Life Thoughts
Living In A Vacuum
Vacuums suck! Litterally. 🙂
When I talk about a vacuum, we all think of our Hoover, Eureaka, or Dyson. We call them a vacuum because they remove or suck up the dust and dirt in our carpets. Essentially the Vacuum Cleaner is removing stuff from our space. In everyday scientific usage, a vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure.
In my earlier days I had a great fondness for science. Physics was on of my favorite subjects. I loved knowing the how and why of life’s compositions. Often when we discussed experiments, the trend of thought was to perform a test in a vacuum, would give the best and truest results. The vacuum represents the purest place, one without external influence or force.
You have often heard the term he/she is “living in a vacuum”, it’s similar to the expression “living in a bubble”. It means you’re caught up in your own little world and you’re unaware of the bigger picture. People are “living in a vacuum” when they have a very limited range of experience and are oblivious to other people’s perspectives.
I think that was me! We all live in some sort of vacuum. I got married prior to finishing college and have spent most of my life as a married person. The bulk of my friends and relationships have been with couples. I have been a believer since I was 14 and most of my relationships have been with others who are like minded. I had created a vacuum in my life that constituted believers and more particular couples.
Over the past few years, I had been challenged spiritually on my closed relationships primarily focused on believers and had come to a deep belief that I had been wrong in focusing my relationships on primarily believers. Don’t get me wrong, I had acquaintences that did not believe as I did, but they were limited in the depth I would go. I came to realize that I was wrong. You see all of us are created in God’s image, and as such we all bear resemblance to our creator and posses images of Him. As I have broadened my thinking, I have come to comprehend God in a deeper way. I see Him more clearly today, as I broaden my view of His creation.
As you look at your life today, consider what vacuums you have created. Where do you really live? Who do you really interact with? Where are your relationships?
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 3:16
It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved –Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Cornbread Stuffing
Cooking is one of my simple pleasures. Growing up in East Texas I had alot of good food. One of my favorite dishes is cornbread stuffing. As I was sharing the recipe with a friend the other day, I thought, hey you might like it as well.
First you have to make a batch of cornbread. There are alot of instant packs out there so you just add water and done, but if you want to make it from scratch, here is the recipe (I dont really think there is an advantage to it other than it is good to know how to make it without a premade mix!)
Cornbread:
1 cup self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Once the cornbread is made then you can make the stuffing.
Cornbread Stuffing:
1 Pan of Cornbread
6 tablespoons butter
1 cups celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon sage (I think this is the key!)
1 tablespoon of dried herbs (I use the Italian Seasoning Mix
(feel free to variate the ingrediants to how you like, I have changed things to try various things, but like it this way (maybe with a bit more onion, I love onion!) the best.
Crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 minutes. Empty skilllet contents into mixing bowl.
Add sage, herbs, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Mix well. Consistency should be wet and not too thick, like muffin batter. Grease the sides and bottom of baking pan. Pour contents into baking pan. Cover top of pan with aluminum foil. Bake mixture at 350 for approximately 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20 more minutes (less if you like it moister).
Dish it up and enjoy.
My grandmother always use to place a chicken breast on top of the mixture before baking, so that when it was done, that was the meal. You can always bake a chicken, or turkey to serve with it.
The Line Between
Created in the image of God! What a thought. I mean, really consider it. God . . . when you think of God, do you think of Him like yourself or maybe someone you know? I think we do that. When we really stop and think of God, we will often compare our thoughts of Him to someone we know, or maybe a combination of people (kinda a list of all the best of everyone we know). With that in mind, I would consider that we do God a great injustice.
Think about when someone we know closely, someone who we have known attributes a life of deep service and devotion to God. Remember the moment when you found out how human they really were? Remember the disappointment? Remember the anger? It might have been a parent, a sibling, a close friend, a spouse or even a religous leader. Did you struggle in your own walk of faith? Did you question God in the midst of it?
The reality is that we, all of mankind, is both God-like (being souls made in God’s image) and flesh (being mortal, made of the dust of the earth). There is a fine line between the flesh and the spirit, and often it is not a flashing neon line, but a dull gray one. What we do in our flesh makes an indelible imprint on our souls (and the souls around us), and what we do in the spirit can dramatically affect our physical and mental.
Only God fully understands our paradoxial nature. Fortunately for us, God keeps perspective. Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” He is true to his Word. Psalm 103:13-14 says “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” When God considers all of His magnificent creation, from the stars to the micro-organisms, he remembers us and remembers just where we came from.
To see ourselves as dust, is not an excuse to sin, but rather to truly appreciate God who loves us for all that we are and all that we could be. Consider your heart, when you look at people, anyone, do you see them as what they are, dust, simple, sinful, yet a vision of God, His image, possessors of the magnificent breath of God? When you look into the mirror, what do you see?
Psalm 113: 8-12
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 113: 15-16
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
Pressing On
Yesterday was a very difficult day. On many accounts my heart was saddened. I stood in a courtroom and listened as the fate of my marriage and my children were dispatched in 3 five minute orations by lawyers and then a commissioners ruling. As I spent most of the remainder of the day contemplating the results, I feel into a deep sorrow.
The home and family structure my children have known throughout their lives was officially restructured. A great loss for them. The life I had dreamed of and worked hard for, for 18 years was no more. The cause of Christ, who I love dearly, has been smeared with the ugliness of failed human relationships. All in all not a good day.
As I turned to the scriptures, as I often try to do, I was reminded of a passage my Youth Pastor made me memorize as a teenager:
Phillipians 4:12 – 14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Powerful words. Paul one of the greatest Christian leaders of the early church said “I havent arrived”, “Im not perfect”, “I keep going after God, because He is after me”. How does he do it? He forgets the past, keeps the future in front of him, straining to reach it. Straining – I think that denotes hard effort! He presses on, always mindful of the goal.
My high school track coach, Coach Jackson, had me running the two mile run. Not a very pleasant thing! I was not a fast runner, and would often get left early in the race (only got lapped once!). But he coached me to keep running, maintain my pace, even if it looks like I am left in the dust. It took me a few races to catch on, but I did. You see, the biggest challenge to the two mile run is finishing it! Often those kids that took off and ran hard early would drop out or tire to almost a crawl, and eventually before the race was over, I would catch up and often pass some and some would fall by the way exhausted or cramped. I never got first place, but I always finished.
Good to remember, especially in life. You see there is not really a first place, just a finish line. So today my encouragement to you, as I have been encouraged, Press On! Forget those things which are behind and keep Christ in your sights.
Oh, and don’t forget Pauls encouragement in verse 16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained”.
Blessing and Peace
