The best treehouse!

The vision of one man has been shut down by the local Fire Marshall. While I do understand it's their job to keep people safe, this is a truly unique place that perhaps should warrant special consideration.

From the wooden sculptures by John Teeple representing the Lord's Supper,

 to the chapel (Horace Burgess, the creator of the Treehouse, sits in one of the pews),

to the really cool swing (you're looking down on it from the top),

 to the Bell Tower 97 feet up.

People from all over the country have enjoyed spending time in this remarkable place. I will really hate to tell our young people we can't go back. 

Read more here...

How insignificant...

we humans can be when compared with so much of God's creation. Take, for instance, the Redwood tree...

Can you see the gentleman in the middle? How small he is compared even to the trunks of the fallen trees? This made me think of the Joyce Kilmer poem:

Trees

 I think that I shall never see

a Poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is 'prest

against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

and lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

a nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain,

who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

but only God can make a tree.

If you'd like to see more pictures like the one above, visit here.

A brush with nature...

in the form of lightning in West Yorkshire, England!

A man cheated death by seconds when a freak lightning bolt sent a tree branch hurtling through the rear of his car. Bernard Williams had just removed his gym bag from the boot during a rainstorm when the bolt hit an adjacent willow tree catapulting a 10-foot long piece of wood across the road. The branch smashed into the car’s back window – directly where Bernard had been standing - and ended up in the alleyway next to the house after taking a tail light with it.



You can read the rest here...

Hostage

Part of the human conundrum is the fact that we are often self-centered, worried about how something might affect only us. Even in the church (especially in the church!) this plays out in various ways, as the above remarks make clear. But the fact is that the Church was never intended to be all about “me” or even all about “us.” It has always had as its mission “all about others.”

Excellent article entitled "Holding the Church Hostage" that should be read by all members of the congregation. This can be a heart breaking (and sometimes church breaking) situation. Each side should spend time in prayer before making or reacting to such statements. Power plays often backfire. 

Humans and Angels

There are humans and there are angels and it's a divide that neither can cross. But then, there are times when humans can take on some of the aspects of an angel.

During each of our lives there are inevitable moments when someone comes into our life at precisely the right time and they say or do precisely the right thing. Their words or actions may help us perceive ourselves more clearly, remind us that everything will turn out for the best, helps us to cope with life's difficulties or see us through hard situations. These people are human angels. They come when we least expect them and when we can most benefit from their presence.

I have been blessed to know a few human angels in my life. Some are close to me to this day and others have come to me only for a time and have long since moved on to others. But I  do remember them all and thank God for their presence as well as their faith and courage. God asks them to reach out to others in need, and they respond. I pray my ears will be open to hear that call if it comes.

Church

Church is a community of believers. It shouldn't be about what I GET out of the service, but rather, what do I ADD to the service. Is it better and more fulfilling because of my presence or my voice? It should be a gathering of individuals who unselfishly give to each other of themselves. If I am not in church, I'm taking away what I can add to the service.

When we are in church we often lose focus on the idea that we are not an audience. God is. We cannot equate going to church with going to the movies. We are not there to be sung to, preached to or prayed for. God is there to be sung to, prayed to and praised. We, as the congregation, are every bit a part of the service as the organ, the preacher or the special music. If we stop thinking that church is for us and what we get out of it and start thinking of what we give to God, then the "what we get" comes back to us from God and not from the sound system.

The written word...

I read the following piece, written by Rabbi Lewis, several years ago. And even after all this time, I still find that the message is to be savored. This unique form of writing uses only 1 syllable words. This is an ancient discipline which is meant to be simple but not simplistic.

What if God were to speak to us now; to give us a fresh look at what's real, true and the core of our world? Might God say, "Be just, be kind, care, share, give, take, love, laugh, cry, feel the pain and dance in the time of joy"? And what would we hear? Would it be what we want to hear or what was said? Could we each hear in our own way? Must we all be of the same mind? Must the one who hears at 12 feet fight with the one who hears at 12 yards? Will the black one and the white one and the child of the land all know God in
the same way? And if not, will they fight?

What if God said, "I grant you a gift: a world full of peace, health and food for all. I give you a time, now, when each may sit by his vine and by her fig tree and none will cause you fear"? Would we heed the words? If God came to each of us in a dream, would we hold the dream in our hearts and souls, or would we cast it off as just a dream? What would it take to look deep within, where we live and know truth, and there to
find the one God, who cries for us and waits and hopes and says, "I am here. Do not fear. Live, love, talk and walk hand in hand with me. Let no child learn war anymore, but let each bring what is right and just in his home and in her land"!