When the Menu is Manna

                                              Falling into grace... I heard this phrase a few days ago in the lyrics of a Christian song. It caught my attention so readily that I thought about it for days. It sounded good - even musical, but what did this really mean?  Scripture is full of people who needed to do nothing short of the same. Adam and Eve messed up a perfect plan so badly by taking the word of the serpent over God's word. They found themselves naked, hiding , and frantically trying to cover themselves and their sin. Moses ran away - a long way from home for losing his temper and killing an Egyptian, Joseph's brothers, after many years, bowed before him after such ill-treatment of their brother were starving and needed food for their families,  And the woman at the well, ashamed of her past and her current living situation met Jesus, who willingly met...

                                         One of my all-time favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Gideon. Why? Mainly because I readily identify with him. Upon introduction to Gideon in Chapter 6 of Judges, initially, he seems to be the guy who sees the glass half empty rather than half full. Though he became a mighty warrior and the fifth judge of Israel, these accomplishments did not happen overnight. In this chapter, we find Gideon living in his hometown of Ophrah, a city located within the land assigned to the Israelite tribe of Manasseh. Seemingly, there was nothing extra special about him. He would not have been listed in "The Top 100 under 30 Club." He was just an ordinary citizen living in a time of extreme persecution and oppression of his people. In fact, the Bible says his clan was the least of all the tribes, and Gideon was the youngest. In this story, the Midiani...

  I n the Garden, she is still standing. Known as the Ancient One, the east wind has blown through her twisted, hollow branches, and the feel of the cool, soft breeze has rustled through her leaves for over two thousand years. The secret keeper of all who have entered the Garden, she has continually taken note of the faces that have been cast downward and the knees that have bowed under the protection of her branches. She has been a shield, a place of solace and safety for many who faced the hard decisions that life seemed to hurl at them. She has listened patiently as others have sorted out the purpose of their lives beneath her branches. For some, she has offered empathy as some have come to her Garden to do nothing short of facing their own mortality. It was no surprise the night she heard Him walking in the Garden. He had come so many times before with his disciples to escape the demanding crowds, to sit and teach them the purpose of His ministry, and to encourage them to pray....

  Sliding into the nearest available seat at the meeting that afternoon, I quickly scanned the room, looking for a familiar face. Those seated in the chairs around the big roundtable were not the faces of those I usually met with. Within a few seconds, I knew something was terribly wrong! Though I had received the email to attend, I was sure I was not supposed to be at this meeting, for it was filled with the heads of all administrative departments in the school district where I worked. I was an assistant principal, and rarely, if ever, was I invited to meetings with the leaders of the district .   Certainly , I had never been in a meeting with all of them simultaneously.  I am sure my face gave way to my panicky thoughts about how to most gracefully exit this awkward situation. Just as I was beginning to admit my mistake and try to excuse myself, someone seated directly across from me must have sensed my discomfort and embarrassment. Before I could explain why I was the...

"Well, are you going just to stand there or do something?" It was my first year of teaching, and I had learned quickly that the cafeteria was a no-talking zone for anyone. Students were expected to enter in silence, eat in the same manner, and exit without a word. So, staring at the horror on the child's face, the disapproval of my principal, and my feet surrounded by the mess on the floor, from the dropped tray, I froze. It didn't appear that either of us would experience any mercy. Sometimes, people just make life hard. It's not a new problem; it's an ancient one. Exodus chapter 5 has much to say about the perils of dealing with difficult people. In this chapter, the Israelites are enslaved people in Egypt under a Pharaoh who is quite a taskmaster and knows nothing about his slaves except that they can make many bricks every single day. Things get pretty ugly when Moses and Aaron are sent to free the Israelites from their bondage. Pharaoh had no intention o...

    Y esterday was one of "those" days. I wanted to do nothing more than to just go into hiding. In thirty minutes, I had managed to forget to put my car in park and rolled into the trailer hitch of a massive, parked truck. In addition, I nearly side-swiped an elderly gentleman who decided to exit the curb and Jay walked across an intersection, only to land almost directly in front of my moving car. Upon entering the shopping mall, this was quickly followed by the realization that I had lost my glasses somewhere between the encounter with the trailer hitch and skillfully dodging the elderly jaywalker. Emotionally, I was spent! Sitting in the mall parking lot, it had taken me no less than 10 minutes to find a parking place. I knew I would have to give it up and retrace my steps to find my glasses. Yes, it was turning into quite a day. In retrospect, the events of this less-than-perfect Saturday were nothing more than the culmination of quite a week! Shaken, I considered goin...