STRAIGHT TO THE CEMETARY

"You know, there's 2 places I never want to go. One's jail and the other is in the hospital. So when the ambulance came for me [broken hip] I told the driver, 'Just take me straight to the cemetary. I'd rather go there, yes sir!.'"

Bessie Delany
Book of Everyday Wisdom
Kodansha International  1994
p. 124

Sadie and Bessie Delany lived into their hundreds; and I mean "lived." I read their book, Having Our Say, years a go and plan to read it again. These African American women are so fun! And they give us good lessons in creative perseverence.

Smiling,
Lonnie

PS: Also reminds me of an older woman who my roommate visited on her off-nursing-hours. She was a touch cranky. One time, she spouted at Candi, "Well forgive me for living; but I fell out of the hearse."

Still Smiling,
Lonnie

HOMELESS IN MINNEAPOLIS

"An attitude of hope, I believe, is the forerunner of trust. The expression of this trust is belief.

One radio preacher said, "Hope is closer to wishing and it is not as strong as believing. If you hope God will do it, you give God the option not to. But if you maintain an attitude of hope, and you trust and believe intensely enough, that's a different story.

". . . since I have nothing, I have nothing else to lose, so 'Why not?' I think that's what Jesus was getting at, with the rich man getting through the eye of a needle. He had more baggage and therefore more to lose. Jessie Lair paraphrases, 'Here is a splendid, abundant life for you; all you need to do is let loose of your garbage.'"

Pat McDonough
Without Keys: My 15 Weeks With The Street People  !996
P. 282

Pat, a middle class, professional woman found herself homeless in Minneapolis--in my backyard, if you will. Pardon my emphasis. Sometimes I have to shake myself loose from inaccurate pictures stored in my head.

I've read 2 or 3 books by people who know, first hand, what it's like living on the streets or in their van. I might expect to encounter lessons in perseverence and survival. I'm not sure I'd have looked to the homeless for wisdom and hope. But Pat McDonough certainly has some. 

And that makes sense, I guess. 1 Corinthians 1:27 says, "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame (confound KJV) the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame (confound) the things that are mighty . . . "

What is "your" perception of the homeless? Mine is changing . . . some mind pictures are accurate; others, not.

EverGrowing,
Lonnie

TROUBLED

"If your closest associates are grateful people, you're likely to become more thankful for what you have. If your closest friends are negative, critical complainers, you will soon emulate them."

Bob Russell and Rusty Russell
Jesus: Lord of Your Personality
Howard Publishing  2002
p. 16


I'm troubled. Because "I" am someone's closest associate. My workplace, with it's challenges and smorgasbord of personalities, comes to mind. If my half-dozen, or so, coworkers emulate "me;" or if the customers who cross our threshold carry my attitude out with them what will our workplace and community look and sound like?

God, when needed, help me go against the flow.

Better yet, help me set the pace.

Ready To Grow,
Lonnie

A FORK IN THE ROAD

"Imagine walking down a road and coming to a fork, one leading to eternal life and the other leading to hell. The problem is you don't know which one leads where. Then you notice 2 men--one living, one dead. Which one will you ask for direction? The living man, of course."

Franklin Graham
The Name
Thomas Nelson Publishers  2002
p. 77

We all, without exception, have the promise of eternal life. "Where" is our "choice." Eternity is a long -- long -- time. Choose wisely.

Ever Growing Closer to EverPraying,
Lonnie

JESUS IS GENTLE, BUT . . .

"Jesus is gentle, but He is not weak. He loves the sinner but is absolutely intolerant of sin. He is not a negotiator. He is Lord."

Franklin Graham
The Name
Thomas Nelson Publishers   2002
p. 57

What's to add?
EverGrowing,
Lonnie

CLINGING OR SHARING

"We cling to our possessions rather than sharing them because we are anxious about tomorrow."

Richard Foster
Celebration of Discipline
Harper SanFrancisco/Harper Collins  p. 89


I love sharing, but I admit that the more anxious I am, the less I do so. Sadly, I call my actions wisdom, careful planning, or even saving for the future. Careful planning is correct, if it's spelled differently: Care-full. So full of care (for myself) that I, like the man with one talent, hide what I have and end up with less--if not in possessions, certainly in richness of life.

Foster's flip-side is where I want to live, and will, with God's promptings and help.

" . . . we can share because we know that He will care for us."

Richard Foster

EverGrowing With His Help,
Lonnie

BIRD BRAINS

"Birds retain strong memories of places where they have been threatened or alarmed. Margaret nice noted that a tame Song Sparrow was deeply agitated when taken into a room where he had been shown a stuffed Barred Owl more than four months earlier. The same sparrow was even moderately alarmed when exposed to the outline of a model of an owl that had frightened him thirteen months earlier and that he had not seen in the interval."

Alexander F. Skutch
The Mind of Birds
Team A & M University Press  1996
p. 18

We've been reading about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families).

Hmmm. I think this applies. I used to think PTSD was all about service men and women; and if anyone has permission to that experience, they do. But I feel anxiety rise without warning in certain situations--and have realized, recently, the feeling is at least a cousin to PTSD.

EverGrowing With An EverPresent and EverLoving God,
Lonnie