Prayer for the Broken-Hearted

"O blessed Jesus, may we find a covert in thy wounds. Though our sins they rise to meet us, how they fall next to the merits of You!"

Sometimes I'm surprised by the fact that I'm a sinner. First I screw up. Then I scrape my self-respect off the pavement, trying to save face after saying something arrogant, or criticizing one of my colleagues, or gossiping, or one of those other "respectable" sins that I fall into so easily.

Maybe "surprised" isn't the right word. It's just that someone with my excellent character can't fathom what just happened when the evil let loose. That was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it dripping... What should be remorse for sin boils down to the feeling that I am quite a good person, and quite proud of it, and therefore there shouldn't be any sin. In fact, the appearance of any imperfection is annoying at best, because it affects my reputation and temporarily smudges the crystalline self-image that I have of myself.

And this is where the prayer for the brokenhearted comes in--as David says, "A broken and contrite heart, O God, this you will not despise." Confession is God's love language. He falls for it every time! While my pride, arrogance, and self-exaltation make show of stubborn independence, repentance drives me back into God's heart. No day in my life has passed that hasn't proved me guilty.

And yes, today I've been proven guilty. Today I have nothing in my hand to offer God--no respectability, dignity, self-worth, sound judgment. I don't even have the self-control to make myself feel and think and discern the right things--especially in the face of people that I know to be wrong. I have criticism. I have pride. I have gossip. That is my native language. My "mother tongue" is self-righteousness.

But Jesus demands that I shed that righteousness for His, that I shed the ways of the old country and humbly ask for what he offers. I come from a place that is graceless--a place where even I can't accept grace because I try to be good on my own merits. Christ in his grace asks me to relinquish this, in order that He may conquer all in his own name. Though our sins may rise to meet us, how they fall next to the merits of You!

A princess came to the door.

We invited her in, poured her tea from a teapot, seated her in our singular blue armchair, and watched Miyazaki together. 

What a pleasure and honor to have such fancy friends as she.

A Child's Heart

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? 
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, 
it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

There is nothing more fantastical, spectacular, and otherwise unbelievable than the story of Christ. By all known accounts He was conceived of God (not by a man), born into poverty as God himself in human flesh, knew the law and prophets from an incredibly young age, performed the miracle of raising Lazarus out of his tomb, fed 5,000 people on a couple loaves of bread and some fish, was killed by crucifixion at the age of 33, and raised from the dead (scars still intact) only to ascend into heaven triumphantly. 

This is the crazy but true story that God has used to make foolish the wisdom of the world. No wonder he says, "Only if you have faith as a little child." 

This morning while sitting with my mug of tea, stewing over a problematic situation with a parent of one of my students, I was listening (absent-mindedly as always) to songs playing on the stereo. "Good to Me" by Audrey Assad began to play, and somewhere in the stew the words crept in.

I steady my soul on the ground of your goodness.

I am beloved of God. Peace washed over like a wave as I remembered that indeed, He has set his love on me. How do I know? Because of this crazy, fantastic, unbelievable story we call the gospel. I can't be too grown-up to believe in those stories. God has made foolish all that we call wise, and is pleased to save those who believe... through the folly of the good news.

Hold on to the promise--the story is true.

a shelf for everything

...to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

"I confess I have a shelf for everything now. Whatever I read I know where to put it; whatever I learn I know where to stow it away. Once when I read books, I put all my knowledge together in glorious confusion; but ever since I have known Christ, I have put Christ in the centre as my sun, and each science revolves round it like a planet... Christ is to me the wisdom of God."

(From Spurgeon's Sermons Vol. 1, "Christ Crucified")

The Church

Came across two little gems on life in the church--

The Christian Pundit, quoting Spurgeon here, "..the Church is not an institution for perfect people, but a sanctuary for sinners saved by Grace, who, though they are saved, are still sinners and need all the help they can derive from the sympathy and guidance of their fellow Believers."

And from Gentle Reformation, some early church fathers speaking on the diversity of the church--from the perspective of the pastoral ministry. This article reminded me that we are unified by the Holy Spirit--that his work in our hearts is the "glue" that sticks us together. We need the glue because often we Christians are more different than alike--in domains such as talent, interest, walk of life, finance, intellect, temperament... Which means that yes, we have different needs--but also have different abilities to help and encourage others. 

The Wonders of the Waterproof Camera

Last weekend was Anna's last weekend in Cyprus. The perfect reason for the entire family (plus several friends) to take a trip to the sea!

Don't we look great in snorkeling masks?

The first day we went out to a beautiful long, shallow, rocky shoreline. The shore was dotted with two tall islets (big rocks with grass growing on them). We swam out to one in particular with a cross erected on top. The story goes that someone died while swimming in an underwater cave somewhere around there. We wanted to check that out.

The sights on the way out were spectacular! I didn't have the camera--Anna did--and also didn't have my glasses on (bummer). There was a beautiful world with plants, fish, mussels, and other random sea creatures, glowing with the mottled sunlight that filtered through the water. The schools of fish didn't seem phased by our presence.

 The giant rocks made the sea-bed like a sort of canyon--one was either suspended over plummeting depths of seawater, or skimming over the underwater gardens that flourished on the surfaces of the towering rocks.

Of course, the underwater camera was fantastic--we didn't get too many of the sea life. This friend found the sights so mesmerizing that he never actually made it out with Anna and I to the island.

Well , we made the trek from the shore to the island. If you look at the red dot in the far left corner, that's where we started (an old Pajero parked by the shore). The sea is so clear you can see the rocky terrain below. Anna took this photo after mounting the island.

The tiny dot in the water is Susie, who was watching to make sure we didn't fall and dash ourselves on the rocks. After Anna climbed up she "helped" me by taking a photo. 

We made it to to the top, walked around briefly. Apparently the way we climbed up is the only way to climb--every other side was a precipice. We stood on the edge and waved to the neighboring rock... the shadow of the cross is to our left and looks vaguely like a stick. 

Then we took a bunch of self-portraits involving us and the seascape. Here is one such example, involving a little bit of shoreline and a lot of our faces. :o)

After we climbed back down, we swam out to sea. Anna wanted a deep-water picture of herself. We made a couple of attempts...

Those rocks aren't small--they're just a long way down. And those slivers are some kind of fish...

Of course, the token "swimming back to shore" photo. That's me standing on the left, and the famous red Pajero parked on the right. After a full two hours swimming we were ready for a long drink of water, souvlaki, and a good night's sleep. What a great day.

Theme: Flowers

For all you botanists out there... a sample from the walking trail in Nicosia...

(wild figs)