The Thinking Christian Woman – Page 5 – Where faith and real life come to a meeting of the minds

We’re moving, hang on!

Aug 152011

The Thinking Christian Woman has moved to a new web neighborhood – where the pavement is smoother, the air fresher, and communications flow more freely!

Welcome!

Here you’ll find new accessibility features like “Translate this Page” in case English is not your first (or heart) language, and an RSS feed if you’re into that.

Anyone who visits the old location will automatically be sent here, but you might want to update your bookmarks.

And be sure to check out our “new digs” giveaway

Speaking of moving, have you noticed that God has built into His creation a vigorous propensity for speed and motion?

Earth spins on its axis at 1,000 mph, while orbiting the sun at 67,000 mph. If that’s not enough, our solar system is moving within our galaxy, our galaxy is moving with our galaxy group, and our galaxy group is expanding outwards along with the rest of the universe!

Besides all this, molecules, atoms, protons and neutrons, quarks, and on and on down into the microcosm, are all buzzing, vibrating, spinning, and orbiting at amazing speeds.

And then there is time itself, constantly marching forward and somehow intricately related to all these moving bodies and particles.

In the swirling midst of all this, God encourages us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10), hold fast (2 Tim 1:13; Heb 3:6, 10:23; Rev 2:25, 3:3), and trust Him as the unchanging center (Heb 13:8) around which His whole creation is constantly moving.

Glad to see you here. I’m looking forward to our continuing dialog of discovery and praise for the God in whom we live and move and have our being! (Acts 17:28)

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C-ya later, alley ‘mater

abundant life 1 Response »

Aug 062011

A few years ago I moved into a house with a fence abutting an alley where the light is mostly indirect and about the only things that grow well are weeds.

Before leaving to visit Mom for two weeks, I weeded along that fence and discovered a volunteer tomato. About a year ago I’d planted aloe on the yard side and amended the soil with homemade compost that must have contained tomato seeds. Volunteer ‘maters often spring up in unlikely places where compost has been applied, but I’ve never seen one grow under the fence and out the other side!

There are few things as inspiring as the heart of a volunteer!

Psalm 110:3 says, “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power.” And Isaiah 1:19 promises, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”

Watered before I left, but no time to prune or stake. Upon return it had grown considerably and flopped over, one whole branch flattened by some passing vehicle. Pruned it, staked it to the fence, watered again, and recently tasted the first fruit – sweet like little candies.

Isaiah 27:6 says, “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” When believers read ‘Israel’ in the bible, context often supports claiming the promises; as ones having been grafted (Romans 11:17-24) and adopted (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:3-5) into Israel, taking part in the promises as Abraham’s believing seed (Romans 9:6-8).

Besides representing Jesus’ promise, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10), this plucky plant proclaims God’s nature which is to give and give and give, despite the odds. As His beloved child, the Thinking Christian Woman has the privilege of imitating Him in this regard; voluntarily and wholeheartedly giving when and where least expected, and bearing sweet fruit against all odds.

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The educated Eggdicator

discernment, spiritual maturity 2 Responses »

Jul 292011

A friend was filling my half-barrel pond with rainwater collected from the “orchard” area of the yard and just happened to smell gas at the meter as he passed with a full bucket (or do you call it a pail?).

I promptly closed the gas line and called the utility. Mr. Gas Company did a visual check and then went to his truck to retrieve, what he called, his “educated Eggdicator” – the sniffer machine that detects the distinctive rotten egg odor (H2S – hydrogen sulfide) added to natural gas to make it detectable.

His answer to my inquiry about the unusual name was that Mr. Wonka used an Eggdicator to test the geese-laid chocolate eggs in the movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Grandpa Joe called it an educated Eggdicator. You might remember Veruca Salt, in her lust for the Golden Egg, standing triumphantly on the device and being judged – Bad Egg.

Well the E.E. precisely pinpointed the porous piping and the technician locked the leaking line. After learning that it takes a city permit to replace a pipe fitting (hmm, that sounds like a money-maker), I obtained the permit and repairs are underway. Meanwhile I’ve been cooking on a butane camp stove outdoors, drying laundry in the California sun, and showering at the Total Woman Gym – a refreshingly novel break in routine.

Do you have an educated Eggdicator? Can you smell when something’s not right in your life? Paul explains how to become spiritually mature in discerning good and evil.

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age,

that is, those who by reason of use

have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

(Heb 5:12-14)

We might have lots of information about righteousness (being in right relationship to God, others, and all created things), but we only come of age spiritually by continually putting that information into practice in real life – habitual obedience to God’s Word. That’s how the Thinking Christian Woman can exercise her spiritual senses and develop an educated Eggdicator to sniff out the good and evil in life.

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There’s a snake in my boat

answers to prayer, prayer 2 Responses »

Jul 212011

On Northern Indiana visits during warmer months, I sometimes ask the Lord to let me see a snake. Though not my favorite critters, they operate with such stealth that sighting one is a special event.

Mom’s house is on Center Lake where nature abounds with ducks, turtles, Canada geese, woodchucks, chipmunks, cardinals, heron, muskrats – even a deer once – and the occasional legless reptile.

Memory holds a vivid picture of the big blue racer (snake) that chased my friend Ed up our back hill when we were kids, but by and large nature is gentle around here. Bushes are thornless and barefeet are safe from pricklies nearly everywhere. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the only poisonous snake in these parts – the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake – is rare and lives as a recluse in remote wetlands.

37 years ago, my brother Lane and I won the 3.5 mile 4th of July Tippecanoe River race (where one major goal is to avoid tipping on Tippy!) and Mom still has the canoe that floated us to victory. This is the story of one fine summer day when I took that canoe out on Center Lake and the Lord answered my reptile request.

I’d paddled about a half mile from shore when, suddenly and silently, a 13″ black snake dropped onto the centerline from under the vacant bow seat, and there we were, having fellowship – defined as two fellows in the same ship!

It wasn’t a rattler, but my first instinct was to jump out, not knowing what would happen when the little guy realized our predicament. I also wondered what might be under my seat! It was an uncomfortable situation, to say the least, for me, and likely also for the stowaway. Alternating between elevating bare feet and legs on the gunwales and the stern thwart, I paddled hard into the nearby canal hoping to haul out and persuade him (or them) to disembark, but the shore was all rocks and seawalls.

What a relief to spot a man fishing off the end of his pier. Remember the lanky Sheriff Woody doll in Toy Story? Pull his string and you might hear, “There’s a snake in my boot!” Well, I called out, “May I dock at your pier, there’s a snake in my boat.” Rather than wave me in, however, the wary fisherman asked, “How big is it?” Sensing perhaps “we” were not welcome, I turned around and tried for home. It seemed to take forever.

About halfway there, the little guy slithered into the enclosed refuge under the bow deck and disappeared. Of course, I still didn’t know if he was the only one. Eventually we made it to dry land. I hauled out and flipped the boat over, but never saw my first mate again. God had answered the snake-sighting prayer with a resounding and memorable yes!

This experience highlighted that God’s answers to prayer can:

Catch us by surprise.
Come in unexpected, possibly even undesirable, ways.
Come under circumstances that challenge our comfort level.

What an adventure for the Thinking Christian Woman to share with Him all the big or little things on her heart, then stay alert for His creative and sometimes unusual responses!

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Fair prayer two-fer

prayer 3 Responses »

Jul 152011

County fair time here in America. Few things sweeter than being in one’s childhood hometown, greeting old friends on the midway, riding the Ferris wheel, smelling caramel corn, eating sweet corn on the cob (fresh from the Mid-American corn belt) and ice cream churned by the powerful putter of an antique tractor.

Btw – though “pleasure wheels” have been around since 17th century Bulgaria, Mr. Ferris invented the first giant one as a landmark for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to outdo the Eiffel Tower (the wonder of the 1889 Paris World’s Fair). Must have been quite a sight rising 250 feet above Lake Michigan with train-car sized gondolas!

Back to my Hoosier hometown – last year around this time I was watching barrel racing (where riders are timed navigating their horses in figure 8’s around barrels) with my sister and her daughter Stacey. A cell phone rings. “Mom, you’re calling me!” she exclaims. While my sister rifles through her purse, Stacey jovially answers, “hello, hello, hello.” not expecting anything because that phone often dials hers by accident.

A woman answers, “Is this Stacey?” Puzzled, Stacey replies, “Well, yeah.” The mystery caller identifies herself, “This is Janae!” Turns out these two attended K-12 school together, but hadn’t seen each other in many years. “What are you doing with my Mom’s phone?”

Janae explains, “I was putting my three little girls in the car, but one of them wandered off. I looked and looked but couldn’t find her and I was starting to panic. When I bowed and prayed, ‘Lord, please help me find my daughter,’ there was a phone in the grass at my feet. Mine was at home so I picked it up and called 9-1-1. We found my little girl in the fair, and I just now called the last number dialed and got you!”

Stacey headed to the main gate and spotted her old schoolmate – unmistakable in her signature bright red lipstick, giant beads and a dress, with her three daughters, each dressed like the other, happily reunited. The old friends hugged and marveled at what had happened.

By humbly bowing and asking for God’s help, Janae opened a channel of blessing for both her and my sister. In God’s abundant economy, her fervent fair prayer resulted in a blessing two-fer!

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person

has great power and wonderful results.” (James 5:16 TLB)

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The Cave with Bones

pride Comments Off

Jul 122011

As a wild caver, both dry and wet (spelunkers will know what that means), I was particularly interested to learn recently about Peștera cu Oase (“the Cave with Bones”) in southwestern Romania where the oldest Homo sapiens remains in Europe were discovered in 2002.

These First Europeans were found with bear and other mammal skeletal remains from the Late Pleistocene era (think wooly mammoths/mastodons, saber tooth tigers, etc. – if you’ve been to the World Famous San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey you have a sense of Pleistocene era creatures).

Got me thinking of the Tower of Babel. In Latin, Homo sapiens means “wise man” or “knowing man.” I take the bible literally when it says God created man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7), so I believe Adam was a Homo sapiens. The Genesis account certainly attributes “knowing” characteristics to Adam, such as keeping the Garden of Eden, and naming all of the animals – I enjoy the mental picture of God parading the animals past Adam “to see what he would call them.” (Genesis 2:19-20)

Early humans, after Noah’s flood, all spoke the same language and hunkered together in a comfy plain in Shinar, which is modern day Iraq. They pooled their resources and arrogantly started building a tower to heaven. God helped them get a better sense of their proper relationship to Him by introducing multiple languages, which of course messed up the construction project, and sent language groups heading off in all directions. (Genesis 11)

I wonder if some of those Romanian bones might be from that same humbling dispersion.

We sometimes hear people talk about “skeletons in the closet,” referring to past nefarious events. I remember times when God has dramatically humbled me and sent me in a new direction. Perhaps memories like those, rather than being skeletons in the closet, can comprise a type of Cave with Bones for each Thinking Christian Woman.

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His Star-Spangled Banner Over Us is Love

God's love 2 Responses »

Jul 042011

Here in the U.S. we are observing 235 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Yesterday, my pastor shared a quote from John Adams (statesman, diplomat, patriot, signer of the Constitution, who, btw, died on July 4, 1826!) “Independence Day…ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”

On this day there will no doubt also be repeated singings of The Star-Spangled Banner, written by a young attorney in 1814, and later adopted as our national anthem in 1931. Francis Scott Key sailed down from Washington, after the city was captured and the White House burned to the ground, on a British vessel to secure the release of a prisoner of war. Key was detained on board ship until the bombardment of Ft. McHenry was completed. Throughout the rainy night, and in the light of dawn, Key, and eventually an entire nation, was inspired that the battered flag was still there – Baltimore had not been captured.

Key’s second verse praises “the Power that made us and preserved us a nation,” and proclaims that, with this as our motto “in God is our trust!, the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

There are some in this country who want to change our national anthem to America the Beautiful, which is vastly easier to sing and invokes the blessing of “God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” Others, especially since 9/11, prefer God Bless America.

I can see the merits of each, but before we wave goodbye to the Star-Spangled Banner, here are a few selling points for the Thinking Christian Woman to consider:

It’s difficult to sing – freedom doesn’t come easy.
It’s violent and edgy – our freedom, both as a nation and as Christians, was won in a perilous fight through struggle and sacrifice (if we want to do away with the Star-Spangled Banner, we might as well tear all of the bloody cross songs from our hymnbooks too)
It proclaims our national identity – telling the world that this is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It tells an important story – reminding us that, many times, our attempts to establish this new nation hung by a thread. There were countless setbacks, but we never gave up on our vision. The lively knowledge of victories of the past brings a wisdom and courage to overcome challenges of today.

In 1931, the great march composer John Philip Sousa wrote in favor of the Star-Spangled Banner as our national anthem saying, “it is the spirit of the music that inspires as much as it is Key’s soul-stirring words.”

I support the Star-Spangled Banner forever waving as the national anthem over the land of the free and the home of the brave because it is difficult and edgy, and because it identifies us and tells our story.

But more important than any national anthem, every Christian, everywhere knows that the Lord of Love has hung His banner over us, claiming us as His beloved, and calling us to freedom from wrath and citizenship in heaven through the power of His blood. Now that’s something to sing about!

“He brought me to the banqueting house,

and His banner over me was love”

Song of Solomon 2:4

blog title by Sara B. Clarke
© 2011 Melody K. Anderson
All Rights Reserved

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Be the cursed brat!

righteous, spiritual warfare 1 Response »

Jun 302011

Illustration from 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Apologies if you’re a Wicked (the musical) fan who sees Elphaba (aka Wicked Witch of the West) as a misunderstood victim, but there’s a wonderful line in the Wizard of Oz, right after Dorothy throws a bucket of water to douse the fire on Straw Man’s arm, accidentally soaking WWW.

The dissolving green meanie screeches,

“You cursed brat!

Look what you’ve done! I’m melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world!

Who would have thought a good little girl like you

could destroy my beautiful wickedness!”

A Thinking Christian Woman never aspires to be a cursed brat of course. In fact, a wise balancing truth advises, “if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men,” (Romans 12:18, see also Hebrews 12:14). Even so, might there be some redeeming value if the spiritually wicked consider me a cursed brat?

In many passages, God characterizes attitudes, values, words and actions as either “righteous,” or “wicked.” Those words mean more than “good” and “bad.” Here’s a simple summary of the subtleties:

Righteous – being in a right relationship with God, people, or any other created thing

Wicked – being in a twisted relationship with God, people, or any other created thing

Have you ever been rejected? It usually hurts for sure, but if someone who is out of right relationship, rejects us and sees us as an enemy, can that actually be a good thing in some ways? After all, we are, in part, defined by those who exclude us and seek to eliminate us from opportunities, relationships and power.

Jesus talked about a kind of decluttering, or pruning, that gardener God does in a life to make it more productive. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2)

What if rejection and exclusion are rebukes of life that can sever us from unproductive attachments and help steer us in new and more fruitful directions?

It’s not pleasant perhaps, but being what some might consider a “cursed brat” at the right time, in the right way, and for the right reason (such as to destroy wickedness), is something the Thinking Christian Woman might lovingly choose to confidently embrace.

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Oh rats!

compassion, justice, mercy 2 Responses »

Jun 212011

Do you like rats?

What a question! Of course many people keep rats as pets, and I understand they can be very sweet, but probably the majority of people have them solidly on their disfavored list.

My grandpa’s sister, Ida, was bitten on the lip by a rat when the Jones family was living in a sod house on the Nebraska prairie as homesteaders. One night Ida thought she was hugging her dolly in bed. Apparently wild rats don’t like to be hugged by little girls!

Back to the present, I’m currently on an active vector control campaign, using strategically placed Rat Zappers to patrol the deck near the bird feeder. Caught #26 last night (we’ve been at it for about a year). Southern California weather is idyllic, that’s a fact, but it attracts more than just tourists!

Imagine my surprise at finding a rat, apparently dead, in the laundry room Saturday morning, directly under my next footfall. A rat in the house! Oh, that is the absolute worst! On closer examination, it was not dead but clearly breathing and looking at me with fearful, plaintive brown eyes. I’ll spare you the actual image, knowing how distasteful even a picture of a rat might be to some. The little guy’s head was stuck between the washing machine and the threshold. I really thought that wild critters had better sense.

What to do? Put on thick leather gloves, took him by the body, and gently worked his head free. So there I was, holding a rat. Now what to do?!

Thought about just tossing him in the Rat Zapper and ending it quickly, but that seemed so proactively violent. No, that wouldn’t do.

So I put him in the flower bed and expected him to scamper off, but he just laid there. Stunned, exhausted, injured, I didn’t know. Asked several people for advice, including my wildlife knowledgeable brother, and finally decided if the rodent was still there after 2 hours, I would dispatch him mercifully.

At the appointed time of execution, I laid him out on the ground and raised the shovel. Oh those brown eyes and long whiskers! Twice I raised the shovel, but just couldn’t do it, so I put the shovel down and offered the condemned some water, which he drank and drank.

Put him back in the flower bed, covered him with leaves, and decided to let God and nature take it from there. After 4 hours I gave him more water. By the next day, there was no sign of the perp. I wish I’d marked his ear or something so I could recognize him if he ever ended up in the Zapper. I still hope he perishes, just not directly at my hand.

Practical justice dictated death for the trespasser. Compassionate mercy prevailed.

The Thinking Christian Woman can discern between justice and mercy, administering each, in its time, in love, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

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The polite thief

ethical choices, worldview Comments Off

Jun 082011

Four days before a month-long trip out of the country, a friend discovered he’d lost his wallet. After scrambling to assemble alternate id and arrange for alternate international payment methods, he went ahead with the trip.

Less than a week later, his homesitter discovered a 40 cents postage due notice in the mail, took it to the post office, and retrieved an envelope containing the wallet with everything intact except for hundreds of dollars in cash, and a note that said,

“THANKS I WAS BROKE.”

This social interaction challenges the Thinking Christian Woman with many ethical questions.

What moral code, worldview, and/or twists and torques of logic lead a person to conclude that the right thing to do is to keep the money and yet return the wallet and its other contents?
What is the proper response for someone who has been subjected to involuntary charity?
Is there such a thing as a criminal act of mercy?

Ancient wisdom writings say, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

What do you think?

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