Diane Stavrum's blog

“Last Day” Musings

04 Mourning Dove

May, 12, 2011

I write today with trepidation, thinking the end of the age is coming in nine days!  Harold Campe, founder of Family Radio, along with his intellectual Bible researchers have decided upon the date, May 21, 2001,  as the Biblical last day.  This is a tremendous proclamation and they have advertised this news all over the world or at least I know across America on their radio broadcasts and on bill boards.  I viewed one large bill board with huge letters, on the side of the San Pablo Dam Road on a trip back from Orinda.  It was startling, attention-getting; large and awesome!

It has been my understanding along with countless other people who no one knows the date or time of the last day as told us by Jesus of Nazareth himself.   Yet in other old testament scripture we find it stated that God does not leave His people without knowledge of what is to come.  So, it seems  these Campe scholars have devised by their numerical Biblical study  this date May, 21, 2011, as the Last Day.  Most religious people suspect they are in error, since other key prophecy refer to items that are yet to occur before the last day.

Nonetheless even if they are wrong it certainly brings to mind the Psalm 39:4 prayer," let me count my days"  to be worthy when my last day comes.  Jesus also warns us to be watchful and in prayer so as not to be unconscious on the day of our Visitation.  I am more than conscious of complete dependency on the Grace of God through His Son Jesus the Christ for any redemption or hope of eternal life.  This knowledge is never far from the front on my conscious mind.  It serves me as a guide to my daily activity and rest.

Every morning and evening I read the old and new testament readings appointed in the Book of Common Prayer.  I find them very encouraging and impressive as to my hope is in Jesus and He alone!  I am convinced, and as St. Paul says,  I am persuaded in my inner most soul that Jesus is the Christ and that by His Father’s love alone do I breathe at all.  My entire life has been in a conscious effort to live by the commandments Jesus gave us.  I have failed miserably in many ways, yet I know without a doubt God has led me along my life’s journey.  This is so real to me in facts and incidents that remind me over and over that my life has a positive way if I choose the right path each step of the way..  If I get off the right way I’m encouraged back to the right way.  More often than not the choice is very clear and to make the wrong choice would be very obvious to me so I have stayed faithful to the right way.  God is my witness as to my choices.

May my last days in this mortal body be one given over more consciously to my Lord in any way that may show itself in actions and thought.   Some moments I get fearful and a sense of my treachery of fault steals over me but then I am reminded it is but the Blood of Jesus that covers me by which I am redeemed in His Love.  I have nothing to fear!  I am his own child.  I know I belong to the eternal Father by virtue of His and Jesus’ love.   I am excited inside as I write this.

Margie, my sister, suggested a wonderful little book Heaven is Real which I have now read and have also suggested and bought for a friend.  This testimony is written by the father and mother of a little boy who had died on the operating table. His experience of heaven is a remarkable testimony and an encouragement for us all.  It renews in me great hope and excitement to know the eternal joy we have coming even if it is in nine days!  It is truly remarkable!

The scripture for today reminds us that Jesus is the Revelation of God, that He is the very embodiment of the Eternal God.  The Eternal Holy One comes to us in human form, in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

John 6:44-55
" No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.   It  is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to me.   Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God, he has seen the Father.  Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me has everlasting life.  I  am that bread of life.

Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.    For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."     RKJV

-fini-

A modern painting by john granville gregory my favorite of Thomas the doubting disciple

John Granville Gregory Still Doubting

via thresholds.typepad.com

Had to re blog this! It is a favorite link of many people all over the world. Jesus is truly with us even now!

3rd Week of Reflection

     The third week of Lent did not leave me without reflections but they never found my keyboard to post.  Walks in the light rain (we wait until it isn't pouring) with Suzi brought thoughts about nature, spring, birds, and ducks.  Others choosing to take their walks too were dressed in various attire, all of which thrust my thoughts into a series of old quotes I remembered.  One, "a man's clothes indicate the success he's won" and "you are what you wear &/or you wear what you are." 

      Now is that really true today in our post modern American culture, I wondered?  I believe it was in the 60s though considered a modern era, there was a revolution of dress codes.  Height & Ashbury people that is the Flower Power era brought in the "hippie" generation; a revolution that brought Levi Strauss megabucks; what I would think is the greatest success of any other clothier ever.  Denim everything came into fad and then the fancy dress designers of New York, such as, Calvin Klein kicked in the fro by the 70s with the Designer Jeans (denims) that sparked the post modern trends. Then it became a prestigie thing to wear designer jeans--still is as they are expensive.  It seems now the tights and top shirt for girls and baggie loose pants for young men is the go all fad.   Well I have to qualify my position, after all I am in California and that is the land of fruits and nuts, so it may not be true in other parts of this country.
    
     Nonetheless it seems to me that the style of clothes the "everyday" person is wearing is not going to be judged on the amount of salary has or success that person has earned. At least that is true in Berkeley where no dress code is indicative of any aspect of one’s nature; unless one is homeless.  I ended this meditation by thinking since I'm not in the working sector I suppose I should keep my thoughts to myself.  It is interesting though, as my grandfather always said, "what you don't see when you don't have a gun."  

 

For those of you who don't checkout my other blog I have a different post this week; see here:

http://reedofgod.wordpress.com/

Second week in Lent - Definition of Repentance

I wanted to share this helpful reminder again this year from Irma Zaleski's little book.  It opens a perspective on repentance during this  time of self-reflection.  It is all part of our personal journey to greater righteousness.

"Repentance - conversion of the heart - does not mean being filled and tormented
by guilt. Instead, it means being ready to admit our responsibility for our actions
and our need for forgiveness, and having a firm wish to change our life: to turn
away from ourselves in prayer and in love. Repentance means, above all,
a constant, patient, growing in love. It means our willingness to open ourselves
to the work of the Spirit in us and to embrace fully the gift of our salvation."
-Irma Zaleski The Way of Repentance 1999

______________

I think I differ a bit with her statement when she says we are to "turn away from ourselves."  I think it may be  semantics however for me, I understand the time we spend in our "closets for prayer and reflection" is allowing ourselves to listen, or a willingness to go into the depth of ourselves, not a turning away from ourselves.  I see it as a time where we can take the nerve to face our inner foibles, or errant ways.  I have found that when we rest in this kind of prayerful silence with a willingness to face the "boogeyman in ourselves," as it were,  we have given ourselves the chance to own up to those aspects of our attitudes and behavior that are unrighteous.  The opportunity then we are allowing ourselves to take is to become more mature in our righteousness.

I do believe we cannot actually make this growth happen, but we can avail ourselves to the self-reflection, to that time of quiet introspection and allow  what is out of sync with a pure conscience (knowing right from wrong) to occur.   It is important that we must not quit, especially when the core reality of ourselves begins to emerge; as ugly as it may seem.  Because that is the precise time when the "turning" happens as we, of course desiring to be good, recoil from seeing ourselves in that unrighteousness and move quickly to the Light.

Thus the repentance process, the turning process is active Grace, and will lead to our regeneration not to dejection or guilt or fear.  The effort to stay in that light of knowing about ourselves in itself will help eradicate the wrongful behavior. Somehow, the mystery of transformation happens.   Growth is slow but steady,  just as when a bean seed grows under the earth before the healthy green shoots of leaf emerge into the open.  I think this reflection can encourage us to continue in the process of "waiting and turning" as we sit in these moments, hours, of self-reflection.

Caution, it does take guts and discipline and trust in the Divine for Grace for change and the grace to accept oneself in the midst of the slow process.  Forgiving ourselves may be the hardest thing to do ever.

Musings on the “again-bite conscience" or the opposite the “easy-conscience”

This last week in my walks and sittings my thoughts kept returning to the topic of the conscience,  on which, I know, there has been a preponderance of writings by many scholars.   My ramblings here are simple and inspired by others.  I am not contending to be among a high level of thinkers. Nonetheless, as a human being the topic bears a certain amount of my concentration. 

Here is what I've been contemplating: It seems we can all agree there are some people who are heavy laden with a severe conscience and some who are not.  My thoughts have been inspired by an old novel writer, R.A.F. Gravesend who used the term  “again-bite” for a severe  or the conscience of remorse. Since he wrote his novels during the first ten years of the twentieth century (1910 - 1916)  this term “again-bite” was unfamiliar to me and I haven't heard of it in our modern short sound bite vernacular either. To me however, the description appears and even sounds like a catchy sound bite (forgive the pun). For the opposite deportment of a person, Gravesend used the description “an easy conscience.”  He said, “these have been accepted as the determining factors of happiness or the reverse.”

This past weekend in reading one of his early novel short stories I was inspired to thoughts about the conscience in my daily walk and musings.  I suppose it isn’t too far fetched to think that my unconscious mind was already twiddling with these kinds of thoughts as the season of Lent was approaching and which now is upon us fully.  My twiddling thoughts were mostly about circumstances; I don’t think the word, “conscience” actually had percolated as yet. So thanks to R.A.F. Gravesend his comments stimulated the brew. His name had nothing to do with it I believe, just coincidental since in Lent we are as Christians to reawaken ourselves to the very fact that we are made from dust and to dust will return.

Gravesend's comments on the conscience pretty much began and ended with this statement, “Of course there is an element of truth in the “easy conscience” view, but it begs the whole question. A particularly hardy conscience may be quite easy under the most unfavorable conditions—conditions in which the more feeble conscience might be severely, afflicted with the “again-bite.”  And then it seems to be the fact that some fortunate persons have no conscience at all; a negative gift that raises them above the mental vicissitudes of the common herd of humanity.”   [Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection, "The Case of Oscar Brodski." 1910. Kindle book ]

That statement got me thinking; so when back to my computer I checked the dictionary for clairity of the meaning of the word “conscience.”  The definition given was, “The awareness of a moral or ethical aspect to one's conduct together with the urge to prefer right over wrong: Let your conscience be your guide.”  This topic stayed with me and kept surfacing so I decided to write this out as I began to create a couple of my own characters to illustrate the two types “again-bite” and the “easy conscience.” This by no means exhausts he possiblities. I can see fodder for more novels.

I will give two examples that I can think of now to illustrate of these two types of consciences. Imagine, as most of us are, a person of a modest, middle-class prosperity who has a benevolent smile and goes about one’s business with most regularity.  Suppose this person is not greedy or thriftless, but frugal, and careful in planning, also eminently a person of judgment.  Now in all appearances this person is righteous or one of right behavior thus a happy person and one with a clear conscience.  However, it is not without possibility that this same person could be a crook of high order but one with a hardy conscience or no conscience at all.  Or as our early Christian Pauline teaching describes “as an conscience seared with an iron.”
[1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron]

The reverse type of character, or the “again-bite” conscience person may be an outwardly distasteful personality; one who is irregular in business dealings, forgetful, distrustful, and disagreeable most of the time to those in their proximity.  This person may have more occasion to be smitten by his own “again-bite” conscience in almost all human exploits. This person may be self deprecating while in the presence of others; they may be insufferably commenting to others of their personal dismay over their mistakes and false dealings.  To others many of those “false dealings” seen in that persons own eye, may actually be quite human behavior and not so false.  These kinds of human digressions has been identified as venial sins, warranting only temporal punishment [ According to Roman Catholicism , a venial sin (meaning "forgivable" sin ) is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation ] and not mortal sin [These sins are considered "mortal" because they constitute a rupture in a person's link to God’s saving grace: the person's soul becomes "dead", not merely weakened.]  According to Gravesend this kind of conscience in a person would be in the category of a weak or feeble conscience; this person is continually being snake bitten as he put it with the “again-bite.”   This self judgment, the experience of the reoccurring, cutting self awareness of one's personal failures in actions and in character of rightness could bring on deep remorse.

During my musings on the feeble or the hardy conscience and the results that those deep realities can create in a persons life, the mirror began to shift in my direction.  In the first day of Lent now, I wonder in my own self examination, am I seeing clearly? Am I?  Am I willing or able to look square into this “mirror” and let my conscience reveal to me my character and let it take full command of revelation?  It seems to me this particular process of self examination has been identified as an experience where one comes before one’s God with and in complete humility (a contrite heart)  or/and in the words of ancient texts, in “fear of God”?   Foremost in my thinking today, can I be truly penitent, wistful, pensively sad, and melancholy of any wrong ?  Now that is something to think about.

Musings on The Social Behavior of "Ignoring."

Sitting on a bench near the Bay inlet for a Marina enjoying the sun and soft breeze, I found myself wondering about some of the now accepted social behaviors of the daily routine kind. One particular behavior that has beset me in the past and most recently is the fact, let me call it, a common behavior, is that of "ignoring." What I have heard some announce openly in an unabashed way, "I think it is acceptable to not have to say hello to everyone you know just because they are walking by or are near you."

That is one example of "ignoring." Another is when a pastor advises a person to "ignore" the someone who had asked to offer help in a project but that person's work or personality didn't fit in. She was told, "Just don't call, and ignore her when you see her." Can you imagine! This was not a shock to people. It may sound like it now writing about it in this context but really, don't we see this all the time?

Anther example is when someone calls you or you call someone for advise, or a suggestion, and let's say that person is very willing on the first call. Then weeks go by and you don't hear from them. I suspect that person's boss or higher up in charge person announced, "you can't give that advice or even a suggestion, we might be held liable if things didn't work out; or we might get feedback we don't need. So just ignore that person, don't call back. She'll get the message.

Another example of even the worse kind of "ignoring" is when this happens within a Christian Church! Especially when it is done by an administrator of high position. For some reason this "ignoring" behavior seems to be accepted at least by those that do it.  They seem to believe ignoring someone who is waiting for a reply is an accepted social behavior and that isn't seen as a "slap in the face."

Now see I can just hear people, right now in my mind, hearing people defending this behavior! It's true we try so hard to protect those we hold in authority or who are in OUR world that we rationalize all over the place that this is okay, it is torarable. Come on, get with it!  Oh I can hear the excuses, "that person is very very busy and has too much to do to get back to you," "there was some confusion I'm sure it was an oversight," or, "you expect too much," or "your personalizing the whole thing," and on and on.

Sorry folks, I can't find ANY excuse that is worth anything! There is ALWAYS a way to fine the time for reconnecting with that person; if only to say, "I'm sorry your help is not needed this time," or " I am sorry I can't be of more help to you," or " I'm sorry my position doesn't allow me to make any suggestions.' Whatever, there is always a kind reply.

I too have been in the position on occasion of having to reply and not wanting to at all, wondering if just my calling back would send a message I didn't mean.  But that can be taken care of in the conversation.  So I have always made it requisite of mine to reply to all at all times no matter what!

It is my wish and prayer especially for those who are calling and living a Christian life to do the same. It is such a kind pleasure to know you have not just been "ignored," even if it's the voice of disapproval.   Now isn't that something to think about? 

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"Suzi"

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Clipping from Parabola Newsletter: Focus on Spring, February 11th, 2011

Valentines Day Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Valentine and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Confession Fail: iPhone App Controversy Muddies the Sacramental Waters | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches

Earlier this year, Vincent Gonzalez wrote here at RD about a new iPhone app, Penance, that “allows users to absolve one another’s sins.” For even vaguely orthodox Roman Catholics, and for many Protestants as well, the app presents a significant theological conundrum inasmuch as it invites users to go well beyond the removal of the priestly intermediary in petitioning God for forgiveness that was a central element in the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Here, users usurp clerical sacramental authority entirely and, as Gonzalez notes, offer spiritual reflection, penances, and absolutions to one another directly.

via www.religiondispatches.org

Very interesting...and soo techie...Really?

Vote for Suzi for Most Adorable Dog...Humane Society contest. Thank you!

"Suzi"