This time Rosina plunged into the water, trying unsuccessfully to open the car door.  She pounded on the back window as other bystanders stood watching helplessly.  First she screamed at them, begging for help, then cursed them, telling them there was a man dying in the car.

First one man, then another, finally came to help. Together they broke the safety glass and dragged the man out. They were just in time — a few minutes later it would have been all over.   The woman thanked Rosina for saving her husband, and Rosina was elated, riding an emotional high that lasted for weeks. She had promised herself that she would never again fail to do anything she could to save a human live.  Today may be your day to make good on a promise that you made a long time ago.  Someone may need the touch of hope that only you can bring to their life.  Will you be available to a frightened or lonely neighbor at work, school or church?  You can make a difference!

Thinking of the fullness and duration of this wonderful life, W. B. Hinson, a great preacher of a past generation, spoke from his own experience just before he died. He said, I remember a year ago when a doctor told me, “You have an illness from which you won’t recover.’ I walked out to where I live 5 miles from Portland, Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love. I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God’s own poetry to my soul. Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps, and I said,” I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down pulling of the material universe! ”

There is something eternal about looking at mountains and seas that helps to put our living in perspective.  We were created for breathtaking moments by an omnipotent and gracious God.  The anxieties and stresses of life melt away when we realize how temporary they are in comparison to the destiny of the living soul at home in the presence of God.  Let us not focus on our temporary sufferings but rather on the great deliverance of the eternal creator of the universe.  This is the hope shared by all children of God who realize that every day of life we are a step closer to home where the “welcome” celebration awaits.  Do you know Jesus?  Does He know you?

What frightens you more than anything you can imagine?  Some people are afraid of the dark while others fear snakes or the unknown.  Everyone is afraid of something and fear can be paralyzing. 

The other evening I returned home to find four dead snakes on our living room floor!  As you can imagine, Darla (my wife) was thrilled!  While dead serpents make for some great scenes in my scary tales she was not the least bit impressed.  Particularly, when I swept the slithering creatures on to a dust pan and took them upstairs to show her my discovery!  Let’s not discuss her timely advice regarding what I should do with the snakes.  It is sufficient for the reader to conclude that neither she nor those devilish belly crawlers were in the same room for more than a minute. 

While we were out of town for a couple of days, Darla’s cat Mr. Black had become bored and found the snakes in the basement of our 1800’s sandstone house.  He caught and toyed with them before killing and depositing them on the living room floor.  Our inquisitive feline was even so kind as to place one on my recliner.  Oh, how thoughtful of him.

As I mentioned people fear different creatures, situations and phenomena.  How should we cope with our fears?  These points may prove useful to you as you face your own apparitions.

Remind yourself that it is normal to experience fear a range of other emotions.

Understanding, supportive others who can listen to you often provide relief. You may find that they have experienced a similar fear in their life. Even if you do not talk about your fear, the company of supportive others can bring comfort.

Spending time with healthy family and friends can make you feel safer and more comfortable. 

Analyze your living and working environment and identify ways to increase your sense of personal safety and security.

Seek out the assistance of informed others who can help you sort through your feelings and thoughts. Avoid persons who deny or minimize your experience.

Often our fears are brought on by situations that remind us that we can not control persons, places, and things. It is often helpful to identify those things that are in our control, and to try to let go of those things that are not.

Matthew 10:29, 30, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father.  And even the very hairs of your head are numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Fishing Is Spiritual

By

Russ Hobbs

Fishing is a spiritual activity.  Well, it can be, it certainly is for me.  A bright sunny day, a great fishing spot and a guy were made for each other.  Now take today, for example.  This morning was a gift from heaven meant for fishing!  All of the right ingredients came together.  There was lots of sunshine, a perfect temperature with a nice breeze.

I arrived at the “spot” just a short drive from the house to discover that a few others had the same idea about how to make the most of a beautiful spring morning.  I pulled into the parking space, shut off the truck engine and watched a dad and his son catching a nice sized fish, probably a 12-15 inch Bass, the kind and size that make you proud to be a fisherman.  I sat and watched the anglers for awhile, thinking they would tire of my spot and surrender it.  I reasoned that they might want to check out some other “beautiful” spots on the lake.  I was wrong.  They remained glued to the spot.  Hey, who could blame them, right?   When you’re at the right place with your line wet and you’re waiting for the strike that’s gonna make your day, time, surroundings and people around you can get a little fuzzy. 

As I continued to watch the serene lake setting I noticed another guy working his way along the shore line using a lure and casting with no apparent luck.  Exiting the truck I grabbed my gear and headed in his direction where a little small talk took place.  It was that kind of dialogue between two fisherman about the best “spots” on the lake.  We both agreed that the apparent father and son team had chosen one of the best places to cast their lines.  After a few more pleasantries I hiked to a place where a fallen tree was submerged in the water.  I had not fished this spot before and there was a lot of marshy grass, a good place to snag your line.  But, the thought of a monster bass lunging for my night crawler and filling my day with joy as man and fish engaged in a struggle stirred good feelings in the soul.

I baited my hook and cast..THAT’S WHEN IT HAPPENED!  SPLASH!  I glanced to my left to see a bass flying through the air as he leaped from his watery home near the submerged tree.  I couldn’t help but notice during those air bound seconds that the fish looked at me AND winked!  That FISH had to be more than 15 inches long. I know, fish story, right?  You probably don’t believe in talking fish either!  I thought as much.  But, if you click over to the audio page of our website I have a talking fish story for you.  Check it out and listen to a good story about learning how to be content with who you are and what you have!

Friend, a day of fishing isn’t just about catching and frying fish.  Aw no, a day of fishing at the lake is about mastering the art of learning to slow the pace of a hectic life.  It’s about taking a fresh look at ones surroundings and place in creation.  It’s about accepting the challenge to seek and embrace the unexpected circumstances of life and learning how to communicate with God and man in His great outdoors!  I think fishing is a spiritual exercise OR it should be for every lover of God and nature.  

The Sunday News carried a story that is a timely reminder of the depth of that resivoir of love that a mother has for a son.  In 2003 Joseph Briseno Jr. was critically wounded when he was shot in the back of the head in a Baghdad marketplace.  “Jay” Briseno Jr. the son of Eva Briseno is reported to be one of the most severely woulded soldiers ever to survive.  The attack left him paralyzed, brain-damaged and blind, but awake and aware of his condition.  Eva cares for “Jay” in her Virginia home in a family room that hs been transformed into an intensive care unit.  “Jay’s care is excructiatingly laborious as you might expect.  His “mom” attends to everything from his bowel care to wiping drool from his mouth.

Eva sleeps for a few hours when she can but the constant care of her son requires her around the clock attention.  She decided that she needed to assume the duties of ”Jay’s care when a government nurse looked on indifferently without wiping the drool from his mouth and another fell asleep when he was having a seizure.  God bless Eva Briseno and thank God for soldiers like Joseph Jr. who were in that Baghdad market doing their job at great risk for the cause of liberty and freedom!  Jay was deployed on his 20th birthday.  A student at George Mason University, he had aspirations of becoming a forensic scientist.  He was assigned to civilian work, building community relations.  One of those civilians put a bullet in the back of his head at point blank range. 

What does a loving mother say when through her tears of sorrow she looks at her suffering son who has paid an untimate price for the freedom of his countrymen, friends and nighbors?  Eva says; “most of the time I just ask God if I can take his place.”  It’s always Mother’s Day friend..always.

Dr. Frankl, born in Vienna in 1905 survived the death camp at Auschwitz during the holocaust of Nazi Germany when Jews were being exterminated in the brutal Final Solution of Adolf Hitler. He comments; “the most ghastly moment of the twenty-four hours of camp life was the awakening, when, at a still nocturnal hour the three shrill blows of a whistle tore us pitilessly from our exhausted sleep and the longings in our dreams.  We then began the tussle with our wet shoes, in which we could scarcely force our feet which were sore and swollen with edema.  And there were the usual moans and groans about petty troubles, such as the snapping of wires which replaced shoelaces.  One morning I heard someone who I knew to be brave and dignified cry like a child because he finally had to go to the snowy marching grounds in his bare feet, as his shoes were too shrunken for him to wear.  In those ghastly minutes, I found a little bit of comfort; a small piece of bread which I drew out of my pocket and munched with absorbed delight.” 

Frankl experienced a ”moment” of joy in a crumb of bread.  He had been reduced to skin and bones and had lost everything he had ever known and loved including his beloved wife whom he often dreamed of and longed to hold.  He did not discover until years later that his beloved was actually in the same camp for a time.  Deprivation, despair, unrelentless cruelty of savage beatings, back wrenching labor, starvation and standing in the freezing cold for hours did not extinguish his desire to find some meaning in his senseless surroundings.  He would later write, ”the salvation of man is through love and in love.”  He came to understand meaning and spent his life attempting to help others understand their life sufferings through a process of logotherapy.  Logos is a Greek word denoting “meaning.”  Logotherapy, the striving in one’s life to find meaning is the motivational force in man.  According to Frankl and others, it’s what keeps us following our goals and dreams when hope has evaporated.  It’s the essence that breathes life into us when we are wounded and want to “give up or runaway.” 

Man’s Search for Meaning is an insightful read and describes some horriffic experiences that Frankl endured on a moment by moment basis never quite knowing if he would live or die during his incarceration in the death camps and particularly at Auschwitz. 

What will we discover about the meaning of our lives as we journey today?  Will there be God inspired moments that enlighten us or will we just ignore the many signposts of discovery along the paths we have chosen or been directed to follow?  Will we walk alone or take the journey with a trusted friend?  My life has meaning, hope and purpose.  My God and family are the key ingredients in that mix!  I hope your life has meaning and that your onging wanderings and search will take you to mountain peaks today.  It’s time for me to head to the front porch with a good cup of coffee and a little Cocker Spaniel.  Stay blessed!

Psalm 39 gives us some perspective. In David’s complaint to God, he said, “You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You” (V. 5). He meant that to an eternal God our time on earth is brief. And He doesn’t want us to waste it. When we do, we throw away one of the most precious commodities He gives us. Each minute is an irretrievable gift–and unredeemable slice of eternity. Sure, we have to make the phone calls, and we must wait at the light. But what about the rest of our time? Are we using it to advance the cause of Christ and to enhance our relationship with Him? Is our time well spent?