Thursday, February 27, 2020

Your Dying Spouse 735 - All He Ever Wanted {Five Minute Friday}

One of the most specious criticisms of Jesus Christ is the argument that His death and resurrection were really not that 'hard' for Him, as He is divine. Kind of like Tom Brady taking the field in a Pop Warner football game.

It seems reasonable on its face, that divine strength and omniscience would shield Him from the effects of trial that we would feel, and that his 'example' is really a bit of fluff, almost a game.

And that is so wrong.

For one thing, consider the pain of the Crucifixion. Pain has a certain quality, in that it can make time seem to almost stand still...as in, ever had a root canal, or had to recover from hemorrhoid surgery?

Crucifixion is way worse than that, and for God/man, even more horrible, for He had to feel...perfectly...what we feel.

Our bodies are imperfect; when the pain sensors are overloaded, they blank out, and we pass out. Not so for the Christ.

The experience of pain, perfected.

Second, that taking on of sin...all sin. You, dear reader, have some experience of this.

No, don't look shocked. When your heart sinks, reading about some barbaric cruelty, you are having the first glimmerings of an emphatic reaction, 'feeling for' the victim, as if it has, in a misty distant tiny way, happened to you, too.

Now, imagine taking on the full dose of the worst suffering you ever heard about, and experienced the hellish glee of the perpetrator, in all its profane vile horror.

That's what Jesus took on, for every bit of suffering, for every single act of cruelty that ever took place, and, again, you have pain perfected.

And, why? Why would God become man, and become an offering of torture?

Why, for you.

And what does He want in return?

That you accept Him.

He doesn't want your wealth or your devotion in the form of temples and cathedrals.

He doesn't want you to live on your knees, wailing hosannas. That would bore Him silly.

No, like the nerdy kid in high school, the one with the button-down shirt and the glasses, the one who hung around the edges of your clique...

...the one who was willing to help you with math and science, so you could end up a Microsoft VP rather than a Starbucks barista...

...He just wants to be part of your life.

Beneath the cold blue desert sky,
the vault beyond which lie the stars
I feel at peace, joined to the One
who carries on His Hands the scars
that bind me to His Love’s intent
that shows me just how much I mean,
that when they came for Him, He went
and grace descended from the dream
to take its place upon that hill,
to bleed upon the rough-barked cross,
to exercise the dauntless will
that not a single one be lost
and His sole beseech and plea
is, “My child, abide with Me!”


As for me, my voice is ever further gone, pain and incipient despair are worse, and yeah, cancer sucks.

"Deal with it."

But I'm not dealing with it alone.

Music from For King And Country, with Shoulders.


Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.







Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Your Dying Spouse 734 - Frankenstein Dances!

This post was originally going to be something serious, about how when you're close to death you have really vivid dreams and this is a way of gaining closure and...

...zzzzzzzzz.

Sorry. Dozed off. What a BO-RINGGGGG topic.

So let's have some fun, instead.

I never take life serious,
I use humour, and it works,
though it makes some furious
to grab their torches and pitchforks
and they'll chase me down the street,
where more supporters they will find
to catch and burn and stab and beat
a giddy laughing Frankenstein.
Cornered, now, and all is lost,
and it seems I must atone.
Looks like I will pay the cost
and be memorial'd on their phones.
One last chance, now, to get wealthy:
"For ten bucks I'll be in your selfie!"

Music from Bobby Pickett, with Monster Mash.


Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.










Thursday, February 20, 2020

Your Dying Spouse 733 - Almost Home {Five Minute Friday}

It's fun, but it's getting kind of rough.

Learning ASL is a hoot, because I have to find a new paradigm for humour; the quick and witty comeback doesn't really work when fingerspelling. Jokes have to be planned, and rehearsed, so Barb will find the delivery unambiguous.

The reason for having to learn, though, is getting a bit distressing, physically. Everything just hurts too darn much, and just bending over runs me out of breath real quick.

And I do sometimes think about What Comes Next.

Won't say, "I can hardly wait!" That would be forced.

But a part of me is waiting, a kind of calm curious waiting.

Shakespearean flair for the dramatic,
words attuned to weighty depth;
now they seem so trite, pedantic
when I am running out of breath.
It is all so very simple now,
and why did I not know before
that the only virtue lies in how
you live before that final door
opens to eternal light
and outlined there are God and friends
against a morning sun so bright
in a dawn that never ends.
The wheel has turned, the die is cast,
and I am going home at last.

Music from Mercy Me, with Almost Home.



Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.










Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Your Dying Spouse 732 - Changes in Attitudes

This was written early in 2020, before my voice went away for good, but I think, and hope, that it might still be worth reading.

It's been an extraordinarily rough couple of weeks here. The tumour in the navel is really spoiling the beach-body, the one in the neck is making swallowing something I have to think about (try it, it ain't fun), and...

...Barb got the flu. And then, so did I, which can be really, really dangerous (especially with no medical care...did I really think this through?). (This predates the 'coronavirus' thing.)

I got so sick I had to back off the sonnets, and wrote haiku instead.

And those seasonally-centered seventeen-syllable throwaways changed me.

I was challenged to look at life from a very different perspective, one that's built around the dynamic tension of the seasonal year that God ordained.

There is inevitability, but there's also grace.

It's all about what we choose to carry.

The heart that carries summer within it
will never know
winter chill

Music from George Harrison, with My Sweet Lord.


Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.