BIRTHDAY PRESENCE

My younger brother Chipper was born just before our father died, a gift in the midst of tragedy. Chipper brought an innocent wonderment back into our family Christmases after the rough time we had gone through together. What we did for him out of love brings a smile to my heart even now.

When Chipper was a child, on Christmas Eve our plan began once he was asleep. Our older brother Lee and I would rush to drag the boxes of toys for Chip out of their hiding places to the den floor to be assembled. The brightly decorated Christmas tree, with blinking lights, filled one corner of the room. Shiny wrapped presents were piled underneath it and in every available space; the television blared music from a Christmas program; and a fire crackled in the fireplace--in total, a delightful sensory overload of colors, lights, sound, and emotion. "Santa's Helpers" placed the completed big toys around the tree for maximum effect in the morning when ecstatic squeals would awaken all of us.

The best part came next. Momma left her cooking and cleaning for a few minutes to accompany me. We crept into Chipper's room and gently roused him.

"Listen," I spoke into his ear. "I hear something outside!"

Lee ran around the house in the cold dark, shaking an old leather harness of sleigh bells and yelling, "Ho, ho, ho!" at the window.

Chipper's hands flew to his face. His countenance beamed with an infectious joy that lit up the room.

"It's Santa Claus!", he whispered excitedly.

"Don't let him see you!" (a traditional warning)

He quickly lay back down and shut his eyes real tight.

We snuggled together in the warm covers until Chipper fell asleep again. My brother, my mother, and I were satisfied and happy, vicarious participants in a little boy's dreams for another blessed Christmas. No wonder Jesus chose to come into this world as a child, making His birthday a gift that inspires and heals.


J. Wallace

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE

The plethora of recent technological advances, meant to facilitate communication, entertainment and, overall, make our lives easier, in actuality seem to produce the opposite effect: serving to distract rather than connect; fostering alienation instead of socialization; and encouraging the destructive condition of self absorption while our fellowman suffers. This "Ghost in the Machine" is not the Holy Spirit and may be, in reality, a malevolent presence seeking to create harried, self-centered lives incapable of doing any good for anyone.

News programs this week broadcast a tape of shoppers in California suddenly devolving into a violent mob, striking and running over each other just to purchase a Sony Play Station3 video game console. Some of these consoles would be quickly sold again on E-bay for a two thousand dollar profit, but many participants appeared ready to kill just to be the first owners of what is essentially a juvenile, fantasy-oriented activity that requires a lot of time and accomplishes nothing. These were average everyday citizens of our modern society. What happened to them?

The signs are all around us. Another recent report related the dangers of distracted cell phone, MP3 player and personal assistant(i.e. Blackberry, RTM)usage. People using these appliances, oblivious to their surroundings, have caused traffic accidents, pedestrian mishaps, etc., and have been the victims of muggings in subways, malls, and on busy streets. Parents lament the demise of the traditional family dinner hour and other family-oriented activities because members are preoccupied with instant messaging, maintaining their personal blog or Web sites, burning movie DVD's, downloading music files, and/or participating in chat rooms on the Internet.

Pastors are confessing Internet pornography addictions to their congregations-- technologically induced moral handicaps that interfere with and sabotage their work. College and high school instructors complain that their students are "too dumb," unskilled, and narcissistic to create compositions of any worth, being more interested in the shallow aspects of popular culture, that reach them through media conveyences, than any significant social issues, and "dumbed down" by instant messaging and Internet slang. Many other symptoms of this pervasive technology O.C.D. malady are evident to all of us, but it proceeds to metastasize without hinderance.

The public was amazed by the Amish community's ability to respond to the senseless mass killing of their schoolchildren with humility, faith, grace, and even compassion toward the killer's family, yet are still disturbed by that religion's rejection of most modern technological "conveniences." The Amish were inspired by the Lord's instruction to "be not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2). They are assured that He gave us an instructional manual on how to live lives that please Him--the Holy Bible, one that requires serenity, study, prayer, and fellowship to be equipped for our task.

Modern Christians can learn a lot from the Amish. The Holy Ghost we share defeats the ghost in the machine every time.

J. Wallace

FREE (a poem)

Gentle face,
Ceaseless flow,
A sacred place
I will know.

Wide and true
Faultless sky.
Newborn hue,
Wordless cry.

Boundless sight
Where beauty wills,
Heartfelt flight
O'er seamless hill,

Silenced wind.
Vanquished night.
Journey's end--
Blinding light.

J. WallaceI

THE SINGING JESUS

An enduring image from some old Western movies is one of a Native American Indian, the "Noble Savage," as he is about to die--on his knees, hands raised, crying out a song of prayer and praise to the Great Spirit. The effect is to convey a sense of high moral character and dignity to a people often presented as primitives, but men who could, under great physical hardship, practice their faith in the very face of death.

I have heard sermons grapple with Jesus's cry on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", causing confusion as to why He would ever utter such a thing, being fully aware of and committed to the purpose of His death for all mankind (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34). Jesus also, later, says as He dies, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," a demonstration of faith which serves as a final witness to a Roman centurian (Luke 23:46). It is well known that both statements are quoting the Psalms of the Old Testament (Psa. 22:1, 31:5).

It is also established that the Old Testament Psalms are poems of praise to God set to music--melodic prayers that the Jews sang in their synagogues. When Jesus referenced Psalms on the cross, could He have been once again and finally expressing His faith in the Father by quoting scripture and actually singing His prayers as the Jews did in their houses of worship? (This is a religious practice common to different faiths and peoples throughout the world.)

This interpretation, the "Singing Jesus," is an image of Christ's courage and grace that stays in my mind, a sense of majesty, artistic expression, and enobled Spirit as He suffered an agonizing death. I remember that many of the martyrs of our faith went to their deaths this same way, singing praises to our Father in Heaven--emulating Jesus on the cross--a powerful witness that affected those present and ensured that their sacrifices were recorded in the pages of human history for all time.

J. Wallace

THE RIVER (third installment)

The sustained roar roused him--constant, unrelenting and surrounded with silence.

Zeke came-to and raised himself until he was propped up by his elbows in the gravel. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the massive, undulating passage of water. Magnificent, it rose and fell, a mesmerizing movement of light and sound that streamed just in front of him. Time passed in which he forgot momentarily who he was and where he was, the shock of the previous incident wearing off slowly. His chest was sore from the concussion. His aching arms and legs were reluctant to begin moving again. What had happened? His mind fought for answers.

Angelique!

Jumping to his feet, he rushed to the shoreline like a sleepwalker who tries to run in his dreams, lumbering and disconnected, stumblingt over the pebbles, oblivious to the cuts and scrapes they left.

Where had she gone? She was just here a few minutes ago; at least he thought it was a few minutes. Now, both were gone in an instant--the massive, fallen log and his beloved sister, carried away by this powerful thing that surged through his life.

"Why..Why?!," he screamed suddenly, without restraint. Hot tears overflowed and stung his eyes as he sobbed, his face in his hands.

"Ze...Ze..."

A mewing cry, like a kitten, came from behind a raised berm of pebbles.

"Ze..."

Zeke spun around to the mound and trench left by the log when it was swept away. The small whispering pleas seemed to come from an indentation, a ditch beyond the grand hills that had anchored the log where it had lain. He scrambled quickly on his hands and knees to peer into the trough in panic.

A dainty form in a flowered shift lay at the bottom, golden curls splayed around a soiled, tear-streaked face.

"I...uh...I got my dress dirty!", she cried pitifully.

Zeke swooped down into the trench and swept Angelique into his arms. Holding her like a baby, he carried them both up and out and onto the riverbank. He laughed and hugged her tight, knowing from her struggles that she was completely unharmed. Squeezing her and dancing a little jig around in circles, he felt as though his heart had burst inside him with happiness and relief.

"Stop...stop..you're squishing me!", she complained, trying to wriggle from his grasp.

He laughed again and spun once more before setting his sister down on the shore to inspect her at arm's length. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her except a little dirt and dried tears. This was a strange event that didn't make sense to him.

Angelique was anxious to leave the scene of her mishap. "We'd better get going so Momma doesn't worry," she reasoned, hoping to get back soon to home and safety.

Zeke couldn't agree more. He quickly found and shouldered the basket for their trip back. This time Angelique dawdled in front and led the way to their path through the woods. Following close behind her, the boy turned to look back once more before leaving. Something had saved his sister from certain death at the hands of his adversary. What was it, and why did its mystery call to him?

Just then, the sun broke through the clouds and shone on the sinuous stream of water, droplets glistening like diamonds, a refraction of beams and spots of light that domed around the children and the dark canopy of the forest path. It was as if Nature herself had acknowledged his thoughts and displayed her pleasure in his recognition of something unspeakable, something he had always felt but would soon learn with certainty, the way things really are beyond the substantial.

J. Wallace

PERNICIOUS PRIDE

(This entry was inspired by a recent posting on the "Thoughts of Man" blogsite)

Let's not be perplexed or concerned regarding the Lord's plan and purpose for our lives. That's just pride trying to erode our trust in Him.

Recently, I read a booklet that contained an interview with a ninety-five-year-old Greek Orthodox monk named Elder Dionysis (see poem entitled "Blessed"). Elder Dionysis left Romania and entered a monastery atop a Greek mountain at age thirteen. He remained there the rest of his life doing manual labor, studying God's Word, fasting and praying. World wars and other dramatic changes in so-called civilization occured without him. Some would think that his life was wasted (think Bill Gates' recent comment that he had more important things to do than to be involved in religion). The story is that spiritual pilgrims, once they learned of his wisdom, trekked many miles through a forbidding landscape just to speak with the Elder. Some would even try to scale the locked monastery gates to be with him for a few moments.

The Elder Dionysis' message was simple. He merely reiterated what God's Word had taught him--that total reliance upon the Holy Spirit through faith is the only way to please God, and that sins of the flesh are to be avoided at all costs, especially the sin of pride and all its manifestations, i.e. ego, selfish ambition, intellectual arrogance, anxiety, worry, vanity, righteous indignation, rebellion, possessiveness, conceit, a "personal mission" mentality, anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred, self-love, vainglory, dissolutness, greed, etc. He taught that every increase in pride will result in a proportional increase in distance from God.

This insidious sin that caused Satan to be ejected from heaven unfortunately permeates our present society and culture on many levels, and even distresses our Christian communities. "Owing to this worldly spirit--which forms from childhood around the heart through poor education, pornographic movies, advertising, desires, sins, etc.--the Christian can no longer pray, nor can he do a good, salvific deed. But even those who have fallen into great sins can correct themselves, with the help of Divine Grace. This struggle and deliverance from sins and from the demons will be counted unto them as martyrdom." Elder Dionysis. 1.

Only humble-mindedness before God and our fellowman, established in a heart purified by the Grace of the Holy Spirit through the Christian disciplines of prayer, fasting, communion, etc., protects us from this demonic spirit of pride. As Christians, we cannot allow our intellects to second-guess, despute, or try to impede the Will of God, and must resist the seductions of the flesh daily. God acknowledges our struggles to live holy lives that honor Him and will reward our sufferings in heaven.

When you are equipped and ready for service, and trust the Lord completely through the Holy Spirit to direct your path and bring opportunities for ministry into your life, He will do so regardless of your profession, environment, or hardships, including prison.

In times past, it might have required a lifetime of physical privations and self-sacrifice to learn these important truths. Today, they are just a mouse-click away.



J. Wallace

1. The Orthodox Word, "Humble-mindedness: The Doorway to Pure Prayer," Vol. 41, No. 1(240), Jan.-Feb., 2005. p.9.