Motorcycles and Movie Stars - part 2

 

You know the saying, "when the student is ready the teacher will appear"? When I first felt impressed to begin praying for celebrities in Hollywood, I really didn't want to nor did I feel qualified. But the Lord let me know He was just looking for someone willing to step out of the ordinary. I didn't know of anyone who might be doing this and I really felt a little silly. We are so used to praying for our friends and families and their needs and sometimes taking prayer request of strangers. But this was more...I felt the weight of making a commitment to do this ...not just a one time prayer, but to take them on like family. Time and again I felt God leading me to just pray for them. I would wake in the middle of the night with certain Hollywood folk on my heart and I would begin to pray. I prayed during the day when they came to mind. I prayed whenever I felt moved to do so, but it was several weeks later and lots of daily devotionals assuring me God certainly was trying to use me in this area.  Here is just part of one example from a devotional:

"God purposely chooses those who are the most unlikely candidates for the job. By doing so, He has a wide open door to show His grace, mercy, and power to change human lives. When God uses someone like me or many others He is using, we realize that our source is not in ourselves but in Him alone".

Then comes the teacher...I opened up a devotional one morning to read about a celebrity, I don't remember who it was or the exact contents of the article but it was something on the order of all their latest antics and being in the tabloids and how disgusting it all is and how we just get so tired of the whole thing....etc. Then it ask the question...Do you ever think about praying for them?  and included the link for The Hollywood Prayer Network.  I checked it out. I couldn't believe there was an organization just to pray for those in the entertainment business. I not only checked it out, but became a member, started a chapter here and have become an intercessor for three people in the business!! When one dear friend was getting married, I was invited to the wedding and went. This trip also became a mission trip to Hollywood. That's a long and wonderful adventure in itself....another blog for another day! 

 

You just never know where God will lead if you let Him and just how rewarding it can be. I have heard so many great testimonies from those living and working in Hollywood and how grateful they are for those that will stand in the gap for them. They live in glass houses. Everything they say and do gets splashed across the tabloids and so many times it's not true. I can't imagine living like that....no matter how glamorous, rich and famous you are. These only compound the problem. They need our prayers. They influence our world whether we like it or not. Just imagine if more of them turned to God because they knew they had someone to turn to. If they understood a merciful God who deeply loves them. If they knew someone is praying for them...what a difference they could make.

 

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty

power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more

than we might ask or think."

 

- Ephesians 3:20

"The world’s most influential mission field"
Web: www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org

Motorcycles and Movie Stars

 

I am always amazed and delighted at how God does things. If anyone would have told me 6 years ago I would be involved with motorcycles and movie stars, I would have said they were crazy. But it has been a wonderful and fascinating journey! I had been praying for my husband and I to be closer and have more in common. Life can be very difficult and empty when you are serving God alone. I assumed God would move on my husband and he would begin to like some of the things I enjoyed, such as traveling and seeing the world. God is always full of surprises!!

 

One summer day back in 2005 my husband and I went for a long ride on an old Honda V65 Magna. He had purchased this bike the year before, just to see if he still liked to ride....like when he was younger.  I had gone a few times with him ...on very short rides and only on back rodes and only under 50 MPH... I was really afraid!! But on this day and with new tires we went for a nice long ride up through Aurora WV.  It's absolutely breathtaking and until that day I never understood the freedom and feeling behind motorcycle riding. It was a perfect afternoon in June - 85 degrees, blue skies and few fluffy clouds and the wind in my face...I had never felt anything like that before...I was hooked!! That day I fell head over heels, passionately in love with motorcycle riding. I couldn't get enough!! A couple weeks later we were in the local Harley shop looking at a bike we both loved...and bought ...and lived on for the next 4 years!! We still have that beautiful, teal '01 Soft Tail Deuce and in '09 bought a new red and gold Electric Glide Ultra Classic touring bike. We wanted to be able to ride longer and further and we have vacationed on it the last two years and plan on it again this summer.

 

My whole family (and some church members) were in shock and awe when this biker thing came over me!! My sister couldn't believe the change in me and the happiness she saw on my face. She also got a big kick out of this because several years earlier SHE had bought a Harley and I thought she was nuts...what did she need with that???  My grown nephews loved me in the biker gear and I noticed not only with them, but others as well, how much more open they were to talk to me about the Lord. My husband and I are a lot closer these last few years. We spend nearly all our free time riding together when the weather allows. In the winter we find ourselves browsing the clothes and accessories in the Harley shop and talking about riding and where we will go as soon as Spring appears!!

We had our first Biker Sunday 3 years ago when I approached my Pastor with the idea and he said YES.  I don't know what all God has in mind for this Motorcycle Ministry, but whatever it is, I am sure I will be surprised and delighted!!.....and oh the movie stars, that's part 2!!

Chocolat- SBNR

I spent this cold February afternoon watching one of my favorite movies, Chocolat, which I still think should be required viewing for all who call themselves Christians and are serious about reaching out to the lost and hurting. I watch this movie every year, several times, usually in the Spring since the story takes place during the six weeks of lent before Easter. I'm not sure all the reasons I love this film. Maybe it's because it takes place in a little village, as bleak as this one is, I like little villages. Or maybe it's because it takes place in the Spring...new beginnings and a chance to start again, as happens in this town. Or maybe it's because I can relate to Vianne and the gypsies, that feeling of never really belonging anywhere because your ideas and convictions are different from everyone else. Or maybe it's because that one woman changed the entire town by standing by her convictions. There are more reasons than I can count as to why I love this movie. Although this is not a Christian movie and was never marketed as such and has a PG-13 rating, it is one of the most profound films I have ever seen. It's not a new release. It was made back in 2000. I only discovered it about 4 years ago. There are many avenues you could take as far as teaching from it's themes and characters. My favorite line is at very end of the movie and is said by the young Priest Pere Henri. It sums it up nicely: 

"I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of Our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life here on Earth. His kindness, His tolerance. Listen, here's what I think.... I think that we can't go around measuring our goodness by what we don't do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think we've got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create and who we include."

 

 Last year Rubel Shelly summed up the entire movie in his weekly devotional. I love what he says about it. If you decide you want to view it, don't forget to have plenty of your favorite chocolate on hand...you'll be craving it and see me if you want to know how to make Mayan Hot Chocolate from a 2000 year old recipe..I have it!! Here's what he said:

Spiritual But Not Religious

            Some people have dismissed it as a "trendy phrase," but I take it very seriously. The notion that people can be authentically spiritual without being caught up in all the trappings of religion makes perfectly good sense to me.

            To be "spiritual but not religious" - a notion so commonplace these days that it has its own acronym (SBNR) - typically translates to this: "I believe in God and need divine guidance for my life, but I don't trust 'organized religion' and won't let some church or religious zealot sit in judgment on me and tell me how to live my life by his list of rules."

            Ever see the movie Chocolat? It is a cinematic parable about the gray, barren landscape of life under the thumb of a zealot or an authoritarian church. The conflicted mayor and an intimidated young priest are quick to judge, exclude, and bully people into conformity with their expectations. Life is harsh and bleak.

            Into that town comes a woman who is conspicuously disinterested in church and is unbowed by attempts to make her conform. What she brings with her is a remarkable sense of empathy that enables her to value its outcasts and to effect a number of reconciliations among the browbeaten citizens. She is clearly spiritual (i.e., compassionate and loving) but unwilling to be bullied by oppressive people and institutions. She is clearly the SBNR heroine of the story.

            Chocolat lays bare the historic failure of religion. It can degenerate into rigidity and power struggles. Its message of faith, hope, and love can collapse into struggles over power, ego, and money. And how dare anyone try, with a straight face, to deny this has happened repeatedly over the centuries!

            Old Testament prophets railed against priests who abused their power or worshippers who substituted their prayers for actual kindness to the poor. Jesus was angry enough at the abuses of organized religion that he drove animal-hawkers and currency-changers out of the Temple. So there must be something to the idea that deeply spiritually people can be turned off by religion!

            Unlike Vianne, the fictional heroine of Chocolat, the solution for SBNRs is not found simply in flouting the rules and defying the authorities. What is at stake is more complex and serious than playing the rebel. A restudy of Jesus from the Gospels would be a great point of beginning. He seems to have found a way to honor his Father, live under Scripture's authority, and build healthy community - while neither playing nor cowering to the power games of organized religion.

            If you have been turned off by religion, you are in good company. Just be careful not to throw out the Bethlehem Baby with the nasty old bath water!

 

 

 

Real Personal Relationship

"Abram did not value God's vague promises because they paled in the light of what he truly wanted: a son. He felt close enough to God to actually argue with him. Note that God responded. Our relationship with God needs to be so intimate that, when we encounter a promise in Scripture that does not seem true for us, we can talk to God about our feelings. We have a God who does respond, perhaps with an even greater promise, as he does with Abram. Talk to God about everything, even your doubts and arguments."
—Diane Eble, author of Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-Filled Devotions

I love that quote. There have been so many times in my walk with God that I have been angry and frustrated with Him. I feel our relationship is close enough that I can be real and be myself, even it is my upset self. I have voiced my concerns to Him over the years with hot tears of frustration streaming down my face.  I have heard we should never be angry or upset with God.  But I say how can you be in a real, personal, intimate, loving relationship and never have a disagreement or upset??  I have a real, personal, intimate, loving relationship with my husband and we certainly, over the years, have had our share of disagreements and upsets. It didn't cause us to love each other less. If anything it probably made us love each other more. We learned and gained an understanding of each other.

My sister's granddaughter, Kirsten, visits often. I love her.... more than she realizes. I have hopes and dreams for her. I see the potential in her waiting to happen. Many times she has become so angry and frustrated with me when I wouldn't let her eat more candy or go outside alone and countless other things. She doesn't see that I  am protecting her from potential harm.  She doesn't understand that. She is three years old.  I understand that she doesn't understand. Not only that, I see it from her perspective. She only sees the here and now and her needs are not being met at the moment. I try to comfort her. I know she will understand it one day, but until then she is going to be upset.

I tend to do the same thing with God.  I know He loves me, knows what is best for me and is keeping me from potential danger. I can't see it. My needs are not being met. The promises have not come. I have done all I know to do and things still are not working the way they should be. I become angry and frustrated and I talk to Him about that.  He sees it from my perspective. I am his child and heir to all He has. He wants only what is best for me.  He loves me. We have a real, personal relationship.

"When we're confused or disappointed, wondering about who God is and what God is doing, we can ask. God isn’t offended by our questions or doubts. When we ask, we might not get the answer we're expecting. Often the answer comes by watching where God is at work, not by a booming voice from the clouds....expect the unexpected, and keep your eyes open for his work."

Questions for Jesus

Amy Julia Becker

Tribute to a dear friend

His funeral is today. I just can't bring myself to go. I wanted to honor him today by sharing this with you. He was always so full of life and energy. We were such good friends all through junior high and high school. Sometimes best friends. Ah....such sweet school day memories! We sat together on the bus most of all those six years. We shared our hopes and dreams for the future. We shared joy and heartache. We laughed and joked and pulled pranks on the bus and no one ever found out it was us! We shared homeroom and some classes together. We shared our experiences and talked about our dates, our going steadies and the break ups.  He loved to tease me about that "long haired hippie freak" that I dated the last three years of high school - the man I married and have been married to for the last thirty plus years.

So many memories of our friendship came flooding in when I heard he had died. We lost touch after graduation. You know how that goes. He didn't show up at any of our class reunions and  more than twenty years went by before I saw him again.... We ran into each other one autumn day and spent the next two hours catching up. He confided in me that he now had chosen a gay lifestyle and the reasons why. He thought I may not want to remain his friend. Others had done that.  I assured him that our years of friendship were not damaged by his choice - he had been my dear friend since seventh grade.  I will never forget the tears in his eyes as he threw his arms around me and hugged me, thanking me for unconditional friendship. We saw each other every now and then after that through the years. He got cancer. It was bad. He got through it. A while back he told me it was back and it didn't look good. He seemed so sad and defeated. I promised him as before I  would be praying for him and not to give up. We hugged and held on a few moments longer, both teary eyed. It ended with "see you later"....that was the last time I saw him.

He has been in my thoughts all day long with tears and a million memories...his smile and laughter...so full of life...that's what I want to remember. His funeral is today. I just can't bring myself to go.

Single Chocolate Rose

 

 

A single chocolate rose. You know the kind . You see them in Wal-Mart and Rite-Aid. That's what I got for Valentine's Day.....again. I was hoping for flowers. A beautiful bouquet of colorful flowers, different textures and fragances to brighten up dreary winter days. But I got another chocolate rose.....I got one last year. Did I show even a hint of disappointment. No I did not. Why? Because I love my husband. I hugged him and kissed him and thanked him for the gift. You see, over the years we have had lot of wonderful Valentine's Days. We have gone out to dinner. Sometimes just an ordinary dinner to something really fancy depending on the resturant we were in the mood for. Many times over the years I have received flowers. Sometimes roses, red, yellow or varieties of pink. Sometimes the bouquet would be accompanied with balloons and stuffed animals. Sometimes he bought me candy. Chocolates in beautiful red boxes.  Sometimes the candy would also be accompanied with balloons and stuffed animals. I have a room upstairs filled with enough stuffed animals from Valentine's Day and other occasions to delight any child! And the beautiful cards from over the years...I have kept every one. They have come in all shapes and sizes. I even have one that is about three feet tall!! Sometimes funny, but usually beautiful sentiments that convey what my husband can't always put into words. This year was no exception. He always gets me a beautiful card. This one said things like how "he is a better man because of me and my support. How I have made all the difference in his life and he couldn't have married a more wonderful woman".  Wow....he loves me and I love him.

My husband works really long hours on his job during the week and has had to work the last two Saturdays. We knew we would not be going out to dinner or doing much for Valentine's Day. But that's ok. We have had so many wonderful Valentine's Days. He got home late last night and went back out to get "something for work". I knew he was probably getting something for me. He was tired. He put in long hours last week. He came back with the card and a single chocolate rose...I cherish it.

Thoughts on Blogging

 

"Beautiful thoughts just crowd into your mind at times."... She said that everything had colour in her thought; the months of the year ran through all the tints of the spectrum, the days of the week were arrayed as Solomon in his glory, morning was golden, noon orange, evening crystal blue, and night violet. Every idea came to her mind robed in its own especial hue. Perhaps that was why her voice and words had such a charm, conveying to the listeners' perception such fine shadings of meaning and tint and music." - The Golden Road by Lucy Maud Montgomery

 

Beautiful thoughts. I wish that was all I ever had.  I wish my life was such that everything and every thought was always a beautiful hue, but it is not.  Although, I love this quote. Our thoughts take us to many different places and I think that is why people write blogs.  I thought my first blog I post should be, well, about blogging. I finally decided to try blogging after being inspired by my friend and former co-worker Debra. She started a blog the first of the year titled "Sit Down, Shut up & Listen" and I so enjoyed her thoughts and opinions. I felt I wanted to do something like this for a long time.  I found a lot of great quotes while doing some research on thoughts and blogging. I have sprinkled a few of them in here. My favorite was the one I chose to put under the title on this blog page. I have written four blogs so far and this one makes the fifth. My husband read them. I wanted to get his opinion....he says a couple of them are too "christian", (well duh!).....("Meditative … like the chirping of a solitary little bird" —Eudora Welty ), another he said would cause a big stir, ("Thoughts … whirling around on themselves, like the apocryphal snake seizing its own tail and then devouring itself "—Stanley Elkin) ...but I don't think so. The other one is me'up on my soap box', my own opinion and not necessarily the opinion of others, ("Thoughts … flowing in unison, like a mountain-stream and a lake-stream meeting, but not yet merging, in a single river" —George Santayana) ...anyway isn't that whole point of blogging? ...putting it all out there and getting feed back? Which is what I am hoping folks will do.

  Anyway, the writing of my thoughts, feelings and opinions was not the hard part. The setting up a blog page was the real challenge. Once I decide on something, like a template design, then changed my mind, (imagine that), I couldn't  figure out how to change it. Then it ask for a title for this Blog page. I couldn't come up with anything. I spent days and days trying to figure out what to call it. ( "Heavy on my mind, like a lump of soggy yeast dough, expanding, suffocating, blotting out all other thoughts" —Mignon F. Ballard ) Everything that came to mind just didn't seem to cover everything as a whole, until I finally decided on the title I have now: Clear Day. Then there is the problem of trying to get it to link so my facebook  friends can read it. I think maybe I have that one solved......let me know if you are reading this...("Thoughts … untidily stacked like dishes slanting (in) a full sink "—Lincoln Kirstein ) ...if not I may have to fix the slant....