Define productivity…??

One of my bloggish buddies, Enthusiastically Dawn (yes, how could I not like someone who’s name is also Dawn?!?  I wonder if she’s a morning person like me?) is an avid journalist.  No, I mean, she writes the journal on journaling.  And her journals aren’t just the five-and-dime variety, they are, themselves, works of art, that she further turns into works of art with her both her prose and poetry.  Even her blog site is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l and her Instagram feed gives us frequent vids of the ocean (ahhhhh….that soothing sound of waves….here in Missouri we get tornado sirens.)

So, what’s more inviting to a writer/poet/artist than a blank folio? (Unless, of course, you have writer’s block, which I doubt my buddy ever does, bless her!) That clean unqualified availability just pulls the pen to the page, or if it’s my almost three-year-old granddaughter, the crayon.  Or better yet, as when we moved into this old house, we knew we were going to strip the wall paper off and repaint, so guess what we let our children do with their crayons?  Don’t you think those blank walls were inviting!?!

I’m thinking this same kind of opportunity caught Jesus’ eye as well~~

“One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.  He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.  Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.”

Availability.  I can imagine that an empty, waiting boat would have been more inviting than a boat with a bunch of slippery fish in it.  This doesn’t mean totally tanking our responsibilities to clear our schedule, but it will most probably mean a severe reordering of priorities.

Of course, what happened next surprised everyone, Peter most of all.  After finishing His sermon, Jesus decides to take Peter on a little fishing trip right there, in his own boat.  Peter objects.  He’s been up all night (he’s a bit tired and hungry, hasn’t even had his morning java yet), he’s already lent this guy his boat when he’d rather be sleeping, and now he’s being told to fish waters he already “knows” is a waste of time (this is his own profession, after all.  Sheesh.  Who does this guy think he is?)

“And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear!  A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

The point is, Peter’s availability proceeded his productivity.  Of course, then his product line changed to a slightly higher order…

I guess I should be prepared for that as well.

Luke 5: 1-3,6,7  Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A treasure in the dark is still a treasure

If you haven’t seen the movie, The Monuments Men, please do.  Okay, I’m a little bit of a history buff, I love the stories behind the drama of the human experience.  But I also think it is massively valuable to understand our collective past, the sacrifice others have made to give me the life and opportunities I currently enjoy…which are many. 

So, here, in a precarious time when the military was more interested in preserving our way of life more than preserving our art, a few brave people realized that our art is, in fact, an important part of our way of life! 

The masterpieces of art went into hiding to protect them from danger, theft, and destruction.  Funny how we do the same with the “glory” that God has put within us to honor Him, to reflect Him. John Eldredge makes this very good point in his book, Waking the Dead~~those beautiful pieces of ourselves are still there, just hidden, veiled by fear, shame, misuse.  It may be in the form of a talent, a passion, or even a painful experience.  It is what God can use, and what someone else may desperately be waiting for, as well as for the benefit of the kingdom of Christ on earth.

“ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

You might want to pick up a copy of the movie, Monument’s Men, and substitute the treasures that were being rescued for your own.  Satan hasn’t destroyed them (although he tries to tell us “it’s too late”).  They’re just in hiding.  Maybe it’s time to bring them back into the Light!

2 Cor. 3:16-18    Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Do You See Branches or The Tree?

Okay, I know this isn’t a “poem” exactly. But it’s my WordPress category, and since I’m not a poet, I can plead ignorance of the genre’s definition. I love this bloggish friend, and asked her several months ago if I could put this up in December. The artist is Kara McGhee and I encourage you to go grab your smiles for free from her site:

Do You See Branches or The Tree?

And a very Merry Christmas to you all!

~~dawnlizjones

Gathering dust??

I love the Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.  My NYC artist daughter says that the collection there is considerable, and she would know.  I’m a particular fan of the antiquities section, Egypt, Rome, and all that, and Bob always likes to visit the Orientals.  Of course, part of the artwork that is preserved has to do with the culture’s endemic religious artifacts, including the stone/metal/wooden statues and idols, some little and some not so little (there’s a Buddha in the stairwell that would not even fit in my house….)

Of course, in our post-modern (whatever that is), enlightened