PALOUSE FALLS

The attached pictures are of Palouse Falls in Eastern Washington.  We drove my cousin to Prosser on Tuesday - -  and took a little side trip to the falls.  We arrived there very late Tuesday night, so spent all day Wednesday enjoying the varying views from numerous vantage points, including a strenuous hike down to the river's edge....  Then on Wednesday evening we were treated to a thunder and lightning storm as it passed through - - and the delightful company of another couple camping next to us.  The four of us had our combined contributions to dinner together in our very small, but adequate, pop-up camper.   I was quickly reminded about the suggested 6 degrees of separation....   We didn't get past one without finding commonality - - especially the guys.  It's fun to explore similarities and differences - - and a joy to share bits of the journey with special people who merge momentarily with our path.

For those who haven't been to this falls, it is  180 feet high.  The rainbow was visible for only a few minutes in the afternoon before the clouds covered the sun, so I felt really fortunate to get a few pics of it while it was visible!

LIFE THAT ENDS TOO SOON - A TRIBUTE TO FAYE

I am still reeling from the news I read just a few minutes ago. This is the email note that generated the tears that are flowing down my cheeks at the moment:

Dear Friends,

I just wanted to inform my friends, that on Monday evening at approx. 5:30 pm my best friend, lover, mother, grandmother and wife Carolyn Faye left her earthly home to be with her God.

Faye had retired two years ago, but at the request of the company she worked for, returned part time for them during the winter months. On her way home from work on Monday night, about 3 miles from home, she was hit head-on by a full size pickup towing a large utility trailer. All indications are that she was killed instantly from traumatic impact, along with the driver of the pickup. The investigation has not been completed, but eye witnesses following both vehicles indicate the pickup and the trailer started jack-knifing and immediately turned right into Faye. They also indicate that it happened so fast that Faye had no opportunity to react. The car following Faye was a school teacher that works with our niece. He immediately went to Faye's car and indicates that she was already deceased.

The note concluded with the time and location of the funeral services, and a request for prayer, and was signed by my friend's devastated and heart-broken husband.

I HATE DEATH! I especially hate death that steals someone away too soon...as it did with Faye.

Faye and I were childhood friends. I had an 'in the country' best friend and an 'in town' best friend, and 2 special 'just like little sister twins' friends when I lived in Midvale, Idaho. Four special girls made up my best friends list - and Faye was my 'in town' best friend. How I loved that girl! We had lots of good safe fun together, and were practically inseparable. At least our parents knew where to find us!

Her dad was pastor of the Church of Christ, and I loved to go with her to visit, and hear the wonderful blend of the pure harmony of voices singing praise to God. They didn't have any accompaniment - no piano, no guitar - just voices, and could they ever sing!

And now she is gone.... I know she loved the Lord. I know where she is. But it still hurts. We had just reconnected a couple of summers ago at an all-school reunion in Midvale, and I have been anticipating when our next meeting would get to be.... Now I know it will be on heaven's shore, not this one....

I am devastated for her husband, children, grandchildren and other friends - but I am devastated for me, for the opportunity of anticipated joys that have been so crudely severed....

In tribute to her, I am posting a poem I wrote in 2007.

A LAST GOODBYE

If I’d had time to say goodbye

I’d have held you close and told you

That I’ve loved you every moment

With all of my heart

Through good times and bad

’Til death do us part

With the love that we promised

Way back at the start.

I’d have affirmed my love is enduring

And that my love for you has grown

To envelop me and help mold who I am….

If I’d had time to say goodbye.

If I’d been able to say goodbye

I’d have held you close

And told you not to cry too long,

But to live life

With the same exuberance

We’ve shared

I’d tell you that you are the love of my life

And that because I love you

I want you to live to love again,

Though not too soon…

I’d say that loving honors love lived

If I’d been able to say goodbye.

If I could have said goodbye

I wouldn’t have wasted time with regrets

But with remembered joys.

I’d have told you how I’ve loved

Waking up before you, lying beside you

Absorbing the sound of your breathing,

Watching you sleep.

I’d tell you how I’ve thrilled

To your slightest touch

Even though I sometimes didn’t affirm it;

I’d have told you now.

If I could have said goodbye.

If I had the chance to say goodbye

I’d ask you to tell the kids

how much I love them.

No matter how many times I said it

It was never enough

To cover the coming hours and days of silence.

And then, before I finally had to go

I’d hold you one last time in my embrace,

Feel the warmth of your body,

Your breath against my neck,

and tell you one more time I love you…

…If I had the chance to say goodbye.

Written by Lola Cain 1/9/2007

This poem was inspired by the thought of life that ends abruptly with no chance to say goodbye. Life lost by inches is terribly painful, but those who take advantage of that time get to say their last goodbyes. This poem speaks for those who did not get that opportunity.

I was reading poetry by the then-current poet laureate, Donald Hall, in preparation for leading the discussion on our book group’s author for April. He writes prolifically in “free verse” and his experience of recording the process of the loss of his wife, Jane Kenyon, made me think about those who lose someone suddenly, unexpectedly. I know that even “knowing” the loss is to occur does not prepare us for the reality – but it does give us a chance to say some of the things we want to say. This was written at a time when our family was grieving for a loss that soon would be reality. (A time when friends were experiencing similar loss.)

Rest in peace, beloved Faye. You are missed!

POST-RESURRECTION OBSERVATIONS 2012

It is interesting to me that Jesus popped in and out of the disciples' lives during the 40 days before His final appearance on earth - - but He didn't hang out with them all the time, as He had before. It seems He was giving them a little time to adapt to the truth of His resurrection without being totally present to walk them through how they would process....but He had already given them the Holy Spirit, so He was with them, just not always physically present. It was a new way of knowing Him.

In the midst of the changes, we find them going back to what was familiar.... Seven of the eleven disciples were together by the Sea of Galilee (aka Tiberias, Genessaret, Kinneret). Peter, who was a doer, not a sitter, needed something to do, so he impulsively announced, "I am going fishing." The others volunteered to go along. They fished all night, but caught nothing - and just as dawn was breaking, they came toward shore, tired and empty-handed. A man on the shore called out to them, "Do you have any fish?" After they answered 'No' the man told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat and they would find some.

Amazingly, without argument, they obeyed. I would have thought it a ludicrous command. Some complete stranger standing on the beach tells them to throw the net on the other side of the boat - - only a matter of 10 or 12 feet difference - - and they did it.... And now, after fishing all night, in just one cast only 100 yards from shore, they get 153 large fish.... And in spite of the large catch, the net was not torn.

On this third occasion of appearing to His disciples following His resurrection, He invited them to a breakfast He had cooked. After breakfast He took Peter aside, but John followed closely enough to hear what was said.

And so unfolds another of my absolutely favorite Bible accounts.... It is a story that loses something in translation, because there are many words for 'love' in the original language - and we get all of them funneled to just that one word: love. Knowing that matters in this story!

Another thing to note is that Jesus calls Peter by his given name while talking to him....

"Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) me more than these?" Jesus asked.

"Yes, Lord, You know that I love (phileo) you." Peter responded.

"Feed my lambs." Jesus instructed.

And again Jesus inquired, "Simon, do you love (agape) me?"

To which Peter replied, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love (phileo) you."

This time Jesus told him, "Tend my sheep."

A third time Jesus asked His question, but this time He changed the word to the one Peter had responded with: "Simon, son of John, do you love (phileo) me?"

And Peter affirmed, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (phileo) you."

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."

Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. Peter was commissioned!

Jesus also let Peter know that the path wasn't going to be smooth - and then ended his conversation with Peter by commanding, "Follow me."

John's observation was that Peter was grieved because Jesus asked him three times if he loved Him - but I see it very differently.

This was a pivotal touchstone moment for Peter.

He had denied even knowing Jesus during the night Jesus was betrayed and illegally tried. Jesus forewarned while they were in the garden before Judas Iscariot brought the guards, that before the rooster crowed in the morning of that fateful Friday, Peter would deny Jesus three times - - and he did. Now, Jesus gives Peter His redemption. He had denied Jesus three times, now he affirms his love for Him three times - but in the intervening period Peter has learned something crucial - that he is not capable of agape love. That love is left alone to God, and though sometimes displayed in brief moments through God's infusion of love through man, the best that we are capable of is phileo love - - better known as brotherly love.

So, when Jesus asked Peter, Do you agape me? Peter knew better than to attest something he knew he was not capable of, so he answered each time with, "I phileo you."

God's agape love hung between heaven and earth on a cruel cross. His agape love made Jesus, God's only birthed offspring suffer and die the cruelest kind of criminal's death. Even though He was without sin, He bore all of our sins in His body on that tree so we could be forgiven and free. Forsaken. Rejected. Alone. That was agape love.

It's imperative to know our limitations - and recognize when God infuses us with His Spirit for purposes beyond our capacity. He does. But He is the one who deserves the glory - not us! Peter figured that out.

Peter was going to be mightily used by God. He did follow. He definitely faltered back in the courtyard when he denied Jesus after so pridefully purporting he would even go die with Him....but Jesus let him know in advance He would fail - then gave Peter a second chance.... It was all part of his growth and development.

Each of the disciples had a purpose to fulfill. So do we.

Lord, grant me wisdom for how to cast the seeds so those whose hearts are hungry can and will hear....

................

Just a little postscript on John: In John's writing of his gospel account, he repeatedly refers to himself as 'the disciple Jesus loved.' I suspect Jesus had a way of making each disciple feel that he was the most loved.... And we know He loved others conspicuously as well....

John ends his gospel with the following statement: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

POST-RESURRECTION OBSERVATIONS 2012

First, a little postscript to yesterday's entry: I have been using the English Standard Version for my Lent study of John; however, yesterday I was reading in the NIV, and it fails to state that the napkin was folded. That's unfortunate. Whomever was working on that translation back in the early 1980's obviously didn't know the significance, so didn't make that point clear.

But one thing is clear in both the NIV and the ESV which I have overlooked in previous readings.... I was shocked to take note of it this morning. In that very first meeting on Sunday evening, when Jesus appeared to those gathered behind a locked door, verse 22 states that Jesus breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." I had never noticed that before. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost didn't occur until 50 days after His resurrection - - but they were given His Holy Spirit and the power that accompanied the gift later the same day that He arose from the grave!

Thomas didn't happen to be there that day - and when the other disciples told him they had seen the Lord, he proclaimed he wouldn't believe Jesus had risen from the dead until he could see and touch the nail marks in His hands and put his hand into the pierced wound in Jesus' side. It was 7 long days later before that happened. Again, the disciples were together secured behind a locked door when Jesus appeared and stood among them. The first item He attended to was to address Thomas' stated conditions for belief. He said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thank you, Thomas. You've gotten a bum rap over the years, but who is to say any other disciple would have believed had they not seen with their own eyes? It just happened to be Thomas! And, the proof Jesus provided is a witness to us. Thomas did believe because he saw for himself, and we believe because of the legacy the disciples' accounts provide for us - which is attested to us through the affirmation of the Holy Spirit.

In fact, John 20 ends with a couple of pretty cool statements! In verse 29, Jesus says to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." That's us! In all fairness, Thomas didn't have the Holy Spirit as his ally yet, and he experienced the devastation of Jesus' death and the end of the hope he thought was to be.

Fortunately for us, we have that great cloud of witnesses and what they witnessed as a record, which is the subject of the last cool thing stated in John 20. John states that Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples which have not been written down for us, 'But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.'

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. i.e., I don't always live up to my beliefs, but I want to. It takes being intentional and it requires discipline that I sometimes don't want to invest....

POST-RESURRECTION OBSERVATIONS 2012 (revised)

My blog entries for Lent 2012 got me very near the end of the book of John - - and I feel compelled to finish the book.... It seems like unfinished business....

Chapter 20 reports Jesus' first appearances to His followers and disciples following His resurrection on Resurrection Sunday morning +- 33 A D.

John tells us Mary Magdalene went out to the tomb while it was still dark. Sabbath was over at dusk on Saturday, and Mary likely walked a couple of miles in the early hours of Sunday morning before daylight crept over the surrounding hills. Even in the near-dark, she could tell that the stone had been rolled away.

She ran in panic to Peter and John and declared, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know where they have laid him."

John makes a point of letting us know that in their foot race to the tomb, he outran his older colleague - but John stopped at the entrance. Not Peter. No such reservation for him! Peter barged right past John and entered the tomb - and saw the strips of linen lying there, noting that the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head was still lying in its place, folded and separate from the linen.

One of my favorite stories involves the napkin that was carefully folded and set aside separate from the other strips of burial cloth. A few years ago I was told that this would have been an object lesson message to His followers, as the napkin they used was synonymous with a dinner napkin used during meals. In their culture, there was an understood message in the placement of the napkin at the dinner table. If the Master of the house was finished with his dinner, he would wad his napkin and leave it at his place, which was the clue for the wait staff to clear away the dishes; however, when the Master folded his napkin and left it beside his plate at the dinner table, it meant he was coming back. In this smallest of details Jesus left them a message: I am returning! The napkin that had covered his face was folded neatly and laid apart from the other burial linens as a statement that He would return.

And He is! He's coming back - and it could be very soon! Apparently the Mayans zeroed in years ago on December 21, 2012 as the final date in history. I doubt that will be the day - since no man knows the day or hour - - besides, it would be living foolishly to assume we have that much time.... We need to live every day with the awareness that Jesus could return for His own any day!

But - back to John 20! After Peter and John looked inside and saw that Jesus was indeed missing, they went back to where Mary had found them at the place where they were staying.

Mary had followed them to the tomb, and after they left, she went to peek inside.

Amazingly, what she saw was two angels in white, seated where Jesus body had been placed on Friday afternoon by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. But Jesus' body was not there....

The angels asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" As soon as she replied to their query, she turned and saw a man standing there in the pre-dawn darkness. She didn't realize the man was Jesus. He spoke to her, asking the same question the angels asked: "Woman, why are you crying?" Then added, "Who are you looking for?"

John tells us that at first she thought the man was the gardener, until he spoke her name. "Mary," He said, and immediately she knew Him. He told her He had not yet ascended to the Father, something He was about to do.... He instructed her to go tell his brothers....

Her first early morning walk to the tomb had been with a heavy, heavy heart. In her second walk to the tomb, when she followed Peter and John, she was filled with anguish and dismay. Now, with exultant joy she ran to tell His disciples (and likely his siblings) that she had seen the Lord, and gave them the full details of her report.

Palm Sunday - just a week before - led from joy to sorrow. This Sunday, sorrow led to joy!

RESURRECTION! HE IS RISEN!

The gaping mouth of the cave at Banias (Caesaria Philippi) was called 'The Gates of Hell'. This was where Jesus and His disciples were when He asked them, "Who do men say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Jesus affirmed that to be true and said on the truth of that statement He would build His church. He also said that 'the gates of hell' would not prevail against it....

The Gates of Hell area at Caesarea Philippi is surrounded by commemorations to other 'gods' that were their objects of worship. Yet, Jesus made it clear that nothing would prevail against His Truth. He didn't say they wouldn't try. They will and have and do - - but there is nothing, nothing, nothing that can prevail. It is finished. We know the end of the story! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Our Senior Pastor shared a story both Wednesday at First Wednesday Prayer, and this morning. It was a story I had already planned to share today - - and his sharing it just reaffirms that! It is the story of the grave clothes in the empty tomb. John tells us in Chapter 20 that when he went into the tomb he saw the linen cloths - and the face cloth (napkin) folded up in a place by itself. It wasn't very many years ago that I learned the significance of that observation. It is a detail I absolutely love!

In Jewish culture, after dinner it was the custom for the Master of the house to wad his napkin and leave it if he was finished eating so the household staff would know it was time to clear the table. However, if the Master was just getting up for a bit and coming back to complete his meal, then he would fold his napkin and leave it at his place as an unspoken message that he was returning. The folded napkin to them meant, "I am coming back."

I love the detail! He had told them clearly before His death - but even at the resurrection, He gave them a signal they would understand. It was a significant message!

Later that Sunday He appeared to His disciples. He just suddenly showed up in a room where they were hidden behind locked doors. A stone tomb couldn't hold Him; a locked door couldn't keep Him out! His first words to them were, "Peace be with you." What indescribable joy! He conquered the worst Satan could do. He conquered death! He lives! He lives! Yeshua ha Meshiach (Jesus Messiah) lives today!!!! King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Hallelujah! He is risen!

MAJESTY by Lola Cain, 1996; adapted 2009

“A King who ruled in majesty”

That’s what people wanted him to be!

No crown of thorns or whip of shame

No cross on which to bear our blame

No nails, no spear, no agony

No death upon a criminal’s tree

No burial in a borrowed grave

…No resurrection power to save!

Thank God for his eternal plan

for justifying fallen man

Providing atoning sacrifice

Sending his Son to pay the price.

Coming incarnate to earth to die

He redeemed His created from Satan’s lie

Thank you, Sacrificial Lamb

…for overriding the will of man.

The veil was rent! God’s plan complete!

We now can worship at his feet!

We enter his presence unafraid

by the blood that Jesus shed to save!

Thank the LORD, he rose again

victory over death to win

Thank Father, Son and Holy Ghost

…the anthem sung by the heavenly host!

“He’s risen,” we shout. “HE’S RISEN INDEED!”

The cornerstone of our Christian creed

And coming once, he’ll come again

God’s promised victory over sin

“It’s finished,” his final words on the cross

Our redemption sealed. Our salvation bought.

Now he reigns eternally

…what both God and man wanted him to be…

“A KING WHO RULES IN MAJESTY!”

Thank You, LORD! Love, Lola

JOURNEY TO RESURRECTION, Day 40!

This is it! The commitment to the daily discipline of writing on my blog is completed for this season! My commitment challenges me on days I don't 'feel' like writing - but I completed what I set out to do - and in the process, God always teaches me.

Focusing only on the book of John has been interesting, because I know there are lots of details he doesn't mention. But - when he writes about something he experienced firsthand, I pay attention. Some of the Gospel writers wrote from personal experience, some wrote what they heard from others. Even eye witness accounts vary - - we know that from accident reports - - but it has been instructive in a minimalist way to see events limited to what I see through John's writing....

And - there have been little things I've noted, such as one that intrigued me yesterday, though I didn't write about it. It must have taken incredible restraint for the angels to not come destroy all of mankind and free Jesus from the cruel suffering He endured. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords was stripped down to his loincloth and suspended between earth and sky for all to gaze upon and ridicule. The angels were obedient to His plan, thank God.

Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to take Jesus' corpse, and with Nicodemus' help (you remember Nicodemus, the one who came to Jesus by night) the two men buried Jesus in a garden tomb where no one had ever before been laid.

I've been to the hill just outside the old city that fits the description - and to a tomb there that could have been the very one in which they laid His body. Our tour group had communion in a little cave chapel at the Garden Tomb site. It was a very tender site to visit. It resonated as "This is the place!"

From 3 p m on Friday, throughout Saturday and until sometime near dawn on Sunday morning - part of 3 days that totaled 39 or 40 hours at the most, Jesus body lay in the tomb. John tells us absolutely nothing about the disciples. We know without wondering that they were devastated and confused, as well as fearful for what would happen to them as his followers. What a shock! Just the past Sunday Jesus rode through the streets, hailed as King, and now He was dead....

I had a poignant reminder yesterday of how quickly life can change. Fortunately our story has a happy ending - but today I could have been a widow. That reality is not lost on me as I consider the Lenten journey as it endures the cross and the seeming hopelessness of the One who is Hope lying in the cold stone cave.

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus My Savior; waiting the coming day, Jesus, my Lord....

I can't wait for tomorrow! They didn't understand then what we get to see in retrospect! Jesus words, "It is finished!" make our life complete! It is finished indeed!!!!!!!