The Happiness of Pursuit

Many of us long ago attended some class in civics or American government and learned that Thomas Jefferson penned a statement in the Declaration of Independence which has since become famous. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Note that this document does not guarantee to this country’s citizens their personal happiness, but only recognizes that we have the right to pursue it.

Many people have geared their whole life toward attaining happiness. It is elusive, particularly when that is what a person is seeking. It tends, rather than the end of one’s search, to be the by-product of some other mind-set. It follows after purpose, creativity, self-giving, achievement, and similar outgoing activities.

The other day I came across a book titled, The Happiness of Pursuit. Ah, I thought, that is it. Instead of a search centered on one’s own satisfaction, happiness comes to us while we pursue a better goal. While there are numerous things the Bible tells us to seek, it specifically mentions one goal worthy of our pursuit. “Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14, and quoted by the apostle in I Peter 3:11)

If we would be happy, it’s the journey that counts!

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

“I Feel” ≠ “I Am”

"You talkin' to me?"

On Monday morning after the weekend change to Daylight Saving Time, I felt like not going to work. I felt that I had not rested enough. I felt cross, grumpy, out of sorts.



I told myself, “But you do not have to act out what you feel. You do not have to think, 'I am cross, I am grumpy, I am out of sorts!' “ And you know what? After another cup of coffee and telling my co-workers good morning with our accustomed cheer, I didn't feel so cross and grumpy and out of sorts.

Lesson learned: I do not have to give to my feelings the authority to regulate what I am!

MaryMartha
 
 

Things Mama Taught Me: "Add Just Enough . . . "

I'm sure many of you had a mother—or grandmother—who reigned in the kitchen without using a cookbook. Familiar food dishes were prepared without referring to any recipe; the cook just put things together in her own time-honored way and it seemed always to turn out splendidly!

I wanted to learn how to make pie crust like my Mom made, pliable enough to be pressed into high fluted edges, baking up crisp but tender and flakey. Okay, I had lard (a permitted ingredient in those days!), flour, and salt. "Now add cold water a little bit at a time until it feels right."

Can I help it if your mouth is watering?

Until it feels right? How was a beginning pie-maker to know when it felt right? I never did learn. To this day I rely on refrigerated crusts or resort to making a crumb one and pretend that's what the recipe called for!

"Just enough." It's not only in making pie crust that we have not learned very well what that means. Many aspects of our American culture rely for success on our penchant for excess. We drive cars with far too much horsepower, we eat restaurant meals that would feed several people, we trade in electronic gadgets that work just fine for bigger ones with more capabilities than we know how to use, we have closets full of clothes and shoes we never wear. We hardly ever feel we have "enough."

Books, articles in magazines, and items on the Internet give lots of ideas about making it through the continuing economic downturn. The one that appealed to me as the wisest was this: Be satisfied with less.

Learning to be content is not a new idea. The Apostle Paul tells us, in his letter to the church at Philippi, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (4:12, 13) While we often quote, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," this Scripture applies most directly to being content, learning to be happy with much or little, knowing what it just enough.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Better Than Diamonds

Someone asked me the other day if I had special plans for Valentine's Day this weekend. When I replied that I did not, she said, "Me neither. I don't need candy, and I don't need flowers, and I don't think anyone is going to be giving me diamonds!"

Although I like candy and flowers and would welcome any given to me, I already have something better than diamonds! "God's Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds." (Psalm 19:10 MSG)


♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds can be lost or stolen; they can chip or break; they can burn. Mary of Bethany, hanging on the words Jesus spoke, found something which He declared could not be taken from her. The Word of God, hidden in our hearts and practiced in our lives, is indestructible. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:35 NIV)

♦ Better than diamonds because most, if not all, diamonds are imperfect. "The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7 NLT) To be sure, our understanding of God's instructions is imperfect, but we can rely on the fact that there is unchanging, ultimate Truth and that one day we will see it as it really is. "Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless." (I Corinthians 13:9, 10 NLT)

♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds don't change lives. Countless thousands who believe the Word of God could testify to the difference that faith has made in them. It is not to mere improvement that they would bear witness, but radical life-change. The Word showed the way to freedom in Jesus Christ, brought hope and peace in their times of difficulty, and provided guidance when their way was uncertain.

♦ Better than diamonds because diamonds, contrary to the famous DeBeers ads, are not forever. Twelve precious stones are set into the twelve foundations of the heavenly city; a diamond is not mentioned. That does not mean it couldn't be there, for the identification of some of the stones is uncertain. Whatever the case, any heavenly diamonds are not going to be the same ones that are set in tokens of our earthly loves—rings and bracelets and tiaras. All of these, as precious as they are to us, are worthless baubles when compared to the eternal beauty of the Living Word, ''who being the brightness of [God's] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3 NKJV)

God's Word is better than a diamond! I'm pretty happy even if there's no candy or flowers!

MaryMartha

Scripture marked MSG is taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Santa Claus and the Like

One of my blogging friends has expressed some regret that she led her children to believe in Santa Claus because now she considers that she lied to them. I wrote in reply, "When I was growing up, we loved Santa Claus, knowing he was in the same category as other fun things like rabbits who talk (in Peter Cottontail) and the "dish fairy" who surprised my Mom when she got home and found that somehow—almost by magic—the dishes had been washed and dried. "Oh, the dish fairy has been here!" she would exclaim with delight, and I would just giggle because I knew who the "dish fairy" was! We didn't feel anyone lied to us about Santa Claus, but enjoyed the pretending, understanding that it was just that."

Maybe Santa Claus—even pretending—is not part of your Christmas. Or there may be some readers who do not celebrate Christmas at all. I respect our differences, so if you wish, just ignore the remainder of this post. I want to quote a long-lasting bit of tradition. Over a hundred years ago, little Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the editor of New York's Sun:

Dear Editor: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, "If you see it in THE SUN it's so."
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

The response was printed on September 21, 1897, the work of newsman Francis Pharcellus Church, and has since become the most reprinted newspaper editorial ever, appearing in part or its entirety in dozen of languages in books, movies, other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

I am not sure the eight-year-old could understand the literate, abstract reply. But we can. " . . .Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were not Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias . . . "

That is echoed in a recent article published in the "Parade" supplement to many Sunday newspapers. Popular author Alexander McCall Smith wrote that there are times when we need to pretend to believe in things that we actually know not to be true. The world is often a place of suffering and difficulty, and justice and kindness and love do not always prevail against these hard realities. "Myths help us to get by," he says. So don't be embarrassed if you want to "believe" in Santa. He stands for kindness and generosity and goodwill, and these things will continue to be alive as long as we believe in them.

MaryMartha

Interesting reading alert!
A copy of the Sun editorial is located at http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

Smith's article is at http://www.parade.com/news/2009/12/13-why-we-should-believe-in-santa-claus.html

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Joys of the Season

Certainly, the most important aspect of the Christmas season is the celebration of Christ's coming to earth. No ordinary birthday, this! And therefore, no ordinary celebration.

I love the music of Christmas. Much of the time while I am at home during December, I am listening—soft instrumental music if I am working at the computer or reading, traditional renditions of both religious and popular music if I am more actively listening while I eat or do the laundry or the dishes. I anticipate attending some special presentations of music too; it has become tradition to see "The Nutcracker" ballet.

I love the lights of Christmas—the lights on my own tree, the lights on the houses up and down the street where I live, the lighted decorations on our downtown streets, the special displays by various organizations.

I love the cards and notes from friends at Christmas; it warms the heart to be remembered. Some of us correspond only once a year, but it is sweet to know that even when we do not write or call, we are still friends across the miles and pray for each others' happiness.

I love the general feeling of goodwill at Christmas. This isn't true everywhere, of course; if one gets caught in a crush of cross shoppers at the mall, he/she may not be at all convinced about the message of peace on earth! But on the whole, people are generous to others in ways they may not be throughout the year. (They do fill those Salvation Army buckets, after all!)

I love Christmas worship—especially the Christmas Eve candlelight service. It is an especially holy time, full of gratitude for so great a gift as God gave us.

I feel really sorry for those individuals who say, "Christmas? Bah! Humbug!"

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

A Thankful Heart

It's too bad that many people stop to give thanks only on the designated Thanksgiving Day—if even then, since many have reduced the occasion to "Turkey Day"! There is now a considerable amount of scientific evidence to support the idea that gratitude has a beneficial effect on our bodies and our minds. According to the research, we'd be happier and probably healthier if we were more grateful! Among the books written on the findings are:

The Psychology of Gratitude (Series in Affective Science), Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough, eds.

Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You by Deborah Norville

Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons
(Note: I am not familiar with all the writings of these authors, but am aware of their work; I'm neither recommending nor dismissing.)

There are many, many more books— specifically Christian books, journals, volumes of poetry, and inspirational books both "heavy" and light, self-help and popular psychology books, even cookbooks!

Of course, God knew all about the benefits of thankfulness before any of the researchers. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6, 7) "A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones." (Proverbs 15:30) Whoever said we have to wait for someone else to give us a cheerful look or good news? We are able to make our own!

"Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise."
~George Herbert (1593-1633), a Welsh poet, member of
     parliament, and parish priest.

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Things Mama Taught Me: Air Out Your Soul

My mother believed in soul-care long before people were talking very much about the concept. She regularly engaged in activities which she declared "aired out her soul." When we lived in the country, she rode one of the horses. She sang loudly while she washed milk cans in the dairy barn. She played hymns on the old upright piano. These things pushed aside whatever difficulties were pressing in that day and brought fresh courage. They kept her soul from becoming stale. They aired it out!

I don't often think about them airing my soul, but I too seek restorative activities:

* Being where there are lots of trees and an expanse of green grass is refreshing for me; if there's a stream or lake, so much the better.

* Looking up into a star-filled sky at night, if I can get away from the city lights, is quieting.

* Taking prayerful and meditative walks restores my soul. I don't have Nickie any longer, the terrier of undetermined heritage, but the long walks on which she took me were good for both of us! I hope some day to repeat that particular exercise.

* Getting my hands into the dirt to make something grow causes my inner growth too.

* Playing the piano is very relaxing, as long as I never do it for anyone but myself! So is singing in the shower and while fixing breakfast. ("Sing like no one's listening!")

Discover for yourself what airs out your own soul. Do it often.

MaryMartha

Don't Be Too Happy!

A young man ecstatically declared to me recently, "I'm in love!" And sure enough, he glowed. (Do men glow? I'm not sure. But he was quite obviously enraptured by something out of the ordinary!) He went on, "What can I say? I want to sing something from Rodgers and Hammerstein! I'm so happy!" And then he added, sort of apologetically, "I know it won't last, but . . ."

I was reading, at the time, a memoir written by a woman who also was afraid of being too happy. She declared to her fiancé one day that she was truly happy for the first time in years, but then quickly sensed a dread of "the Evil Eye" reversing her good fortune, now that she had spoken aloud of it. This notion of denying our happiness in order to preserve it is a persistent idea in many cultures, and a caution sometimes observed by even the most sensible and careful thinkers.

Happiness sometimes is indeed an elusive thing, especially if we think of it as the giddy, "blissed-out" state that we so relish but could not possibly maintain over a long period of time. Regardless of what the Declaration of Independence says about having the right to pursue happiness, it usually doesn't work that way. Happiness as a goal falls short of attainment for most of us. In fact, many wise speakers and writers have said that happiness is found as a by-product along the way as we search for something more noble than our own shallow excitement.

In Scripture, the word that is translated as "happy" would be clearer if we understood it to mean "blessed" (blest) or even supremely blessed and fortunate. Read the Beatitudes again (the "Blesseds") in Matthew 5 and you will see that those whom Jesus declared "happy" were not the blissful. They were the poor, the sad, the humble, those who were hungry for justice but willing to be merciful, the pure of heart, and those who sought peace but were persecuted for doing right. Jesus told His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you [about abiding in His love], that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11)

The gospel chorus is true,

This joy that I have, the world didn't give it to me
. . . The world didn't give it; the world can't take it away.

This love that I have, the world didn't give it to me
. . . The world didn't give it; the world can't take it away.

This peace that I have, the world didn’t give it to me
. . . The world didn't give it; the world can't take it away.

MaryMartha

Another entry related to happiness is "Things Mama Taught Me: Life Isn't Always Fair," located [here].

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Pollyanna, FDR, and the Psalmist

When I was young, I read and re-read the Pollyanna books. Written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter, the first book introduced Pollyanna's "Glad Game," which consisted of finding something to be glad about in every situation. When, instead of the doll Pollyanna had hoped for, a pair of crutches arrived in the Christmas gift barrel, her minister father made up the game—in this case, be glad for the crutches "because we don't need them!" Her name has been used so often to describe untiringly cheerful people that it has entered into our common language as a term for being excessively optimistic! Scholars and writers and politicians use "the Pollyanna principle" to describe people who unfailingly look on the bright side and hope for the best, regardless of how things look.

The perpetually happy little girl in the series has been given—unfairly, I think—a reputation of foolishness by those who might prefer to predict doom! She is actually in very good company. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a motto in the Oval Office of the White House: "Let unconquerable gladness dwell." Is that an admonition? A goal? A prayer? Whatever the intended message, it was not mere foolishness. It reflected the hope and determination of our national leader during a bleak time in American history. FDR faced crises on both the home front and an international level, and he did so with bold optimism.

David expressed gladness in many of his songs. "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. (Psalm 6:8, 9 NLT) "For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands." (92:4 NIV) "May all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!” (40:16 NLT) "Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. (Psalm 5:11 NIV)

Gladness is not just a game, although Pollyanna had a great idea. Gladness is not just a motto to live by, although that's worthwhile too. Gladness is a God-thing.

MaryMartha

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

What Cheer!

How can I not feel happy as the cardinal sings “What cheer! What cheer! Cheer, cheer, cheer!” these almost-spring mornings, and the chirping sparrows are checking out the eaves for possible nesting sites? Yes, my bird neighbors can be messy, but they also serve as reminders of the care God has for them and for me!

According to the Psalmist, God didn’t mind birds flying in and around the holy place where His people worshipped. Where could a creature be more secure than near the altar belonging to the ruler of Heaven’s armies? “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!” (Psalm 84:3) I too am safe when I make my dwelling place in the secret place of the Most High.

We are in difficult and uncertain times, but I need not be afraid. “[I am] more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31) I can sing too, “What cheer! What cheer!”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Spring Is Almost Here!

Am I rushing the season a bit? This is only the middle of February, but it smells like spring on damp mornings, and my spring bulbs are pushing green shoots through the layer of dry, brown leaves that covered them through the winter. A little yellow crocus greeted me a couple of days ago; that counts for something, doesn't it? On the calendar, the beginning of spring is more than a month away, and Phil Punxsutawney, the spring-forecasting groundhog, says so too, but what does he know?

From my distant educational past, I remember a few lines written by William Wordsworth, "All at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze." My flower bed won't produce what you could exactly call a crowd of daffodils, but there will be a few and they will delight me! Even after they have faded, their memory will cheer me. Wordsworth wrote "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud" (or "Daffodils") in 1804 two years after he saw the spectacular swath of daffodils by the lake. The closing lines of his poem reveal that often when he was alone and somewhat pensive, he still remembered the beauty, "And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils."

Spring is almost here--and I am already dancing!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: "Your Face Will Freeze That Way"

I don't know why my mother never told me about the possibility of permanent face-itis when I was grinning or merely looking pleasant! It was always when I was scowling that she warned me, "Watch out! Your face will freeze that way."

Mama was partly right. When we perform the same physical motion repeatedly, after awhile we create what is called "muscle memory." Our subconscious mind records and remembers the exact position and tension of every muscle used in making the action. After a great many repetitions, the muscle memory becomes so strong that we can perform the action without even thinking about it. It is just automatic.

A couple of us in my exercise class were telling the instructor that when we practice at home, we get stalled partway through the routine because we can't remember what comes next. "Don't worry about it," he told us. "It will get easier. You will build in muscle memory." He was saying that eventually our bodies would just know what to do, and we wouldn't have to work so hard at consciously remembering.

People that I meet won't care whether or not I can use opposing hands and feet to kick-and-punch. (This is not on people, I must add. This is a bunch of arthritic old folks!) They will respond, though, to the habit my face muscles have. Gospel quartets used to sing, "Give the world a smile each day, helping someone on life's way." Smiling is not as complex a performance as dancing or typing or playing the piano, but it does become easier to do with practice.

And so does frowning, my mother knew.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Whole in One #3: Accept Singleness As a Gift

To be single is a special gift from God. You may find that hard to believe—I did—until I assure you that marriage too is a special gift from God. Whether we like it or not, this is the Biblical position. When this truth first came to me as a long-term single, I said, “But God, it sure doesn’t look like a gift to me!” It was not some cruel accident that there had not been the “right one” for me; it was a gift, but it took me quite a while to accept it. (It’s worthy of note that usually the people who tell us that singleness is a gift are married themselves! What are they saying? “Just be happy, you poor thing!” Or maybe, “I should be so lucky.” Interesting thought!)

Sometimes God gives the gift of being married, and sometimes He gives the gift of being single. Both are gifts: endowments and grace in our lives. If you have been single a long time, you know that it takes grace. If you have married a long time, you know that it takes grace! The Apostle Paul wrote, “Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.” (I Corinthians 7:7 MSG) The Living Bible paraphrases that verse, “God gives some the gift of a husband or wife, and others He gives the gift of being able to stay happily unmarried.” I appreciate the emphasis that version gives to being happy; neither state is intended for our sorrow.

Jesus too taught that the ability to remain single is a gift from God. “[Marriage] requires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone. Some, from birth seemingly, never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked—or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons.” (Matthew 19:11-12 MSG) Other translations state, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.”

David Brainerd was single, Amy Carmichael and Mother Teresa were single—powerful influences for God. Robert Murray McCheyne was a Scot of deep prayer and piety, a preacher, pastor and poet, and a lasting influence on evangelical Christianity. He too was single. Could these men and women have been as effective had they been concerned about spouses and children? Dr. John R. W. Stott, called by Billy Graham “the most respected clergyman in the world today,” has influenced countless thousands with his prolific authorship; he himself acknowledges that with the responsibility of a family he could not have written, traveled and ministered as he has. Henrietta Mears, a powerful force in Christian publishing, has led some very influential men and women to Jesus Christ. “There probably wasn’t a man alive who was capable of marrying Henrietta without stifling her creativity, so God kept her single,” and she shook her world, writes Dr. David Jeremiah. There are, as well, a number of men and women who created traumatic lives for their families who might have done better to remain single as they endured the hardships encountered in their work for God.

If you are in a season of singleness, accept it as a gift. In a special way, at least for now, you are a gift to the world in which you live.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)



Thanks to Dr. David Jeremiah (Turning Point) for permission to use the outline of his radio sermon on I Corinthians 7 and quotes from his book Core Vales of the Church: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Volume 2. Many years ago during an extended period of singleness, these were a great help to me.

Scriptures marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Autumn Colors and Others

Although the Midwest does not have the glorious colors on the trees that some other parts of the country have, I have been enjoying October immensely. As I drive around the city, I've had fun trying to come up with as many names as possible to describe the colors I see, without naming other similar things, i.e. buttercup yellow or pine green.

Yellow—golden, sunny, cadmium yellow, and ocher
Orange—rust, and copper
Red—scarlet, crimson, burgundy, cerise, and vermilion
Brown—tan, beige, sepia, henna, umber, russet, puce, and sienna
And of course, there is still some green—chartreuse, kelly, emerald, and celadon

OK, I admit I looked up some of these! (I’m still learning.) But I did not make up any!

When I was in grade school, I had a treasured box of 16 crayons, without fancy names. There was yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, red, purple, etc. I knew just exactly what to look for. Do you recognize these Crayolas, new this year? What’s a kid to do when the teacher says “Color the tree trunk brown?” (Answers below.)

     1. Bear Hug
     2. Fun in the Sun
     3. Best Friends
     4. Happy Ever After
     5. Giving Tree
     6. Awesome
     7. Super Happy
     8. Famous

Seriously, what a beautiful, colorful world we live in!

Key to the colors above
     1. a dark brown
     2. the old orange-red
     3. orchid
     4. turquoise blue
     5. a very bright green
     6. “watermelon” red
     7. ultra-bright yellow
     8. hot magenta (I’d call it “hot pink”)

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: Life Isn't Always Fair

If she heard it once, my mother must have heard it a thousand times: “It’s not fair!” The older children stopped at the country store for candy on the way home from school, but the “baby” who was still at home didn’t get any. “It’s not fair!” The boys got new shoes in September because, having gone barefooted all summer, they had outgrown the old ones. “It’s not fair!” The younger children, attending a city school as they grew up, took music lessons and played on sports teams. “It’s not fair!”

Life is just full of inequities, isn’t it? And perhaps you heard, as I often did, “No one promised you that life would be fair.” Small comfort, right? It took me many years to realize that my mother was quite correct, only at a far greater level than the administration of our family affairs. The high ideals of our founding fathers simply do not work everywhere. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence”) Because we are, for the most part, a free people, educated and well-fed, it is easy for us to believe these are indeed inalienable; we think, “God gave me the right to have them, and I am going to have them.”

There is a problem with Jefferson’s philosophy, as I see it. It isn’t entirely Scriptural. When Jesus talked about life, He did not talk about having the “right” to living your life. He used terms like “laying down your life,” “taking up your cross,” and even “don’t fear those who can kill the body.” When He talked about liberty, He said, “If the Son makes you free, you’ll be free indeed.” And the Apostle Paul added, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16 NLT) According to that, we have less freedom (or more, depending on where our allegiance is) than we might think.

And the pursuit of happiness is mostly a misnamed quest. It is elusive when it is the object of a chase. Genuine happiness doesn’t usually come in great big packages marked wealth or top-of-the-ladder success or passionate romance or elite education. “Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]! (Psalm 84:12 AMP) Happiness very often comes in simple ways: coaxing the baby’s first smile, lying down at night on fresh-washed sheets, having coffee with a good friend, or making something grow. Charles Schultz was right—“Happiness is a warm puppy.”

In our society, this simple, un-Jeffersonian view of life may not seem “fair.” And maybe it isn’t. But the Christian faith declares unequivocally and without apology, “God is fair.” After all was said and done, that’s what Job decided too, “God is fair.” I don’t understand starving children and terrorist bombings and refugee camps and weather-related devastation. But of this I am sure: God is fair. “Fair” doesn’t always mean everything everywhere is “the same.” But He is trustworthy. I have proved Him during financial crisis, in emotional trauma, in physical weakness. He is fair. Ultimately fair.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked AMP is from the Amplified Bible

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com