Catalog the Catalog

In the course of the season I inventory my personal catalog of Christmas memories. My "snippets of the ages", memories that cover childhood to young adulthood to parenthood to life now in the middle-ages, is stamped with the promise that "some day i'll migrate that catalog to a medium 'less prone'" to deterioration".

(It is unfortunate that only one "road" is designated to be paved with good intentions. If other roads could be paved with good intentions, our paths would assuredly be flawless.)

Like many, my catalog of Christmas memories includes a catalog. The Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog was a magic cornucopia of goodies. It was a treasure trove of Christmas bounty. My dad worked at the "brick and mortar" Sears Store mere blocks from our house. The toy department of that store did not hold as much magic as the annual Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog.

While "us kids" were never mindful of the exact date "The Catalog" would arrive, the child lucky enough to discover it in the mailbox became a sort of prize winner. First, the "Prize Winner" was awarded a "head start" in Christmas discovery.

Every child in our cohort possessed the skill to rapidly and proficiently digest the massive amount of information about: a) what items "The Catalog" contained and b) the pertinent facts about the items. It was then that the "Prize Winner" became the possessor of highly valuable and relevant intelligence.

This intelligence became part of the prize. After all, it would likely be a while until "your turn" at "The Catalog". The possessor of such intelligence would immediately ascend to the top of everyone's popularity list. This put the "Prize Winner" in the honored position of dispensing the treasured intelligence.

A CIA analyst could not be more effective assimilating valuable intel and then disseminating that intel to the the most effective agent than did the "Prize Winner" of "The Catalog" on his or her first perusal of the season. The "Prize Winner" was awarded with the satisfaction of being the "dispense-or". The "dispensee" usually was grateful for any morsel not matter how incomplete or tainted.

Most of us who had our turn at being the "Prize Winner" today would likely be labeled a tyrannical despot. If one of our cohort might be brave enough to exhibit resistance to being "dispense-ed", then the "dispense-or" would in all likelihood load the disrespecting-of-popularity-non-conformist with the entire load of intel that personally pertained to them, thus completely impotent their attempt at delay of satisfaction.

A page from the toy section of the 1962 Sears Christmas Catalog

Thoughts of Christmas past flooded my mind when my sister forwarded the following link to

The Bees Knees Daily

You'll see the catalog page above is from this site. It's been a wonderful few days to reclaim memories surrounding Christmas. May the joy and peace of the Christ of Christmas be with you.

Blessings!

Mount Monadnock

This is a place I have never been. However, I received a blessing from having visited there in a recent reading. I felt compelled to share it in this forum. I am in the midst of reading “Practice Resurrection: A Conversation On Growing Up in Christ”. Eugene Peterson is a gifted and prolific writer. In this book he encourages the “saint” to maturity by drawing truths from the book of Ephesians. Peterson concludes one chapter by sharing a poem by his friend, Robert Siegel

“Looking For Mt. Monadnoc" by Robert Siegel

We see the sign, “Monadnock State Park”

as it flashes by, after a mile or two

decide to go back, “We can’t pass by Mondnock

without seeing it,” I say, turning around.

We head down the side road – “Monadnock Realty,”

“Monadnock Pottery,” “Monadnock Designs,”

but no Mt. Monadnock. Then the signs fall away –

nothing but trees and the darkening afternoon.

We don’t speak, pass a clearing, and you say,

“I think I saw it, or part of it – a bald rock?”

Miles and miles more. Finally, I pull over

and we consult a map. “Monadnock’s right there.”

“Or just back a bit there.” “But we should see it –

we’re practically on top of it.” And driving back

we look – trees, a flash of clearing, purple rock -

but we are, it seems, too close to see it

It is here. We are on it. It is under us

Then Peterson writes, “this resurrection-life, this growing-up-in-Christ life, this Christian life that some people talk about and many others read about is a Mt. Monadnock kind of life”. He goes on, “we read the words, we see the signs. We hear the talk, we read the poems, sing the hymns, pray the prayers”. “We never see the mountain”. Why do we never see Jesus? “Why” like Peterson asks “does He not advertise Himself?” Peterson concludes with “the short answer”. “God reveals himself in personal relationship, and personal relationship only. God is not a phenomena to be considered. God is not a force to be used. God is not a proposition to be argued. There is nothing in or of God impersonal, nothing abstract, nothing imposed. And God treats us with an equivalent personal dignity. He isn’t out to impress us. He is here to eat bread with us and receive us into his love, just as we are, just where we are.” Why do we not see God? He is here.

Affirming Trust

It is easy to find the solid truths of faith and life when looking back. After all, "hind-sight is twenty-twenty".

This is a thought that has personal application. It is usual that I come to discover God's grace and provision in the above manner. It is easy to trust His grace when I can comprehend it and the warmth of His assurance when storm has ebbed. His  presence can be affirmed by tracing where His hand has been.

The poem "Footprints" reminds me that the grace and provision of God are realized when the believer views life in retrospect. He or she can find the evidence and testimony of God's sustenance.

The work of God viewed in retrospect is affirming, but does this equate to trust? Yes, affirmation is an essential part of God's redeeming work. Affirmation strengthens the potential of trust by mooring us to the faithfulness of God. However, affirmation and trust are not the same attribute.

In light of this, how capable am I to arrive at complete trust? Does my heart truly "trust God" in wilderness days? Do I only endure until the time I can "look back" with clarity and am able to "trace the hand of God". When the storm rages, do I trust?

While this thought is personal, I apply it corporately. I believe "a challenge to trust" is something that rings true in the life of most every believer. My journey with fellow believers sustains this proposition. Many, me among the first, know affirmation but have not yet found a distinction between it and trust.

Why draw a distinction? Why not allow trust to stand in general harmony with affirmation?

There is a reason I consider a distinction between affirmation and trust. It seems likely I have completely misunderstood what it means to trust. It has been my thought that I needed to trust God to provide peace. Recently I have been challenged to consider a different perspective. I'll attempt to develop this thought further.

I'll use the miracle of Jesus calming the storm as an example. In this miracle fear of the disciples was assuaged when Jesus calmed the storm. He removed  the obstacle that drove their fear. Jesus calmed their fear by calming the storm.  This is reasonable interpretation.

It seems reasonable that if Jesus calmed their storm He would calm mine. My reasoning says I should trust Jesus to calm the storm that might rage around me. If Jesus calmed the fear of the disciples by calming the storm then I need to trust in God to calm my storm.

Then comes the poignant statement Jesus makes. He asks, "where is your faith?" Like the disciples I stand amazed at the miraculous work of Christ to calm the storm but what have I done with His question, "where is your faith?"

I have long realized that faith is not measured by whether or not the storm is calmed. Trust is not measured by the presence of suffering. Faith and trust do not dictate the metaphorical weather.

I can trust God to be "the provider of peace". God is provider but if I trust only for provision, peace will be absent. God calms the storm, but if only trust Him to control the weather then I'll know calm, but not peace.

I must trust God to "be peace" not just provide it. The finiteness of this world compels it to chaos. Perhaps if I trust God to "be peace" instead of "trusting in God to bring peace" then "that peace that supersedes all of my understanding" will be cultivated.

Just a though.