The Chronicles of Janie

source My current thoughts about luxury began to come to me when one of the Dondo missionaries offered me Coca-Cola. "Do you want some Coke?" He asked, And I said,"yes", even though I don't like the taste of Coke. But it is a somewhat hard-to-get variety of soda, and it was served over ice, in a glass that I wouldn't have to wash afterward. It was a symbol of luxury, and I took it and savored it as such. Luxury is such a funny thing. When you have it, you don't care about it. But when you tip your world sidewise and get spilled out into the unfamiliar, you relish each item of luxury - and its' accompanying illusion of control - to the very fullest. You know the luxury won't last...in fact, you wouldn't even want it to, because then you'd be used to it and it wouldn't be special any more. You know that the control isn't real...and you're glad of that, too, because you've long ago realized that life doesn'...

Links to parts 1 & 2 HERE   Psalm 24: 4-6 Exodus 29: 4-9 & 19-21 Matthew Henry Commentary on Psalm 24: 3-6 (Section 2) [Christ] loves us, and by his sacrificial death he has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father. Revelation 1: 5-6 The hands lifted up in prayer must be pure hands, no blot of unjust gain cleaving to them, nor any thing else that defiles the man and is offensive to the holy God. 1   It is often easy to lose sight of the true calling of Christianity. The calling to be the unique people: the lights in the dark, the cities on the hilltops, the living sacrifices. Perfect, as Christ is perfect. The blood-covered priests pointing the way to the Savior Messiah. A calling that is more easily typed than lived. I have only to hold my daily actions up against the mirror of the Psalm for my sinfulness to come out in ugly relief. Pure in act and thought? Never allowing distractions to come between me ...

Go HERE for for Part 1 Psalm 24: 3 Exodus 33: 14-23 Matthew Henry Commentary on Psalm 24:3-6 (Section 1) Matthew Henry Commentary on Exodus 33: 12-23 (Section 2) God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.  1 Timothy 6: 15-16 I have little concept of the awe and terror of holiness. In my world, there is a lot of talk about 'boldly approaching the throne of grace' 1 , or everyone's favorite; crying 'Abba, Father  2 .' But in the time when David penned this psalm, the stories of holiness were terrifying: pillars of cloud and fire, Nadab and Abihu being struck dead for offering 'strange fire' to the Lord  3 , arduous rules and careful observances to avoid falling under the judgment of God's unwavering righteousness. David, himself, would doubtless h...

Psalm 24:1-2 Genesis 1 - 2:4 Matthew Henry Commentary on Genesis 1 Matthew Henry Commentary on Psalm 24: 1-2 Ever since God created the world, His invisible qualities, both His eternal power and His divine nature have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. Romans 1:20 Creation may well be the most apt example of 'a labor of love'. According to the Psalm, God 'built' the earth on the deep waters and 'laid' its foundations. This poetic imagery expresses the care with which God created the earth. It was no slapdash affair, no throwing together of stars and water and soil. It was thoughtfully and carefully planned and meticulously executed. It is an example of the patient and orderly way in which God works.  I think of the created order as an enormous signpost, pointing all those who have the eyes to see toward the very nature and being of God. 'See!' The galaxies shout. 'See the power of the One who spo...

I recently read a short story that brought a lump to my throat and tears stinging at the back of my eyes. And I  loved  it. I love art that makes me cry. Which, at first glance, is weird, because I actually hate crying.  I generally resist the shedding of tears if I'm possibly able to do so. I avoid situations where I might be tempted to cry. But if your art brings me to tears, I will gather it to myself in a loving embrace and hawk it shamelessly to all of my friends and relations and remoter cousins to the ninth degree... READ MORE

You can find Part II and a link to Part I HERE.  Jon, Carla and I are always teasing each other about our different personalities (okay, well, actually it's mostly just Jon and I because that's how we roll). Anyway, they're both visionaries with huge plans and projects and about ten different things going on at once. They're always working on something. Apparently, this makes them happy. I, on the other hand, tend to reason that, well, everyone got fed and there isn't an emergency, so I'm going to sit by the window and write something. I can, and do, work quite hard, but I have absolutely no objection to knocking off work to drink tea and chat. I stop to admire sunsets and write poetry. I am not exactly a driven person.  I think rest is very important, especially if, like me, you've stepped out of your little introvert comfort zone and into a challenging environment. What I've had to learn is how to maximize my rest times, and how to work around ...