Doesn't it look like a positively beautiful day in Red Deer today?! Just looking at the brightness of the sun and how it lights up the evergreens and fresh-fallen snow makes me want to run outside and play. I love to walk in winter wonderlands of God's creation. Today looks like a perfect day for it.

It is indeed beautiful looking here today.

But I stepped outside and immediately froze anything exposed (and some things that were not).

Quickly, I ran back inside and re-evaluated my desire to be outdoors. Decision: today is a beautiful day to remain indoors and enjoy the sunshine from this side of the window. (And to blog.)

A lot of life is like that. Looks like something beautiful. Looks like this will be fun. Looks like this is a good idea. I must confess a terrible addiction (affliction?) to how a thing looks. My favorite cars always have to do with their sharp lines and colorful paint jobs. What clothes I wear used to be always about the appearance and never about the weather forecast. (I'm doing better with age. Age-related arthritis, that is.) Even my favorite sports team was largely adopted on the basis of what their uniform looks like. They look as good as ever in their orange, black and white. That is, until the puck drops and the game is played. They're in last place! They used to always be good but now they only look good.

I've learned (except with hockey teams) to pick less on the surface appearance of things and people. Behind every facade and under everyone's skin is where I find good. God made people in His image (minus the sinstains, of course) and his creation is awesome. Sometimes I have to look below the surface to see it but it's always there.

I hope people can appreciate me even if I look like a clown (maybe I should lose the outfit and makeup). I also hope they can appreciate me, the real me, even when I'm dressed to the sixteens (better than nines, I figure) and looking like a million.

Back to the beautiful day. Today is a beautiful day. Not because its sunny and bright or unbearablý cold (minus thirty-something with the wind). It's beautiful because God built it. If the sun never came up this morning (or the earth stopped rotating, I guess) what kind of a day would it be (besides dark)? If everything looked great but God withdrew the air, that would pretty much have sucked any enjoyment out of the day for me. If my heart stopped beating, my lungs stopped inhaling (or exhaling) or my eyes stopped blinking, how beautiful would the day seem to me? God has made today beautiful by building it and building me into it. What I see on the surface, what I choose to look at, is only skindeep.

Rats, I need to go. Outside into the cold.

That's okay. The wind only chills me to the bone. The Spirit is in my soul!

Thank you, Lord!

And the rest of you... have a beautiful day!

Fitness in 2007

Every new year begins for me with a renewed commitment to get myself into better shape. This year will be no different. My membership at the local recreation center will be used to swim, run, lift weights, play a few sports and keep up my juggling skills. The few extra pounds that I carry all seem to concentrate in a couple of body zones--tummy and tush. This year I have to deal with an extra challenge, a hernia that has worsened over the last year and requires surgery. This, of course, changes what I will do for awhile until I am properly healed.

Being healthy is much more than just having my body in shape. Jesus talked about the mind, soul and spirit, also. Therefore my attention is also focused upon getting into better spiritual health. A small Bible study group with which I meet once a week has just embarked upon a set of studies from Abiding Life Ministries. Our weekly meetings will now be augmented by personal daily devotions which engage us with the material. Then our meetings become a time of sharing and mutual ministry based on the spiritual issues with which each of us wrestles. This regular spiritual exercise helps us grow and strengthen spiritually much like my time at the recreation center will helps me physically. If you are interested in Abiding Life Ministries please follow the link that I place with this blog. Don't be surprised if some of the reflections I share here in 2007 come from this material.
All in all I am looking forward to a boost to my health in 2007, both physically and spiritually. My only apprehension is that some spiritual condition may be identified for which the Lord will prescribe surgery, a sort of spiritual hernia operation.

Who Cares?

The answer is: He cares! A song from my high school chorus days says it all...
"Who cares if you live or die? Tell me, who cares if you laugh or cry? Who cares if the world falls in on you? He cares, Jesus is His name. We care for He bore our shame. He cares, He cares. He cares about you."
Then there's a verse... "Died on the cross for everyone; the Man from heaven, God's only Son. The debt is paid, the battle's won. Do you care? Die to self, be born again. Be God's child today my friend. He cares, He cares. He cares about you." Then repeat the first chorus.

People need to know that He, Jesus, cares. People in today's world struggle for meaning. Those that do have a dream of some kind find many obstacles preventing it from ever becoming reality. I believe Jesus is there to help us through to a reality that begins with dreams stirring in our spirits. He cares about each and every person regardless of who or where they are.

And because He cares, I care. When I see or hear the news, meet people in my community or connect with someone from the other side of the world, a maze of issues emerge. Some private, some public, but all of concern for various reasons to people. Often my heart aches for people. Sometimes I am made to smile, chuckle, or outright rejoice. Through reflection and sharing we can discern the heart of our Lord that will equip us to face our issues. Let's do this together and see if we can find ways to heal and reasons to celebrate.

I will truly care because I know He cares!