THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY: KAPOW!!!!

Hello fellow sojourners. How's your journey thus far? In this crazy, swirling, whirling, chaotic, out of control world...do you feel like you have been blindsided with a 2 x 4...and you are waking up to a nightmare? Was your life going along on automatic pilot...where life was good...there were no ripples in your peaceful pool...the forecast was sunny, no clouds, no rain, moderate temperatures, gentle breezes...and suddenly you are smack dab in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane...and you did not get a chance to evacuate? If you relate to any of these scenarios...hold on to your umbrella...and get ready to ride the storm.

Back in 1966...I was 12 years old...immature for my age (in retrospect)...and was enjoying the new hit T.V. show...BATMAN. Of course I had been a big Batman comic book fan...and the thought of Batman coming on at the Same Bat Time... Same Bat Channel every week was a kids dream. I know have in my collection, 2 of the 1940 movie serials of Batman...and if you thought the T.V. show was corny...you ain't seen nothing yet.

Part of the campy appeal to the nation was...the fight scenes in the T.V. show. Some criminal would appear (Catwoman, The Penquin, The Riddler, The Joker, etc.) and wreck havoc with Gotham City. Commissioner Gorden would either flash the Bat-Signal...or call Batman on the Batphone...and set the Dynamic Duo (Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder) into action. The inevitable would be the fight scene with the obligatory words flashing across the screen when some one would get hit with a fist or a chair would crash over their head. KAPOW...ZOK.. ZOWIE...WHAMM. Rod...why are you ruminating on Batman? Well...I'm glad you asked. Because................that's how I feel...when things are going along on automatic pilot with a Jamaican philosophy in my mind...NO WORRIES...and then KAPOW!!!!! My world is turned UPSIDE DOWN. The STORM has hit the land mass of my life...and I am hangin' by the tatters of my faith.

It is easy to be a "believer"...a "Christian"...a "follower of Jesus"...when ALL IS WELL. It is easy to sing the classic song...IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL...when all IS well with my soul. Where the rubber meets the road...is when all is NOT WELL with my soul.

It is like the illustration that we use in the Ruminator Sunday School Class that meets every Sunday at 9:00 A.M Central Standard Time...in the Fellowship Hall at Smyrna Assembly (cheap, shameless plug). When you have a coffee cup full of coffee...fixed to the way that you like...with a little sugar, some cream...not too hot and not to cold...ALL IS GOOD. But if someone comes and SHAKES YOUR CUP...to the point of coffee spilling all over the place (on your Bible, on your clothes, on your fellow Ruminator)...you have to ask a question.

Why did the coffee come out of the cup? The most common answer is..."Because you shook my cup." Of course...the question was a set up. The answer is..." No,
not because your cup was shook...but because COFFEE WAS IN THE CUP. The SHAKING...only revealed what was in the cup all along.

Sometimes when we are shaken...but the TURN OF EVENTS in our lives...our hearts are revealed on our lips and our actions.

DISCLAIMER: It is a natural reaction to be shaken at the turn of events. Our soul (the mind, will, and emotions) are subject to frustrations, fears, anxiety, worry, depression, being overwhelmed at not being in control. Grief is good...as long as you don't let the grief become your life.

The second collage shows some STORMS blowing. Some of the pictures are real life...others from the book by L. Frank Baum...The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy was living life in Kansas...and as with a lot of us...where we life sometimes becomes mundane. The same old same old people, experiences, etc. We dream of Some Where Over The Rainbow...and next thing you know we are in the MIDDLE OF A STORM. Dorothy's life was turned upside down when a CYCLONE blew in...and transported her OVER THE RAINBOW. In all her journey in the land of Oz...she came to the conclusion that...THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.


As usual...these Ramblings are triggered by something I have seen, heard, or experienced. This one is no exception. I was reflecting on various people in my life...some close friends...some relatives...some co-workers...some my patent's that I see...some total strangers that the Lord places in my pathway as I journey towards glory.

As I was reflecting and praying for this listing of people...I sensed an overwhelming sensation of inability to help anyone. The STORMS that they were experiencing...the physical storms, the financial storms, the emotional storms...were too much. I was NOT going through their storms...but I was getting a taste of the urgency in their lives. I believe that is the nature of what we believers call INTERCESSION.

I began to list in my mind some of the STORMS...the WINDS:

1. A patient with ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease)...who is progressively loosing function in his body while his mind is alive and well. His family is in turmoil as his speech, swallowing, breathing, musculature declines.

2. Various loved ones who died...either at the hand of others or at their own hand.

3. Someone returns from a mission trip...only to find that their job of 10 years was cut to a part time position with part time benefits.

4. People reaping the cause and effect of their sin patterns as they face jail time.

5. A family who raised their son to be a "good boy"...who know has to face a life with their son in jail...facing charges of attempted murder of a girl. (This hit close to home as we know the family and our son went to school with him)

6. Actual storms raging and ravaging on coastal cities...where lives are topsy-turvey...as the waters sweep and destroy.

7. Houses burned down...with loved ones in them.

8. Loved ones dying after years of estrangement...with no chance to bring them back alive for one last word.

9. Living a life in SIN...going beyond the known limits (transgressions)...as they retreat into a life that makes God sick NOTE: This includes a life of gossiping, gluttony, adultery, homosexuality, violence, murder, drunkenness,etc. IT'S NO WONDER WE NEED A SAVIOUR.

10. People sitting around with babies in their arms because of violating God's principles...or people sitting around with the guilt and shame of attempting to correct their violating of God's principles by violating another of God's principle by aborting the cause and effect.

11. And......anything else that YOU ARE GOING THROUGH.

The third collage is one of a favorite artist of mine by the name of Bruce Cockburn. I like Cockburn because he takes his musical musings and reflects of the STORMS of this life (either natural storms of man made storms)...and intertwines them with his faith in Jesus Christ. As I listen to his music...I can pull out obscure nuggets of truth...that make me reflect on the real truth of the Word of God....and I am encouraged to GO ON...IN THE FACE OF THE STORMS OF LIFE.

My favorite album by Bruce...is THE CHARITY OF NIGHT. One song on there really speaks about the EMOTIONAL condition of me and the people that are GOING THROUGH OUT OF CONTROL STUFF. It is called THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY. Indulge me as I lay out the lyrics for you.

THE WHOLE NIGHT SKY

They turned their backs
I made it too HARD
Every place they touched me
Is a LACERATION now

Sometimes a WIND comes out of NOWHERE
And KNOCKS YOU OFF YOUR FEET
And look...see MY TEARS
They fill the whole NIGHT SKY

DERAILED...and...DESPERATE
How did I get here?
HANGING from this high wire
By the TATTERS OF MY FAITH

Sometimes a WIND comes out of NOWHERE
And KNOCKS YOU OFF YOUR FEET
And look...see MY TEARS
They fill the whole NIGHT SKY
The WHOLE NIGHT SKY

Sometimes a WIND comes out of NOWHERE
and KNOCKS you SIDEWAYS
And look, SEE MY TEARS
They fill the WHOLE NIGHT SKY
The WHOLE NIGHT SKY


Bruce does a good job of stating the problem. Words like hard, laceration, wind comes out of nowhere, knocks you off your feet, my tears, night sky (the place of darkness where there is only a reflection of the light), derailed, desperate, hanging, by the tatters of my faith (my favorite line of the song), knocks you sideways.

Well...I find that God will let me...lounge in the chair of problems as long as I want to...but his heartbeat is to move one. Moses died...and there was a time for grieving...but there CAME A TIME...when God told them that the time for grieving was over...and there WAS STILL a PROMISE OF BLESSING waiting. As long as they were grasping to the past...they would NEVER be able to POSSESS THE FUTURE.

NOTE: Beware of pointing your finger at someone who is going through something...and having an attitude that they are spiritually inadequate because of the STORM they are going through. If you do anything...begin to pray...intercede, lift up, encourage, and yes...even give them room for a time of grieving.

As I said...Bruce Cockburn did a great job of stating the problem...but I would like to suggest...HOW TO GET THROUGH WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH. The saying is..."If you are going through HELL...don't stop...keep on going...and you will come out eventually." If you are going through the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH...you do not have to FEAR EVIL. Why do you NOT have to fear evil? "THOU ART WITH ME." (Psalm 23:4). Again...keep walking through the Valley. Fear not the SHADOWS. Shadows are only able to be seen...if there is LIGHT somewhere... so if you are in a SHADOWLAND...realize the LIGHT is there.

FINAL THOUGHTS....FINALLY!!!!!

Years ago...I went to a place in Alabama called CFO (Camp Farthest Out). It was a spiritual retreat designed to draw you closer to God with teachings and worship, nature. One teacher was Tommy Lewis. His theme was love. After one of the sessions...before we went to bed...a small group had gathered out at the large fireplace...with rocking chairs, and we sat with Tommy and he was just talking and answering questions that people had about anything. He related a story about an old Farmer who was hunting with his favorite hunting dog. The farmer love the dog...and the dog loved the farmer. The dog got his hind leg tangled in a barbed wire fence...and was in much pain. The farmer reached down...and attempted to loosen and comfort the dog in his PAIN. The dog immediately began to attempt to BITE the hand that was attempting to free him. The farmer realized that the dog that love him was biting out in pain. He took his gun...and placed the barrel in the dog's mouth so the dog would BITE ON THE SIDE OF THE BARREL...and as the dog was distracted... the farmer was able to get the leg untangled from the barbed wire. Tommy said that the barrel as hard as it was...was LOVE...to distract the dog from the PAIN OF RELEASE.

Instead of the dog going up to the farmer and licking him and wagging his tail...he RAN AWAY FROM THE FARMER...because he was in fear and still hurting...even though the initial event....was over. The dog...ran and hid out in some bushes...and licked his wound...but eventually came back. The dog would always bear the scars of the barbed wire...and even the memory of the event...but he would return to his relationship with the farmer and hunt again.

JESUS HUNG UP FOR OUR HANG UPS. We need a SAVIOUR. You may know people who are going through STUFF...and they are still LICKING THERE WOUNDS. Who do you know going through stuff...storms...winds...emotional upheaval...financial whirlwinds...physical plummelings? Let Jesus...flow through you to them...love em...and don't be offended if they try to bite you or run away...they will eventually get up (especially with God speaking to them)...and realize the time of grieving over the loss of a job, a home, a loved one is over...and it is time to get up...wash your faces, take off the sackcloth and ashes...and SET OFF FOR THE PROMISED LAND.

Love and Wind Blown Kisses
Rodney "Praying for You" Boyd