COFFEE ON THE DOCK

One of my spiritual fathers was Russell Linenkhol. He is now in heaven but his voice is still in my heart. His eyes sparkled when he smiled, had a great wit and a deep-voiced southern drawl. He gave me wise counsel over a lifetime and deeply influenced me in more ways than I could elucidate in this medium. One of his most endearing attributes was something we described as “Russellisms”, which were pithy points of wisdom and insight. For instance, he described people who stepped out in faith as “Water Walkers”, the biblical story clearly referenced. I needed those enlightening and inspiring words. I still do. Lord God, thank You for placing my feet where only You can hold me up. I will follow Your voice no matter the perils. And thanks for Russell. 

I have often marveled at the instinctive creativity of a small child. A stick in the hand is easily reimagined into a ship hurtling through space, a simple flower into a royal wedding bouquet, a quarter becomes a million dollars, and so it goes on and on. The effect of sin is to turn this wonderful creativity stamped upon our soul by the Creator Himself into craftiness for doing wrong. As pride and selfishness grow, creativity is repurposed and used to devise ingenious ways of deceit and wrongdoing. The only corrective for this is to return our creativity to its original purpose; to use it for good instead of evil. Holy Father, may Your Divine Nature turn my instinctive ingenuity into creative ways to spread Your love to others. 

Every earthly resource is exhaustible. Trusting in whatever we have gathered for the future is as useless as when the Israelites tried to store away manna only to have it "breed worms and stink". Life deals blows that shake our hope, but allowing pain or fear to shape our behaviors is the wrong course of action. My earth-born inclinations are dispatched by the glorious victory wrought in knowing God’s limitless provision. When “The Lord Our Provider” wants to act, He has inexhaustible means and power. Blessed Father, You are Lord of All. Forgive my foolish attempts to live in my own strength. Teach me Your ways and lead me in the way of everlasting. 

For many years we had a bottlebrush tree that hummingbirds visited regularly. It remained green throughout the year and bloomed all summer, wildlife was drawn to it like a magnet. We rarely saw the speedy hummingbirds come or go since they fly rather quickly, but there were always a few, delicately hovering like helicopters, extracting its sweet nectar. God’s blessings are the same; whether I see them coming or not, they are surely on the way. The next blessing may be as close as my next thought, prayer or act of kindness or obedience. My Lord, my God, I’m continually amazed by You; Your ways are mysterious yet faithfully predictable. Help me to stay alert to Your works and make me a blessing to others. 

God is not impressed by my good deeds. After all, He sees ALL my deeds, not just the good ones. In fact, He not only sees WHAT I do, He sees WHY I do them, openly peering into the motives behind both good and bad actions. Frankly, this is not a comforting thought, but what is comforting is that He accepts my intent to do good even though it is rarely ever absolutely pure. The Perfect One is willing to work within and through my imperfections, all the while, exposing and cleansing the intentions of my heart. Lord, I’m amazed by You. You invite us into partnership with You holy work. Forgive the mixture of motives within me and cleanse me through and through. 

Creepy insects come out when night falls but when the lights come on they quickly scatter and hide. Similarly, things done which seem so safe and delightfully satisfying when hidden, suddenly become frighteningly dangerous when what has flourished in darkness is revealed by light. While many foolishly claim that living in darkness is actually enlightening, just one moment bathed in the Light of Truth tells all. You, O LORD, are my lamp; You turn my darkness into light. You blow away the shrouded obscurity of night. Chase away darkness from every shadowed corner of my soul and fill each crevasse with Your Resplendent Glory. 

Selective outrage is a common human malady. Why do we fight so hard for justice in one area while ignoring other injustices that may be equally bad or worse? The Bible commands: “be angry and sin not”, but this is pretty tricky. Personal opinions, prejudices, pride, ignorance or our own past hurts ruin the value of focused anger by inserting our own pain or fears into a righteous cause. Once it moves from righteous anger to personal offense it is no longer bathed in the Love of God and becomes ineffective and dangerous. Great and Mighty Lord, cleanse my heart from the sins of anger that I may fight for good with righteous indignation.