Breathe

 Friday, December 19, 2008

Breathe

As I was driving down the Sam Houston toll-way my chest began to hurt so badly I thought I was going to die right then and there. I pulled over to the shoulder of the road and got out of the car - I just needed to stand up for a second to catch my breath. The pain in my upper back was excruciating. After a few moments, and some unusual stares by passing motorists I reentered the car, and painfully resumed my trip home from the airport. I had been on a two week business trip and just wanted to make it home.

I made it to there, but that was about it. Instead of calling 911 I called my girlfriend, Karen and asked her to come home from work ASAP. By the time she got there, (approximately 15 minutes later) I realized I truly needed medical help. This was getting serious! I had to quickly get over my disdain for medical bills, and concede that she take me to the nearest hospital. We didn’t make it there directly though, as she stopped at a nearby 24 - hour emergency clinic in fear that I wouldn’t make the next ten miles alive. They quickly transferred me to West Houston Medical Center via an ambulance.

Notions of a heart attack soon gave way to chest x-rays and the obvious evidence of a serious case of pneumonia. According to the MDs both of my lungs were nearly filled to capacity with fluid. - Results of an almost six-month old case of pneumonia that I had let go untreated. After a week of aggressive treatment I emerged from the hospital a new man. No more pain in my chest and upper back that had plagued my body for so long. No more of the hacking and coughing, which had been persistent forever it seemed. (You quickly get the picture that I’m really kind of stupid when it comes to health issues, don’t you?) After about a month of recovery and some serious medication consumption I could finally breathe through the full capacity of my lungs - I mean really breathe! Deep long breathes that had been absent in my life for more than half a year now.

Although this incident in my life is more than ten years past, in 2006 I had a similar situation - this time though there were no medical facilities, or Med-School graduates with their ridiculously outrageous charges for things such as “consultation.” No, this time I was treated - then healed by God himself. I learned to breathe again by accepting the forgiveness that the Cross of Calvary extends to those that are sick and afflicted in spirit and soul. Jesus truly is the great physician for the lost and desperate - and thus was I healed.

Did you know that in both the original Greek and Hebrew translations of the Bible the same word was used for breath as well as for spirit? The Greek word “nooma” represents Breath and Spirit, one and the same! Makes sense as to why we feel such a calming presence over our bodies when God breathes His spirit into us. To breathe is defined by man as “the taking in and letting out of air” - but to really breathe is defined by the Almighty wordsmith as “to take in fully His Holy Spirit.”

I’ve been reminded lately that one of the most consistent characteristics of a “true Christian” is the aura of a calming presence in our conversations, and interactions with others. This is a real, tale-tale sign according to the very knowledgeable spiritual leaders in my life, and now I’m beginning to understand even more so the truth in this precept.

Confusion and discord is the manifestation of a “breath” that comes from the spirit of the Enemy and is (just as, if not more) obvious to our sight, taste, sound, smell, and touch. It fills the lungs, hearts, and the minds of its victims with the fluids of hatred, racism, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and so often abusiveness. It’s an ever-present foul breath, or spirit that is exposed through words and actions. Bottom line - it’s a pneumonia like sickness which consumes the bodies of so many today!

On the other hand, Love (the kind of love that can only come from God) manifests itself through our Christian spirit, and breath - to fill rooms and relationships with a peace that truly surpasses all understanding.

Take just a minute and stop reading, stop thinking, stop looking, stop listening and close your eyes and take a couple of long, slow breathes. Come on, just do it!

Now, didn’t that feel relaxing? Did you feel God’s presence? Its calming affect is truly a healing balm for our troubled souls, and worried minds. Maybe we should do this more often? Come unto me all who are weak and (heavy laden) burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

He calls; Come unto Me, and I will give you a new nooma……doug

Unbroken Circle

 

Monday, December 29, 2008

unbroken circle

It was a rainy spring evening and revival week at Hoitt Ave. Baptist Church had just begun. Like most thirteen year-old boys I would’ve rather been anywhere but church this night. With the exception of flipping knuckles on the back row of pews with my best friend Gary Cole there wasn’t much to capture my attention. That is until the back door of the church flew open and in walked a couple of men with trench coats and umbrellas. One was leading the other by the arm, due to the physical blindness he suffered from. They approached the front of the church, removed their coats and took a seat on the front row. Soon the pastor asked “Brother Ray” to come sing. This small, unassuming, shaved-head man had everyone’s attention, including the Rat Pack on the back pew.

He sang several songs (without accompaniment) with an untrained voice, and constant interruption from what country folk term a “touch of the palsy.” None of that made a difference though, because for one thirteen year old it was God himself singing and calling to my heart “come, come unto me”. I walked down the center aisle and approached our Savior’s fountain of grace and mercy for the first time that night.

As time went by, my life moved further and further away from that rainy night altar. As time went by, I recovered from my grief for my friend Gary's suicide before the age of twenty-five. As time went by I lost the awareness of how special His grace was. As time went by, I forgot about blind Brother Ray. As time went by……

Jerry Bates, (a man I casually knew at the time) came into my office one day in need of an ear, or more accurately in need of a heart. His beloved sister Lois was going to die of cancer soon unless they could find a way to treat the aggressive disease that was spreading throughout her body. He needed to have prayer with someone, and God sent him my way. Me of all people. We prayed, and God was among us. Two hours after he left I got a call that my aunt Barbara was diagnosed with terminal cancer and would live only six months. Unlike Lois though Aunt Barbara wasn’t given any treatment options, and seven weeks later she spiritually recovered from her afflictions and took on a new body, as God called her home.

The day after Barbara’s funeral, Jerry Bates appeared at my door again. This time to sing praises that Lois had come through the surgery, and early opinion was that she had a good chance for recovery. Because of God’s calling for us to be an encouragement to one another I went to see this stranger in her hospital bed. Awkwardly I introduced myself and fellowshipped for a while with her and her sister from Alabama, while Jerry was still at work. I told her that I would come back on the weekend to check on her again.

But then the news came the next day that my uncle Ken, (Aunt Barbara’s husband) had suffered a stroke and a massive heart attack. His short stay in the CCU unit of another hospital, and merciful death and burial prevented me from making it back to see Sister Lois before she was discharged and sent home to recover. I felt bad about breaking my word to her. In the mist of Lois's miraculous period of healing I had lost two dear relatives, but all three were situations to celebrate.

A few months later Jerry showed up at my door once again. (By the way I forgot to mention, each time he comes by he brings me a present.) You see God has equipped Brother Jerry to be a remarkable singer and songwriter, and during each visit he shares with me, (again me, of all people) a newly written song in his heart - and I am so honored. I care less about what my co-workers think when they hear this angelic voice singing praises at the workplace, or what they may think about the redness of my eyes when the visit is complete. God has blessed us with His presence and that’s all that matters. Anyway, this visit brought about an invitation to come worship at his church while they were having revival services the next week.

As I made the 35 – 40 mile journey to his church in upper east Tennessee for the second time last week, I listened to songs sung by the beautiful, and blind Ginny Owens who just happens to perform for Rocketown Records, which was formed by my former fellow-church member in Franklin, Tn. Michael W. Smith several years ago. (strings of a circle) As I pulled into the parking lot Ginny was just finishing up with the song If You want me to, and for a moment I felt comfort - while still in the mist of a very tough week. Thankfully God calls us into periods of growth to make us stronger, because He alone knows where we’re heading. “Putting on our strength” as I was reminded yesterday. Putting on our strength.

Anyway, I made my way to an empty seat (in the almost full to capacity small country sanctuary) and began to worship among strangers, among fellow sinners. Brother Jerry and his nephew Lamar were sitting at the front, and there across from me sat Sister Lois simply waiting for me with a beautiful smile to share. As the service progressed, several people went forward to sing God’s praises, yet I was disappointed that God didn’t lead Jerry to do so. Then the pastor made his way to the pulpit and I thought to myself that the “preaching” would soon begin - but instead he looked to his left and asked, “Brother Ray has God placed a song on your heart tonight?”

And there he was - almost ageless, some 35 years into the future, shaved head and all. Not broken, not defeated, not passed away – but still fighting the good fight that the Apostle Paul spoke of, and still enduring to the end. What a sight through my tear filled eyes – and I heard God say "Hey Doug, remember when?"

and then, for me the real revival began…….doug

REAL

 REAL (originally written in 1983)

The other day I discovered a long lost copy of some of my early writings - this item being the oldest. It was printed in the United Methodist Church weekly bulletin in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1983, the week after I moved to Nashville to start a new job in June of that year. About eight years ago I included it in my book entitled; A View from the Fence. (A story for another time.) It's interesting to see how my ideas have changed somewhat over the past 30 plus years, yet in so many ways they're still grounded in the same truths I knew way back then. It's been quite a journey since I scribbled these thoughts - quite a journey indeed. The original version was included in a thank you letter to all my friends in the church that I was leaving behind - those that had showed me on a daily basis what it truly meant to be Real.                                               

 “Real”

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. Matthew 6:22-23

"If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness." Wow, now how deep is that one! So often we forget about the enormous philosophical overtures of the biblical scriptures, and only see the theological aspect of them, but sometimes sentences such as this just seems to scream out to us. For the most part the writers of the scriptures as we read it today weren't known as the great thinkers of their day, they were more commonly known as, the great believers but boy, some of their stuff is really really deep! That's really where the God inspired thing shows its validity if you ask me. Man can't duplicate what God created. 

  

You may think what I am about to admit seems a bit shallow, (especially compared to the words of Jesus we just read) but what the heck. My favorite book of all time is the children’s tale, The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams! Now I suspect, unless you have a small child, grandchildren, or work in a daycare center it’s probably a safe bet to say you haven’t read this story in quite a while. Me, I’ve read it numerous times over the years. A simple book, with lots of big pictures which is right down my alley! 

Actually, at the heart of the message from the Velveteen Rabbit is a moral which is much more geared for the grown up in spirit, than the small children we often read it to. An adult level comprehension finds a meaning in the story that a child simply can’t understand. I suggest if you haven’t read it lately, do so because it’s a tale for all ages. In the mean time I will paraphrase the jest of the Ms. Williams’ wonderful tale for us.

The boy, (whose name, by the way is never mentioned) gets a fat, bunchy, brown and white spotted velveteen rabbit for Christmas one year. For almost two hours the boy loved and played with his rabbit, but in the excitement of the day, and the fun he had playing with his many gifts he soon forgot about ol’ mister rabbit. Then we find the velveteen rabbit, (whose name, also is never mentioned) gets tossed in the boy’s room among his other toys that evening.

The rabbit began to feel out of place almost immediately, as the more expensive toys openly snubbed him. (Ever been the new kid on the block? I certainly have!) The only one that was kind to him was a cloth rocking horse that had lived in the boy’s room longer than any of the other toys. After overhearing a conversation between a few of the other toys the rabbit asked the horse “What is real?” The cloth horse caught off guard by the question, thought for a minute, and then responded.  

Real; well real is not about what you’re made of, or even how you’re made. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fancy things you can do, or even what you’re able to say.

Real is something that happens to you over a long period of time, and it doesn’t come easy.  

Generally by the time you become real most of your hair has been loved off, and you begin to look pretty shabby. Often you end up with a few loose stitches, a hand or ear that has had to be sewn back on, and you’re probably missing a bow, a shoe, or maybe even an eye that has popped out. 

The rocking horse finished by saying; “But you want to know the best part about becoming real, the best part is that it can never be taken away from you, because once you’re real it lasts for always.” 

The velveteen rabbit sat there overcome with sadness at the thought of it taking so long, and possibly very painful just to become real.  

Over time the boy grew very fond of his new toy, and soon they became inseparable. After awhile the velveteen rabbit began to show signs of such an intimate relationship, (just as the horse had predicted years earlier). Stains, rubbed off fur, loose stitches, missing ear, he had it all. Then one day in defense of the rabbit (as it was suggested the rabbit be thrown away) the boy exclaimed to his nanny; My rabbit isn't a dirty worn out toy, “He's real!”  

Hearing those words made the rabbit so happy, and very proud, for now he was finally Real.

  

[Real, what a wonderful presence of existence, yet sadly some of us never make it to that point in our lives. We end up spending most of our time pretending to be real, but deep down we never allow ourselves to be loved in a manner that's transforming at all. We boast of being real, yet honestly we would rather not be real as to have our hair messed up, or risk the possibility of being hurt. We live our lives everyday in fear that we will be hugged one too many times, and our stuffing will be exposed for the whole world to see. The risk of ridicule and criticism is too great to chance, so we continue to live at an arms-distance away, pretending to be something we’re not. All the while in our heart of hearts we know how we live isn't real at all, but it's safe, and living safely can become addictive. Living a life that is real is risky business.]

Whew, where did that come from? Anyway, back to the children’s story…

Later, the boy developed Scarlet Fever and the doctor insisted the family destroy all of his toys, and bedding from his room in order to eliminate the bacteria from lingering, (this is obviously the toughest part of the book to explain to the child while reading).  

As the rabbit sat outside with the pile of the other things to be burned he thought, “What good does it do to become real if this is how things are going to end up anyway? And then, right at that very moment a tear began to roll down his furry little cheek. A real tear, and from this tear he began to be transformed into a real bunny. The other toys looked on in amazement as he hopped away into the woods and was saved. Hurrah he thought, the old cloth rocking horse was right, real does exist, but then he became saddened at the thought of those toys, (some friends, and some that chose not to be) still lying there in the pile to be burned. He wished somehow he could save them, each and every one, regardless how they felt about him.   

Later on, once the boy had fully recovered, he was outside playing again in the backyard when the rabbit, his rabbit, hopped out of the nearby woods and the two had a wonderful time playing together all day long.

Many a life has been wasted trying to disprove Jesus was in fact a real person – that he truly existed as a living, air-breathing being in the history of mankind. Yet, many of those so-called researchers never reach a point where they can admit the truth that Jesus’ realness isn't merely proven in his physical existence, (which certainly exists) but also in the message of his words, and the example he gave through the recorded life he lived. 

Matthew 5:39-41, the lesson about turning the other cheek, - Luke 10:30-35, the good Samaritan story, - Mark 12:13-17 render unto Caesar which is Caesar’s, - Luke 16:1-8 the shrewd master parable, - Mark 10:31 the first will be last, warning, - Matthew 20:1-15, the instructions to love your enemies, (and my personal favorite) Matthew 20:1-15 the vineyard laborer story, where Jesus taught us the vitally important lessons of focusing on our own relationship with God, and not on our fellow man.

Seventy-three of the so-called greatest biblical scholars (from the Jesus Seminar Conferences) of our generation all agreed, without reservation that these scriptures, and many more came directly from the teachings from a man known as Jesus of Nazareth. I don’t know about you, but this sure passes the smell test for me, so I declare, He is “Real”!

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from a thorn-bush, or grapes from the briers. The good man brings good things out of the good that is stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil stored in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks. Luke 6:43-45 Speaking / living out the language of realness, that was the message He shared, the same message mankind needs to hear today!

Us, with our re-sewn seams, repaired appendages, balding cover, and visible stuffing. He, with his nailed-scarred hands, spear pierced side, and shredded forehead, - all signs of the wear and tear from the pathway to realness. Us, from accepting (all too often reluctantly) the transforming type of love we truly need, and His from the rejection of those that feared He was actually who they said He was.  

What's so remarkable though, is the undeniable impact that this single man from some two thousand years ago, (in such a remote part of the world) has had on the lives of all those that have heard his name ever since.

Through, the love and admiration of so many millions of people throughout the world today- maintains the realness of the one we call Jesus, yet without it He would still be just as real. We can only hope to ever achieve a speck of His type of realness in our own lives, which is exactly why we must strive to be more Jesus-like every day. 

Thanks to the wonderful story from Margery Williams we have a great reminder of the impact our love for each other can have, but just as importantly we also learn the hard truth about the distance between being real and otherwise - at least that's my take on it! Being real means living a life that is anything but safe! To be real we must be willing to offer ourselves up for the possibility of being hurt or even killed for someone else - someone that very possibly would not do the same for you or me. We must expose our vulnerabilities to others and have faith it will be okay in the end.  

Despite the skepticism of some scholars, I personally believe it is still Jesus today who reminds us to; “love your neighbor as you love yourself” and for me, that becomes a very big step on the road to becoming “Real” in my own life. How we love ourselves is fairly obvious, and how we love others becomes just as obvious to those around us.

(This ending is from the 1983 letter) I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all my friends I now leave behind in pursuit of a new beginning in Nashville. I take with me all the lessons learned from the times we've spent together - leaning on each other, loving on each other, and most importantly, holding each other accountable - accountable to the quest of realness. 

With great love, His love, your servant for life, doug

As tall as wide as long

 

 "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal."  

Rev 21:16 KJV

In this scripture, John describes the place we call Heaven as being "foursquare," a city that was as wide as it was long.   In today's measurement, standards (12,000 stadia or furlough) are considered 1,400 miles.

1,400 miles by 1,400 miles. Wow, that's a vast area! 

But here's what gets my head spinning, all of the translations I've read also say it's height was the same.  1,400 miles high.

Have you ever heard anyone give dimensions to a town, state, country, etc, that included how tall it was?   I've never!

1,400 miles high!   Written by a man who had never left the ground.  Never flew in a plane - never glided above the clouds in a Boeing 747.  John was merely a ground man in a ground era.

The tallest mountain point in the Middle East is the peak of a volcano called Damavand, which is an impressive 3-1/2 miles high.  Yet, that's still relatively short in comparison to 1,400 miles high.

According to NASA, outer space begins about 50 miles above Earth.   Yet John's vision was of a city 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles by 1,400 miles. 

That's a vision that had to come from above.  I doubt John ever traveled 1,400 miles in his life. (The equivalent of traveling from Atlanta Ga to Albuquerque NM.) Those dimensions had to exceed his mortal thinking, as well as did many of the other things he wrote about in his visions from the Island of Patmos. 

So why was mentioning the height so important? As I said, I've never heard anyone give city dimensions that included height.  As a matter of fact, nowhere else in the Bible does height get mentioned as far as a city's description is concerned. 

After pondering this for a bit, I've concluded that God was giving us some insight as to how different things will be in Eternity - a place where our spirits live forever.   In a place where we'll no longer be mere Ground men, but as far as our freed Sprit men are concerned, height certainly becomes significant.  

"But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life."

Rev 21:22‭-‬27 NKJV

What a place that will be!!!!