The Canvas Of Life

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5 (NKJV)

Life’s Canvas

Sunshine and shadow and laughter and tears,
These are forever the paints of the years,
Splashed on the canvas of life day by day,
We are the artists, the colors are they.
We are the painters, the pigments we use
Never we’re wholly permitted to choose.
Grief with its gray tint and joy with its red
Come from life’s tubes to be blended and spread.

Here at the easel, the brushes at hand,
Each for a time is permitted to stand.
White was the canvas when first we began,
Ready to picture the life of a man.
Now we are splashing the pigments about,
Knowing the reds and blues must give out,
Soon we must turn to the dull hues and gray,
Painting the sorrows that darken the way.

Now with the sunshine and now with the shade
Slowly but surely the picture is made.
Even the gray tints with beauty may glow
Recalling the joy of the lost long ago.
Let me not daub it with doubt and despair,
Deeds that are hasty, unkind and unfair,
But when the last bit of pigment is dried
Let me look back at my canvas with pride.

Edgar Albert Guest

From The Light Of Faith-1926

Bits Of Samuel Chadwick

Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932) was a Wesleyan Methodist theologian who began his work for God’s kingdom as a lay minister. Eventually he became a lecturer at Cliff College which was a Methodist lay training centre. Leonard Ravenhill was educated at Cliff College during Samuel Chadwick’s teaching tenure. Best known for his book, “The Call To Christian Perfection,”  Samuel Chadwick had a “fire in his belly” for the proclamation of the Gospel and the power of prayer. This was a man who would not have easily tolerated a “lukewarm” Christian. A few of his pearls of wisdom are included below.

“There is no power like that of prevailing prayer, of Abraham pleading for Sodom, Jacob wrestling in the stillness of the night, Moses standing in the breach, Hannah intoxicated with sorrow, David heartbroken with remorse and grief, Jesus in sweat of blood. Add to this list from the records of the church your personal observation and experience, and always there is the cost of passion unto blood. Such prayer prevails. It turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God.”

“The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

“Compassion costs. It is easy enough to argue, criticize and condemn, but redemption is costly, and comfort draws from the deep. Brains can argue, but it takes heart to comfort.”

“Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God.”

“The Church is the Body of Christ, and the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He fills the Body, directs its movements, controls its members, inspires its wisdom, supplies it’s strength. He guides into truth, sanctifies its agents, and empowers for witnessing. The Spirit has never abdicated His authority nor relegated His power.”

“Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters.”

“The church that is man-managed instead of God-governed is doomed to failure. A ministry that is college-trained but not Spirit-filled works no miracles.”

“The Holy Spirit cannot conquer the world with unbelief, nor can He save the world with a worldly Church. He calls for a crusade, a campaign, and an adventure of saving passion. For this enterprise He wants a separated, sanctified and sacrificial people.”

“The root-trouble of the present distress is that the Church has more faith in the world and the flesh than in the Holy Ghost, and things will get no better till we get back to His realized presence and power.”

“Intensity is a law of prayer. God is found by those who seek Him with all their heart. Wrestling prayer prevails. The fervent effectual prayer of the righteous is of great force.”

“A season of silence is the best preparation for speech with God.”

“The man who thinks he can know the Word of God by mere intellectual study is greatly deceived. Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned.”

“No man is uneducated who knows the Bible, and no one is wise who is ignorant of its teachings.”

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

 

You Are My Servant

Isaiah 41 (NKJV)

“Keep silence before Me, O coastlands,
And let the people renew their strength!
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us come near together for judgment.
Who raised up one from the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who gave the nations before him,
And made him rule over kings?
Who gave them as the dust to his sword,
As driven stubble to his bow?
Who pursued them, and passed safely
By the way that he had not gone with his feet?
Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?”

“I, the LORD, am the first;
And with the last I am He.”
The coastlands saw it and feared,
The ends of the earth were afraid;
They drew near and came.
Everyone helped his neighbor,
And said to his brother,

“Be of good courage!”
So the craftsman encouraged the goldsmith;
He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil,
Saying, “It is ready for the soldering;”
Then he fastened it with pegs,
That it might not totter.
“But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My friend.
You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,

‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”
“Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Shall be ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.
You shall seek them and not find them—
Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.
For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Fear not, you worm Jacob,
You men of Israel!
I will help you,” says the LORD
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the LORD,
And glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, the LORD, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,
That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

“Present your case,” says the LORD.

“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob.
“Let them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the former things, what they were,
That we may consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that you are gods;
Yes, do good or do evil,
That we may be dismayed and see it together.
Indeed you are nothing,
And your work is nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.
“I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the rising of the sun he shall call on My name;
And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.
Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?
Surely there is no one who shows,
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.
The first time I said to Zion,

‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.
For I looked, and there was no man;
I looked among them, but there was no counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
Indeed they are all worthless;
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.”

Self-Acquaintance

Self-Acquaintance

Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart,
Which of itself complains,
And mourns, with much and frequent smart,
The evil it contains.

There fiery seeds of anger lurk,
Which often hurt my frame;
And wait but for the tempter’s work,
To fan them to a flame.

Legality holds out a bribe
To purchase life from thee;
And discontent would fain prescribe
How thou shalt deal with me.

While unbelief withstands thy grace,
And puts the mercy by;
Presumption, with a brow of brass,
Says, “Give me, or I die.”

How eager are my thoughts to roam
In quest of what they love!
But, ah! when duty calls them home,
How heavily they move!

Oh, cleanse me in a Saviour’s blood,
Transform me by thy pow’r,
And make me thy belov’d abode,
And let me rove no more.

By William Cowper

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

A Fool’s Quest

The following tale is one of my own feeble scribblings. It is the product of two events: the recent engagement of the daughter of a minister we have supported (this engagement is the result of an arranged marriage, which is common in the country where they live) and a recent article my daughter sent to me called, “4 Principles To Survive Adulthood,” which was recently published in “Relevant Magazine” and is an excerpt from a book by Russ Masterson titled, “40 Days Without Food.” I was profoundly struck by the wisdom on marriage in this article (and the other wisdom presented there) and this story began to gnaw at my heart and nibble at the edges of consciousness. For those who are well acquainted with history, you will recognize that I have taken liberal license with my Norwegian heritage and the results bear no resemblance to any actual historical events.

A Fool’s Quest

The Norse kingdom of Trøndelag was ruled well by King Håkon and his queen, Solveig. Their marriage had been blessed with five strong and healthy children, the oldest was Prince Erik.  Shortly after he celebrated his twenty-first birthday, Erik was summoned to the throne room of the King and Queen.

After the requisite bow, he was bidden to sit in his parent’s presence. As he waited in expectation, the King cleared his throat and said the words he knew would some day come, “Son, you have passed from your youth into manhood. It is now time to fulfill your responsibility to your family and to this kingdom. It is time for you to take a wife.”

Now, Prince Erik had been blessed with a boyhood that many others would have envied.  He had always been encouraged to explore his many interests, gaining skill in those areas that would one day equip him to reign as king. He had many friends and was widely loved and respected, even though still a young man. The castle was filled with the love and laughter of a family who cared deeply about one another.

The King and Queen ruled their peaceful kingdom with wisdom.  He knew one day he would be required to take his father’s place as the ruler of this land he had come to love.

“Father, I am willing to do as you require. I only make one request. I ask that I be allowed to chose my own bride. I wish to marry for love as you and mother have done.”

A poignant glance passed between his mother and father, after which Prince Erik heard the words he most wanted to hear, ”Granted.”

It was determined that Prince Erik would travel to the surrounding kingdoms and search for a bride who could bind his heart in love. After several weeks of preparations, the prince was finally ready to depart on a journey that would ultimately take many months. Erik promised the King and Queen that he would send word along his journey to keep them apprised of his progress.

The day prior to Prince Erik’s scheduled departure, there was great feasting and merriment in the land. The castle and the kingdom were excited about the prospect of a royal wedding. The King and Queen, while sorry to be separated from their eldest son, trusted Erik to find a suitable bride. To that end, they sent their most cherished advisors and wise men to assist Prince Erik in his search.

Months went by with sporadic messages of Erik’s quest. Each kingdom he visited yielded young ladies of beauty and virtue and yet not one captured and satisfied his heart.  Finally after almost a year’s time, Prince Erik returned home completely disheartened.

On Prince Erik’s return to the castle, there were no streets lined with people welcoming him home as there had been cheering and laughter on the streets at the beginning of his journey. Word of Prince Erik’s fruitless quest had filtered through the kingdom. The people knew there would be no royal wedding.

On his arrival at the castle, a somber mood permeated those at court. His entrance into the throne room was met with eery quietude; no one wanting to speak about Erik’s failure to procure a bride. Finally, seeking to ease the discomfort of all, King Håkon and Queen Solveig bid their son to approach the throne. Erik bowed in honor of the king and queen. Rising from their thrones, they greeted their weary son with the love his bruised heart so desperately needed.

Later that evening, while King Håkon was attending to issues of his kingdom, Prince Erik sat quietly by the fire with his mother. At first, no words were exchanged, until Queen Solveig, moved by love for her son, sought to ease his heart.

“Tell me, Erik, why did your journey end in fruitlessness? I know from your letters that you encountered many lovely young ladies of noble birth in each kingdom that you visited. Was there not one suitable young woman who could be your queen?”

Erik struggled to find the words to explain to his mother the emptiness he felt in his heart. After a few moments, he answered her.

“Mother, I searched and searched for a woman who would become my queen and yet I did not find her,” he said. “I sought a love as in the tales of the bards and minstrels. I sought a glorious romance like yours and father’s.”

“My son,” Queen Solveig said with great sadness, “I know now why you have not found a bride. You have been on a fool’s quest.”

“A fool’s quest?” The hurt was evident in his voice as Prince Erik spoke. “Mother, I wish to marry for love. I want what you and father have, but I could not find it. Time after time, I met noble young ladies who I would have considered a suitable bride. And yet, the romance quickly faded into a cold and distant memory.”

“Erik,” the queen replied, “your father and I do not desire you to marry a woman that you can not love. I am afraid, however, that your understanding of love is deficient. Love is not a flood of emotions or a quick, bright, overwhelming fire that burns out like so much kindling, leaving you with little more than momentary heat but no sustaining warmth. True love carries you during the darkest moments of your life. It nourishes your soul when your heart is empty and full of despair. True love endures and grows over the years until it becomes the all-consuming romance that you seek.”

“Mother, I do not understand,” Erik replied. “You and father married for love. The love that you share is legendary.”

“True,” the queen answered, “but we did not begin that way. The marriage between us was arranged by your grandparents. It was an alliance based on many elements: friendship between our two kingdoms, similarities of background and faith, and a common respect for the duties and responsibilities we would carry together when your father became king.”

“We did not meet for the first time until our parents had determined this would be a suitable marriage,” she continued. “Understandably, your father and I were ill at ease when we first met. Our initial conversations were awkward; our doubts many.  As we began to converse, we came to understand how much alike we were. Respect, and then friendship, grew. During the year of our engagement, friendship became love. On the day we married, love had become the corner stone for our life together. It was your father’s love and faithfulness that secured my heart. In turn, it was my love and respect that secured your father’s passion.”

“What you see today, and have known all the days of your life, is the result of a lifetime of growing together in love. The overwhelming romance and passion in the songs of the bards and minstrels is not what true love is all about,” the queen replied. “The love of which they sing and speak is only a superficial shadow of what love can be. The bright flare of romantic passion in their songs and stories, like kindling, burns out quickly and leaves you with nothing but ash. Without deep and abiding love, romance has no foundation to sustain it. That is why your romances so quickly faded and your journey yielded nothing of lasting consequence.”

“Forgive me Mother,” Erik said, speaking just above a whisper. “I did not know what I did not know. What wisdom would you give me? Over the course of my quest, I came to understand that I indeed wish to marry. I love our kingdom and desire to fulfill my duties and carry out my responsibilities. Would you and father help me to find a suitable bride?”

Tears began to fill the queen’s eyes as she looked with love upon her son. She knew that the humility she saw in his heart meant he was ready to hear what she had to say.

“Have you considered Margrethe?”

“Margrethe?” Erik said with surprise. “I have known Margrethe since we were children together. We are the best of friends, yes, but marry her?”

“My son, how would you feel if Margrethe were hurt? How would you feel if she were to marry another? She has had many eligible suitors this past year and yet has politely refused them all.” His mother spoke quietly; so quietly, Erik almost did not hear her.

Erik paused as he considered his mother’s questions. His thoughts became a jumble of strong and conflicting emotions.

The queen, knowing her son all too well, responded gently, “What do you see in your heart, my son? The foundation stone of your friendship with Margrethe is love. The grand and glorious love that you have been seeking, but didn’t find on your quest, you will find embodied in Margrethe’s grace, beauty, intellect, courage, and steadfast friendship. She is your equal in every respect. She has the character and fortitude to stand at your side and rule this kingdom with wisdom when you ascend your father’s throne.”

Erik looked at the love in his mother’s eyes and knew that she had spoken the truth. How had he not seen this? Why had he not known? He had wasted almost an entire year of his life searching for something he already had, but didn’t recognize. His journey, in search of love and a bride, had not yielded what he thought. His journey had instead, brought him to the place of maturity. The days of countless disappointments had brought him to greater humility.

This day, with the help of his mother, he had become a man.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Walking The Boundary Lines

My husband recently acquired a set of the three paperback volumes of William Gurnall‘s “The Christian In Complete Armour.”  This afternoon he came in from the back porch, where he was sitting enjoying the fresh air, and excitedly read me these next paragraphs. He was deeply impressed by the spiritual wisdom in these two pages. To that end, I share with you, what he has just shared with me.

“The fundamental truths of the gospel are landmarks to keep us safely within the boundaries set by God. Suppose your grandfather owned some property which at one time had been carefully surveyed. He was there when they set the stakes and could have paced it off blindfolded. But he never took the time to show anyone else the markings. Over the years, the markers rotted, were rooted up, or washed away. Now your grandfather has died and left the land to you. But a dishonest neighbor claims it is his, and as proof of ownership points to the burgeoning crop of corn he has planted. You discover that the deed and land description have been lost. Since you do not really know the proper boundary lines yourself, how will you defend your case in court? You will probably end up losing your property because no one else told you where it ends and your neighbor’s begins.

The spiritual parallel is this: Every fundamental truth has some evil neighbor (i.e., heresy) butting up against it, eager to plant a crop of lies upon the sacred ground of God’s Holy Word and thus fool the saints. And the very reason that a spirit of error has encroached so far upon the truth in the last few years is because ministers have not walked the boundaries of the gospel with their people and acquainted them with these primary truths.

We have both staples and luxuries in our religion, just as in our homes. Luxuries are wonderful and often enhance our appreciation of the staples, but they quickly lose their appeal when our basic needs go unmet. What pleasure is there in dining from fine china if you have no food to put on the plate? Of what value is a silk blouse in winter if you have no coat?

A preacher should preach not only fundamental truths, but also those truths he observes to be most frequently undermined by Satan. These are often the ordinances of God that should dictate the Christian’s response to controversial issues of faith and practice.

To know which doctrines are under greatest attack among his own congregation, a pastor must read and study his people as diligently as any book in his library. From the personal tone of Paul’s letters, we can surmise that he frequently paced the boundaries of the young church, looking for encroaching errors. When he discovered that false apostles had infiltrated the Galatian church and were preaching the law again, how he pounded home the gospel truth of justification by faith. When word came to him of division and strife among the Corinthians, what poured forth from his heart but that peerless exhortation on love?

Pastor, your flock may sometimes grow restless and complain that you keep them in the same pasture too long by preaching on one sin. The fault is not yours, but theirs, if they keep straying away from the Shepherd every time your back is turned. Who can blame a dog for continuing to bark when the wolf is still prowling about the fold?

If you long to grow in the likeness of Christ, do not pray for a preacher who will entertain you with a clever new topic each Sunday. Please instead for a man of principle who will preach against sin and for truth without compromise, until his people repent and turn from their evil ways.”

William Gurnall, “The Christian In Complete Armour, Volume 1;” The Banner of Truth Trust; 1986; pg. 242-243 (First published in three volumes in 1655, 1658, and 1662)

Link: http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/home.php

Related Link: “Bits Of William Gurnall“

Original Content: Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Bits Of G.K. Chesterton

While not a father of the faith in the same vein as others who have been featured in this “Bits Of” series, G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was a man of staunch faith, uncommon intellect, and delightful wit. He was a prolific and versatile writer producing fiction (widely known for his detective fiction and the character of Father Brown), non-fiction, poetry, and plays. Chesterton excelled at Christian apologetics and loved to debate. His penned wisdom has a large and loyal following. Below are a few examples from a man who was a fearless champion of the faith.

“Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God.”

“If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.”

“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.”

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It’s that they can’t see the problem.”

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

“No man who worships education has got the best out of education… Without a gentle contempt for education no man’s education is complete.”

“Love means to love that which is unlovable; or it is no virtue at all.”

“A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.”

“A yawn is a silent shout.”

“Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle.”

“If I had only one sermon to preach it would be a sermon against pride.”

“The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity. It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted: precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden.”

“There are only two kinds of social structure conceivable—personal government and impersonal government. If my anarchic friends will not have rules—they will have rulers. Preferring personal government, with its tact and flexibility, is called Royalism. Preferring impersonal government, with its dogmas and definitions, is called Republicanism. Objecting broadmindedly both to kings and creeds is called Bosh; at least, I know no more philosophic word for it.”

“It is idle to talk against representative government or for it. All government is representative government until it begins to decay. Unfortunately (as is also evident) all government begins to decay the instant it begins to govern.”

“Youth is the period in which a man can be hopeless. The end of every episode is the end of the world. But the power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the soul survives its adventures, that great inspiration comes to the middle-aged.”

“Love is not blind; that is the last thing it is. Love is bound; and the more it is bound the less it is blind.”

“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.”

“Jesus promised the disciples three things – that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy and in constant trouble.”

“Tolerance is the virtue of men who don’t believe in anything.”

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”

Original Content: Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

While I Live

Psalm 146 (NKJV)

Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

The LORD shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The Water Bearer

A water bearer had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot always arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, fulfilled in the design for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and
miserable that it was unable to accomplish what it had been made to do.

After two years of enduring this bitter shame, the pot spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself and I apologize to you.”

“Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and was cheered somewhat. But at the end of the trail, it still felt the old shame because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, “Did you not notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, and not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we’ve walked back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But if we will allow Him, the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father’s table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you, too, can bring something beautiful to the Father.

Author Unknown

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10-11 (NKJV)

Edited by Susan E. Johnson

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Don’t Send A Boy To Do A Man’s Work

Below is an essay from my daughter’s blog, “My Soul Found Rest.” When she first sent me the rough draft to look over, I was emotionally moved by what she wrote. Now, I will be the first to admit that I have never read Wendell Berry; had not even heard of him before my daughter told me that he was the focus of this semester’s Honors College at Belhaven University. I know, this admission shows me to be a severely under-educated individual; there is clearly no limit to the number of things I do not know.

My daughter’s life has, like the rest of ours, had its share of “complications.”  It has been part of my job as her mother to help her navigate some of the rough rapids on the river of her life. Occasionally, she has been summarily dumped out of the boat and into the water, leaving her hurt and floundering. Each time though, she has climbed back into the boat and kept on paddling.

It has been a privilege to watch our daughter grow in her faith.  She has met the complications in her life by doing what we all should do: turn to the Lord first.  She truly believes that life has a “happy ending,” not because she has a false ”Pollyanna-like” attitude, but because she has chosen to place her faith in the surety of her God and His Word to her. She knows that no matter what this life brings, her Father continues to uphold her in His Righteous Right Hand; her ultimate goal is Heaven. She has been learning that she doesn’t have to fear the future, she can trust God to use those events in her life that have left her bruised, for His purposes and the maturing of her faith.  And, while her life has had no shortage of “bumps in the road,” she has learned, as have her father and I, that there is only one place we can go to find help.

“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life.” John 6:68 (ESV)

I trust that you will be as encouraged by this essay as I was.  It is easy to get bogged down in the trials and tribulations of our lives. We lose our focus; we forget that God is Sovereign; we begin to fear that we are on a path that has no good end.  Just as in the Wendell Berry story referenced below, our Father comes and straightens out the mess we make of our lives and He does so with a deft and gentle Hand. His mercy, His grace, His love are always ready to lift us out of the quagmire, setting our feet on solid ground.

It’s Complicated

This was my first honors essay of the semester. The short story referenced is from Wendell Berry’s That Distant Land, a collection of his short stories.

In his short story, “Don’t Send a Boy to Do a Man’s Work,” Wendell Berry describes the consequences of complications. The main character in the story, a twelve-year-old boy named Athey Keith, has been left in charge of overseeing a hog-killing while his father, Carter Keith, is out of town. Carter Keith has laid specific plans and enlisted the help of knowledgeable men to make sure the work gets done efficiently and well. However, several complications arise during the hog-killing, which turn the Keiths’ well-laid plans upside down and cause the story to turn in an unexpected direction. The rest of the story hinges on how Athey and the other men deal with the complications.

Complications are hardly an uncommon event in our day-to-day lives. The dictionary built into my computer defines “complicate” as such: “[to] make (something) more difficult or confusing by causing it to be more complex.” Complications, or problems, as we more often call them, seem to arise with impeccable timing whenever we least desire them. Yet it seems that although complications may be sometimes unwelcome and turn our story in unexpected directions, our stories, once finished, become clearer and more illuminating as we reach the end of the book.

The plot’s driving force in Berry’s short story is the three complications and how Athey and the other men handle them. While Athey would certainly have had a much more productive hog-killing and a less harrowing day without any such complications, such a plot (or lack thereof) would not have made much of a story. Stories are driven by conflict.

When I was part of a fiction-writing group in high school, my teacher (a fiction author) had to remind me over and over again that I needed more conflict in my story. What I was writing would have been nice to live, but it was boring to read. There was no impetus to drive the plot forward. I resented her correction, because I wanted to write stories like I wanted to live, sweet, delightful, and all with happy endings. That’s still how I would like to live my life. But I am old enough now to begin to realize that my life is not going to go in a carefully plotted way to reach its happy ending. It’s going to take its twists and turns, and complications (whether small or large) are going to arise.

If I believe the promises of Scripture, that God works in all things for the good of those that are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), then I can navigate the bumps in the road with confidence. But questions still remain, and I am sure that I am not the first person to raise questions such as, “Is there any way to avoid complications? If I can, should I? Do all complications arise from sin? Even if they do, can they still turn out all right in the end (and preferably before the end too)?”

Athey could not have avoided the particular problems that came his way, all of which began with other people. He could not foresee them, nor could he escape them. The only thing he could do was be prepared for them, in the sense that he could be ready to deal with any problems that might occur. But when the complications came, he was not ready. The somewhat cocky young boy that he was, his pride and fear caused him to react in a way that allowed the originally small problems to become big ones.

I don’t think there were any complications in the Garden of Eden. Life there must have been like the story I tried to write—boring to read, but wonderful to live. Like in Berry’s story, the first Biblical complication came from another person. The complications Athey had to deal with all began with other people, but his fear caused him to react in a way that exacerbated the problem instead of solving it. Neither did Adam and Eve begin the first complication in this world, but they chose to yield to it instead of standing up and resisting. This first complication resulted in the fall of man from perfection, and now the human story is, well, complicated. At times it’s positively messy.

I don’t think there’s any way to avoid complications altogether. If there were, someone surely would have found a way by now! We can’t force others into our perfectly molded stories for ourselves—they’re going to bring complications, and sometimes we aren’t going to like the results. But neither our stories nor Berry’s story ends with failures to handle problems correctly. Fortunately for young Athey, his father came back—to a mess, it’s true, but he was quite up to handling the challenge and soon put things back to rights.

The human story doesn’t end with failure either. Although Adam and Eve didn’t have the power to put to right the wrong that they had done—that took someone with the proper authority—our Father sent His Son to earth to handle the challenge and put things back to rights. Unlike Carter Keith, He never has to go on a business trip, leaving us in charge. If Keith had been present at the hog-killing, the complications that arose would have been handled differently, and the resulting problems avoided. Likewise, because the Lord is present, we have the ability to handle the complications that come our way correctly. Not that we always will (in fact, many times we won’t), but we can, through His power. What is more, we have the guarantee that our stories will have happy endings. There might be cliffhangers after some chapters, and plot twists, and some pages might have tears on them. But in the end, we will close the book with a sigh of relief and meet our Author, the finisher of our faith.

Author: My Soul Found Rest (Used with permission)

Original Content: Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
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