Selah

Martyrology of Oengus

16th c. copy of the 9th c. ms.

National Library of Ireland

Consists of 365 quatrains for daily devotion

     In the movie Shadowlands, a student tells C.S. Lewis, "We read to know we're not alone." Proverbs 15:23 tells us,

'Joy belongs to a man with answers in his mouth, and a word in its time, how good it is.'

LEB 

     
     We humans are creatures of habit. My day begins early. I stagger from the coffee maker to the shower (notice the priority) to the sofa where I read the daily passage from a devotional. Over the years there have been my favorites- Spurgeon, Chambers, Lewis, Nouwen, and for the past few years, a Messianic Jewish devotional. They all have one thing in common-

the writer speaks from a hidden place, 

having spent much time with God, and reminds us we are not alone.

     Truth transcends culture but a writer's voice is unique to a time. There is a new addition to my mornings- Selah, A 90-Day Journey of Grace and Hope by Joseph Iregbu. Joseph Iregbu speaks to our time. He says,

Our world is full of many reasons to give up and lose hope but you don’t have to. There is every reason to think the world is caving in on you, but it is not. You may have convinced yourself God is not on your side, but He is.

     Selah is a 90-Day devotional that reminds us there is hope. Here is an excerpt from Day 7-

"The presence of problem is not the problem. The problem is our failure to see beyond the problem." 

If we fail to see beyond our present situation, finding hope becomes a challenge. Troubles have a way of making the heart forget the promises of the Gospel- 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'

Today, I encourage you to consider just one promise in the Bible. ... consider the One who made that promise... Do not believe your problems are bigger than God.

If you are searching for a devotional to begin, or end, your day I suggest Selah.

So This is Christmas

Nativity
Giotto
1304-06


"So this is Christmas,

And what have you done?

Another year over, And a new one just begun"

John Lennon


What is Christmas? Every year I ask this question and wonder why I can't seem to 'catch the spirit of the season'. For me, 'tis the season for Christmas malaise (for an eloquent discourse by David Taylor, click here). Many times I have been donned Scrooge. This year I decided would be different- I would be prepared with handmade gifts, I would make a long-overdue trip to see out-of-town family, and, I would change my attitude about what the Holy day called Christmas has become. Alas, some gifts are still in progress, the trip hasn't happened (yet) and my attitude is being worked on.  After all, I am grateful for Christmas; a reminder that I am loved by the Creator and Owner of eternity. 


So we give gifts. I am ashamed to say I don't remember many past Christmas gifts, given or received. There is one gift however that my family still talks about. My sisters and I were young and we wanted to give our parents something 'from us'. Pop gave us the money and Mom drove us to the store. Proudly we presented our hand-picked treasures that Christmas morn. There were smiles and 'thank-yous'. Then Pop opened my sister Debbie's gift. A pause ensued as Pop held up an art gum eraser. Finally the explanation- at some point in the shopping process my sister remembered the purpose of the trip. She then had enough money left to buy a gum eraser. 


 So many times I have gone to God the Father and said, "I have nothing to offer You. I've spent it all on myself." As I ponder the 'thing' my sister chose to give my Father that Christmas- an eraser, I realize it may well be the perfect gift a child can offer a parent. 


When we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like. It is like a small child going to his father and saying, "Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present." Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction. 

(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

Ineluctable-
\ˌi-ni-ˈlək-tə-bəl\ impossible to avoid or evade.

“On the human imagination events produce the effects of time.”
James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer, opening line

“We are so little reconciled to time that we are even astonished at it. “How he’s grown!” we exclaim, “How time flies!” as though the universal form of our experience were again and again a novelty. It is as strange as if a fish were repeatedly surprised at the wetness of water.”

C.S. Lewis, Second Meanings in the Psalms

I just received a book in the mail from someone I have not seen in years- a beautiful copy of The Deerslayer, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. Immediately, I could see the giver’s face in my mind and hear bits of the last conversation we had. Time is strange business. I can return to a day from my childhood without leaving my chair. I can ‘foresee’ today, before it unfolds, spending time in planning and preparation. We explain time with expressions and ‘isms, like- “Time is money!” or, “I can’t afford to spend any more time on that!” (especially valid if you’ve ever ‘spent’ time in a court of law and decided to argue with the Judge). How about- “Time flies when you’re having fun!” or, the opposite, “I spent a week in that town one night!” There is time’s elusive nature- “I can never find time to do that!” And yet, for humans, time is ineluctable. Job cried, “Since his (man’s) days are determined, the number of his months is with Thee, and his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass.”

Being unemployed for an extended period gives a fellow opportunities to reflect; time to think about where time is being allotted. Jesus said, “for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” When I was younger I believed that time was an enemy- a deadly foe who would one day overtake me. Having passed the half-century mark, I see time as a gift- a gift I want to be a better steward of. Of course, as an artist, I continue to struggle with priority and validity- ‘Shouldn’t I be doing something worthwhile?’ (i.e., something that puts bread on the table), and the wrestling match between guilt and excuses begins another round. The making of art, in some respects, is as great a mystery to me as the making of humans by an all-sufficient, all-knowing God. Why bother? I can’t fully explain it. In fact, I remember something James Thurber said, and smile. He said, “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.” And so, as a struggling artist, here are a few of the questions I ponder-

“Who is my audience?”
“What are my goals?”
“How much do I charge? Should I always charge?”
“Where do I see the art landing?”

(Is the final destination the wall of a home or museum, a book or the internet, or, should I cast the art on the surface of the waters, as Solomon suggests?)

This morning I read- “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12