August 26, 2006

• Random thoughts.

  
  

  Well this has been a rainy, rainy, lazy day. In between cleaning house and doing things for kids, I have been reading C.S. Lewis. My sons’ camping trip was canceled – my middle one doesn’t understand why the leader doesn’t want to camp in the pouring rain – oh to be young again.

  
  

  I don’t know if any of you are near Living Word Chapel, in West Hurley, New York, but Thursday we are having Prophet Samachen from India speaking at our church. There will be an Indian dinner from 4-6, and then he will speak from 6 until he has to go and catch a plane. You would be most welcome. Pastor Don spent time with him, and feels he is an anointed man of God, strongly encouraging us to attend. He told us that he is a prophet like the Old Testament prophets, not saying just nice things, but speaking the truth.

  
  

  ******

  
  

  When I first started struggling with the concept of God, one of the main things I realized was that something had to have created the earth – there was too much interconnectedness. There was such a variety of wildlife, and all worked together to create a common ecosystem. I couldn’t escape the fact that there had to be a creator, just like the book of Romans suggested. I also was beginning to be very convicted of my sins, and wondered why God would want me, if He did want me. One day in my musings, I was feeling like I wanted to hide from God, in a corner, under a rug – anywhere where He wouldn’t notice me. I figured if He caught sight of me, that He would kick me out of His kingdom. Then I went back to looking at nature and was marveling at the interconnectedness, the creativity, and the beauty, and all of a sudden I got the clear impression, “You are part of nature too, part of the whole.” And I realized that God included me in His plans. It was a comforting thought in the midst of a lot of hurting.

  
  

  ****

  
  

  Last week, and next week I will also be spending time by a stream with my Girl Scout troop who are doing a silver award. One of my moms is a DEP worker, and she is helping them to organize a stream watch, where they are doing a serious, scientific study of about 100 feet of stream. The area will be mapped, the plants plotted, the animals watched, birds, bugs, chemistry, etc. All of this will then be made into a powerpoint presentation for the DEP and the people who own the site will also see it, and it will go on the national computer. It is a mega job, far more work than an ordinary silver award, but the girls are able to see a lot of the wonders of nature, learn some scientific methods and tools, and do something of value. There is 15 hours of stream observation that they are going to do, followed by hours of preparing reports.  Here are two pictures:

  
  

  

  
  

  Christine and Nadia are measuring the stream, Shannon (with notebook) and Katherine (left)  are looking for animal tracks, fish, and crayfish. Katherine had us laughing on Friday for a walking stick climbed up her leg, and we were being silent, looking for birds. She was screaming with her mouth closed making mewing sounds, but the walking stick was cool and all were holding it after awhile. We then found a baby walking stick. In the tree branch near Shannon you might be able to detect a white object – that is dead grasses wrapped around the tree branch – debris from flooding. We are near a small river and it flooded last year. The flood was so high that we can see the line on the shore caused by the flooding and the debris in the trees from that – you can see how high the debris is. 

  
  

  

  
  

  Christine is helping Katherine learn to use a plant identification book. You can see a string stretched across the picture (probably best seen on level with Christine’s hand contrasted to her blue shirt). That string is a line about fifty feet long – and Katherine has to identify every plant, along that string – she will have to do four of them. They are making baggies of unnamed grasses, and plants to try and ID later. she did about six feet on Friday, and had several columns in her notebook. We are told it will get easier as she begins to identify plants that are repeats, but right now it is slow going. Christine is adamant that the girls do all the work, and learn something. They will walk away with skills that they don’t realize yet.

  
  

  The binoculars were for the hour we sat quietly to watch for birds. It was funny, our walking onto the site caused the birds to draw away, but after we were quiet, we could hear them coming closer and closer.

  
  

  It is so cool and I am learning a lot. I am so proud of these girls. And it is so wonderful to be for three hours in God’s creation, appreciating all His wonderful work. We do serve an awesome God!

  
  

  ******
  C.S. Lewis was once an atheist. I too had spent several years not believing in God, then tried paganism. C.S. Lewis’s mom died when he was young and he talked about praying to God – it reminded me of when I made those prayers to God to have my father stop raping me.

  
  

  PP. 20- 21 “My mother’s death was the occasion of what some (but not I) might regard as my first religious experience. When her case was pronounced hopeless I remembered what I had been taught; that prayers offered in faith would be granted. I accordingly set myself to produce by will power a firm belief that my prayers for her recovery would be successful; and as I thought, I achieved it. When nevertheless she died I shifted my ground and worked myself into a belief that there was to be a miracle. The interesting thing is that my disappointment produced no results beyond itself. The thing hadn’t worked, but I was used to things not working, and I thought no more about it. I think the truth is that the belief into which I had hypnotized myself was itself too irreligious for its failure to cause any religious revolution. I had approached God, or my idea of God, without love, without awe, even without fear. He was, in my mental picture of this miracle, to appear neither as Savior nor as Judge, but merely as a magician; and when He had done what was required of Him, I supposed He would simply–well, go away. It never crossed my mind that the tremendous contact which I solicited should have any consequences beyond restoring the status quo.”

  
  

  This spoke to me because those prayers I prayed (my testimony) were not prayed with any real relationship with God – I just wanted God to do what I wanted Him to do. God had greater plans, something I can now see, but His seeming lack of response troubled me greatly. I think that there are still times when I pray to God, having in my mind a map of how He is going to answer my prayer, and God has other ideas. He will meet my needs, but He will do it His way, and that is a lesson I still need to work on.

  
  

  Hoping you have a blessed Sunday,

  
  

  Heather

  • 6:16 pm
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