Kaziah Hancock, What is your gift?

What is your gift? What is your talent, ability? Use all that is within you for the glory of God. Meet Kaziah.

Cross Training

At the end of his Watch Night liturgy, John Wesley writes:

"I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."

I am " laid aside" for a purpose. Some things have arisen in my personal life that need time and attention. The last four years have been a time of frenzied movement from jobs, meetings, classes, appointments, committments, sandwiched between the dying and death of my brother and mother, settling estates and all the shifting involved. Four years later, I am finding that I still have not taken the time to stop and even process the grief. Four years later, I am finding that I am out of touch with the person I vowed almost twenty five years ago to love, honor and cherish until death parted us.

Athlete's cross train when they want to stay fit and active throughout the year and utilize all their muscle groups. This is a period of "cross-training" in my life. God's timing is perfect. There are reasons why now is not the best time for an appointment at this place in my journey. Cross training has taught me that the work we do in the secular world is also a calling and a ministry if we choose to approach it as such. I will return to my secular job as my "calling" for now. Cross training has taught me that I am not my own, I belong to Jesus, and what I want, in the time I want it, if it is not what God wants, needs to be nailed to the cross and left there so that I can be free and unencumbered to be all God wants for me to be. What is of the flesh is flesh, what is of the Spirit is Spirit.

Paul what are you here for ?

Paul Potts is singing opera on his first appearance on Britain's Got Talent. He is a mobile phone salesman from Wales. The desire of his heart is to sing opera. Scripture tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. What is your desire? What were you created and called to do for His glory? Do you know what it is? Are you doing it? If not, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find , knock and the door will be opened to you. We were born to walk with and give glory to God in all we do. Let's do it! Check out one man's journey, theologian Dallas Willard, good stuff: http://www.dwillard.org/biography/tenure.asp

It isn't just what you see on the surface.

I awoke the other morning with this image on my mind. "The Three Worlds" by Dutch artist Mauritz Escher is a famous print that I show my students in school when we study his amazing work. In it we can see the reflection of the trees and light on the pond surface, the leaves floating on the surface and the fish swimming under the surface. The idea that I have been struggling with relates to the process of discernment of God's will. I have been black and white in my thinking about the leading of the holy Spirit. I was thinking that the answers I was seeking to life's complex issues always have a Yes or No, Right or Wrong component. I was not thinking in terms of choices, that there are many ways to view something, many lenses by which we can filter our gaze; the reflection of what shines from above, the stuff floating on the surface or what lies underneath. Looking at a still pond or this print, either way one must decide how it is that their gaze will be cast. If breezing through, passing by, I only get a quick glimpse of the surface, then I will make assumptions about ponds that will not necessarily be based in fact. There will be so many delightful pond "things" that will be unknown and unappreciated because they are under the surface of the water. When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water with Jesus, it was a leap of faith but suddenly he turned his gaze on another part of the picture, the wind, and becoming afraid began to sink. Jesus saw the whole picture then, He sees the whole picture today, I only see the part I am gazing upon and then try to base a decision on that. The answer is No we can't walk on water, but the answer is also Yes we can walk on water, it depends on what we are looking at, where we are putting our faith.

The other part of this image is the fact that I can gaze at the reflection or look at what is on the surface or look into the depths below. Peter, after his water walking experience, it would seem, would have learned a few things about following Jesus, yet he continually misteps because of lack of understanding and perspective. Sometimes, he is reacting and acting rashly, like slicing off the ear of a slave, later he is is doubtful,fearful, denying; further on in his faith journey legalistic, wanting to enforce Judaic law in a surface superficial sense, until God gave him a revelation with a deeper understanding. I have a feeling that God was using the picture The Three Worlds to tell me to fasten my seat belt and get ready for a more thrilling part of the journey. My destination? To a place where easy glib answers and legalistic fomulas, programs and ideas of "the way it's supposed to be" and "that's the way we've always done it" are about to be challenged. Please Lord let me see the picture the way you see it, using the eyes of faith and not the eyes of fear. Your perfect love casts out fear. Let me remember that when I am unsure of the ground or the water I am walking on.

God will make a Way....

Acts 2: 17-18

"And in the last day it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy. "

Last night I dreamed I was worshipping the Lord in song and He told me to stop focusing on singing and focusing instead on letting Him come in and fill me completely with His Spirit. The more He filled me the lighter I became and I was able to float around the room I was in. I was as light as a feather, unencumbered by gravity. I asked Him if I would be able to pass through the walls as well. He told me that was not to be until I had died and shed my earthly skin. I woke up praising God for the lightness I had experienced in my dream. My understanding was to pour out praise to God and to recieve back from Him His blessing and allow it to fill every corner and crevass of my being.

I have been so weighed down with concerns. It feels like I have been carrying a big bag of rocks on my back, and more rocks keep getting added daily to the bag. This week at the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church the keynote speaker emphasized repeated in his messages, "God will make a way!" I think last night, in my sleep, God showed me the way. Praise and continued humble acceptance of God's grace and Holy spirit. Below are the lyrics to a praise and worship song my husband sings. It bears reading, reciting and considering:

Blessed Be Your Name by Beth and Matt Redman

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in Lord, still I will say,
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be you name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be your glorious name.

Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful,
where the streams of abundance flow,
blessed be Your name.

BLessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk in the wilderness
blessed be Your name.

Blessed be Your name
when the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name.

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering.
Though there's pain in the offering.
Blessed be your name.

You give and take away
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be your name.

Feast of Dedication

The only reference to Chanukah , or Hannukah, in our Protestant bibles is in John !0 :22-23 where it is written that Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate it in the temple. Jesus would have been familiar with the story of the events it celebrates as found in the book of 1 Macabees in the Apocrapha. Depending on the year,
Chanukah is celebrated in either November or December.

Known as the Feast of Lights or the Feast of Dedication, this festival commemorates a miracle that occured in the temple, which would be the second temple, around 164 B.C.. A Greek conqueror, Antiochus IV, who knicknamed himself Epiphanes or “god manifest.” Decided to destroy Jerusalem and profame the holy temple since the Jews were resisting Hellenization. Jewish High Priest was assassinated, and a pig was slaughtered on the altar and burned a statue of Zeus erected in theholy place. The Jewish religion was outlawed, replaced by with his own pagan worship. Anyone who who resisted was executed cruelly.

A small group of ill equipped men led by Judah Macabee began a guerrilla revolt, descending from the mountains and striking. They were successful in driving out the occupying army, the temple could be cleansed and rededicated.  But there was only enough purified olive oil to light the Menorah in the Temple for one day and it would take eight days for the purification. The Menorah lights burned miraculously the entire eight days and the temple was purified and dedicated.

The Ark of the Covenant was missing from the second temple, but The Light of the World filled the second temple on that Feast of Dedication and he said “my sheep hear my voice and follow me.”

I suggest that we celebrate today our own Feast of Dedication, taking a moment to cleanse and consecrate ourselves, these human forms which are the temple of the Holy Spirit to renewed service. This service is to be sweet, as “Jesus tell us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light” Hebrew children, when they begin to study the Torah are given honey on their tongues to remind them that to dedicate oneself to the knowledge of the Word of God is a sweet thing. So we remind ourselves as we “study to show ourselves approved”. Let us not be weary.

The Chanukah Menorah, the eight candledabra is lit by a servant candle, the Shamash on each day of the Festival. Although the “Shamash” is located above the other candles, it must bow low to light them. This reminds us that Jesus humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant, sharing his glorious light with us. We are all called to bear His light into this dark world. It is good to remember that we too, must bow low for the sake of the body of Christ and share our light with others.

Without Chanukah there would be no Christmas, if the Greeks had succeeded in wiping out the Jewish faith. Without the Festival of Lights there would be no Light of the World whom we love and serve.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

Beating Swords Into Plowshares, Reflection on the Virginia Tech Massacre

These are our students today getting off the busses, ready for a new day of learning with their peers and teachers; a scene repeated one hundred and eighty days or so across America from September until June. Our school is public, open to all children regardless of race, religion, economic status,ability or disability. It is where I was first "called" to ministry, to educate and serve these children, their parents, this staff back in the early seventies. In many ways my job is still very much the same, but over the years, subtle changes have occured in the children and their families, our families, America's families. Families have become disconnected from one another, caught up in obits around personal interest. One of the ways people become engaged with one another, I was told at a seminar is through service learning. The science teacher and I engaged our students in an Earth Force Project collaboratively to create a place of beauty on the school grounds that could become an outdoor classroom. We began to build a garden. A month later, almost exactly nine years to the day of the Virginia Tech tragedy, our science teacher was shot and killed and others wounded at our school spring dance.
Our shooter like the one at Virginia Tech was also a student and described as a "loner". At school today we did not speak of todays news. It is still too painful to speak of things that remind us of this past, but our garden is blooming. Our children are tend it lovingly and take pride in each new revelation of nature. Right now, it's the Red Emperor Tulips that are beginning to greet us, soon it will be the irises and the peonies. Beauty for ashes in the garden, we tend and I tell each new crop of fifth grade caretakers the garden story. Why it's important to care about each other and to tell them so. Why it's important to say and do kind things and so on.

We comfort with the comfort by which we were comforted. Our faculty received many gifts of grace, love and peace from our community and the nation at the time. Letters of condolence, cards, churches even brought snacks to the school when we came back to the building after the funeral. It helped us stay together, support one another and grieve. The swords of violence that tore the innocence of our school community apart has been beaten into a plowshare. I pray for the students, faculty, staff and families of Virginia Tech that they would find beauty for ashes in the midst of this tragedy. That they would receive comfort and peace.

The veil is torn, He is Risen!

Photo by Jan Curtis of an Aurora Borealis http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/

Christ has risen! The veil that separated us from God's holiness is torn through the selfless act of Jesus's perfect sacrifice on the cross and his miraculous resurrection. Through accepting the gift of his forgiveness and by his grace and mercy we have clean hands and pure hearts so that we may ever be with the Lord. Christ our Passover lamb was sacrificed for us, therefore let us celebrate! I am a sinner, self righteous at times, lacking in mercy, grace, self control, purity,tolerance, forgiveness at other moments. I am one of the hypocrites who attends church regularily, yet I am a forgiven sinner, one who turns to the Savior for repentance and restoration, as often as is needed, and it is needed often as I soil my soul with the frequency of infant diaper changes. Jesus forgives me seventy times seven and then some. The church, my fellow sojourners in the way, push me to press on to the higher calling, like a coach urging a team to do it's best. The earth is the Lord's and all that dwell therein. We are his hands and feet in this world today. May we walk in His holiness being the Easter people we are called to be. This is my favorite Psalm. It is my frequent prayer to have clean hands and a pure heart. I pray that it would be your prayer too in this present world.

Psalm 24
1The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

The Last Supper

When I was in high school, I used to cut class and get on the public bus, not hard to do living in suburban Washington, D.C. at the time, and go to the National Gallery of Art. I would look at many paintings and sculptures while I was there but would always have to stop and visit this one, the Last Supper, by surrealist Salvador Dali. At that time the oil paint had not yet begun to crackle on the canvas as it has now, my face also had not begun to crackle as it has now. The painting and I are aging together and still I get lost in the mystery of it. I shared the image, a paper reproduction, with my mentor pastor who pointed out that the theology of the painting was not accurate. Theology aside, I think it is the mystery the painting alludes to that draws my imagination now as it did when I was sixteen and tired of school. The mystery of one dead, rising again, the mystery of His body broken for me and for many for the forgiveness of all our sins: committed in the past, present and still to be done. I try to wrap my mind around the meaning of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me and in all of us who are in Christ, it is as overwhelming as trying to stand in the midst of the waves of the thundering ocean. In this painting I see Christ in all and through all, that is what it has meant to me. I hope you visit my favorite painting when you go to Washington D.C. The last time I was in the National Gallery of Art it was hanging on a wall as you came up a grand staircase. I hope you get to see it some day and are blessed.

It's not about the rabbit, or the bunny...the art of teaching children about the Resurrection

Two Saturdays before Palm Sunday we had a children's "retreat" at our church. It was actually sort of a condensed three hour Vacation Bible School on a Saturday afternoon. The idea was to teach the youngsters about the coming Holy Week and all the symbolism with songs, Bible stories and hands on activities. I was trying to explain to the children that Jesus was called the Lamb of God and why. We talked about the egg being a symbol for the resurrection and that they could think of it as a tomb like the tomb Jesus was buried in. The fact that the Easter bunny didn't figure into any of this baffled them all. After the reading of the big Bible picture book about Easter and the making of the Lamb of God banners, the Jesus is in my heart "stain glass" suncatchers and the coloring of hard boiled eggs; after the eating of the popcorn and the cookies and drinking the punch, we had a little review. When asked about the Ressurection, one little boy raised his hand and said, "They buried Jesus in the tomb and three days later he turned into an Easter egg!" We all had a good laugh. Maybe next year I will figure out a better way to get these concepts across to the children.

One of the liturgists from our church preached that Sunday as our pastor was ill. She talked to the adults about the significance of the days of Holy week and used as a resource Treasury of Easter Celebrations by Julie Hogan, ISBN 0-8249-4206-X Co.1999 Ideals Publications. I will have to get a copy of the book, a great resource if you want to know more about this season of the year and the origin of the traditions.

Hebrew people who joined the Christian religion brought with them the traditions of their ancient Passover festival. The lamb's life was a sacrifice to God. Jesus is our Easter lamb. Christ our Passover lamb is sacrificed for us, the Lamb of God. As the Lamb, Christ has reached a need we could not. He has become the sacrifice we could not give. He is the Lamb who was slain so that we could bow and sing in the presence of God on Easter Sunday.


The actual word Easter didn't appear until about 1400 years ago when the early christians adopted the word that referred to the spring celebration of the goddess Eostre. They thought this would be more acceptable to the people they were trying to convert to Chrisitanity. The rabbit was the sacred companion of this goddess of spring. Easter really should be called Resurrection Day, the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. It's not about the bunny, its all about the Lamb of God!

No Idea Where I am Going

The painting I have chosen is "Lifeline" by American Artist Winslow Homer, Right now I need a lifeline.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
I hope I am going in the right direction, I was sniffing the air and following the Holy fragrance.
Hoping that the wind blowing and gusting was not throwing off the chase to press hard after your Divine Presence. Then the storm. That things are not going well is not an indication that I have left Your path. Even though the boat has capsized I am lashed by the rope of your grace to the over turned hull. What started out as an idyllic Gilligan three hour tour has become a season of Survivor episodes. My heart beats like an echo location device, ping, ping, ping, Lord, you can find my location in this maelstrom. Drift me on the rolling waves to the safety of the port in the storm.

God is the Potter wedging the clay

Before clay is fit to be molded and fashioned into either a handbuilt or wheel thrown item, it must be wedged.The wedging process involves slamming, pushing, pressing and kneading the clay repeatedly against a hard surface. Why wedge clay? Wedging helps homogenize the clay and get rid of air pockets. An air pocket trapped inside the clay will cause a hand built clay vessel to explode when it is subjected to the heat of the kiln during the firing process. A little trapped heated pocket of air will expand and "boom" there goes the beautiful handiwork the craftman spent so much time on, not to mention the mess of broken pottery shards now inside the kiln. That same little air pocket hidden in the lump of clay on a potter's wheel will make it difficult to impossible for the potter throw a pot of any value or beauty.

Jer. 18: 1-3 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Before the potter could create a work on the wheels , he had to wedge the clay. Before the Master Potter can mold us and fashion us into the image of His Son He must "wedge" us.

In Romans 12:1 Paul talks about being "transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." I pray that we yield, as clay in the potter's hand, and allow God to work the bubbles out of our thoughts, leaving in us the mind of Christ.

May You Stay Forever Young

My house and I look about the same. We are older, what realtors like to call a "fixer upper". Just another old house, as I look at myself, just another aging, unremarkable in appearance middle aged person do I see. An aging temple of the Holy Spirit. I remember the smooth knees I had when I was six and the veinless hands. Now I have things growing on my hands from years of hard work, ganglion cysts, the doctor says, not to worry he can cut them out. Cholesterol, reading glasses, I sigh, just had a skin cancer cut out a month ago on my leg, a souvenir of teenage tanning. But it is not what is on the outside that is important, as my body ages and grows more shabby, like the plush kitty my son loved the fur off of so long ago, inside my soul the fire is burning. I am passionate about my Savior. I find myself caring less and less what people think and more and more about what my Savior thinks. Everyday is a new adventure walking in faith. We who love Him will spend eternity with Him. He will bless and keep us always, nothing can separate us from His love, even greying temples and wrinkled knees.

Bob Dylan, famous poet, songwriter and singer of my generation wrote this song. I share it with you today. It is my prayer. May we all be forever young in Christ.

Forever Young

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young.

Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you.

May you always be courageous
Stand up right and be as strong
And may you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.

May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young.

May you grow up righteous and true,
See the light surrounding you
May you grow up righteous and true,
See the light surrounding you
May you stay forever young.

Bob Dylan- Ram's Horn Music - ASCAP

Kairos/Chronos

In His time, not our time. Jesus said, "This then is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matt. 5:9-10 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Eccles:3:1 In my life, I have spent a lot of time waiting for the fulfillment of God's personal promises to me. Waiting for an opening for a teaching position in my field: a year. Waiting for the right man to come into my life to be my husband: thirty years. Waiting for the first child to be conceived and born: thirty four years and second child: thirty six years and now waiting to become a pastor. Some of the things I have waited for I will probably never see on earth, but will in heaven: a cure for the Aspergers disorder that afflicts my son, a new spine for the disintegrating one I currently use and claim as my own, relief for the unrelenting depression my husband experiences that medication has not touched.

In Luke 24: 45 the risen Christ appears to the disciples and eats fish with them. He opens their minds to the scriptures and promises that they will receive power from His Father after He leaves. After walking with them towards Bethany, He blesses them and is taken up into heaven in front of them. I can only imagine what that must have been like and how time must have seemed to have "stood still" when He was with them but when He was gone, I can imagine that they may have been wondering how long they were going to have to wait for this power that He had promised?

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven... Lord, in your time. In Your time may it be spring again and the deep freeze of the arctic air recede upward back to it's place and leave us, allowing the snow to melt and the grass to green again. In our relationships, in Your time, may the flame of the Holy Spirit thaw the deep freeze of our hearts and may we turn our faces to the Son.

The Art of making a Valentine

Valentine was a priest in Rome, who, with Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs during the persecution under Claudius II. He was caught, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, could not get him to renounce his faith. He was then beaten with clubs and beheaded on February 14. He is alleged to have prayed for his jailers daughter to receive her sight before he died and she die miraculously and to have sent letter encouraging Christians being persecuted, signing them, from your Valentine. The manner in which we make a valentine celebration today probably owes more of it's origins to a pagan Roman fertility feast that occured in February called Lupercalia, in anceint Greek mythology this month was the anniversary of the marrriage of Zeus and Hera called, Gamelion.

I think the art of making a Valentine is the art of making a gesture of love that is unconditional and unexpected. As Christ's love for us is unmerited, we also ought to extend love to one another that is unmerited. In my family, we are trying to "downsize" Valentine's Day and the expectations of gift giving that go along with it. It had become almost another Christmas in high emotional expectation. If love is to be freely given and freely received when one or the other did not meet the expectation there was hurt feelings and disappointment. Our Heavenly Father did not ordain this holiday as a Holy day. It is not a sacrament or a commandment. We need to keep it in it's proper perpective and honor and prefer one another in love but not in expectation.

I have had bouquets of flowers in years past and jewelry, dinners out, but money has been very tight recently with only one income coming in. My priorities have changed. I hope for the better. I hope I am seeking the best things, the things that are eternal and that matter over time. The best gift I ever received on this day was the birth of my daughter, made possible by the contribution of the Mr. The daughter, whose picture is above, is twenty two today and we celebrated with her on this blizzardy day. This year, the Mr. received two pounds of homemade fudge from me. It was fun trying to make it so he wouldn't discover me doing it, getting it wrapped up and hiding it until the right moment. The Mr. gave me a beautiful card and bag of chocolate kisses. Each kiss for a kiss I was told, it doesn't get much better than that. This year will be our twenty fifth anniversary.

The Art Of Blogging Prayerfully

Blogging, journaling, keeping a sketch book are important ways of getting thoughts up on screen or down on paper so that you can see them for what they really are. I find that to prayerfully blog or journal is to learn something about myself in the process. I think I am putting my thoughts out there, where? But if I am involved in the Divine Conversation while I am writing discovery happens. Sometimes the discovery is not so good. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror it isn't pretty either, but the One who is engaging me in this dialogue is so gentle that the soul surgery is seamless and the restoration amazing. The moments of inspiration are to be savored and enjoyed, recorded for future times when enthusiasm is low and pessimism high. I usually keep the gritty, gnarly stuff for paper bound sketch books that can be drawn,pasted,scribbled and then tucked away hidden until the next desperate need or moment of triumph. Those are the intimate journals, my children will inheirit someday and probably laugh over their mother's sentimental foolishness. My prayer is that they will also see a record of someone they knew and loved working out their salvation with fear and trembling. This blog, News From The Wilderness, is a public persona, and what I share with my friends, neighbors and anyone who cares to stop by.

The Methoblog is a fascinating collection of thoughts and prayers about what and where the United Methodist Church is gong in the twenty first century. I have read many of the contributors writings. I am impressed by how artfully some of them can turn a phrase and make a point with out using the hundred and ninety words I am now. In several blogs I have come across mention of a book WRITING DOWN THE BONES. I have gotten a copy of the book and have started to read it. Reading about how to write and writing well are two different things. Reading about doing a work of art and actually making one are two different things as well. In any endeavor, we do all things to the Glory of God, even blog, then with that in mind, we give it our best shot.

http://methoblog.onlywonder.com/content/

Pysanka

The word Pysanka means in the Ukranian language, an egg that has been decorated with a wax resist (batik) type method.
This art form goes back into antiquity when ancient people worshipped the sun. Why not worship the sun? In a land with the cold and barren darkness of winter, it was the sun that heralded the arrival of spring, new birth, new life! In the Ukraine, eggs were chosen for sun worship ceremonies, the yolk representing the sun and the white, the moon. Just as the earth seemed devoid of life in the winter and bursting forth with newness in the spring, the egg, seemed to be like a stone until a new life appeared in the form of a chick. Because new life came from an egg, people came to believe they had the power to help them in their daily lives. They would be buried in fields and mangers, given as gifts to ensure health and prosperity, ward off evil, or make fertile. The designs on the eggs were based on ancient forms and legends by an ancient people who respected and revered nature.

With the advent of Chiristianity new meanings were added to old symbols and the early missionaries incorporated the art form into the Christian belief of the local people, bringing more to a knowlegde of the love of Christ. The most important holiday in the Ukraine is Easter, which is more than a three day period but lasts a full forty days starting the first day of Lent. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, fast days, no eggs, meat or dairy are eaten after the Ash Wednesday church service. As well as physical and spiritual cleansing, the family would also emback on a spring cleaning of the house, the home would be cleansed in preparation for Easter as well. Any one who had had a disagreement with a neighbor during the previous year would make sure it was amended during this time. If the family could afford it new clothes would be made or purchased, otherwise they would at least get new shoelaces!

In this state of mind, a woman would make Pysanky. Before they could be made, one was to be in a spiritual state of mind. The previous day was to have been spent peacefully, avoiding gossiping, dealing with the family patiently and preparing a good dinner. They were to be made at night after the children were asleep. Only the women in the family could work together, no one else was allowed to peek so that the goodness from the household would be transferred onto the designs and evil would be pushed away. Making Pysanka was not a social but rather a mystical event. Fresh eggs were gathered from hens where a rooster was in residence, for, according to belief, if non fertile eggs were used there would be no fertility in the home. Different blessings were asked for each egg so that their good wishes would travel with the pysanky. As one practices, technical talent develops in all artists, but it is the power and love which the egg conveys that is what is important. the process took several evenings to finish, usually about sixty eggs, for a family, by Holy Thursday. One or two of the eggs would be given to the priest. Three or four were taken to the cemetary and placed on the graves of the family. Then to fifteen were given to small children and God-children. Ten to fifteen would be exchanged by unmarried girls with the eligible young ment in the community. Several were saved to place in the coffin of loved ones who might die during the coming year. Several were saved to keep in the home for protection from fire and storms. Two or three were placed in the trough where the animals ate, so that they would have many young. At least one egg would be place under a bee hive to ensure a good harvest of honey. One was saved for each grazing animal to be taken out to the fields with the shepherds in the spring.

The egg dyes are non edible and the eggs are not hard boiled. You work on them either raw, or blown. I prefer working on them raw with the egg still in the shell. if they are stored so that air can circulate all around them, the insides eventually evaporate and become hardened. I have some of the first eggs I have ever made from back in 1976 still. I buy my supplies from the Ukrainian Gift Shop www.ukrainiangiftshop.com. There are other places you can purchase the special tool, "kistka", and the dyes. I buy bees wax from a local bee keeper. I keep my dyes in mason jars under my kitchen sink all year around. My daughter and I make eggs whenever we feel the "urge" just as my mother as I did before she passed away. Precious times. Inspiring symbolism.

The Art of Decorating Cookies and Hospitality

Some of our Sunday school youth decorated cookies one day, sugar cookies with white icing, that we created snowman faces on, with assorted candies strategically placed. What a range of expressions can be conveyed on a cookie face with a simple piece of strawberry licorice for a mouth! The children had fun eating the candy and getting some of the candy on the cookies as well. The cookies were given to the shut ins when our church went caroling during the Christmas season. There were plenty of these wonderful confections left over and put in the freezer for after church on Sunday.
But, aah, the after service refreshment break.....
Romans 12:10-13 " Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor , not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality." In practising hospitality we give preference to one another in love, modeling this so our children can see it in action and learn how it is to be done. We need to be mindful of children to see the teachable moment when children are trying to get to the refreshment table at the end of the worship service, and in doing so, are pushing slower elderly people aside. Adults should be ready to assist children in the selection of the appropriate amount of refreshments and in the appropriate manner. I wonder if there was this much ruckus at the feeding of the 5,000 with the loaves and fishes as there is with the social time at our churches some Sunday's? In this time of fast food we need to be proactive about teaching our children the art of hospitality.

SNOWFLAKES

We are all unique created by God, bearing His divine image, each in a special way. God tells the prophet Jeremiah in Jer. 1:5 " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;" We are all created for a special purpose, maybe not to be a prophet like Jeremiah but we all have a purpose, to glorify God through all the special gifts and graces he has specifically endowed each and every one of us with. Like snowflakes we are all unique. That is why I like to say some of my best friends are flakes. Speaking of flakes, ice, cold, snow... God asks Job, Job 38: 29, " From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen." Tis the season as we begin Advent to enter the coldest months of the year in our region. A lot of time to ponder the words of God to Job and to check out the link about "Snowflake Bentley", a Vermont farmer who pioneered microphotography and created the first photographs of snowflakes in his barnyard. Here is an excerpt: Wilson A. Bentley The Snowflake Man

"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind." Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley 1925 www.snowflakebentley.com
Now for some art fun go to this link and you can create your own snowflake on line by manipulating your computer mouse! browser and voila' Have fun! www.zefrank.com/snowflake/

Iron sharpens iron

Scripture tells us that "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another..." Words from Solomon in Proverbs 27:17. So what is my point and what does this have to do with art? When I am cutting something either wood, plaster, stone, cement, clay whatever the material, I need a tool that is harder than the material I am cutting. I would not use a plastic knife to whittle a piece of wood for instance. I would use a steel knife. And I would use an appropriate material to sharpen my blade. The material I would use would be as hard or harder than my steel blade and would sharpen it. In the same manner, if I do not regularly exchange thoughts and ideas with others of similar maturity in Christian fellowship what I hear God speaking in my life and listen to what they hear God speaking in theirs I will begin to grow dull. As Christians we were meant to function in community with one another. We were told to bear one another's burdens and pray for one another. When you put on the whole armor or God, (Ephesians 6:13-18)did you ever notice there is not armor mentioned for your backside? That is because you are supposed to be covered by your brothers and sister in Christ who are to be watching your back in prayer and admonition.