The Lesson of the Chicken Egg

Our family was struggling financially back in the 1980s. We spend time together on various projects, but the one that taught us the most involved five eggs and a little yellow incubator.

Faithfully we turned the eggs and kept the water level and light just right. We put an X on one side of the shell and an O on the other to make sure we were turning them properly. We watched and waited for the eggs to hatch. By putting an ear close to the incubator, you could hear a slight scratching or pecking. Finally, cracks would develop and the chick's beak and then more and more of it would emerge. They were all hatching successfully, except one.

We decided to help that chicken along in the hatching process.Carefully, we removed pieces of shell. Worn out from the struggle, the chick seemed grateful to be free. But wait, it's dying! It just fell over and stopped breathing. What went wrong?

The newly hatched chicks are gathered around the light for warmth. They are active and appear strong and healthy. Do you suppose that epic struggle they went through to get out of the shell is what made them strong; able to survive in their world?

Could it be that struggles and adversity are designed to strengthen us too? I believe strength is forged in the bonds of suffering. The divine Blacksmith knows the precise amount of heat to apply to make a fine tool of you. So when pressure hammers away at you, or the cold waters of disappointment cover you, that is when you are being shaped into a person who will survive and thrive in this world. And, He never takes His eyes off the precious person He is forming - strong, resilient, capable, a tool reflecting His workmanship. Doma

Swearing Is Still Swearing

I want to express my dismay and disapproval about the use of the letters OMG which show up in conversations and text messaging lately. I even saw it used in a cartoon. One can mask the saying by using initials, but it is common knowledge that it means Oh my God. It is swearing and intended to be swearing no matter how it is spelled or abbreviated. I just wish people would be more creative in their word choices. It is not necessary to use God's name in everyday banter. To do so just indicates a woeful lack of knowledge of who God actually is and demonstrates failure to show Him the awe and respect He deserves. I just had to say it, and now I have. Doma

Psalm 2009

O Lord, You are sovereign and holy,
You are mighty and powerful,
You reign over all creation.
For You are God.

Yet surely You know me,
You understand what I do,
You see past my actions,
Into my very heart.

Knowing me the way You do,
You still love and forgive me,
For that I am eternally grateful.
Your grace is so precious.

O Lord, You are the Creator,
The stars feel Your fingers still,
And babies fresh from the womb
Bear Your breath.
The poppies flame with color,
Skies write your love in the clouds.

I must join with Exodus 15:11
And ask “Who is like unto Thee?”
Glorious in holiness,
Mighty in power,
Doing wonders,
You alone are Our God. Doma

Prairie Path

Overgrown with wild grasses and shimmering foxtails,
The path no longer winds.
Buried in the prairie now,
It exists only in my mind.

Now I must trod it from memory
Without even leaving my chair,
Briefly consider life’s brevity,
Cross the space to childhood’s naiveté.
Consider life’s sweet, simple things.

I catch the glint of a dewdrop rainbow,
Hear the lilt of yellow throat’s song,
Smell the earth in the mild morning breeze,
Truly seeing the path as it was.

I walk down the trail with my dog, Pete
He stays close, but not for long.
Some creatures do not enjoy the chase
But jackrabbit does and gives him a race.

Then dog and rabbit part company
And he comes loping back to me
He’s panting and weary, rests for awhile
Then looks up at me and wags his tail.

There in the grass something catches my eye
Blue bells nodding on slender stalks
A favorite flower of my mom
A nice bouquet to take back home.

My short sojourn back to the path
Was cut short by the phone
But I can go back anytime
To the prairie path and the peaceful times. Doma 03/23/09

More About Ear-Worms

Just a brief follow-up to my last post about "Pernicious Media". Part of my comments concerned ear-worms, those little ditties or phrases that show up in your conscious mind at odd times and for no reason. Well, I made the mistake of singing along with a song on the radio last Saturday, and now it comes up in my mind at weird times, much to my annoyance.

There is nothing like trying to have a quiet time to pray and meditate and have the words and tune to "...Elvira, Elvira, my heart's on fire for Elvira" , come to your mind. Or "Gitty up, bahoom boppa hoom boppa mow mow..." complete with a bass of epic proportions. Good grief! I should have known that what goes in does come back out. I WILL be more selective in what I take in from now on.

Don't laugh, I just know at times you are humming some commercial or the words to some nonsensical ditty too. Those rascally little ear-worms are in your mind also. In this instance, the result of being indiscriminate in my listening is simply annoying, but perhaps there are more insidious effects, like diverting my mind from more purposeful, productive thinking and even from praying. Just look, I have spent way too much time on this post just because of "Elvira"!

Well, excuse me, I am going to go listen to some Christian contemporary music and see if that can exorcise the Oak Ridge Boys so I don't have to think about their meeting Elvira "...at the Hungry House cafe". Do be careful what you take in! Doma

Pernicious Media

We do have to be careful what we take in visually and also what we hear! Do you know what an ear worm is? It is an insidious, repetitious series of phrases either put to music or repeated over and over in some context. This phrase or ditty then plays endlessly in your mind. You try to get it out of your head, but just when you think it's gone, there it is again. Often these "ear worms" are commercial jingles or sayings. They were purposefully repeated to do precisely what they are doing - ending up being replayed in the listeners mind. While they are usually just irritating, they are hard to shut off. Little children often repeat lines from movies or commercials, showing how this bombardment with auditory input is easily soaked up by impressionable little minds.

The effects of visual images on the human mind are often less obvious than the influence of auditory input. However, sometimes images just won't leave the mind and may even show up in the unconscious while one is sleeping. Frequent exposure to violent depictions of horrific proportions, such as we can see every night on television, can have several effects, from numbness and apathy to total revulsion. Children may act out what they have seen. Many children have nightmares just because of the indiscriminate viewing habits of their parents.

Sensual images have effects that are difficult to erase as well, as people who are addicted to pornography can tell you. When Job made a covenant with his eyes, he was one smart man. We would do well to do the same and be much more discriminating about what we choose to see and hear. I believe we will be accountable to God for all we take into our minds because it can influence our thought life. As scripture tells us, "As a man thinks, so is he." Doma

A March Reflection

Pull back those covers, Winter.
Wake up and hear Spring's call.
No use resisting longer,
Throw off your icy pall.

The hopes of man await you,
But will not wait for long.
Approaching solstice marches,
While birds rehearse their song.

Your blanket's served its purpose,
To moisture it dissolves,
You lose this battle every year
As Earth again revolves

Another trip around the sun
Another change is near,
You might as well give way to Spring,
So, Winter, disappear. Doma

Music

Perhaps the best part of music to me are the unforgettable words. If they were just spoken and not combined with a melody, they would not have entered my heart so readily or remained in my memory as long.

Some words that have stayed with me are: "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love...", or "The people in the box, TV personalities, they teach us how to live in specific generalities. What can we learn from the people in the box?", and "There are some promises in a letter written a long, long time ago. They're not getting older, they're getting better". All of these words come from songs that have meant much to me and marked events in my life.

The Farrel and Farrel song "The People in the Box" really is a commentary of how life reflects the media of TV and now DVD. How fixated is the culture on stars and celebrities from "the box"? The other lyrics are Christian in origin, the first one from an old hymn and the last one from a song from the 1980s.

Song writers will continue to touch hearts with poignant lyrics and melodies because, frankly, people need music. There is no doubt in my mind that heaven is filled with it and it's beyond wonderful. Doma

Ostrich Syndrome

Right now I am deliberately ignoring our world, our politics and all the chatter about the problems we are all facing. Economy-Nope, don't want to think about that. Jobs-Nope, we don't have any right now, don't want to think about that. War-Definitely don't want to think about that. It's either from information over-kill or pure frustration, I don't know which, but I am going into the throes of "Ostrich Syndrome".

My attitude today reminds me of Sergeant Schultz on "Hogan's Heroes" who vehemently states that he "...sees nothing!" He is choosing to ignore what he cannot do anything about. We laugh when he says this, but what can we do, really, about all that is beyond our control?

To be true to my LORD Jesus, I must say that rather than completely surrender to the "head in the sand" approach, I am actively revisiting a concept I thought I learned long ago. I was sure it was a well established thinking pattern. It is called relinquishment. Some people refer to it as surrender or trusting in the LORD. Man! here I go again having to admit to falling short in the trust category.

Surely you understand that we are just getting too much negative stuff thrown at us lately, wherever we turn. God understands as no one else does. This fact, about God understanding us, is stated so clearly in scripture. Biblical characters wrestled with monumental problems like being thrown into a lion's den or being pursued by an army of Egyptians with the nowhere to go but into the sea. They had to deal with mental and spiritual anguish as the book of Psalms clearly expresses. Where would we be without our totally trustworthy God?

Well, I am off to check on the laundry and think more about relinquishing all my anxieties and foreboding thoughts to God so He can make room for that blessed peace He loves to give us. How about you? Doma

Music - The Pulse of the Soul

Nothing speaks to my own heart as much as a well turned phrase sung to a beautiful or catchy melody. That combination can be soothing and stress can leave much like removing your coat as the day warms. Music reaches deeply into a place that is well guarded, an emotional wellspring, a spiritual reserve. It ministers when other methods may fall short.

Sometimes the melody haunts you or the words get your attention. Certain moments of our lives are even defined by music. A song, a set of lyrics, can take us back to another time, another place. Who hasn't had his/her blood stirred by the national anthem, when it is well done with power and dignity? Or is your experience that it is always followed by the words, "Play ball!" That's OK with me-you get the idea. Music should stir you and create a response.

I take many genres of music very seriously and enjoy a wide variety. From "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys,(who are not babies needing a diaper change, but rather banjo pickin', beard wearin' guys), to "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss, I like it.

If you listen very carefully, there is music in the air. I have written several little songs that were used at a Christian camp for praise and worship. I carefully chose the words, but the melody was there, I just had to be still. I will share a little bit with you. Perhaps you can see it is only natural to go from poetry to song lyrics. David, the shepherd king knew that. Here are a few lines from three of my original songs.

(From "Welcome Home the Prodigal Again" This song is about someone who, like the prodigal in the parable is coming back to the Father and reacts to the love offered so freely.)
"How can I face a love so wondrous? I see your arms reaching out to me. They welcome and remind me of another, whose outstretched arms were pierced with nails for me. You welcome home the prodigal again, yes, you do. You welcome home the prodigal again." D.B. 1985

(From "The Appleseed Song" This is a song for children about the growth of an apple and our faith.)
"Just a little seed, withered and brown, but Oh it's full of promise. Just a little seed in the ground but it's planted there with love. Oh, all that I can be in inside of me, I just have to yield and grow." D.B. 1981

(And finally, from "Fight the Good Fight")Nearly word for word scripture. (II Cor. 10)
"We're living in a combat zone, yes we are. We're living in a combat zone, everyday. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty from God to the pulling down of strongholds. So put on the armor that your God supplies that you might withstand in the evil day." D.B. 1992 Doma (D.B.)03/02/2009