Left Behind

This has been a stressful week.  I can't even remember the days before Saturday.  We didn't get raptured that day ... not that any of us REALLY thought that was going to happen that day ... but every one of us gave it a thought or two.  You see, the guy who came up with the Judgment Day predictions was originally from Grand Rapids.

So Saturday, six o'clock came and went.  The Christians are still here, to struggle right along with the rest of humanity.

Sunday morning Mike and I went to church.  We have a new church since last August, and we like it very much, and never want to miss the chance to "hang with the saints."

We drove out I196 to Lake Michigan Drive and I took a glance to my left as we passed the downtown area, because I knew the Rob Bliss Grand Rapids LipDub was going on that morning.  You needed to gather by 9 AM to be part of the crowd.  We were at church already by 9 AM.  It was "Dispensationalism 101" Sunday.  We had a grill-out/potluck afterwards.  I brought my bff Kathy's recipe "Barbecue Beans" ... they were a big hit.  I wished the LipDub would have been not on a Sunday morning because I'd have loved to be downtown.  I really love Grand Rapids; I really love Rob Bliss's energetic community events; I really love how my little town has gotten so cultural in my adult lifetime.

Sunday afternoon there was a bad tornado in Minnesota; and we were under "watches" for tornadoes here.  There was a deadly tornado in G.R. when I was a little girl.  I've had bad dreams about tornadoes.  Before I went to bed Sunday night, I took a bunch of stuff down to the basement.  I always do that during tornado season.  I took my scrapbooks, my strong box, my jewelry box, my purse, my laptop ... this time I even took some canned goods down there, and a box of raisins, box of crackers, some silverware. There's bottled water down there left-over from my original fear-stash in the days after 9/11.

Woke up Monday morning to the images of the Missouri E-5 tornado.  And by tonight I have realized that tornadoes chew up everything and spit it on top of your head ... if you even survive ... so I brought the crackers and the raisins back upstairs.  The treasures are still in a plastic tub in the basement.  Tornado season doesn't really start in Michigan until June -- when the air here gets hotter.

Well, Tuesday night, I got a text from my almost-daughter-in-law, Amy.  (Josh and Amy are getting married on 6/25. That's my son Scott, who died 2 years ago on 6/18/09's birthday. Josh & Amy chose that date on purpose.  Amy's shower is 6/18/11.  Why? Just sayin' ... but not to them, of course.)

Anyway, the text from Amy was asking me to pray for her friend, David, whom I've never met. Amy's parents are church-building missionaries, so Amy grew up living all sorts of places, and she has friends all over the U.S.  David had been "swept away" in a river in Arkansas.  So I prayed.  And prayed.  And this 21-year-old has been in my heart and on my mind all week.

Over on Facebook, David's brother's future-mother-in-law had, by Wednesday night, created a special "page" for prayers for David and updates on the search effort.  So I've been praying, and visiting that page, multiple times each day.

Hundreds of people are praying for David.  Many of us, like myself, have never met him, but are friends or relatives of David's friends.

From Tuesday night until tonight ... constantly in our unanswered prayers, is a young man swept away in a river.  Sonar has determined, the Arkansas authorities claim, that there is no body in the river, so the family should not give up hope.  Cadaver dogs have also determined that there is no body in the river.  So last night they started searching the forest with volunteers and bloodhounds.  Everybody has been praying.  I am not used to prayers this heart-felt, humble, and fervent going unanswered!  How in the world can a person simply vanish when his whole community is searching for him day and night?

The bright spot in the week, for me, has been the YouTube release yesterday of our Grand Rapids LipDub video.  I really want to share that with everybody!

On YouTube the response has been very favorable. It was featured on several network newscasts tonight, to my surprise.  A very few YouTube comments were criticizing the "under-representation of minorities."  Well, in Grand Rapids, a LOT of people go to church on Sunday morning.  I had personally wished that the Bethel Pentecostal Choir would have been in the LipDub -- they are really cool, and mostly African-American.  Would have liked to see the Three Fires tribes in it, too. PaWaTing MeGedWin senior citizens meet twice a week at the church where I work (not the same church that I attend on Sundays).  The Three Fires Annual Pow Wow will be at Riverside Park in June ... The church I work at is quite multi-cultural; and the church I go to is, too. The happy, clean-cut faces of several races that you'll see in this video are mostly people who either don't go to church at all, or who played hooky for the Rob Bliss event.  Grand Rapids is a cool city.  I love living here.  I love going downtown. I hope you will enjoy the video I post in the comments (because I can't post it in the body of this blog).

Hey! I actually wrote a BLOG!

Random Thoughts

Well, it is Purim.  This is a fact I discovered on my Yahoo home page.  Purim is number 8 at the moment in Yahoo's category called "Trending Now."  Number 1 is Chile Earthquake.  Number 2 is Tsunami.  Purim is a Jewish festival, having to do with the Biblical book of Esther.  That is my first random thought.

The second random thought is that nowadays I have to watch my typing more than what I used to.  In days gone by, my fingers knew if they had made a typographical error.  Nowadays I have to use my eyes.  Why this is, I do not know.  I began to notice this new deficiency after Scooter died.  What the one has to do with the other, I cannot guess.

The third is that I have "1 Friend Online" ... and by that I mean on Multiply.  If I were to flip over to my MySpace page I would likely find a friend or two online there also.  And on Facebook it would not surprise me to find quite a few still online at this late hour (the time being 1:05 a.m. Eastern Standard).

Hmmm, I need a 4th Random Thought.  This is not randomly thought about - I am constantly aware of this fact - I do not communicate so very well verbally anymore.  I can often not think of a thing to say to anybody.  My random thoughts are so empty (if empty is, indeed, the proper word) that I am at a loss for much beyond hello.  This phenomena is also since my Scooter died.

Nevertheless: most people do not notice, because I have always been relatively quiet, socially.  And furthermore, I am a relatively high-functioning airhead.  At the moment my verbosity is being enhanced by 2 or 3 ounces of Mogen David Concord Wine (Kosher, alcohol 11% by volume ... oh my, I am such a lush!)  Said wine is intended to put me to sleep, and make me quit thinking about Scott's funeral bill. And yet the thing that I had to write myself a note about, so that I will not FORGET is to tell the funeral home (either voluntarily, or only if they call again ... depending on which thing I later decide would be most appropriate) that SOMEBODY killed Scott with a motor vehicle and that when the police figure out WHO, their auto insurance should pay Scott's final expenses.  (Did you know it costs over $4,000 to drive a hearse 50 miles to pick up a body and then deliver it to a donated grave?)  The funeral was supposed to be billed to Scott's estate.  I am not the executor of Scott's estate.  I was Scott's estranged adoptive mother at the time of his death.  And I am a compliant person.  The medical examiner told me I had to tell them what to do with Scott's body.  My pastor worked something out with a local funeral home.  Scott's ex-girlfriend was going to handle his estate.  She absconded or something.  Sigh.  If you want to know the truth, I was expecting a living prodigal son to come home and say, "Mom! I've missed you!"  Death was never my honest expectation.  Sigh.

Random thought 5: youngest son told me tonight to give $33 from him to church for his tithe this week.  So I went to mybank.com to transfer $33 from his account to mine, and dang if mybank didn't insist this time that I fill out their "enhanced security questions."

And that is something I have ALWAYS been incompetent at doing.  Online security questions always want to know your favorite this or that.  I have never, to my knowledge, had favorite this or thats!  So first I have to try to figure out what a reasonable answer would be, and then I have to worry forever that I will not remember what my answer was.  So of course I have to write down my answers.  And then, of course, I will need to remember where I put the list of answers.  For which if I were truly to act in character I would make a file entitled "Answers to Security Questions," which, of course, defeats the purpose of security questions.

And I feel inept, when really I am not inept in the slightest; yet I wonder if anybody else on earth finds answering simple security questions challenging.

I recall at a job once-upon-a-time, my boss wanted to hand out plastic bracelets to put your office key on.  She came to me, not telling me her true purpose, but only said, "Rani, what is your favorite color?"  (Holy crap!!!! I DON'T KNOW!)  "Favorite color for WHAT?" I said.

Back when security questions amounted to "What is your mother's maiden name," I was challenged even by that question.  My mother's father died when she was 3.  So she has gone by 2 last names, both of which I know about.  And I have answered that question 2 different ways over the years.

And as to what color was my first car (this year's security question number 2 of 3) well, it had an exotic name (which I can remember, even 30 years after the fact) and of course it has a generic color name.  I gave the generic color name as my reply to the bank's security question.  Will I be sure to remember that someday (say in 2525) when my bank doubts my true identity?  Probably not.  I will have to answer, "Uh, it is either 'exotic-name' or 'plain vanilla name.' "

The only security question I knew the definitive answer to was "In what year did you meet your significant other?"  At last! A question that requires knowledge of a FACT, not an opinion!  I KNEW the answer to that one!  (But then, so does everybody else who actually knows me, I think.  Well, hopefully, those who would wish to steal my airheaded identity are people who do NOT know me.)

I should probably rephrase the airheaded descriptor.  People do not generally consider me airheaded.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being airhead and 10 being geek, I am probably scored by those who know me as 11.

What I am, according to my husband, is, well, literal.  (Is that a fault?  I try to say what I mean, and I anticipate others doing so as well.  Except for when I am trying to tease somewhat, because people like to tease somewhat, and even I can do so once a month or so.  Well maybe it is only 4 times a year.  But hey! I can make people laugh with my wee jokes.  4 times a year, anyway.)

Random thought #6:  The Mogen David is working!  I think that I shall go to sleep if I try again now.

Random thought #7:  With only 2 friends online, it is not likely I will get much feedback from my random thoughts tonight.  Oh well.  It is Purim.  There's an awful lot of grace in Purim, even though Esther never mentions God.  Funny how that works, eh?  Oh, BTW, the photo attached to this blog is Scooter, in his teens.  When he was still my son.  He left home to go to his homecoming dance when he was a junior in high school, and never did come home until he died, at the age of 31.  Prodigals, beware.

Repost from Facebook

"Before the throne of God above I have one strong & perfect plea. A great High Priest whose name is Love; who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on his hands; my name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands no tongue can bid me thence depart."

The Words My Mama Taught Me and The Songs My Grandma Sang

Music is an outstanding gift of God and next to theology ... I would not give up my slight knowledge of music for a great consideration ... and youth should be taught this art ... for it makes fine skillful people ... I would certainly like to praise music with all my heart as the excellent gift of God which it is and to commend it to everyone.

-- Martin Luther

I woke up this morning to the music in my memory:

My mommy told me something
A little girl should know
It's all about the devil and I've learned to hate him so
He'll only give you trouble if you let him in the room
He will never, ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom, so:

Let the sun shine in
Face it with a grin
Smilers never lose
And frowners never win

So let the sun shine in
Face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in

Does anybody else know this to be the first verse to Rock-a-bye Baby? --

Rock a bye baby, your cradle is green
Daddy's a nobleman, Mommy's a queen
Sister's a young lady who wears a gold ring
And Johnny's a drummer who drums for the king

Rock a bye baby
In the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all

In adulthood, I heard that some think that cradle falls and crashes to the ground, injuring or killing the baby ... but by the time I heard that interpretation it was too late to stick that ugly picture in my memory because I already saw it floating gently to the softest of landings on the notes my grandma sang to me as she rocked me in her arms.

Remember to sing to your children

Have a joyful day, my friends!

Genealogy/Humanity

Here's what I've got to say:

Every man, woman, and child alive today "found grace in the eyes of the LORD" in our 95th great-grandfather, Noah.

And Christ died for ALL of us.

See Genesis chapter 6

See the New Testament

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another"  Romans 14:19 KJV

We are ALL cousins.  Be good to your family.

Rani Kaye

Does it rhyme with my catechism?

"A Christian, you see, has to learn that the devil can quote the truth and extol God's Word just as well as pious Christians.  Whoever does not learn this is easily deceived and led astray, and then it is all over with him.  For the person who allows himself to be fooled by sheep's clothing, him the wolf tears to pieces.  That is why we need to say, I want gladly to hear God's Word and the truth; but before I rely too much on what I hear, I want to see whether it rhymes with my catechism and the preaching I have heard up till now.

"The person, therefore, who is on his toes and not naively gullible, but searches the Word, that person has no problem.  But the person who is lackadaisical about his catechism and the doctrine he has previously learned, with ears only for every whimsical fanatic, that person is done for."  -- Martin Luther, from his sermon on Matt 7:15-23, 1533 AD, p.347 of Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 6

Glory

"As I have frequently advised, Christian and true theology does not present God to us in His majesty, as Moses and other doctrines do, nor does it command us to pry into the nature of God; but it orders us to acknowledge His will as set forth in Christ.  It was God's will that Christ should assume flesh, should be born and suffer death for our sins, and that this should be preached among all peoples ... Therefore, if you are dealing with the doctrine of justification and arguing about finding the God who justifies and accepts sinners, about where and how you should look for Him, then know of absolutely no God outside this man, Jesus Christ.  Him you should embrace, to Him you should cling with all your heart, stopping your speculation about His majesty.  For he who would pry into the majesty of God is overcome by His glory.  I speak from experience and know what I am saying."  -- Martin Luther, What Luther Says, #4389

"The theology which is speculative, which forgetting itself, soars upward into matters divine, is looking for the fall of Satan -- and finds it, too."
 -- ibid, #4401

A Better Definition

"What is Christianity?  Christianity is the life and salvation God has given in and through Jesus Christ."  -- Martin Luther, Explanation of the Small Catechism

Good to talk about

"To occupy oneself with God's Word, talking about it and thinking about it, is also a most tremendous help against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thought.  Psalm 1:2 calls those blessed who meditate on the Law of the Lord day and night."

-- Martin Luther, 1530 Preface to the Large Catechism

Communion

"Finally, why do you wish to go to the Sacrament?  That I may learn to believe that Christ, out of great love, died for my sin, and also learn from Him to love God and my neighbor."

-- Martin Luther, Christian Questions and Their Answers

Understanding

"What is the key to the correct understanding of the Bible?  Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, is the heart and center of Scripture and therefore the key to its true meaning."

"What basic distinction must we keep in mind in order to understand the Bible?  We must sharply distinguish between the Law and the Gospel in the Bible."

"What does God teach and do in the Gospel?  In the Gospel, the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ, God gives forgiveness, faith, life, and the power to please him with good works."

-- Martin Luther, Explanation of the Small Catechism

Know This

"Therefore if Christ appear in the likeness of an angry judge, or of a lawgiver, that requireth a strict account of our life past, then let us assure ourselves that it is not Christ, but a raging fiend.  For Scripture setteth forth Christ to be our reconciliation, our advocate, our comforter.  Such a one He ever is, and ever shall be.  He cannot be unlike Himself."

-- Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians, Ch. 5, v. 2