose. The chin. 

Does God expect our lights to shine for one another . . . or does He prefer we cover our light? If a light is covered up by a bushel and thus loses it's value . . . does the same thing happen if the light-emitting bottom half of a human face is covered, as if by a bushel?

The rest of Psalm 31, before asking for God's light to shine upon us, goes into detail about the way the righteous are treated by the wicked. They're mocked. They're slandered. 

When walking down the street, the wicked turn away from the righteous - they avoid the righteous.

It's like seeing someone walking your way . . . and there's something visual about them that makes you cross the street so that you will not have to interact with them. I saw that happening a lot, during the summer of 2020. And the expression of the avoiders, showing forth from their eyes, the uncovered part of their face, had all the anger and judgmentalism that I would imagine the wicked have towards the righteous, all the time!

For I have heard the whispering of the crowd, says the Psalmist. 

I have heard it, too. Or read it, on Social Media. 

My Law

If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you . . . 

 - From Jeremiah 26

In 2021, out of both sides of the same mouth:

The Bible is about violence and slavery, and misogyny, and racism, and violence, and war . . . 

Doesn't the Bible say to take care of immigrants?

When it suits them (that is . . . when it fits their stratagem, to gain power for themselves so that they can get back at people that remind them of someone that was mean to them once) the certain faction of modern society finds the Bible quite useful. But when defaming the Bible can create enough dissension and confusion, also to assist them in the acquisition of power, they will do so. 

Here's a rather harsh and extreme-sounding warning from Jeremiah. Apparently, he lived in a time that had suddenly turned away from the Lord. But they didn't know they had turned away. Jeremiah spoke the prophetic warnings in the synagogues, in the presence of people that considered themselves faithful. The society, of its times, thought of itself as on the right track. Perhaps they were set on the goal of tweaking some of God's laws that were too hard, or that seemed to mean, or that didn't allow for the kind of selfish "fun" of the kind that gave their lives "meaning."

What was this "law" that God had set before them (and us)? It is summarized and repeated over and over throughout the Old Testament, and then Christ took it to a higher level in the New Testament. Here it is:

* Take care of widows and orphans

* Take care of strangers traveling through your communities

* Live purely - that is, unselfishly, not with greed, not being driven by carnal physical drives. 

Those three life practices are the very essence of practical love. 

And then Jesus further clarified it: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. 

That's it. That's what's so horrible. But notice it doesn't say anything about virtue signaling . . . and this is where perhaps people come so unglued over having to actually . . . well . . . love ALL others. 

That's the root of all the anger, all the hate, all the strife and violence. 

But I don't want to love others!

 . . . that's really what people are saying, when they resist God. 

Shepherds

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 

 - From Luke 2

I wonder if Luke, when writing his gospel, went to find any of these shepherds, who by then were very old (if indeed any of them were still alive) to ask their firsthand account of all this? Did the Apostles . . . did Paul . . . ever have a chance to sit down and speak to any of the Shepherds?

They have the lead role in this part of the narrative. Mary and Joseph are are supporting characters here. It's all about the shepherds. 

I've heard it said that shepherds had basically a modest position in society. Yes, they were essential, and they had to be highly skilled. But when it came to being reliable witnesses, I do not know that they were valued for their credentials and credibility. Maybe they were like cowboys of the American West: coming from a variety of personalities and ethical grounding; but not normally found in the respected drawing rooms. 

So it is with God - - - giving the important work to servants, fishermen, tax collectors, shepherds . . . while leaving the intellectuals in their rightful place in eternity: some dark corner. 

The shepherds had names. They had families. They each had a mom, and a dad. They had hobbies. Some could make you laugh. Others hardly ever said anything. Some had tempers, and others were mild-mannered. They were no better nor worse than any one of us living, even today. 

But in this moment they had the entire world, and all of history, at the edge of their seats, following the exciting developments. 

I think that, of all the people you seek out in the first moments of eternity, that you find a shepherd-witness of the birth of Christ, and make them the first with whom you will make your new friendship and spend lots of timeless meetups with!

Confidence

Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence . . . 

 - From Hebrews 10

Confidence is, apparently, something we choose to express, and feel, rather than something we just feel, involuntarily. It's like Real Love; the kind based on a choice; the kind that puts others first and thinks nothing of oneself. 

I need a touch of that today. 

It's like the song Whistle While You Work - the idea that, when your feelings, and especially your negative feelings have put up a wall that halts your forward movement. You train yourself to delay, so that every word from trusted others, that is not 100% encouraging to you, becomes a snare. In the Whistle song . . . you think happy thoughts anyway. You choose happiness. You choose love. You choose confidence. 

You pretend to be confident, until it becomes a reality. 

I have a life problem. That is, a distinct problem that was small once, but has grown bigger over time. I am easily discouraged. I go one step forward, and two steps back. Maybe three. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You begin to send off signals to others, which activates their behaviors, resulting in words and deeds that make me even more discouraged. They do not know they are causing harm. And yet they are not at fault. They don't know what they're doing. In most contexts, their words are okay. 

But this is the very essence of evil. If I were Satan, my game-plan might be:

• Use words of advice, and "help," or even support, to get good people to hesitate.
• Make it a feedback loop, that prevents good people from correcting the root problem. Attack every attempt at change and improvement, with the "helpful" words from trusted others, mentioned above. 
• Hit the good person physically, so that the words and deeds that are so discouraging, create physical stressors - blood pressure, headaches, racing pulse, overwhelming feelings of anger, resentment and distress.
• Repeat

I'm dealing with rooting out the source of my life self-doubt and guilt. And every attempt, so far, is being met with instant counter-punches from well-meaning people that don't know what they're doing. 

I'm simply trying to tell my story. But my story illuminates the problem. It may empower others that are likewise hurting. Ironically . . . by sharing my own narrative, I'm doing the exact opposite of drawing attention to myself. And if I fail in clearly articulating the point, it is only because I'm human and can't do anything perfectly. And yet, failing in doing the RIGHT thing, is much to be preferred over attempting to do the right thing, but doing wrong because your motives and understanding is flawed.

Always assume the best in others. Always get out of their way when they're sharing a sensitive part of their story. 

And then be confident. Just do it. Choose confidence. You are on the right path. Well-meaning friends and family do not have your experience or perspective. They may try to help. They may be wise, usually. But do not let even them . . . prevent you from the attainment of your life's goal and mission. 

Restore

 Restore us, O God of hosts . . . 

 - From Psalm 80

When you break the word, "restore" down to its modern English components, and then attempt an ancient Hebraic spin on them, you see the root word: "store."

Of course it's not talking about a 21st Century store, like TJ Maxx or Menards. They didn't have retail in the days of King David. 

It's more like store as in storage. The building up, and saving, of provisions. Stuff that you have placed in reserve, for a rainy day. Canned and dried foods. Seed for planting. Beef for protein. Knowledge of native flora and fauna, what's edible, what can be used to ensure shelter and warmth. What elements in nature have curative properties, in case we get sick? 

Storage is talking about the basic necessities. We are not likely to waste precious storage space on frivolities. Just the essentials, and plenty of it . . . but not more than we are likely ever to need, even in the worst case scenario. 

If I say "The storehouse is full," then I'm talking about a good thing. You can relax and enjoy this moment, because we have taken care of any contingency. 

But Israel had been "de-stored," (which sounds an awful lot like "destroyed"). There are forces in the world that simply hate goodness. They hate good people doing good things. They act selfishly and carelessly - they do not save - they do not plan or prepare . . . and rather than compare themselves unfavorably against the good and wise, they'd rather either destroy the good and wise, or destroy the provisions . . . the storehouses . . . of the good and wise.

Even if it means LESS good things for themselves, they will destroy the work, the creativity, and the productivity of the good and wise. 

Sound familiar?

The world hated King David's Israel. Had Israel prospered, and been supported by the world; then such things as freedom, wealth, quality of life, and happiness would have expanded beyond its borders. When fed and nurtured, Good expands and affects others. But the historic forward march of Good, through time, can be and is halted regularly, by these forces that, for whatever reason, hate Good. 

I don't know why this is . . . . unless it's due to insecure people that gain power, and begin to view freedom and wealth as a threat to themselves. 

It's childish. It's foolish. It's evil, even. 

But it just is. 

If we find ourselves in a position of being "de-stored." Then the pattern of history is just this: We must ask God to RE-store us. Provision us, once again. The forces of hate are so intense, and so concentrated into such raw human power, that apparently it can only take supernatural help, to get us through it.