Sunday, December 1, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
A Pattern in Lace
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A PATTERN IN LACE
A piece of tossed string,
Flung onto a business mail envelope
That I’d just ripped inside-out.
This combo was to be the subject for a photo
Which might be transformed into some sort of artwork.
Alas, the photo turned out blurred!
Error, mistake – my whole idea a silly thing.
Ah, but a corner of the string
Did become a sort of “bling”.
Lace. Who would have guessed it?
Not woven into lace by a hand or machine,
But made through graphic manipulation,
An interesting thing!
Motif, design, deco, or whimsy, or fling:
I created a piece of designy art.
God’s work in me is like that –
Intricate, wonderful, with unexpected outcome.
Do I have such a pattern in lace, in my life?
Oh, Creator of All, to you Lord God,
A tribute of joyous praise I sing.
copyright 2013 by Marilee Miller
This post is shared with Laura Boggess, The Wellspring
Sunday, October 27, 2013
A Part of God's Family
A Part of God’s Family
She sent me a sack of red apples,
By way of her obliging son,
Beautiful shining crisp crimsons
From heavily-laden tree in her yard.
And I sent back, by her son,
Some books I’d wanted to give
For oh, so long a time, but
Just never got around to the delivery.
We hear so much these days
About the need for “being in community”.
But some of us have difficulty
Getting together physically, even one on one.
Sometimes, in our need, we cling
To our simple joy as part of the
Worldwide church, God’s family.
Letting that thought comfort us in our walk.
And then sometimes, God moves
Mysteriously, and “in community”
We are joined together in spirit and in life
By real kindness shown through a third party.
All Glory to the Lord, no matter how, or what!
Community comes in many flavors;
And we’re all a part of God’s family. Blessed thought!
(c) 2013 by Marilee Miller
This post is shared with Laura Boggess' "Playdates with God"
Monday, October 14, 2013
A Little-known Fact from US History
The Opinion Pages of the N Y Times relates a little-known incident from the US Civil War.
During the Civil War, the Northern army blockaded ports in Southern States, stopping commercial shipping. The South didn’t have the means to build large ships that could become an effective navy. So. the Rebs sent raiders to sea, scuttling or torching ships that turned out to be American, and capturing vessels and trying to bribe crews of other nations to work for the South (to be paid by the Confederates after they won the war.)
The Confederacy also secretly purchased European ships to re-outfit as warships. One little-known story concerns such a vessel that had been berthed in England. Newly converted and renamed, the Shenandoah sailed to the Bering Strait (off the coast of Alaska) under orders to destroy whaling ships that originated from New England, thus damaging the Northern economy.
Eventually the Shenandoah ended up circumnavigating the earth. However, while still at sea, the captain learned that the Civil War had ended, and General Lee had surrendered, months before the Shenandoah had destroyed 21 Union ships in the Bering Sea. The crew was guilty of “maritime piracy”.
See http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/the-secrets-of-the-shenandoah/ by Tom Chaffin
(This review of the article is by Marilee Miller)
This incident suggests to me that I need to be in constant communication with Christ, my Leader. I desire to do his will. I want to live a godly life. But it would be easy for me to think I knew what He wanted from me, and then charge ahead with my own plans. When I continually give "all of me" to Him, may He equip me to be conformed to Christ's image. Then I won't be guilty of failing to enter in to the process of becoming part of the Kingdom of God.
This post is shared with Laura Boggess, Playdates with God
During the Civil War, the Northern army blockaded ports in Southern States, stopping commercial shipping. The South didn’t have the means to build large ships that could become an effective navy. So. the Rebs sent raiders to sea, scuttling or torching ships that turned out to be American, and capturing vessels and trying to bribe crews of other nations to work for the South (to be paid by the Confederates after they won the war.)
The Confederacy also secretly purchased European ships to re-outfit as warships. One little-known story concerns such a vessel that had been berthed in England. Newly converted and renamed, the Shenandoah sailed to the Bering Strait (off the coast of Alaska) under orders to destroy whaling ships that originated from New England, thus damaging the Northern economy.
Eventually the Shenandoah ended up circumnavigating the earth. However, while still at sea, the captain learned that the Civil War had ended, and General Lee had surrendered, months before the Shenandoah had destroyed 21 Union ships in the Bering Sea. The crew was guilty of “maritime piracy”.
See http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/the-secrets-of-the-shenandoah/ by Tom Chaffin
(This review of the article is by Marilee Miller)
This incident suggests to me that I need to be in constant communication with Christ, my Leader. I desire to do his will. I want to live a godly life. But it would be easy for me to think I knew what He wanted from me, and then charge ahead with my own plans. When I continually give "all of me" to Him, may He equip me to be conformed to Christ's image. Then I won't be guilty of failing to enter in to the process of becoming part of the Kingdom of God.
This post is shared with Laura Boggess, Playdates with God
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Hidden
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HIDDEN
This is another "what is it?" photo. It was supposed to show a white cat. But she moved as I was clicking the shutter – so I captured only a mysterious bag, or amorphous blob. And the summer-sere grass isn’t lovely to look at.
Guess it’s time to play! I can’t reproduce the missing cat. However, my graphics program and my imagination can create a rock in front of a field of lavender flowers. Or a scruffy hill in storm-threat weather. Or a headland (bluff) against a vivid sky. All the hidden colors, surprisingly, emerge from the same set of shapes.
I am "hidden in Christ Jesus". I don’t always know if, or how, others see me. Maybe as not so beautiful. Maybe as a mystery? Sometimes I don’t even know who I really am! Yet how I praise God that in his eyes, I’m not an oddish bag lady or amorphous blob. I don’t even wear summer-sere! He sees my colors of faith and hope in him. And his glory both enhances my imagination, and brings out the hidden beauty in me.
"For I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day."
"I know whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that he is able, to keep that which I’ve committed unto him, against that day" [of his return, or the day when I at last behold him face to face].
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Right Choice
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Even a blah photo of a mundane tree branch holds the possibility of becoming an arresting artwork.
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I read about a 19th century British missionary who felt called to go to Africa with the intent of becoming a martyr for Christ. (Sorry, I can’t remember the man’s name.) His wife accompanied him. The account didn’t say whether she, too, believed in a call to martyrdom, or if she merely went along because it was her wifely duty.
But Africa was a rigorous mission field in those days. Alas, after their arrival and hard toil, the woman had some sort of a nervous breakdown. The missionary was compelled to return with her to London. As I recall the story, she didn’t recover her faculties.
The would-be missionary’s dream of serving the Lord “gloriously” was thwarted. When things didn’t happen just as he expected, he turned against God, spending his remaining years in bitterness.
How tragic! God allowed him a different type of martyrdom -- a chance to show forth his trust in God despite adversity.
How many lives might he have touched, had he submitted quietly and humbly to God’s course of direction! Might a gentle love for his wife have helped restore her mind? Who else might he have comforted? Who might have seen an ordinary sort of godly Christian life that was actually noble and fine?
What a shame that he settled for humiliation, when he might have acquired humility. If he “let patience have its perfect work”, perhaps his ministry where he was, in London, could have been more effective than any witness to Africans. But he chose to serve a fallen idol of self-direction. He nursed a grudge against God.
When I’m feeling low in spirits, when life seems impossible and implacable and harsh and maybe a bit hopeless, and I wish I could just go “home to Jesus” where there are no tears or heartaches or broken dreams, may I “let patience have its way”. May my brokenness and sorrow bring me closer, nearer to my Lord God. May I opt not to think of myself as a blah photo or a cast off tree branch, but as one firmly grafted in to the Tree of Life. In his time, in his way, he can make me an arresting artwork to show his glory and grace. That is the right choice for me.
images and text (c) 2013 by Marilee Miller
This post is shared with Laura Boggess, Playdates with God
Even a blah photo of a mundane tree branch holds the possibility of becoming an arresting artwork.
.
.
.
The Right Choice
I read about a 19th century British missionary who felt called to go to Africa with the intent of becoming a martyr for Christ. (Sorry, I can’t remember the man’s name.) His wife accompanied him. The account didn’t say whether she, too, believed in a call to martyrdom, or if she merely went along because it was her wifely duty.
But Africa was a rigorous mission field in those days. Alas, after their arrival and hard toil, the woman had some sort of a nervous breakdown. The missionary was compelled to return with her to London. As I recall the story, she didn’t recover her faculties.
The would-be missionary’s dream of serving the Lord “gloriously” was thwarted. When things didn’t happen just as he expected, he turned against God, spending his remaining years in bitterness.
How tragic! God allowed him a different type of martyrdom -- a chance to show forth his trust in God despite adversity.
How many lives might he have touched, had he submitted quietly and humbly to God’s course of direction! Might a gentle love for his wife have helped restore her mind? Who else might he have comforted? Who might have seen an ordinary sort of godly Christian life that was actually noble and fine?
What a shame that he settled for humiliation, when he might have acquired humility. If he “let patience have its perfect work”, perhaps his ministry where he was, in London, could have been more effective than any witness to Africans. But he chose to serve a fallen idol of self-direction. He nursed a grudge against God.
When I’m feeling low in spirits, when life seems impossible and implacable and harsh and maybe a bit hopeless, and I wish I could just go “home to Jesus” where there are no tears or heartaches or broken dreams, may I “let patience have its way”. May my brokenness and sorrow bring me closer, nearer to my Lord God. May I opt not to think of myself as a blah photo or a cast off tree branch, but as one firmly grafted in to the Tree of Life. In his time, in his way, he can make me an arresting artwork to show his glory and grace. That is the right choice for me.
images and text (c) 2013 by Marilee Miller
This post is shared with Laura Boggess, Playdates with God
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