Northern Lights

My friend Dennis let out a loud “yahoo!” and we all stared at the sky. We were on our way to our vehicles after a festive gathering on a frosty October night in the Yukon, when the sky began to light up. Earlier our conversation had centred on the fact that winter was coming quickly and there was still a lot to be done to prepare for it – a house to finish, wood to be cut and stacked, food to be gathered. But in that moment all our concerns faded away as we stood beneath the northern lights with our heads lifted, our mouths open and our spirits in awe of what we were seeing.

Huge swaths of coloured light shot across the sky. When Dennis hooted the light seemed to dart toward us. Then it swooped sideways in a shower of vibrant greens and blues. As we stood in silence the aurora dipped so low we could hear its electric crackle.

Every time I have seen the aurora borealis I feel as though I have stepped back in time, to the earth’s beginnings. Every time I have seen them I am aware that what I know about this planet, this solar system, this universe, can be contained in a thimble.

Scientists are still discovering new things about the planets, stars, asteroids and other things out there. Bigger and better telescopes have helped them see that the solar system is far more extensive than was once thought. The extent of it staggers the mind. Just the extent of our own galaxy is almost beyond what we can imagine. Scientists now say it is impossible to even design a scale model of it that would fit inside a massive building. And think of this – if the sun were a bowling ball with a diameter of 8 inches, Jupiter would be a chestnut, Neptune a coffee bean; the earth would be a peppercorn with a diameter of .08 of an inch.

Are you feeling small yet?

That’s how those northern lights make me feel – small and rather vulnerable. They also make me realize that what I know about the creator of this universe would likely fit in an even smaller thimble.

I am in sync with the Psalmist who wrote – “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3,4).

Yet He does care, He is mindful of us.

Psalm 8 continues – “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet; all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:6-9).

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We’re back in the “real” world after a few days at Rosebud Alberta participating in The Budding Playwrights’ Festival, which was amazing. I will treasure the memories for a long long time.

When I googled some of the other writers/actors/directors I was totally intimidated – I was definitley the “newbie” in the crowd! I was so nervous to think my play, A Pattern in Blue would be read alongside those of such talented people. But they were all so affirming and kind.

Seeing my play rehearsed by professional actors under the direction of an amazing director (it just happened to be Adam Furfaro, the exec. director of Rosebud!) and then hearing the dramatic reading of it on stage – what a gift!

There were so many wonderful “coincidences.” I, of course, had no control over who was chosen to do play the parts (my dad, the nurse and the Rabbi) but I was blown away by the ‘fit.’ There is a part in the play where a Rabbi recites the kaddish and I suggested it would be great if that could be done in Hebrew, but wrote out the English translation because I thought that would be highly unlikely.

But when we got to that point the man reading the part of the Rabbi told us his family were in fact German Jews – and oh by the way, he was a Hebrew scholar and he had taken the time to write out the Kaddish in Hebrew and even chanted it during the performance!

Adam (the director) had taken the time to do a lot of research on Bergen-Belsen, which he asked the actors to look at before they began the rehearsal. Then he asked where my dad had lived when he was a boy and I said, oh just a small town near Ottawa. The young man playing my dad asked what town. When I said, Perth he shook his head and said, “Wow. That’s where I was raised. All my family still lives there!”

The girl who played the part of the nurse was quite young and not as experienced as the others, but under Adam’s direction she rose to the challenge beautifully.

Right from the start the actors seemed to “get it.” They asked insightful questions as the afternoon went on and then Adam started to give them some direction – just small things, the inflection in the voice, the pacing etc. that made all the difference. I was so very impressed with it all and totally blessed to have been there to be part of it.

My instructor (Lucia Frangione) and Adam both have encouraged me to expand the one act into a full two act play and Lucia has offered to direct me to a couple of companies in Calgary that she thinks might be interested in producing it!! WOW!

The icing on the cake was that two of my daughters and my husband were there to see/hear it too, and on my birthday!!

Can you tell I am over the moon? 😉

The only down side – I did have to come back to the “real” world! 🙂

The Persian poet Rumi is quoted as saying, “The world is the place where the light enters you.”

I like that perspective. I like thinking about it. Of course I can think of many times when it did not seem to be true, times when the world seemed all wrong, times of discouragement and sometimes anger, times when my self-centredness got in the way. But then there have been many more times when I have felt the Light, the Light of Christ, flowing all around me, entering into me and pouring out again.

It happened just yesterday. A friend is watching her husband die a slow and very painful death. She lives over a thousand kilometres away, so it wasn’t possible to be with her in person but yesterday I picked up the phone and talked with her. And Jesus was there, flowing back and forth through that invisible phone line as we chatted and wept and prayed. His light lifted us both up, took us out of this world of sickness and pain and showed us there is more than what we see with our eyes.

I felt it on another occasion, at a funeral, when a young widow went up on her tiptoes as she described how God was helping her stand, helping her keep her head up and reach for Him in the midst of her pain and sorrow. I saw the Light around her and in her, in us all at that moment.

I’ve heard it in a strain of music that seems to come from the core of heaven itself, watching an Alzheimer’s patient raise her head at the familiar chords of an old hymn. I’ve heard it in the unconscious laughter of a child and the comforting purr of a cat that curls in my lap.

I’ve seen it pour out of a canvass painted six hundred years ago and in the eyes of a marble sculpture that took my breath away. I’ve seen it in the eyes in a portrait sketched in love and now so real it looks like the man is about to talk.

I’ve felt it too as I’ve tapped away on my keyboard, watching the black and white words advance across the monitor, knowing He was choosing the words, He was speaking to me and would speak through me to those who would read them.

“The world is the place where the Light enters you.” Yes, this world, with all its pain and suffering and chaos, with all its muddied waters and infuriating politics. This world, this place where we live, is the place where God has chosen to work, to reveal Himself in all His glory, through all that is created.

And He has chosen to do it through you and me. What a gift! What Mercy! What Grace!

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, Lord” (Psalm 89:15).

“Come … let us walk in the light of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:5).

The New Year is upon us. Are you looking back, resolving to do better this year? Most of us take some time to ponder the past year and look ahead as January launches us into a new frame of reference. Perhaps we think we need to readjust our goals, setting the standard higher or lower. Perhaps we want to shift our priorities and focus more on family and friends rather than our jobs or businesses.

Often looking back can be a bit disconcerting. Perhaps we didn’t do what we had intended last year. Perhaps we failed in our own eyes and/or the eyes of others. Perhaps there are just too many regrets to even think about.

Whatever the circumstances, we can be assured of one thing: when God is part of the equation we know our future is secure and we have nothing to fear. Even if we don’t accomplish all that we set out to do, we know He will still love us. Even if we fail Him and those around us, we know He will never desert us.

How can we know these things? The Bible tells us so. Look at these promises:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:19)

“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his …” (2 Timothy2:19)

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” (John 15:9)

“… God has said: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid…” (Hebrews 5,6).

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jermiah 29:11)

With promises like those, and there are many more of them in the Bible, the one who puts his trust in Jesus has no need to fret or regret. The past is past, the future promising.

So let’s look ahead with a renewed sense of God’s presence, a renewed focus on His promises, and a renewed understanding of His deep love for us.

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SPURTS: A few bits of news about me –

*I recently collaborated with 5 other Canadian writers (Murray Pura, Jan Dick, Tony Hilling, Tracy Krauss and Ruth Snyder, to put together a collection of devotionals for Helping Hands Press. Uplifting Devotionals (http://amzn.to/1B1U7GY) just released in Paperback and is available on Amazon etc.

*The second book of my fantasy series, The Ambassadors will begin releasing in volumes this Thursday (15th) during the Helping Hands Press Thirsty Thursday party, 8:00 EST. There will be four volumes. Book One is now available in paperback (http://amzn.to/1wem2xF)

*I’m encouraged by my progress with my play, A Pattern in Blue, which will be part of the Budding Playwrights Festival in Rosebud Alberta on May 3-5. Lucia Frangione has been an excellent instructor and has helped to push my writing to a new level through the play-writing course.

*My speaking ministry continues to bring joy to my heart – I’ll be speaking to two Stonecroft groups in February – Drumheller AB on the evening of Feb.9th and Didsbury AB on the morning of the 10th. April will find me in Macgregor Manitoba speaking at a women’s Spring Rally, and September in Edson AB at a women’s retreat.

*I also have some teaching opportunities taking shape and some school visits in the future.

If anyone is interested in receiving my emailed devotional column, The Spur just click on the link to subscribe. It is sent via MailChimp, allowing you to unsubscribe at any time. I post news along with it now and then.

A little boy named Bobby is purported to have said – “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

When I read that quote I wondered about what that little boy would hear. The laughter of his siblings, the chatter of the adults; the snoring of his grandfather asleep in his favourite chair perhaps, or the cooking preparations going on in the kitchen; the whine of a new puppy or the mechanical sounds of electronic gifts already opened?

Or perhaps that young and obviously very discerning little boy was hearing something more ethereal. Perhaps he was hearing angels singing praises to the Christ Child, or the words of the Magi as they presented their gifts. Perhaps he was hearing the booming voice of our heavenly Father announcing the arrival of his Son on this earth. Or the voice of Jesus Himself, saying, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Those are indeed the sounds of love, a love so deep it is impossible to comprehend it. And that Love is present with us, in the room, because the Child whose birth we celebrate embodies love and gave us the greatest gift of all time, through a sacrifice performed on a cross in a tiny country in the Middle East over 2,000 years ago.

That little boy knew the secret to finding that Love. It’s a matter of shifting our focus from earthly things to things spiritual. In the rush and flurry of the Christmas season it’s easy to forget the fact that it is, in its essence, a spiritual time. It’s a time to reflect on the birth of a Saviour, a time to ponder our relationship with Him, a time to seek His forgiveness and grace.

Perhaps opening a Bible would be a good place to start, if you want to find that Love. The story is told in the very beginning of the New Testament. Matthew 1:18-23 reads: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about … All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.””

God, with us. Love, with us – in a room full of the joy of Christmas or in a homeless shelter; in a school room or an office tower; in a hospital or a grocery store; on a bus travelling across the country or a plane taking people home to their loved ones. He is always with us, everywhere.

So this Christmas, take the time to stop opening the presents. Sit back and just listen. Ponder the Christ Child.

Perhaps you too will discover that Love is, indeed, in the room.