Whetstone

Whetstone

Heavy in my hand
Like a sure responsibility and
A wisdom you can hold

Knife, shears, hoe…
None return the same.
Like men around my father.

Sharper and…ready.
Here is a debt owed,
Not by fools.

With all the present flack concerning 'Courtship'…factor this in.

Acting the Part

When it comes to conducting ourselves worthy of the Gospel, not much of that happens without deliberate attempt. As you read the scriptures, you find that when it comes to our behavior, our outlook, our patterns of speech, and our order of life—we are responsible for the changes that God calls us to.

We are not counseled by the Holy Spirit to wait until we are emotionally or even spiritually ready to begin: “putting off the old man” or “adding to our faith”.

In fact, it is pretty clear that the grace of God has placed us on the Stage of Life and that the Lord is calling us to act the part of a Christian immediately and continually.

Now the difference between an actor and a hypocrite is this. The actor works on learning his lines (scripture); he may even struggle with getting his part right; but the hypocrite pretends to be someone he is not and in this analogy, Someone’s that he is not.

The diligent actor grows into his part so much so that he loses his former identity, his old personality, and even his reflexive inclinations. The hypocrite attempts to do this but he is soon found out.

In scripture, there is a bit of a difference between a Hypocrite and a Tare. Tares among the Wheat, within the sacred community, are usually unknown to others—even to themselves…but the Hypocrite is different, his words and deeds depart from the script with intention. His adlibbing is self-serving.

Using terms like actor and acting is really just a way of looking at how we are to be Christ’s disciples. He tells us what to do, how to feel, what to say—and then we do it.

It makes for an epic life and a beautiful story.

Recipes

Irresistibly Irish Chocolate Mousse

8—Egg Whites

14 oz—Semi-Sweet/Dark (whatever you prefer)

1—Quart Heavy Whipping Cream

Bailey’s Irish Cream

½--stick of butter

3—Table Spoons Regular Sugar

4—Chilled Bowls

In separate chilled bowls:

1. Whip cream until done. Separate out about 1/5 for Topping. 
2. Add as much Bailey’s as desired in the topping. 
3. Place bowls in fridge.
4. Beat egg whites adding sugar gradually until shiny and stiff. Place in fridge
5. Melt chocolate with ½ stick of cold butter. Remove from heat and let cool a bit—but not stiffen.
6. In large bowl, fold Egg Whites and Chocolate.
7. Next, fold in Whipped Cream.
8. Spoon into serving cups and add the topping. 

Life Together

Psalm 67

 God be merciful to us and bless us,
         And cause His face to shine upon us,  Selah
 That Your way may be known on earth,
         Your salvation among all nations.
      
 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
         Let all the peoples praise You.
 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
         For You shall judge the people righteously,
         And govern the nations on earth. Selah
      
 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
         Let all the peoples praise You.
 Then the earth shall yield her increase;
         God, our own God, shall bless us.
 God shall bless us,
         And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

The sincerity of singing this prayer can be evaluated by asking ourselves the following 3 questions:

First: Do we want Him?

The first line calls for God’s full attention in our lives. We all want that personal attention when illness, tragedy, or disaster affects us; but what about all the time?

Secondly: Do we want Them?

The end result of the Lord’s countenance shining on His people is that others come in; people from outside the church who are troubled, who are sick, who have the baggage of living for years without Christ. (10, out of the 15 lines in this Psalm, are about ‘Them’.)

Thirdly: Do we want Us?

The blessing promised here changes our lives and changes the world but this prayer/song is corporate, communal. If we are not focused on being Kingdom minded and living in community then this text doesn’t belong to us.

Life Together

No one talked much.

The gathering held no demands.

Men sat around the fire waiting for nothing but expecting and already receiving the reward for being there. As the laughter and shouts of children played in the distance, their fathers and their father’s friends considered in conversation and in silence the glory of their lives.

As each man arrived that evening the satisfaction intensified within the circle. Everyone knew their place and their place was here. To belong means that you become less of yourself but more than you could be alone. So, everyone became more and more and each man could sense it.

Those absent were mentioned and missed yet all was complete. It was complete for it was not the first, but one, of several such occasions. Every event is as complete as an event can be. They are memories in the making—some better than others and none contrivable.

So we sat together.

The fire danced before us masterful and bright; warming our legs and keeping us mindful of mystery. For a few moments we considered this phenomenon of light and heat and energy confined within a circle of stone and maintained with split wood, leaves and twigs. We spoke of it as magical, as an ethereal form constantly restructuring itself. 

The conversation moved further into creation as a breeze caressed the trees. We heard a sound and someone pronounced it to be an owl’s call. There is silence built into owl wings, another explained and somehow the conversation turned to the fact that everyone is known by some part of their story more than by their name. Then we soared. The stars were shining and the sky was ours. The stories came easy, of fish caught and trails hiked. We laughed knowing and relating and appreciating every detail. Tipped canoes, gathered wood, timber frames and back country camping.   

We brought some of the past back into the present, considered it, and then acted as if it went away and returned back to its own place. But it didn’t, it stayed there with us as it always does, as it always has.

One of the men read from a book; from part of a story somewhere in the middle. We sat in the middle of our own story listening. The historic fiction was close to home. We laughed at the realism and lauded the author, a favorite of the group. And considered how magnificent and normal all stories are.

Then, another ritual began. Iron skillets were carefully placed in the fire. The spoonful’s of lard swirled on the super-heated surface and then evened out in an invisible pool and prepared to answer the battered catfish with a sizzle. Those who tended the iron pans did so by lantern and flashlight. Glimpses of brown perfection assuring that the heat and turning had been naturally and properly timed.

Hushpuppies, unknown to many but well known here, were also part of the evening fare landing in men’s laps on the cheapest of paper plates.

So we sat and ate together.

The fish was fried, white-flake perfection; the taste amplified by the sense of place.  

The men ate with the satisfaction of the company they were keeping and the work they had come from and the conversations that continued. 

We reveled in the simplicity of our thought, our food, and our friendship. This was one evening, a block of hours, an increment of life well lived. 

Responsibility rightly drew some away earlier but we all got home late smelling of wood smoke.  

Lying in bed thinking of the morrow, of the future where we would carry the riches of this night and all of its memory; feeling and knowing that if we were no different at least the difference had been maintained, making us more of who we are or guaranteeing it.

We are formed by these events; they contribute to our person and shape us. Each man contributes to how we should or should not be. Their words, we echo or discard.

We discover and then subliminally imitate—expression and humor, concern and importance.

We are brothers born of God finding our way together; as it should be.

For some, we are imitating our fathers. They too sat around open fires without agenda.

The presence of other men in their lives—shaping—all together telling their stories until they all become one of our own; recollected and shared.

God must delight in such men who can talk of Him in such a place and at such a time. He is in their thoughts as naturally as His presence is known. And they know.

They know that He is the reason for their delight; all these image-bearers imitating the Trinity in love and laughter and communion as they enjoyed the three-tiered world of the heavens, the earth and the seas by eating fish under the stars. 

 What is man that You are mindful of him,
 And the son of man that You visit him?
 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
 And You have crowned him with glory and honor. 
         
 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
 You have put all things under his feet,

         

Hospitality

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. …given to hospitality.” (Romans 12:1-2, 13)

You wouldn’t normally think of hospitality as a 'living-sacrifice' item but according to the apostle Paul it is. Some bible translations use the phrase practice hospitality and that is ok but the intentioned meaning is one of a deliberate pursuit. Given to hospitality is closer to the idea. And this action on our part is a proof, a tangible manifestation that we have indeed entered into our reasonable service. Hosting others is right there in the same chapter with prophesy, exhortation, and mercy. It is a big deal.

So, when we are told to give our lives totally over to the Lord, He is kind enough to tell us what the results will look like. And on this point, it looks like a crowded table.