Friday, December 12, 2008


The Little Boy

by Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Atheism




I recently watched this video of an atheist talking about why she couldn't believe in God anymore. I was very interested, because often times people become agnostic or atheist after experiencing religion and so I'm intrigued by why or what events led them to think the way they do.

In this video, it seems to me as though this very smart and caring girl had an event happen where she had to rethink everything she believed. He brother was gay. This is such an emotional issue for anyone who has to deal with it. The homosexual themselves, their family, their friends. For all, this is an emotional topic. Some react in healthy ways, and some do not. For this woman, she thought that she had to choose: God or my brother. She chose the one who was more tangible. And I don't blame her. She chose her family. Her brother. She had a God, who in her mind doesn't accept or love her brother, and she does love him, and so she had to try to mold God into her new perspective on life, and the way her church preached God, He didn't fit that mold anymore.

Sometimes I wonder if we're all just trying to make God fit our molds. In all cases, religious or not. My thoughts on this get kind of shadowed, inconsistent and confusing the deeper I try to think about it, but I think it's worth looking at. I'm not a theologian (Though I am dating one). But I am someone who still believes in God even though my thoughts on some subjects may look different from the mainstream. I'm just wondering how much of us we put into religion, and how much is God. Can we even know? Where do we start to try to get to the heart of Jesus?

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Dec. 2nd Tuesday: Week 1 of Advent


Malachi 3:1-3 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.


God will come and refine. As I ponder on these verses my initial response was negative. My first thought was "judgment" and that left a bad taste in my mouth. But why? I have forgotten that refining, judging, is not condemning. It is taking something beautiful underneath the roughness and making it smooth. I should be humbled by God's judgment.I should welcome it. I should pray for it.

I think I have let myself become an unexamined person lately. One who isn't letting the refiner, the potter, mold me into who I am continually meant to me. I've become okay with allowing myself to be unchanged. And there is no freedom in that. Freedom is in the nothing where God changes. Where you are so close and intimate with God that He can change you. I pray that tomorrow, I am given the chance to let go, and let God mold me into the Amanda I am in His eyes.

May we praise God for His gift in Jesus Christ, and may we open our hearts and minds to refining.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Dec 1st. Monday: Week 1 of Advent.


"Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." - Matthew 11:29


I don't think I have ever read this verse before, but it really makes Jesus personal. It makes his essence and mission clear: to be gentle and humble in all interactions, both when people are watching, and when they are not. Christ came to bring the world together, and peace comes from being humble and gentle with our neighbors. We sing a song at the end of service at church that reflects this.

"Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on,
The peace that was meant to be.
To take each moment,
And live each moment,
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me."


The peace that Jesus embodies through humility and gentleness starts with me. And you. One person at a time, being peace to those around them. May we always remember the humility of Christ, and may we share in the work of that humility.

Thanksgiving Hope


Thankful. Thanksgiving.
Full of thanks. Giving thanks.
Grateful. Humbled.
I am thankful that You never give up
On this place. On these people. On me.
I am thankful for Your vision of restoration.
In the big pieces. In the small pieces.
Big Peace. Small Peace. All Peace.
All pieces. All parts.
One part. One People.
One God. In love. With a People.
In love with a potential for Peace.
A potential for people to love
Beyond the surface.
Beyond the arguments.
Beyond religion and politics.
To a love between human and human.
Reflecting a love between God and humans.
I am thankful that You never give up.