I like comparisons, metaphors, images that simplify ideas that are too complex and detailed to hold easily in the mind. The old comparison of “Life is like a football game,” provides an image that opens the details for discussion while giving a simpler context to use as a base. Today’s image is “avatar.”

An avatar is an electronic representation of a person in the digital world. We put together a representation of ourselves, as best we can, so we can interact with digital life in the digital world. We use avatars to play games, communicate, identify ourselves, in addition to whatever other functions techies can find. You might say we put ourselves in the digital world through our avatars. We, as individuals, are much greater than the world we enter and experience through our avatars.

Now here is an idea to consider. The creator of all the universe, He who is at all places in all times, has given us a face, a person, a complete set of characteristics that is He in our world. God gave us the gift of knowing an infinite God in finite form, such was His desire to relate and communicate with us. The lessons Jesus taught are all lively and relevant today as they were over 2,000 years ago because they address the same issues humanity has faced since the beginning. Jesus is our doorway to the infinite beauty and truth of God because He is emmanuel, “God with us.”

I realize this metaphor is oversimplified and doesn’t adequately deal with the subjects being compared, but it does give an image to prod and push our thinking about how much God has given us and how much access He has given us to Himself.

I am reliving my childhood as an adult child.

I depended on my mother as a young child. I learned to nag, as little people will, calling “Mom” in a constant stream of repetition in an effort for her to stop anything she was doing to take care of my urgent request. My request was usually unimportant to anyone other than a child, but occasionally had some merit. All the urgencies were important to me.

Mom’s response, most often, was “Just a minute.” A mother’s minute can last from several seconds to hours because it is not a length of real time. Most of the time mom was working on my request before I made it. She was definitely going to take care of my needs, and I was never being ignored. The fact was that she was operating in adult time while I was on child time.

I realize now that God was the one who created the “Mother’s Minute.” He did it to prepare me for being an adult child. He wanted me to learn that He is not ignoring me and is definitely going to take care of my needs. I am simply living in limited time which can only see the immediacy of my desires. God is living in His time and can see how all my needs fit into all the other things He has to consider. He says, “Just a minute,” not to refuse me but to tell me to hold on until all is ready. God’s timing is the right timing.

It is frightening to realize that the Lord actually listens to what I say. Someday, I will face that truth. I can see it now. The Lord will ask me why I didn’t follow all the advice I gave to others. If it was right for them, it was right for me.

My two-year-old grandchild wanted to play outside. Her baby sisters were asleep. She didn’t want to get dressed to go outside; she just wanted to go out. The joy of outside arrived after the tussle of getting dressed. Now was the struggle of boundaries. “Don’t go too far because we have to watch the twins. Don’t go around the corner because I need to see you. Come back because you are too far away.” Every instruction was followed by a child determined to push her limits because she didn’t see the need but the desire. She convicts me because I’m sure I am like that to the Lord, all the time. My grand old age hasn’t brought my childishness under complete control. I speak the wisdom. I just don’t follow it.

Based on an interview with an atheist–

An atheist recently spent an entire diatribe convincing me about the truth and reality of God and Jesus, even though he couldn’t see it himself. This man was a mathematician, a scientist, and a life long learner. He loves astronomy and all the information being discovered about the stars. He loves facts of all sorts including historical. He is a master of patterns and how those patterns work consistently throughout the universe, empowering scientists to expand and apply knowledge far beyond the boundaries they have ever experienced. In the midst of all this order throughout the universe from the great to the small, he believes it was all formed by random. Order and organization happen on purpose, not by random or accidental means because random and accidental means are not self sustaining and continuous.

His defenses for his belief in the random always goes back to a structural pattern, which works in unity with all other patterns to create the effect of an observable fact. He sees all the threads, but he does not see the intricacy of the weave or the image of God the weave produces. He labels all the parts but can’t see that all are part of a piece, a whole within which all the individual pieces make sense. He bows to the creation and not the creator like many before him. He sees the artifact of God’s handiwork and says, “Here is God.” His vision is one step short because he sees the product as god instead of the producer. He loves the things that cause him to feel instead of the one who gave him the ability to feel.

Ian had a tremendous storm surge which flooded and destroyed many areas of South Florida. However, it also had reverse surge. The reverse surge moved tremendous amounts of water from places which always had water. You could walk across areas of Tampa Bay while homes nearby were flooded up to, or beyond, the first floor. Some bridges crossed dry beds instead of the deep water that normally sleeps there. We didn’t lose any water. The water was just relocated according to the storm and wind.

Life storms rearrange and relocate our resources, inner, surrounding, and circumstantial, like Ian rearranged the ocean around Florida shores. Storms in life can cause people to show their true inner selves and values. People will withdraw from appearances they can’t maintain during a life storm (reverse surge) to resort to their most basic and established strengths and values (regular surge). I’m reading a book about a Navy Seal. He said it is not the best physiques or the most powerful men that survive seal training. Many of them fail when men with less powerful physiques pass. It is the inner stamina and drive that succeeds, not the appearance of strength. It is the elevation of the soul that keeps the flood at bay. Life storms put the soul to work on its values, priorities, and beliefs. Sometimes, like in South Florida, a powerful storm can rewrite the map of the territory.

It doesn’t matter how perfectly someone may have lived their life. They are on planet earth and are subject to the terrible storms of life and other catastrophes that happen. Ian has moved people to band together as team members for mutual aide and support, a reverse to a common standard of indifference. The truth is we don’t need a storm to move us in that compassionate and mutually supportive way. We can always choose compassion, everyday, without a disaster to compel us.

Books have been written about bad things happening to good people. Big questions so common to spiritual people consider why we are facing destruction or why the Lord seemed absent when the disaster struck. Isolation, or the feeling of isolation, is a terrible part of a life storm. We may feel alone, but we are not. Jesus is working on our behalf every minute of every day and is not absent. We don’t have to feel Him or see Him to know He is there. Hindsight will usually show us the presence of the Lord that we missed seeing during the event.

The Lord also provides us with those who love and sacrifice for us. We are not alone, and as long as we are around, no one else needs to feel alone. We are given the power of grace to be the loving friend and voice to people suffering during the ebb and flow of flood waters. We can be for others what others have been to us or what we wanted others to be for us. We have the power to imitate the love and faithfulness Jesus shows us.

Everyone is going or has gone through crises. We are part of God’s rescue plans for others. We are blessed with the opportunity to be the kind of people we always admired and wanted to be. I have so many unsung heroes in my life. You may be one of them, if not to me, then for others. You are a powerful force, probably beyond your own awareness. Your influence makes a difference.

Rick Riordan has written many books regarding Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. He tells the stories in a modern light, but basically true to the character of the mythological gods. The sad truth is that the gods were no different from the humans in their values or life styles. They were greedy, narcissistic, self aggrandizing, and generally the worst examples of humanity intoxicated by power. Adultery did not seem to be an issue to the gods. They tricked, betrayed, used, and generally treated all others, gods and humans, as resources to be exploited for selfish reasons. They were not worthy of admiration. Worshipping the mythological gods was basically the same as worshipping a reflection of themselves.

The shocking part of the story is that these gods were worshiped for extended periods of time in history. Some of the greatest structures ever built, and still remaining, were built for these gods. I feel that it is probably safe to say that many of the humans had better values than the gods they worshiped or their societies would have died, or been crushed, long before they were. Someone must have had some strength of character because the gods they worshiped certainly didn’t.

That image is relevant to today. Our culture currently prefers/worships so many different aberrations of true values (gods with a little “g”). School systems have been put in the position of departing from established values and pushing the cultural move to liberality in which anything is acceptable if enough people support it. Standards are accepted based on their relevance to popularity. Greed is so common place that businesses are in a constant fight to minimize or accept corruption. This is like reading the myths of the gods of Olympus. Whatever works, or seems to work, is okay.

True values exist of their own accord and are not just philosophies to pick up or discard based on convenience or culture. Jesus is the embodiment of truth that is not, and cannot be, corrupted. He is the antithesis of selfishness. He is the king of the upside kingdom in which giving is encouraged and taking and selfishness is disdained. The values of Christ work in all cultures throughout all time because He is truly God. The values of Christ even work in the workplace without using Bible verses or other church linguistics. It works because He, the creator, built it into the entire system of creation. God’s values work.

Ask a customer what he thinks when he finds a business which is honest, dependable, and faithful. Edward W. Demming wrote books and taught the principles of excellence that turned the Japanese economy around after WWII. Excellence uses the qualities and morals we have learned through Christianity including things like truth, honor, justice, mercy, faithfulness, and the other ones the gods of Olympus could not comprehend. You have found a wonderful friend when you find a business that operates under the values of excellence. It is possible to see the face of God in His creation even when people do not openly know or acknowledge Him. God continually proves Himself true to anyone who is looking to see and listening to hear.

The Gatling gun was invented by a man named Gatling in 1862. It was a multi-barrel gun run by a hand crank and fired up to 200 bullets per minute. It could shoot up to 400 rounds per minute when brass cartridges were introduced. Consider the Civil War battle type, one line of men facing a line of men and firing. A Gatling gun could have mowed the grass of the opposing warriors. Yet – Benjamin Butler, a union general, was the only one to buy ten Gatling guns during the war. The Gatling gun wasn’t accepted as military ordinance until 1866, after the Civil War.

The gun was refused more because of the culture of the times than because of its effectiveness. The generals were afraid the gun would waste too much ammunition, so they stuck to the single load, three shots a minute, rifle. Decisions like for or against the Gatling gun were the types of decisions which shaped the face, the length, and the outcome of the war. 

Compare the Gatling gun to how Christians consider the work of the Holy Spirit. The culture of the church determines the openness to the Holy Spirit even though all churches use the “gun” to fight the enemy (It might be more appropriate to consider that the gun uses us as we are servants of the Holy Spirit). I guess we each choose which gun is best for us.

The cultural word which seems to offend is the word “pentecostal.” Pentecostals use phrases like “baptised in the Holy Spirit” and others to describe the Holy Spirit as the Gatling gun of God to mow down the enemy. There is a long list of the gifts of the spirit which include things like healing, revelation, prophecy, and so much more. The words which seem to be most offensive to the anti-pentecostal crowd are things like “baptised in the Spirit,” and “the gift of tongues.”

I contend that all churches are, in their own way – single shot or multi-shot- pentecostal. I don’t know any Christian church that fails to recognize the Holy Spirit as one of the Holy Trinity, the working hands of the Lord on Earth through people. All Christian churches pray for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, possibly without using inflammatory words. They pray for healing, same as pentecostals, maybe with less dancing (dancing not required [humor intended]). Every Christian I’ve ever met has had a revelation of Jesus or scripture from time to time, which pentecostals would label as a gift of the Spirit. All Christians believe Jesus is alive and making Himself known to believers and unbelievers because all Christians believe in witnessing so the broken and injured of the world can be saved and rescued. We desire the same, pray for the same, but have different cultures in the church and different preferred terminology. 

It is my wish that we could recognize our unity instead of letting the enemy divide us by our preferred culture and terminology. After all, it is about Jesus and what He wants, not about our convenience or comfort. One shot or multi-shot, we are in the same war. The enemy divides, and we should fight in unity. God has deemed each person a precious creation. He died so that all, not just a few, could be rescued. 

I wonder what I will look like, as a person, when I don’t let words, culture, and comfort get in the way of loving like God loves and caring like God cares. God is working on me in single shots and multi-shots to destroy the enemy in my life and free me. I want to be like Jesus now, but I know I will be like Him eventually. The process is ongoing.

Many of my friends believe that pets are humans in fur or feathers. Each has its own personality, its own way of communicating. Dodo videos show cuddly possums and squirrels who use their owner as a favorite climbing tree. The rescues and stories of relationship are all over the media, each animal with its own response to rescue and rescuers. Animals sometimes trigger the compassion in humans that other humans don’t trigger. I wonder why?

Recently Gabby, my son’s aging black lab, gave me an educational moment. I had the bad judgement in treating her like a dog. Gabby knew that wasn’t right. I was the Dursleys, and she was Harry Potter under the staircase. We were dog sitting at our house. Gabby and Chunk, the other dog, came for a week long visit. We were willing and have a fenced back yard and an easy-to-clean house.

The dogs know their routine and can clearly communicate it. They become highly animated twice a day and go in and out of the house thinking that going in and out triggers the magic. The magic is feeding time. They go out, turn right around, return, and search the house for the food bowls. They will repeat the process until someone takes the hint. Neither dog is happy during thunderstorms. They will crawl in laps if they can or bed if you don’t stop them, crying and talking actively the entire time. I kept the dogs off the bed, off my lap, and left them outside for extended times. It was an inconsiderate way to treat family.

Three days into the week, Gabby quit going to the bathroom outside and started using the floor, sometimes multiple times a night. This is completely outside her routine. I began to examine the situation and realized that Gabby was missing the constant affection she received from my son and his wife. I took the cue and changed my behavior. The accidents immediately stopped. I had been told and heard.

Gabby is a dog, but she has a better sense of family than some humans I know. The Lord is not opposed to using anything in our environment to teach us about living and loving and being the kind of people He wants us to be. Gabby reminded me that I had become self absorbed, and she was right. The media shows us animals that example how humans should treat each other all the time, always ready to rescue, always ready to help, always ready to go the distance for someone or some creature who is hurt or hurting.

Being self absorbed is a curse. It injures all persons and creatures in its environment. It destroys any relationship with any person or thing. The weakest among us tend to suffer the injury first and worst. Gabby reminds me that I should be full of compassion because of the compassion I have received. I want to forgive as quickly and enthusiastically as I was forgiven, want to help others as faithfully as I have been helped. The Lord is the greatest example, and He isn’t embarrassed by using the lowly things in this world to teach about His higher calling. Thanks Gabby. I’ll work on being better.

High school students tend to believe they are invisible when they write essays. They don’t realize that, even in the simplest essays, they reveal themselves to the reader. I recently tagged a student who did the best she could to do the least possible for a class assignment. She laughed when I caught her. She was surprised to see that she was so readily transparent.

The teacher assigned an essay about overcoming adversity. The point was to prepare students to write for scholarships because they are seniors. The teacher knew her students and me when she assigned the task. The outcome was stunning. I was somewhat prepared because I taught students in the public school system for thirty-three years. The common outlook is that these are just kids. What kind of issues can they have. The truth is that they are fighting wars that would daunt and overcome many adults.

You might expect to see health issues, broken family issues, and peer pressure issues to name a few. You would not be prepared for the depth of the pain or the harshness of the suffering or the extent of the dilemmas. It is most important for me to see the person inside the dilemmas they face. These are precious people, children the Lord has created, people who did not choose the hand they were dealt, youth who are discovering the rules of engagement and the strategies of battle. They are young, but they are warriors. I’m very impressed with them.

I am learning to see the Lord everywhere and in everything. I am learning to listen to others and spot the Lord where they are in their lives instead of just telling them what I think or feel. I could see the Lord in these young people, in their courage, in their determination, in their hunger for something better than they were given or even knew was possible for them. They were reaching up, beyond their experience, beyond their environment to something they believed was better. All their hunger was a call of God for them to come to Him for what He wanted them to have – love and a future with Him.

I have fought and walked out of addiction to alcohol. Stopping the drink is the easiest part of the challenge. The hard challenge is facing yourself, day after day, forcing yourself to get up and fight again, against your own habits, your peers, your influences, and all the structures in your life that make it easy to fail. These young essayists had that vision, that courage, that every day determination to face and fight. The Lord has given them a hunger for success, a drive to go forward, a vision of life beyond what they have been given. He is alive in them fighting for their freedom and teaching them how to get it and maintain it.

I see the Lord in them and their testimony. I see them in their moving toward His call. I am impressed and find my heart cheering and screaming from the sidelines because I see the greatness being birthed in them. The Lord is alive and well, dwelling in the hearts of all who will hear His voice calling them out of the pain of this world and into His plan and presence.

There are movie dragons, but even more cruel and destructive are the dragons in the world around us. Lies are the heart of the dragon. The ingenious use of appearance can confound even the most discerning. The little truth which hides the bigger lie behind it becomes a shelter for the deceitful and the downfall of the gullible. Who isn’t gullible in this day and age in which deceit is wielded with such craft that even the cagy entrepreneur is taken by the white collar criminals who are finding new lies or creative ways to update old lies to make wealth seem imminent when it is really slipping from your grasp.

Public media is used as a favorite fishing (phishing) place where the deceitful angler baits his hook. “Hi. How are you? Have you heard?” is a favored Messenger refrain used by someone’s face that hides that it is not that person at all, just a hacked name on your connections list. Get rich schemes are a favorite, but don’t leave out beauty secrets, amazing health cures, weight loss, health diets, instant answers to deep and complicated issues, and spiritual cons among the long list of dragons, found and tamed just for you. All you have to do is have a want that seems beyond your reach, and some person will create a con which fits that desire, an easy, no struggle way to meet the need. There is someone out there who is willing to “take you for a ride,” as the old gangster movies offered.

“Casting off restraints” is a term indicating leaving wisdom and discipline to do things which will probably be devastating when it comes to a conclusion. We see this in the young and sometimes wonder how they live to be adults. Showing off to get acceptance creates opportunities for injuries that far outlast the moment. Peer pressure is the entry drug for all kinds of horrifying actions and addictions. It is the means that introduces the young to smoking, drinking, drugs, sex, and so much more. These things appeal to the wants and desires but don’t have the substance to fulfill. Do we get to any point in life where we, as humans, aren’t vulnerable to some kind of appeal that defies wisdom and discipline?

The real dragon is the undisciplined appetite. It is the hungry grocery shopper who fills their cart with snacks instead of healthy foods. It is the impulse buy that puts you in debt. It is the momentary mental or emotional derangement that excuses doing something which wisdom and discipline would refuse. It is the war humanity fights to find the easy way or comfort instead of the wisdom and discipline which leads to health and well being.

We, as humans, are part of and endure the dragons, but we are also dragon slayers. We are part of God’s solution for others. He has used the broken and infirm to create agencies of help like AA, MADD, and so many more. We grow through fights with the dragons of this world, through God’s grace and intervention, to become tools of healing for others. God knows how to turn a profit because He can turn the worst in us into the best someone else has ever experienced. I give my heartfelt thanks for all those saints who who allowed God to turn their hurts into healing and shared their lives with me.