Thoughts on Christ

When my dad broke his back in 1979, he and others on the orthopedic floor decided to have a klutz of the year competition to see who had come to the hospital via their own hand in the most foolish way. The winner, a gentleman who stepped back off the ladder to admire his work on the 2nd floor window trim.

This father could have joined them, if not for the quick thinking of his wife.

The following story tells of the willingness of a family to work together. The father was a chimney builder. He would stay at the high top of the chimney until the finishing touches were done by other workers. Then he would drop a rope that he used to let himself down. One day he made the crucial mistake of not keeping the end of the rope for himself. The young son raced to his mother and told her the problem, but what other than earnest agonizing prayer could she do? She knew that often you need to put feet on your prayers. She raced from the house, and yelled at her husband, high on the chimney of the house being built. Despite his experience he was bewildered and shaking dangerously with despair. "Unravel the worsted from your sock," she yelled to him. Both of them knew that the socks were made from one large thread of strong wool and that it could hold together. "Hold one end, and put some mortar on the other end to lower it," she called.

He did; the heavy worsted thread held. After lowering the thread they tied a heavier rope to it, and he pulled the heavy rope to himself. He secured the end and then was able to let himself down as was normally done, and he was safe in the arms of his wife.

Just as the thread held and lead to safety, so our Lord brings us to safety.

The hands of Christ, Seem very frail
For they were broken by a nail.
But only they reach heaven at last
Whom those frail, broken hands hold fast.

The Power of Prayer

Back in July, I changed the prayer for Zimbabwe of our weekly prayer group. For nearly two months, we've been praying

We pray that the situation in Zimbabwe stabilizes and people are no longer threatened for being a part of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Once Zimbabwe was the bread basket for Africa, bless President Mugabe with your wisdom so he no longer fears losing power, but is motivated by a desire to do what is best for the people in his country so that Zimbabwe is once again a wonderful place to live.

Today, I read in the New York Times that President Mugabe is willing to divide up the power in Zimbabwe and is giving some power to his rivals. God has intervened in the situation, sent others to help negotiate the settlement, and once again Zimbabwe is filled with hope.

You can read the full article: Zimbabwe Rivals Sign Power-Sharing Agreement

I pray that this agreement will be honored by all people and is just the first of many steps the country takes on it's path back to being in harmony with all people and God's creation.

Balance

Well, it's been awhile since I've written anything. One thing that has permeated my thoughts in the away time has been the importance of balance in our lives. We need a mix of fun, serious, relaxing, hard work, etc. in order to live.

Today though, my thoughts turn towards what is the proper balance between remembering the horror of Sept 11th, 2001 and the need to move from the shock, grief and pain to a new normal. My heart still grieves for those who lost their lives and for those still suffering from the nightmares of leaping over body parts as they fled the towers. We need to remember the significant event; but do we need to focus on the destruction? Do we need to focus on the day we figured out that as a nation we were sort of the emperor in the emperor's new clothes?

We do need a little focus on those parts of the day, but also to remember how quickly the nation responded to help. A few days after the event, I was in a state correctional facility to lead worship for medium security inmates. Those men were hurting, because they couldn't do anything tangible to help the victims.

Today, perhaps the balance is to remember the whole story. To grieve a little, rejoice a little, and ask God to intervene to bring us true peace and justice throughout the planet so that no one need remember a day like this again.

In Christ
Pastor Kim