What Scumbags

"There is absolutely nothing in us that should cause God to forgive."

What do you think of that? It's a sentence from the new Lutheran Catechesis -- Catechist Edition, as Pastor Bender discusses Psalm 130. We might think that sentence is a downer. But it's not!!! It is good news!

If there is nothing in me that causes God to forgive, if all His forgiveness comes because of His decision, His will, His suffering, His promise, His plan, His love, His mercy, then ... well, think what that means. I don't chase Him off because of my failings. I don't undo His promise because I was weak yet again. I don't have to worry that I didn't do enough to stay in His good graces. Because it's all GRACE.

Nothing --nothing nothing nothing-- in me to make God be favorable to me. But He still is.

Gosh, that's worth some Tigger-ish bouncing and a HappyDance of Joy!

Lutheran Catechesis -- Catechist Edition

We finished our work two weeks ago. The manuscript was delivered to the printer/binder; they've told us when they'll have the book ready. If you'd like to pre-order, click here.

I loved reading the new material!!!!!




Those who are interested in reading about Christian vocation will find the section on the Table of Duties helpful. Also, the paragraphs on "Bible Verses for Meditation" persistently and sweetly remind us of what Christ has done, and that it is His work alone (through the Word!!) that draws us to Him and keeps us.

Thriving in the 21st Century

Barbara Frank has a new book out. It's about the economic changes in the last couple of decades and what impact that has on our families and how we raise our children. Check out the website for some interesting reading!

Curly-Fry Light Bulbs

Those new, expensive, "energy efficient" light bulbs seem to burn out much faster than the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. Someone recently explained to me that fluorescent bulbs use a lot more energy when turned off & on than when they stay on. Well, how does that work in a house? It might work fine in a school or a factory or a place of business, where the lights are on all day. But in a home, where you move from the living room to the kitchen, run out to the garage for a minute, go to the laundry room to change a load every 50 minutes, etc?? No wonder my curly-fry light bulbs need to be replaced every 5 months instead of the incandescents' every year (or, as the package for the curly-fry bulbs proclaims, every 5 years).

I was in the room when a curly-fry bulb burned out the other day. Puff of smoke and a sizzle sound. Ick! Makes me scared to leave the bulbs on, unattended.

Why can't we keep our old-fashioned light bulbs that don't pollute with mercury, that don't give people migraines, that don't burn out so fast, that cost less? Congress was short-sighted when they passed the law which put so many restrictions on energy usage that they virtually outlawed the future sales of incandescent bulbs.

Guess what? HR 91 has been introduced which will repeal the law. Call your Congressman. Save our normal light bulbs from extinction.

Taking Away the Idols

In Exodus and Deuteronomy, the first commandment says, "You shall have no other gods before Me." What we recite is shorter, though: "You shall have no other gods." After all, God did not mean that it's okay to have other gods, but, well, y'know, He wants to be in first place ahead of the others.

And yet ...

He does let us keep our other gods. Over the course of a lifetime, He takes away one god after another. Sometimes those gods go toppling in a hurry: when there's a financial disaster, or a diagnosis of a deadly disease, or the death of one who is especially dear to us. Or maybe those gods aren't toppled easily. Maybe we simply become aware of our idolatry and confess it and beg forgiveness, unable to free ourselves. Sometimes the true God goes slowly and gently, unwilling to free us of our idols so quickly that we are unable to stand. (Think of Job's wife who advised him to curse God and die.)

It is amazing that, even in something so fatal as idolatry, God's love for us is paramount. He saves us from our idols. But He does it in a time and a manner that is good for us -- not in a way that focuses on His due place as king.

Matthew 6:25

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

The question that Matthew answers here is answered succinctly by John: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."

Be Kind to Your Teller

Sometimes clerks make mistakes. They may give you 15 cents too much change, or a penny too little. If the customer is shorted, he may think it's no big deal if he ends up with 20 cents too little. "Ah, why bother fussing over that?" He may think that he doesn't want to look like a cheapskate by complaining about getting $4.91 in change instead of $4.92.

But from the teller's perspective, she'd a lot rather have you point out the mistake so that she can keep her drawer in balance. Yup. (Guess who had a customer leave too quickly today?)

Bowing Down

Remember Joseph's dreams about how his family would bow down to him? It ticked off his brothers, and they decided to get rid of him. But, sure enough, the day eventually arrived when they were bowing down to Pharaoh's second-in-command.

About 17 years later, Jacob is blessing his sons before his death. He says to Judah, "Your father's children shall bow down before you" (Genesis 49:8). Wait, wasn't that the same prophecy as had been made about Joseph?




At the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow,
in heaven,
and on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.

Lutheran Memorial Chapel

A video about a friend's congregation and theology. Mom, I thought you might like to see Ken. Our godson Mark is the second person seen after the organist talks about working with the other instrumentalists.

When Isaac Died

In our Bible story today (Genesis 46), Jacob traveled to Egypt and met the pharaoh. He said he was pretty young -- only 130 -- not nearly as old as his forefathers lived to be. This is probably tremendously unimportant, but I got to wondering about the math.

Isaac's twins were born when he was 60. He lived to be 180. That means Jacob was 120 when his dad died. That means Isaac died 10 years before the children of Israel went to live in Goshen. Since Simeon spent two years in jail before Jacob allowed the fellows to return to Egypt with Benjamin, and since there were seven years of plenty before the famine, and since Joseph spent two years in prison prior to the butler remembering about his ability to tell dreams, that means Isaac died sometime after Joseph had interpreted the dreams for the butler and the baker.

That means Isaac was still alive when Joseph disappeared and while impenitence was reigning in the brothers' hearts. (I never noticed that before because the sequence of the stories is not chronological: the Bible wraps up Isaac's life-story before delving into Joseph's.)

Free at Last!

The book is in the mail to the publisher!

Saturday morning, before heading off to work, I finished all my proofreading and editing. I couldn't believe how buoyant and free I felt. Saturday afternoon I did a lot of goofing off: chatting with online friends, paying bills, reading email, doing laundry, writing emails, and making a small dent in the long-neglected cleaning. Invigorating!

Funny how the mundane chores of life can be so refreshing and satisfying after focusing on something else for so long. As of breakfast time on Saturday, I was no longer car shopping, my kid was finally healthy, and the book (which had been hanging over our heads for four years) was no longer anything I was responsible to work on. I keep having this feeling that pretty soon something is going to explode into sucking all our attention, but for the moment, I am on a hiatus of house work and grocery shopping, with plans to get back to some "real schoolwork" right quick. And I'm loving it.

Filthy Lucre

You know it's been a slow day on the teller line when you wash your hands at lunch break and the water isn't black.

Teachers Should Be Able to Spell

Teachers and other protesters have descended upon Madison. ABC News ran a story with interviews and video of the crowds. One sign (in very neat handwriting) declared

Teacher's Rights

Arrrrrrgggghhhh!!! This is supposed to make us proud of the job our teachers do? On top of that, ABC chose to give that sign exposure on-air.



Oh, maybe I shouldn't be such a fussy....

Feminism Explained

A five-minute video that pretty much sums up the logic of feminism. In places, it's a hoot (but only if you can laugh at some stuff that's ultimately sad for the country).

Joseph Tests His Brothers

We've recently been in the Joseph stories from the end of Genesis. Joseph "tested" his brothers. I never quite understood what that meant. What did he want from them -- to prove they were finally being honest? Or what?

Pastor pointed out something in chapel that I'd never considered. Joseph did not know what had happened to the family in his absence. We know the story because we've read the end of the book. But Joseph didn't know. Last he knew, his brothers wanted him dead and consented to "merely" sell him into slavery.

When they show up in Egypt and bow before the prince, Joseph asks them about their father and if they have any more brothers. They told him. They told him the truth. But he didn't know whether it was true. He didn't know whether they'd killed Benjamin. (After all, killing Benjamin would be a reasonable next step for them as they eliminated Dad's favorites.)

And so Joseph learns eventually that, yes, they are telling the truth, and yes, they show no jealousy when Benjamin gets treated better than the rest of them, and YES, they do what they can (Judah even offering himself in Benjamin's place) so ensure that Benjamin might be free and go back to his father.

Pastor also pointed out that, as the story progressed, the brothers came to realize that they were very exposed. It was like they had no secrets from this prince. It was like God had found them out and was showing them their sin. When they realized they could not hide anything, they were broken and contrite. And that's what Joseph desired, so that he might shower love and mercy on them and not have it be rejected.

Back When I Was Young

Back when I was young, you had to lick the postage stamps.

Remember when they first came out with the peel-n-press stamps, and you had to pay extra for them? Maggie doesn't remember. She was reading a comic book today and wanted to know why anybody would lick a stamp.

Maybe this explains why stickers were such a big deal with I was little. It was always a treat to be the one who took possession of the Chiquita sticker off the bunch of bananas. When else did you see a sticker???

XO XO XO

My aunt sent Maggie a cheer-up package a few days ago: some of those fun Valentiney socks. So the sick (but improving) kid shows me her present, and the first thing I notice is "ox."

"Ox?? Why did Aunt Sue send you ox-socks?"



Oh.
The socks with the little candy-hearts-with-messages were upside-down.

Moo.

Kids' Bank Accounts

With grandparents living long distances from their grandkids, grandmas often mail checks for birthday presents and Valentine presents and Christmas presents, made out to the child. I can't remember what we used to do with those; I do remember having little kids scratch out their name to endorse checks. But what happens to kids who can't even begin to write their name?

It's hard to be the teller when someone comes in with a check made out to Someone Else. "But it's my kid's check. He's too little to sign his name." That may be, but when you come into the bank without the kid, and have no evidence for me that this isn't a check that belongs to your adult neighbor (think what happens when Mom kept her maiden name and Kid's name has no relation to Mom's), please be patient when the teller is hesitant to hand over cash to you.

Most banks offer great deals for kids to have savings accounts. They often waive the fees and the minimum balance. It's not that hard to get the kid his own bank account, with one of the parents as custodian or co-owner. That gives you a place to deposit those gift checks without putting the bank in a precarious situation, and you can even withdraw the funds after the check clears.

You Know You're Old When ...

you're talking with your co-worker about enjoying history. She agrees. She tells you that they didn't learn enough history in school. She tells you that she has been watching a mini-series documentary on the Kennedy family, and she's been loving it, and why didn't they teach her any of this in school?

And I'm thinking, they didn't teach it to me in school either. A lot of it hadn't happened yet ....

Correction

I don't like to be wrong. I don't like to be corrected. I suspect nobody does.

So maybe I get just a bit annoyed when I try to "do the right thing" so that I can avoid being corrected ... and still screw up ... and run afoul of somebody. And then I get corrected anyhow. Dang it! I wanted to avoid that whole scene. When I ask questions in hopes of doing the job right, in hopes of not being annoying, I may be told, "So, what's the problem? Why not just be corrected? Chill out. Who cares if you botched it?" Uh ... I care. That's who.

But sometimes I understand that mindset much better because I'm on the other end of the correcting. When I have to correct someone else, I just want to throw up my hands in frustration when the response is "Well, I'll just go away then" or "I'll never say anything because I don't know what is okay to say and what is offensive." It doesn't make you a bad person when someone has to say, "Please stop that." It doesn't mean a child is less loved by the parents if the parents must issue a correction. It doesn't mean an employee is in hot water if the boss gives a clearer set of instructions (which may include corrections). When God chastises, it is because He loves, not because He's ticked. Honestly now, we don't really think it would be better for the person in charge to refrain from correcting someone; do we?

Is it really that demeaning for someone to say, "That behavior is going to result in a problem"?