From "This I Believe"

Amazing but true, but I've been "published." Ok, so it's on the web and probably a full five people have seen it since it was first published in 2007. At first, I thought it was an original idea. It came to me as I was talking with my daughter about making the most of what we have in our lives and talents. It was at that time, I was in a class that featured the radio program by NPR called "This I Believe" in an assignment. We were to write an essay as if we were going to submit it. So, after a few readings, a lot of editing, more readings, and coaxing from friends, I posted it to NPR. Surprisingly, they accepted and "published" it. Just for fun, I did a search for the title later and came up with dozens of other writings. And here I thought I was a bright student. Oh well, it was a fun exercise. Enjoy. If you have any opinions, please feel free to post them. Here is the link and below is the text.

---

"Life is Like a Pencil" I believe life is like a pencil. Not just any pencil, but a wonderfully tactile “no batteries required” pencil. Sometime it is a familiar yellow number two type. Other times it is a rainbow of hues. Regardless of the type, life is like a pencil. Inside our pencil is the life we share. With it we create songs, inspiring symphonies, or catchy jingles. We write about those we meet, love, and others not so much. We fill pages with anecdotes and cautions. We disguise names and write descriptive fiction to make our point. Our life story flows as a river onto the page calmly and rhythmically like a lullaby or crashes against the rocks and sharp drops. We draw vivid, colorful scenes transformed from our mind's eye to public exhibition. At times, we display our hate to purge our hurts. We discharge our sarcasm hoping to find sympathizers; some will concur, others condemn. Or, we create intimate personal sketches for an audience of one. Sometimes, we simply doodle. Easy flirtatious ideas for a quick mental vacation. If we pay attention, our meanderings become catalysts for greater events in our lives. Despite our variety, there is one commonality. We must be sharpened. The hard wooden shell must be removed to expose the expressive part inside. It is unpleasant being sharpened removing that which cannot be replaced. We can give a little at a time or a lot. Sometimes we break and try to tape our pieces together. Eventually, we must revisit the break so that we can let go of the brokenness. Thankfully, we have erasers to forgive our mistakes. The vague smudge may remain, but we make the correction and continue. In time, our eraser is no more. Forgiveness is not within us. We continue to write cautiously guarding against the inevitable mistakes. Sometimes, we hastily scribble over them or simply let others point them out again and again. What a relief when we place a new eraser over our spent one. We use another's capacity to remove our mistakes. We can again take a chance knowing we can start over. Then, we are used up. No more can be written. Our great legacy has become that final piece we leave for others. What do we leave? Grand tomes of education, realistic artwork, or caricatures? Recipes to be handed down through the generations? Words of hope, healing, or hate? Whatever we choose, how sad if our lives at the end are nothing more than a one-line paraphrase on our headstone. Sadder still are those that spend their lives in a dark drawer. Fearing what others might say; fear being ignored; fear being sharpened; fearing mistakes; fearing the end. They fear allowing another to hold them as all pencils are meant to be. In the end, they are tossed out with the other miscellaneous, lost things in the drawer. No matter our end; I believe life is like a pencil. Patrick

Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near."

 

Dear Pastor,

Hope all is well with you.

Just following up on our discussion from Sunday School about Isaiah 55:6, "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near."  You had mentioned that you had thought about this verse over time and the meaning behind it.  I enjoyed our brief discussion after class and promised to write to you some additional thoughts.  While I am nowhere near even a beginner seminary student, I did want to jot down a few notes for your consideration.

We had talked about when (or why) would God ever hide Himself from His people and the meaning of "while He may be found"?  We briefly discussed that it is possible that at the end of our life, we do not have the opportunity to reconcile with God.  At that point, according to scripture, once man dies then comes judgment.  The same argument can be made when referring to Christ's final return and all of mankind appearing at judgment throne.  Matthew Henry commented on verse 6, "Here is a gracious offer of pardon, and peace, and of all happiness. It shall not be in vain to seek God, now His word is calling to us, and His Spirit is striving with us. But there is a day coming when He will not be found. There may come such a time in this life; it is certain that at death and judgment the door will be shut."

However, I have been thinking about other times when we might not see God's face.  Meaning, what other times might we not be able to see God's face or even His hand in our lives?  Job first comes to mind in that respect.  Even though he was considered righteous, God still allowed severe trials to enter his life while remaining silent until the end of the book.  Job even stated to God that he had been transparent with Him.  He asked how many and what sins and transgressions he had committed to deserve his current state.  Job specifically asks, "Why do you hide your face, and hold me for your enemy?" (Job 13:23-24)  Here I believe God has the right to hide His face out of His sovereign will.  We might not agree with His logic or decision making, however, He reminds us that His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).

Why else might God hide His face?  He cannot tolerate our sins and transgressions.  It is interesting here that scripture refers many times to our "sins and transgressions".  You assuredly already understand the distinction.  The Hebrew word "pesha" (transgression) comes through clearly when it refers to those who know better but still willingly rebel or revolt.  Be it our sins or transgressions, He is a holy God.  There are numerous scriptures where God clearly states that He will hide His face from His people because of their rebelliousness.  (Deuteronomy 31:17-18; Deuteronomy 32:20; Ezekiel 39:21-24).  The Psalms ask God not to hide His face but to show favor (Psalms 27:7-10; Psalms 51:9; Psalms 88:14; Psalms 143:7).

So, God can and does hide His face from us and therefore cannot be found.

Yet, and thankfully, God continues to shower us with His mercies.  Despite Israel's (and our) continual "pesha", He still reaches out and says, "Here I am."  He promised Israel that He would restore them back to Himself.  He stated that even though He had hidden His face, He will restore (Ezekiel 39:21-24; Jeremiah 33:2-9).  One interesting interpretation of Isaiah 55:6 is by Rabbi David Kimhi and brings further clarity to the original language: "Seek ye the Lord, because He may be found: call upon Him, because He is near. Repent before ye die, for after death there is no conversion of the soul."

Why should we seek Him?  Because, He can be found.  Why should we call on Him?  Because, He is near.

In this way, God says to us, "While you have breath, I can be found today, right now.  Now is the acceptable time." (Isaiah 58:9-10).  He gently says to us that He has been open and transparent with us all this time.  He says we should turn to Him today (Isaiah 45:19-22).  He even has the answer to the intolerable sin and transgressions we have in our lives.  Especially those that we believe are hidden.  It is ironic that many times we ask God why He has hidden Himself while we try to hide ourselves from Him.  The Psalms echo our own hearts when it says, "I confessed my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgression to the Lord; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this let every godly one pray to You, in a time when You may be found." (Psalms 32:5-7).  It is good to know that "now" is the favorable time because He is near to us today.  He says, "in a favorable time I replied to You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You; and I will preserve You" (Isaiah 49:7-8; 2 Corinthians 5:20 - 6:10).

On a deeper level: despite all our failings, Jesus chose not to hide His face when it came time to make the ultimate sacrifice.  Isaiah 50:6 records, "I gave My back to the strikers, and My cheeks to pluckers; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting."  The One that could tolerate our sins and transgressions faced them directly, closely, intimately, and painfully so that we could one day see Him face to face.

I hope these few thoughts are found interesting to you.  Thanks again for the brief discussion, and may God bless.

Patrick Kincaid

Winter Training

It’s that time of year again.  Time to get the trainers and rollers out and spend hours riding in one place.  Not a fun way to spend time in the saddle, but it’s better than spending it sitting on the couch watching reruns of some old TV show from the 80s.  I’ve tried watching Tour de France videos, but it doesn’t work for me.  When I see head-on video shots of the riders, I keep thinking that I’m going the wrong way.

I’m better off listing to my iPod or watching a movie.  My brother has played video games while training; I’m not that coordinated.  I would probably fall off playing Need for Speed.

Here are some ideas to battle boredom on the trainer/rollers:

• Watch a movie
• Listen to up-tempo music
• Watch a marathon of your favorite TV episodes
• Check out Spinervals free workouts
• Change up your training sessions with intervals, time-trials, easy spins, simulated hill work, etc.
• Play video games (no brainer here:  not recommended while on the rollers)
• Invite some friends over to set up their trainers and have a group “ride”
• Purchase some “point-of-view” training videos (see Cycling Videos or Chavez Cycling for an example)
• Create your own DVD by video recording your warm weather routes
• Create your own online videos with YouTube.  Create an account and then gather up some other people’s videos into a “play list” to play them in sequence.  Put on your own music as background.

There is an ad running lately that says something like, “Races are won in the off season.”  How true.  Although I believe it’s important to take a breather, it’s also important to get back on in order to maintain and (hopefully) increase your fitness.  Some years back, Jan Ullrich was teased about his off-season diet.  It was alleged that we would take it easy and plump up during the winter months.  This made it tougher to get back in top shape for the next season.  Lance Armstrong, in the meantime, spent time training in the mountains of the tour and elsewhere getting ready for the race.  (Despite all of the latest allegations of doping, I believe that these cyclists are truly strong riders.)

It reminds me of the days when I don’t “feel” like reading the bible.  I may be reading a chapter for what seems to be the 100th time.  But, I know that memorization is not my strength.  I can remember concepts and ideas, but word-for-word memorization is a challenge.

Pro racers may not feel like training, but they also know that their competitor is training as well.  It could be that the one day or week that they take it easy may be the difference in a win later on.

Paul wrote to his friend Timothy and encouraged him to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”  (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV).  We should be ready because, whether you believe it or not, there are forces out there that are working against followers of Jesus.

We may not be able to memorize the entire bible word-for-word.  At least, I don’t believe it to mean that at all.  The point here is to be ready to have an answer when we are asked.  It also means that we are found walking our talk at all times.  People around us are watching carefully.  They want to know if what we say matches what we do.  When tough times come, are we quick to remember promises in the bible that would apply to us?

Agreed – we aren’t perfect.  But, we’re also in training.  And, we should train seriously.