Healing Rays of Righteousness

Proverbial Wisdom for Graduates

CONGRATULATIONS on your well-deserved successful graduation and best wishes for all your tomorrows!  The coronavirsus pandemic has stolen from you, our children and grandchildren, a significant celebratory event of successful graduation from your schools of learning.  I still remember and enjoy the many happy memories of my graduation and sincerely regret that this milestone in your life could not be similarly celebrated.

You missed the heart-throbbing excitement of hearing your name called and walking across the stage to receive your hard-earned diploma.  You also missed the opportunity of hearing from your peers and commencement speakers their challenge for you to allow the classroom learnings and shared peer experiences, that shaped and molded you, to now become a positive influence for good in the world.

And so, I thought to share some proverbial wisdom that I have gathered and filed over the years as common-sense counsel and encouragement that you may find helpful in your life journey.  In fact, they may still be helpful reminders to us living in much longer post-graduate years of life.

Always practice the Golden Rule:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
We make a living by what we get, and we make a life by what we give.

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”
(Proverbs 22:1)
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.

The three essentials of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for.
Do not become so busy making a living that you forget how to live.

Our duty is not to see through one another, but to see one another through.
God does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
If the eye has no tear, the soul has no rainbow.
When your knees knock, kneel on them.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
(Proverbs 4:23)
Keep your head and your heart in the right direction and you will never have to worry about your feet.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you must eat them.

There is no tranquilizer in the world more effective than a few kind words.
An apology is a good way to have the last word.

The person who angers you, controls you.
Making peace starts with a smile.

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
Horse sense is stable thinking coupled with the ability to say “nay.”

The steam that blows the whistle cannot drive the wheels.
If you growl all day, you are likely to feel dog tired at night.

A bend in the road is not the end of the road … unless you fail to make the turn.
Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.
A genuinely happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

And finally,
Whatever you do, never stop learning, exploring, growing, and challenging yourself to be your best.

Continue growing in mind and spirit.
Keep adding to the goodness and beauty in the world.
Keep developing those unique dreams and talents that make you who you are.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
(Proverbs 9:10)

A hundred years from now it will not matter what amount was in your bank account,
the sort of house you lived in, or the kind of car you drove.
But the world may be different because you were loving and important in the life of a child.

Sincerely,
From we who love you dearly.
May our prayers and blessings follow you into the future.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – June 3, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley

Waiting – For What?

It has been forty days since Easter Sunday and Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  During these forty days, Jesus has been with the disciples, teaching them, feeding them, and spending time with them.  Now it is time for Jesus to go.

Jesus has completed the work given him by God.  Now it is time for him to physically exit this world, so that the Holy Spirit can always come and be God’s presence and power with his people everywhere.

Jesus leads his disciples out to the Mount of Olives near Bethany.  He blesses them and commissions them to be his witnesses, and then he was “taken up” and “a cloud hid him from their sight” as he ascended to heaven.

As they were “looking intently up into the sky” two men (messengers from heaven, angels) appeared and asked a question, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:10-11).

Let me leap forward to our world and our current environment.  With the angels’ words just being repeated to us in the year 2020,  let’s rewrite the story to include the questions that may be swirling within you and me as we stand looking into the sky, wondering and reflecting on the angels’ message.

Okay, but what do we do now?  Jesus said, “Wait in Jerusalem.”  Wait for what?  Jesus said, “Wait for the gift.”  What gift?  Jesus said, “Wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  How long must we wait?  Jesus said, “That’s not important for you to know.  Just trust God’s timing.  Waiting is key to your receiving the gift.”

But why must we wait and why is the gift important to us?  Jesus said, “You need the Holy Spirit to empower and enable you to have the strength to partner with me in doing my mission of accomplishing the Father’s Kingdom work on earth as it is in heaven.  Waiting is preparation time for receiving the tools needed for building a new creation with its new order of priorities and hopes.”  (End of story rewrite).

Wow!  A new creation with new priorities and hopes.  That is a mind-exploding reality that seems almost impossible and certainly needs further exploring.  This thought is so counter-cultural and so counter-religious in our day.

Many Christians have concluded that this earth is doomed and so “waiting” is all about praying and waiting until we can be rescued from this ugly world of sin and darkness and taken into a “new creation” called heaven, where there is no darkness of sin and evil.

I disagree with this religious conclusion based on a distorted and bias view of Biblical scriptures.   I agree with N. T. Wright’s counter response to this way of thinking, “Never at any point do the gospels or Paul say that Jesus has been raised, therefore we are all going to heaven.  They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the “new creation” has begun, and we have a job to do.”

Is not this the angels’ message in their question, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?”

By physically leaving, Jesus underscores his teaching that our purpose is in this world is to be his ambassadors, giving witness to his aliveness in the world.  The One who is no longer physically present for the world to see, becomes visible in us, his people, when we live and speak of God’s glory, love, and amazing grace.  Jesus Christ is made visible in the world when we make the compassion and mercy of God real by how we relate to and care for one another, this world, and all of creation.

From the moment God called a special people, God made it clear that every person who bears God’s name has been called into existence to be a blessing in this world.  Those were God’s words to Abraham, and they are basically Jesus’ instructions to the church.

The angels testified to Jesus’ ascension, and they testified that someday Jesus will return.  In the meantime, we are not to stand around wringing your hands wondering what we should do.  We are to get on with the work of building and enlarging God’s kingdom.  This means being busy in making disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching one another what it means to belong to this wonderful Lord who is now King over all of creation.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 27, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Memorial Day and Memories

The Memorial Day activities of parades and services to remember and honor those who died in our nation’s wars, left me wondering why this is so different to the way our society responds to the deaths of its fellow citizens.  On the one hand, it responds with an all-out effort to remember and honor those who died in its wars, but on the other hand, it seems to encourage an all-out effort to quickly hush the memories following the death and funeral of a dearly loved family member or friend.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it well when he wrote, “Nothing can make up for the absence of someone whom we love.  …It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap.  He doesn’t fill it, but on the contrary, he keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other, even at the cost of pain.  …The dearer and richer our memories, the more difficult the separation.  But gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy.  The beauties of the past are borne, not as a thorn in the flesh, but as a precious gift in themselves.”

We know this to be true, and we rightly remember and honor those who died in our wars.  But I am saddened that we do not encourage the same response following the deaths of our neighbors and friends and wonder why.

We all acknowledge that it hurts to remember, but many believe the myth that because it hurts, they must somehow help the family to quietly shelve the death of a loved one and move on with life.  It is believed that to “bring it up” will reopen the old wounds and cause more pain.  And it most likely will.

However, they will be remembering and hurting, silently and alone, whether we “bring it up” or not. It is so important for all of us to rightly understand that grief is not a process of forgetting, but rather a process of learning to cope while we painfully remember and talk about our grievous loss.

To not readily and openly talk about our relationship with the person who died and the memories they gave us is to rob ourselves and the bereaved of good grief work and healing, as well as to steal significance from the one who died.

In his booklet, The Gift of Significance, Doug Manning writes, “The grieving process is a gradual change from the physical presence of a loved one to the sense of presence provided by the memories.  The goal is to learn to live with the person not being here.  Coping without their presence happens when we begin to find comfort in the memories.”  

Establishing the significance of the life lived in our midst is key to the healing of the pain suffered in the loss.  Significance is established as we remember and share memories of that relationship with one another.

Memories take us by the hand and lead us back through the mists of the past to the happy scenes and experiences of yesterday.  And when a life has been lived constructively and for God and others, these memories provide for many a beautiful walk through a pleasant garden.

From my own experience, I have learned that one of the most priceless gifts that God gives us in the death of another person is the garden of memories.   These memories are ours to keep, to hold and to cherish, a treasure that no one can rob from us. A treasure that should never be buried or locked up inside of us.

The writer of Proverbs suggested this when he wrote, “The memory of the righteous will be a blessing,” (Pr. 10:7a).

The ability to nurture and enjoy this garden of memories means that you never need to do as is often said, “pay your last respects” to a loved one who has died.  Why?  Because every time the memories are audibly shared with another, they keep those “last respects” for a loved one or friend alive and growing.

Yes, memories are a gift given us by those now separated from us.  Let us rightly cherish them and freely share them frequently with one another.  In so doing, we both bless and are blessed.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 20, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

“Teacher, I Want to See”

In Exodus 3:7-12, we are reminded that God sees misery, hears crying, and is concerned about suffering.  The misery, crying, and suffering causes God to come down to rescue those who are experiencing such.  However, God does not come down to do the work.  He comes down to delegate the rescue operation to a human being, which in this case is Moses.

Moses tries to excuse himself, but God does not back off.  Instead God says – “So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. … I will be with you. … When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

And so, I believe that even to this day, God sees, God hears, and God is concerned about all the suffering and misery in the world.  And to this day, God comes down to delegate to us “Jesus followers” his gracious rescue operation of those crying, suffering friends and neighbors living in misery.

But if we do not see misery, if we do not hear crying, we probably have little concern about those who are suffering, and most likely shelve the delegation order and ignore its mandate.

I find inspiration and motivation in my life and witness as a disciple of Jesus from the following words of J. H. Jowett;                        (A Guide to Prayer, p. 357 – The Upper Room)

It is our God-appointed office to lead men and women who are weary and wayward, exultant or depressed, eager, or      indifferent, into “the secret place of the Most High.”  We are to help the sinful to the fountain of cleansing, the bond slaves to the wonderful songs of deliverance.  We are to help the halt and the lame to recover their lost nimbleness.  We are to help the  broken-winged into the healing light of “the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  We are to help the sad into the sunshine of grace. We are to help the buoyant to clothe themselves with “the garment of praise.”  We are to help redeem the strong from the atheism of despair.  We are to help little children to see the glorious attractiveness of God, and we are to help the aged realize the encompassing care of the Father and the assurance of the eternal home.

The story of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52 I think would be Jesus’ response to us who seek to become more God-like in our ability to see, hear, and be concerned about the suffering around us.

According to verse 47, Blind Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  And when he is told to be quiet, he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” This is the first time that Jesus is publicly called the “Son of David.”  In doing so, blind Bartimaeus makes a declaration of faith that he sees something the others are not seeing.  He sees and identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Son of David, the promised Messiah.

Being invited, Bartimaeus “threw aside his coat” (used to catch coins), “jumped up” (abandons his sitting position as a beggar), “and came to Jesus” (on his own, without help).

Jesus meets the faith of blind Bartimaeus with the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”   The question is open-ended, a blank check, just waiting to be filled in.  Bartimaeus says, “Teacher, I want to see!”  It is a simple, straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill than a plea for a job or a bag of gold, or even a place of honor in the community.

“What do you want me to do for you?”  Remember, Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could have asked for a bag of gold.  He is unemployed, so he could have asked for a job.  He had no status in the community, so he could have asked for the respect of others.  Instead, he says, “Teacher, I want to see!”  I sometimes wonder how I would have responded if I were blind Bartimaeus.

“Go, your faith has healed you” says Jesus.  And “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”  What else can you imagine him doing? 

Yes, this was a physical healing, but I believe Jesus can also heal our spiritual and social blindness as well.  He can fully cleanse and heal our eyes, allowing us to see as he sees, if only we would ask, “Teacher, I want to see!”   He is always inviting us with his question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

In his song, “Blowing in the Wind” Bob Dylan asks some hard questions that I think calls for our personal response.

“How many times must a man look up / Before he sees the sky?

Yes, and how many ears must one man have / Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn’t see?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – 5/13/2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

When educational philosopher John Dewey was 89 years old, a young medical doctor was questioning his philosophical view of life and asked, “What’s the good of such claptrap?”  “Where does it lead you?”  Professor Dewey responded by saying, “The good of it is that you climb mountains.”

The young man scoffed, “Climb mountains!  And what’s the use of doing that?”  Professor Dewey answered, “When you climb mountains, you see other mountains to climb.  You come down, climb the next mountain, and you see still others to climb.”  Then he added, “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, life is over.”

In other words, if there are no challenges, no difficult mountains to climb, then you may still have a physical pulse, but you are not fully alive and living.  It is the mountainous challenges that give our life meaning, purpose and energy.

I find it interesting and revealing that the biblical story of Moses’ life tells us that the major pivotal moments in Moses’ life took place on mountains?  First, there was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God’s call.  Then came Mount Sinai, the mountain of God’s commandments.  And finally, there was Mount Nebo, which we can call the mountain of commencement.

It was from this final mountain that Moses was privileged to view the end results of his life’s work, the promised land.  From this mountain he also entered the heavenly promised land, graduating from this life and into the next.  For Moses, there continued to be the challenge of another mountain, until he was called into heaven from his final mountain.

Whether we be young, middle-aged, or senior adults, it is always good to ask ourselves for what purpose am I living during these years?  Is your purpose just to hang on as long as you can, just like the bumper sticker advertised: “I just want to live long enough to be a burden to my children.”

I suppose that can be a purpose for living, and it may indeed prolong your life, or probably more correctly, make it just seem that way to everybody around you.  Obviously, we should find a purpose that is bigger than just having a cantankerous spirit.

What keeps you going?  What is your purpose on planet earth?  Even more importantly, is that purpose one given you by God?  If you believe it is, then you, like Moses, can still be young in mind and spirit at age 80.  If not, then you most likely will be feeling old at age 40.

You are old when you feel that tomorrow holds no meaningful challenge, no mountain to climb.  You are old when you say, “I’m too old for that.”  You are old when you think that you have learned all that there is to learn about life and God.  You are old when you talk to people younger than you but are not willing to listen and learn from them.  You are old when you only talk about a purpose for living in the past tense and not in the future tense.  How old are you feeling today?

On the other hand, if you believe you have a God-given purpose for living, you will daily feel motivated and energized toward experiencing even more learning and growing experiences.  You will be young no matter how many candles are on your birthday cake.

Keep climbing every mountain and grasp every challenging opportunity.  Keep focused on claiming your spiritual legacy, your purpose for living, and follow God’s guidance.  For if you do, then every day you will climb to a new mountain peak, from which you may see tomorrow’s mountain, and then the next day’s mountain, until you graduate to the promised land standing on a mountain peak.  What an exciting way to live, and what a glorious way to die.

And so, I say to myself and to you, keep climbing every mountain.  We cannot relive the past, and try as we may, we cannot live the future yet.  All that we will ever have to hold in our hands is “today.”  What will we do with it?

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 6, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Through Dark Valleys

During several difficult and dark times of uncertainty, anxiety, and loss, in my life, I frequently turned to the familiar words of Psalm 23 for reassurance and renewal of my trust in God.  I repeatedly found strength in quoting verse 6 of Psalm 23 in my thoughts.  “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”

Because I found the comfort and encouragement that I needed in those times, Psalm 23 became my “go to” passage in my pastoral ministry as chaplain to those going through the dark valley of approaching death and to those grieving the loss of a loved one.

The power of the psalm lies in its simplicity.  The “Lord” is portrayed as the caring shepherd who loves his sheep and is their constant provider of nourishment and rest, and protector against all evil enemies.

The words “Even though I walk through the darkest valley” speak not only of physical death, but also of those terribly frightening and shadowed places in life’s journey when we scarcely know what the next step is to take.  It speaks of those times and places when the beauty and serenity of life is either threatened or shattered by crisis or tragedy.  There is nothing calm or soothing about this scene, but it is the reality of living in this world.

And yet, from the shadows we hear the voice of faith, “The Lord … my shepherd” walks with me, cares about my well-being and leads me through the valley of scary darkness.  The psalmist takes comfort in knowing that the Shepherd is with him and has a rod and staff at the ready to protect him.

It is so comforting and reassuring to me to hear the psalmist candidly facing the inevitable.  He realistically declares not “if” but “though I walk through the darkest valley.”   Yes, there are times that we are not “lying down in green pastures” or resting “besides quiet waters” but are instead walking through a valley of darkness.

Though none of us will live life without needing to walk through a dark valley, the psalmist makes it clear that God does not intend for us to stay in this scary place.  The valley of darkness is something one goes through.  Dark valleys are not resting places, but passageways to a better place.

We can walk through our problems.  We can walk through our sorrows.  We can walk through our pain.  We can walk through our screw-ups.  What Psalm 23:4 promises us is that, in all these dark valley journeys, the Lord, our Shepherd, will walk through with us.

It is reassuring to know that our Shepherd has journeyed through this dark valley before.  The only reason for leading sheep through a dark valley where there might be risk to the sheep is because the shepherd knows there’s something on the other side of the valley that the flock needs for them to flourish; and that he, the Shepherd, can handle whatever threats to the sheep that might occur while passing through.

Though we are going through a scary place of deadly risk, the psalmist says his fear is eclipsed by the presence of God: “for you are with me.”  Only the Lord’s presence can give us complete comfort and security.  Along with his presence the Lord also protects us by his almighty power and goodness: “your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  The “rod” beats off the external enemy, while the crooked “staff” snatches us from harm’s way and our own wandering foolishness.

Whether our dark valleys are times of trouble or the actual passage through death itself, we can be confident that God is not only with us but is more than equal to whatever threats to our well-being that may lurk within the times of darkness.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”  He makes me … He leads me … He refreshes me …  He guides me … He is with me … He comforts me … He anoints me. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

THANKS BE TO GOD!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – April 29, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Fearing Tomorrow

On the evening of that first Easter Day, the disciples locked themselves in a room, fearful of what might happen tomorrow. They were certain that the enemies of Jesus would now come after them, his disciples, and the thought of possible death by crucifixion terrified them. That fearful consequence now loomed greater because Jesus’ body was gone from the tomb and they could be accused of stealing it.  And so, they hid behind locked doors.

Maybe you are hiding in fear of tomorrow right now. Someone you dearly loved has died, and the thought of the tomorrow without that person has you paralyzed, feeling alone, abandoned, and afraid. Or, because of an aggressive and deadly coronavirus you’ve lost your job or small business and are now wondering how you will survive financially.  Or, you have suffered through a painful marriage and divorcement and the thought of loving again is so risky and frightening that you want to lock yourself away from such possibility.

In grief counseling, we talk about living into a new normal after the death of a loved one.  We know there is no returning to the normal we knew and were comfortable with.  But facing the need to live into a new normal is scary, uncertain, and uncomfortable, allowing anxiety and fear to build and threatening to overwhelm our emotional and physical well-being.

We disciples of Jesus living today, like the disciples of Jesus in the week following the first Easter Sunday, are not immune to fear’s consuming attack, robbing us of the joy and peace that Jesus alive offers us. And so, I find it easy to identify with the anxious, fearful disciples of Jesus because I also have experienced those times of being fearful, weak in faith and untrusting.

It also helps me to remember that these men whom Jesus had recruited to be his disciples were not atheists or agnostics.  They may not have been religious scholars, but they certainly were familiar with the Psalms. They no doubt grew up reciting, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. …Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; …” 

I am certain they were familiar with the stories of Joshua, Moses, and the other heroes of the Old Testament. And furthermore, they had been with Jesus for three years, and often heard him encouraging them and others to trust him and to not be afraid. But in their time of crisis they became very anxious and afraid, just like me.

And so, I think the first words of Jesus to his fear-filled disciples, “Peace be with you” was much more than a simple familiar greeting. I believe he gave them a gift, a holy treasure, the gift of peace. And when he showed them the nail prints in his hands and the great wound in his side, they “were overjoyed” for they saw the visible evidence of his aliveness, and in seeing him present with them, believed and received his gift of peace.

To experience the powerful, loving presence of the Risen Christ is the best antidote for the many fears that cause us to hide behind locked doors.  To see the resurrected wounds of his love for us in his hands and side and to hear him say “Peace be with you!” is the greatest of all joys.

Sunday worship celebrating Christ’s resurrection with its certain hope of life beyond the grave is wondrous news, but Monday morning’s reality with its tomorrows of disappointments and difficulties sets in and we soon become anxious and fearful.

Diagnosis disappoint, surgeries fail, businesses go bankrupt, investments evaporate, tornadoes and earthquakes destroy, cancer consumes, accidents happen, relationships end, and there is no returning to what was normal before.

But John’s gospel story reminds us that the calming, powerful presence of the risen Christ comes into our shuttered hiding places and into our darkest valleys and offers us his peace and joy. And with the psalmist we can say, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

With the good news of Easter Sunday still fresh in our minds and hearts, let us open wide the locked door and allow the living Lord Jesus Christ to enter into our life and enable us to joyfully greet each new tomorrow with “Good morning, Lord” instead of a fearful “Good lord, morning.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – April 22, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

I Have Seen the Lord Alive

Probably no one has ever loved Jesus more than Mary Magdalene. She had sinned so much, and His gracious, full forgiveness completely changed her life. She could never forget His love and kindness toward her.

That’s why, being overwhelmed with grief, she stands outside the tomb weeping. She knew Jesus was dead. The spear that pierced Jesus side had also killed her joy and left her hopeless. Now gone was all purpose and meaning in her life. And she weeps in awful, miserable aloneness and silence.

Bending down to look again into the tomb she sees “two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been,” who ask her, “Woman, why are you crying?” Blinded by her tears, she didn’t recognize the angels. Turning around to look away from the tomb, she sees another person standing near her who also asks, “Woman, why are you crying?” Thinking he was the gardener; she asks for Jesus’ dead body. That’s the most she could hope for.

Then Jesus speaks her name, “Mary” and suddenly the morning became more glorious than she could have ever imagined. She sees Jesus alive and speaking her name. Her joy and hope are restored and the emptiness in her soul is filled with His living presence. Her Lord is no longer dead, but alive and standing by her side. I think her feet must have felt like wings as she ran to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”

Each Easter Sunday we again hear the story of Jesus’ resurrection from death to life and are invited to make His story our story of believing faith. Can we say with Mary, “I have seen the Lord.”?  Are we convinced that Jesus has risen, that He is alive? Are we experiencing the presence and power of this gloriously triumphant living Christ in our daily lives?

In writing to Timothy, the apostle Paul declares that Christ Jesus “has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10). Jesus did not do away with death. We still experience it, but He did deactivate death’s power, and now death is powerless and cannot destroy us. By his glorious resurrection, Jesus destroyed death’s power over us with all its mystery and finality.

In the Gospel writer’s later life, being banish on the Isle of Patmos and facing death, John is given a vision of Christ, who encourages him, and us, with these words, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Rev. 1:17b-18).

Tommy Dorsey, jazzman and gospel songwriter, was singing in a revival meeting in St. Louis when he got the awful new. This young performer was handed a telegram that read, “Your wife is dead.”

He had left her at home in the last month of pregnancy. The last look into her face was of Nettie sound asleep. All seemed well. Now, she was dead. She had given birth to a son, but within a day he also died. Both were buried in the same casket. Tommy fell apart in his soul, his inner peace was shattered, his faith severely damaged.

The following Saturday he meandered close to a piano, sat down, and started to fiddle with the keys. A new melody surfaced as his fingers softly struck the keys. Heartfelt lyrics formed in his mind, and out of the sorrow of death, came these words of faith that we still sing today:
          “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
           I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
          Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light,
          take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

That’s our faith. Because Jesus “destroyed death’s power” with his resurrection, we can face the apparent mystery and finality of death, with this song of prayer and faith in our heart and on our lips. “Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.”

As the morning sun rises in the east, announcing a new day, let us always remember that most amazing and wonderful morning when Mary and the disciples discovered the tomb was empty. And, just like Mary, Jesus sends us to go and excitedly tell others, “I have seen the Lord.”  Yes, He is risen! He is alive! Hallelujah!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – April 15, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley

God and Darkness

During my life and pastoral ministry experiences I have learned and come to greatly appreciate the truths learned from the dark events of Holy Week. One of these awesome truths is that God is present in the dark places of our journey just as much as He is in the places of light. Granted, that is most often very difficult to believe and even more difficult to experience.

However, when we give serious thought to God’s presence in the deep darkness which overwhelmed Jesus hanging in painful agony on the cross, we are left speechless, and hopefully also encouraged.

This coming Sunday, Easter morning, many Christians will joyfully sing of Christ’s glorious resurrection as though the cross and crucifixion was nothing more than a temporary inconvenience for Jesus; something like a trip to the dentist, painful but endurable, if over quickly and the consequence makes the painful suffering worthwhile.

In their story of Good Friday, both Mark and Luke record that “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” (Mk. 15:33). Jesus had hung on the cross for three hours before noon, then darkness came over the whole land. For three more hours, Jesus suffered in the dense darkness that blocked out the mid-day sun.

We can rightly know that this darkness was more than just a fact of the day’s appearance. It was also an accurate description of what Jesus was experiencing. This darkness encompassed and overwhelmed His whole being – body, soul, and spirit.

The physical torture of crucifixion, with its excruciating pain, was designed by the governing authorities to send waves of darkness and fear coursing through the victim’s body. But for Jesus there was also the darkness of being ridiculed, abandoned, and rejected by His own people, including His dear friends and disciples.

There was also the deep darkness of taking on and carrying the fullness of the world’s sin. This darkness of sin separated Him from His heavenly Father, who “is light: and in (whom) is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5).

Think of it. The heavens went dark and silent, covering the whole world in darkness, and He could not see nor hear His Father. Most certainly, Jesus felt utterly alone. Who could fully understand and empathize with Him and His suffering? Nobody. We hear Christ verbalize His agony when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But even when Jesus felt most forsaken by God, He affirmed His relationship by crying out “My God, my God.”

We say Jesus was alone, betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and deserted by His friends and disciples. But was Jesus abandoned by God and alone? I think not. It is true, God could not stand between Jesus and sin’s darkness, holding off the pain and protecting him from death, the judgement of sin.

So where was God on that terrible dark Friday? He was there, watching and suffering with His Son as he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life for the sins of the world. He was there waiting and when Jesus loudly cried “Finished” and died, burst forth with earth-shaking light that completely tore the Temple curtain that separated man from Himself, and caused a centurion to testify, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (Mk. 15:38-39).

Truly, the good news of Good Friday is that the God of light is also God in the darkness. God is in the darkness of His people’s pain and suffering. No, God does not stand between us and pain, holding it off, bringing us only good news, but God does stand, sit, even hangs with us on our cross of painful, frightening darkness. Yes, this comforting, encouraging truth is most often seen in the rear-view mirror of living.

For those of us who choose not to make a quick leap from the wondrous revealing light of Palm Sunday to the glorious resurrection light of Easter, the discovery that God is very much present in the awful suffering darkness of Holy Week is most encouraging.

Yes, when we feel most alone, God is with us in the darkness. As the psalmist declares in Psalm 139 – “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? …if I make my bed in depths, you are there. …even the darkness will not be dark to you;” Amen!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – April 8, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley

You Are Free to Go

The story is told that when Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he took a trip down the Mississippi River to visit New Orleans. While there, he went to see a slave market and watched as people of color were brought out on the slave block and auctioned off to the highest bidder. They brought a young woman out, with clothing awry, hair disheveled, and eyes flashing anger as men examined her to decide on their level of bidding.

Lincoln suddenly found himself so incensed that he began to bid and kept bidding until he bought her. He walked down the aisle to the platform, took the rope that bound her wrists, and led her to the edge of the crowd. There he stopped and untied the rope. The young woman rubbed her wrists to relieve the pain and promote the circulation.
Lincoln looked at her and said, “You are free to go.” She looked up at him in amazement: “What’s that, Massa?” Lincoln again said, “You are free to go.” With tears running down her cheeks, she fell to her knees and declared, “Then, Massa, I want to go with you.”

This is the Wednesday before “Holy Week” – during which we remember and retell the story of Jesus’ entering Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. But anger and confusion soon lifted its sword and he is arrested, scorned, beaten, mocked, and crucified as a criminal. And from the cross he looked down in love upon us humans and prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34).

Forgiveness is always costly. For God to forgive our sin debt and set us free from slavery to sin it cost the life of his only Son, Jesus. To be forgiven is to be set free from Satan’s grip on us. To be forgiven invites us to gratefully journey with the One who dearly paid our debt of sin. How grateful are we to Jesus and his bloody sacrifice in our behalf?

There is another story about gratitude that Jesus said will never be forgotten. It’s the story of Mary pouring costly perfume over the feet of Jesus and wiping them with her hair. (John 12:1-8). The perfume was very expensive, 300 denarii, the yearly income for a laborer in Palestine. Why did Mary take the most precious thing she possessed and pour it all on Jesus?

Mary’s act of pouring out expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet was a tremendous outpouring of her wholehearted love, gratitude, and devotion to the one person who meant so much to her. The sacrifice of costly perfume was her most adequate expression of her love for Jesus.

Mary had experienced a great salvation, and I can imagine hearing her singing as the fragrant perfume drifts through the house, past the voices of criticism and condemnation, and out to the crowded streets of onlookers, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

William Barclay writes that “Love is not love if it nicely calculates the cost. It gives its all and its only regret is that it has not more to give.”

We claim that gratitude is the hallmark of Christianity. If that is true, then why is the sin of ingratitude so prevalent today. Far too many who call themselves Christian are like the little boy who was given an orange by a generous man. The boy’s mother said to the boy, “What do you say to the nice man?” The boy thought for a moment and handed the orange back to the man and said, “Peel it.”

The person who thinks life has cheated them and owes them something, who is always complaining about life and criticizing others, will never enjoy the abundant life Jesus promises or be a blessing to others. Only those who, like Mary, feel they can never repay God for his amazing grace and loving-kindness, will overflow with love, gratitude and generosity toward God and others.

Jesus says of Mary, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47). How much forgiveness have you and I needed? How much have we shown God that we love him? God eagerly invites our lavish response of gratitude as we remember Jesus’ suffering and death in freeing us from slavery.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – April 1, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley