Kaleidoscope. It’s just a tube with mirrors and pieces of colored glass. One looks in one end and light enters the other. The tube is rotated and the viewer “observes beautiful forms,” which is what kaleidoscope means.
Our lives are kaleidoscopes, and should we dare to examine them, we see lots of beautiful forms. As we begin to make sense and find meaning in the larger picture the forms create, the tube of our world turns and those beautiful forms become a confused mess once again, or so it seems. That’s life, as is so often said. C’est la vie. To maintain an equilibrium we need some stability. Let the world try to disorient us, ever changing and reordering the colored chips of glass rattling around in the kaleidoscope of our lives. We can cleave to a Rock, to the One Who is the Rock of our Salvation—Y’shua Ha Mashiach, Jesus The Messiah. For as Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
1 Corinthians 14:33
I like this word—Reach. There’s “Reach for the Stars,” “Reach Out and Touch Someone,” and “Reach your Goals.” All clichés, though good ones. I think often in sailing terms. A reach is a point of sail. Points of sail are the angles of the wind coming over the boat relative to the bow.
Points of Sail. Courtesy of School of Sailing Net
Close Reach. When the wind comes from just forward of the boat’s centerline this is a close reach. This point of sail is considered to make the best use of the wind, and be the fastest point of sail. Trimming the sails is critical for speed in this point of sail.
Reach. Wind coming across the centerline is a reach. Sail trim is still critical. In a ruff sea, with waves breaking, this would be a very dangerous point of sail, as a wave can knock a boat down.
Broad Reach. When the wind comes just aft, or behind, the centerline it is a broad reach. With this point of sail, trimming of the sail is much less critical.
Trimming the sails. No, this is not done with scissors. It’s not like trimming a turkey, either. It’s making small adjustments to all sails so that the boat most efficiently uses the wind, producing maximum speed.
Take a look at the diagram. When the wind is straight ahead, coming across the bow, there is no sailing possible. If my destination is directly ahead, and the wind comes from that direction, too, I can’t sail that way. That doesn’t mean I can’t get there, however. It means I will need to sail either to the right or to left by about 40 degrees or so. I will sail that way for a while, then sail in the other direction for a while. This will make a zig-zag course making slower progress to my destination, but still making getting there possible.
So what’s it all mean if you’re not a sailor? Take “Reach for your goal,” for instance. You’re looking straight at your goal, but their are obstacles in the way. “You can’t get there from here!” You’re not suppose to be discouraged. Just find a way through, or over, or around, the obstacles. Great. You set your sight on another intermediate goal, and head that way. If you loose sight of your overall goal, how do you know when to turn? How do you know the direction to take after you turn? You need guidance. You need help. You need to know where you are, and you need to know when you are at a point at which you may turn toward your goal.
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
—Psalm 121: 1,2.
As a child, much of our direction, our guidance, came from our parents, or other guardians in our lives. As adults, many people develop relationships with other people whom they can trust. But when we are alone, no family, no friends, from where will our help come? The Psalmist writes that we are to look to the LORD, the One Who made Heaven and Earth. And while adults most often have help in their friends if they are available, as the following commentary points out, “one should turn only to G-d for assistance.
“Psalm 121, which ranks among the more famous chapters of Tehillim, is recited in Sephardic communities each evening during the Arvit service, and is also customarily recited during any time of danger or potentially dangerous situation, including long trips. Indeed, the opening verses vividly capture the Jewish perspective on how to respond during times of trouble: “I raise my eyes to the mountains – from where shall my help come? My help is from God…” The message of this chapter is, simply enough, that one should turn only to God for assistance. Rather than look around “to the mountains” in search of help, one need only to lift his eyes to his Father in heaven and beseech Him for protection.
“This Psalm mentions a number of aspects of God’s protection that set it fundamentally apart from the protection that human beings can afford. For one thing, He is the “Maker of heaven and earth” (verse 2) and thus has unlimited power over the world, such that He is capable of rescuing a person from any predicament. Additionally, the Almighty “neither sleeps nor slumbers” (verse 4); human guards are only as effective as their limited supply of strength and stamina, while the “Guardian of Israel” offers endless protection. Similarly, God can protect “from now and forever” (verse 8), as opposed to human guardians whose physical strength gradually declines until they eventually pass on. God’s protection has no limits in time or substance, and it is thus His protection one should endeavor to invoke when facing danger or crisis.”
—Daily Tehillium
Let us reach out to the Lord Y’shuaJesus for assurance of our position, for the direction to head, for assistance in finding our true goal, the goal of our life.
Some years ago, my aunt got into using FaceBook to keep up with friends and her daughters. She tried to get her husband involved.
“I really don’t need to know,” he said, “every time someone goes to the bathroom.”
The other day, on one of my rare excursions on FaceBook, I noticed he had a page. He’s retired now, which may have enticed him to get involved. My brothers, their wives, and some of their kids are also on FaceBook. I pop in once and a while, check the posts on where one brother and his wife went to eat, view the obligatory photo, and “like” the post, just to be, well, social.
But contrary to what my kids think, the internet isn’t the first way possible to made an electronic connection to people.
Having grown up in the sixties, when love was free and meant never saying your sorry, I thought she was speaking another language. She wasn’t. She meant it.
“What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?” Sings Burt Bacharach in the back ground. Just pretend you here it too. It sets the electronic stages, so to speak.
As I initially set up JonahzSong, I explored in my mind what the central theme would be. For a few years I’d been writing a once to twice weekly devotional column distributed by a ministry in Australia. That ministry dropped the devotionals, moving in a different direction. I was still interested in devotionals, but I wanted to just write. I subtitled the blog, “But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the L-RD. Jonah 2:9.” For me, it attempted to clarify the theme for JonahzSong, as well as explaining the meaning behind JonahzSong.
A few weeks ago, I took an online course in Blogging through WordPress. It was a good course, despite having been at this blog for a while now. One area it probed was the thematic approach to a Blog. What’s the central theme. It reminded me that I could re-evaluate the theme of JonahzSong. Am I on track? Have I deviated? If so, do I need to be drawn back? My answer is that I am on track—sort of. Even if I think I am, it seems prudent once and a while to examine things to see. Like Apostle Paul spoke about, at the end, it would be a shame if I ran the race in vain. So, initially, I just want to write with an aim at speaking to one or two or more persons who may find something to draw them closer in their walks with the Lord Jesus. JonahzSong needs to do four things, not necessarily at one time.
First, there is the inspiration toward Thanksgiving. Second, there is inherent in writing a sacrifice that benefits another person. Third, I wanted to write once-upon-a-time back in high school. I wandered around doing a lot of other things, thought did write for publications before and some after a degree in journalism. At the time, I thought I needed to have a career in writing. Now, with JonahzSong, with a Blog, I don’t need to earn a living from it. So I have the opportunity to write, and I simple need to discipline myself to do so, without the journalistic favorite of a deadline. So, I write to fulfill a vow, to myself. (There’s always a selfish element to what we do.) Fourth is along the lines of traditional devotionals, which attempt to share the knowledge that salvation belongs to the LORD.
So how’s it all work for the reader, reading someone’s rambling attempts? Here’s the way it worked for me the other day. I read a devotional by a pastor up in Michigan. It was a good devotional. It was concise, well written, and had several points that directed my attention to Jesus and one specific result. I realize that is important. One outcome of many is given. The writing is general enough for a divergent audience, yet provides a concise take away. For me, one of the best things about the devotional was that I was propelled toward the Lord to continue that study and find for my additional nuggets, pieces that drew attention to a missing piece of an emotional puzzle. The pastor wrote a value-added devotional.
I also realize that for my writing, I was inspired by Warren, whom I spoke about once. He shared with me how his wife volunteered him when his church’s pastor called for mentors, which he defined as “having made a lot of mistakes and being willing to share them.” It’s not enough to cry out “Jesus Saves!” There is a need to share the why and the how it has happened, and allow the reader to seek for his or her own salvation from the LORD.
All that said, I confess there are time when I wonder if anyone actually gets anything out of JonahzSong. It’s on those times that I need to consider it this way.
O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. Psalm 5:3
Not really much on confronting people, I often used to simply talk about them behind their backs. That’s not a great thing to do, and isn’t it gossip? Is gossip right conduct? No. But what’s there to do if I’m offended by someone’s actions? I’m still not much on confrontation. Lot of questions.
“Hang in there!” isn’t something one wants to hear after sharing a particularly severe trial or painful ordeal. It’s usually said as the person walks away, perhaps as an afterthought. Clearly the person doesn’t relate, doesn’t understand the pain, or can’t deal with it. And then there’s the time someone gets all scripture-quoting with advice, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 is a great verse, but does it really apply to our particular need or stance?
Being pretty literal in my approach to life and scriptures, I think of it in terms of stopping all action. I think in terms of taking time to plan next steps, or regroup from a previous event. It’s less physical, slowing down. Or I suppose it could mean simply to calm down. It’s a plea to consider G-d’s input on a particular direction. I stop and look around, and promptly get nervous after a short time wondering if when I am suppose to act next. I come upon a plan, a particular desire that has set upon me, and want to go, go, go.
One particular time I remember being totally unable to do anything to move ahead and out of a particularly bad situation in which I found myself. Change was needed, but it felt as though I was stuck in a bucket of cement. I had the means to literally move away, and into another job hundreds of miles away. But I felt totally unable to move. In the end, someone else took it upon themselves to act on my behalf; things came together and the change was thrust upon me—the cement fell away. I fretted too much the whole time, unfortunately. Take a look at how Peter handled things.
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. Acts 12:6-9
Bound is what I’m talking about. Sometimes there are emotional chains that bind. For Peter, it was literal chains that bound him. What did Peter do? Fret about it? Nope! He fell asleep between two soldier while more soldiers guarded the prison doors. I like this next part a lot. A light illuminates the cell. Peter continues to sleep. The only way to wake Peter was getting stuck in the side. Then he’s ordered to dress, wrap his cloak around himself and to follow the angel. Peter thought he was still asleep, having a vision, so he got up and followed.
Peter wasn’t in a boat in the middle of a stormy sea. It wasn’t a matter of calming the waves and getting the strength to continue rowing. Peter was bound and needed rescuing. The Lord sent help. And Peter was unbound.
At the helm of a small boat in a storm. Or maybe it was when I was a very young child, at night trying to sleep, and the monsters attacked. It’s all the same, really. I am fearful. I cry out in distress. It is my mother that pops her head in the door, light shining into my dark world. I can’t really scream, but simply gasp.
“Oh, dear, it’ll be okay. Go back to sleep,” she’d not say. Would she? If she did say that I can picture the scene in my head.
“Don’t you see them,” I’d gasp, barely able to cry out. I can imagine the terror of monsters crawling toward me as the door closes and my mother walks away.
“It turned out nice again, didn’t it?” she’d say as she walks away. That is what she always said when unpleasant things happened. But despite that, my mother still wouldn’t walk away.
I remember one time when I was maybe six or seven years old. I felt sick and had a nightmare. My mother gathered me into her arms and carried me into the living room. She and my Dad were watching the “Phil Silver’s Show” on their first television. It had a smaller screen than an iPad and was in black and white. I remember being wrapped in a Welsh wool blanket, and sat between them for the remainder of the show. Then, calmed and feeling a bit better, I was carried back to bed.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Mark 6:45-50
Those guys were in a major panic. Waves taller than their boat was long threatened to toss them into the water. The wind whipped them about, trying desperately to turn the boat broadside to the wind, where it would capsize with the next wave. Were they exhausted trying to row against the wind, the waves? I am sure they were.
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
“What are you talking about?” they’d try to scream if they could catch their breaths. “You’re just a spirit and can’t drown out here alone in this awful water.” What comfort are words in a time of distress. Sure. Y’shuaJesus sent them out into the water, and now saw their distress. He came to them, too, across that water. All he’s going to do is peak at them through a closed door and say, “Don’t worry, dear.” That it?
I read a short devotional in which the well-meaning author wanted us to understand that when we are in the midst of trails and don’t feel the comfort of the Lord in our lives, He will see us, come to us, speak to us. When I read it it bothered me. It was too open ended. The Lord says everything’s fine. Don’t worry. Go back to those waves that look like they are going to consume you, and just relax, don’t be afraid. Those disciples must have known that’s not the end of the story. Our Lord, our G-d, isn’t going to leave us stranded in the middle of a raging storm. My mother didn’t shut the door and say sleep tight.
And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. Mark 6:51
That, like Paul Harvey said at the end of his radio broadcast, “Is the End of the Story.”
When the LORD sees I am in great distress, He comes to me, speaks gently to me, AND gets right next to me in my storm-tossed boat and wraps His arms about me. I close my eyes and my storm is calmed, my wind ceases, the wrath toward me is ended.
Recent world events have people fearful. Mr. Donald Trump made much of the reality of a dark world during his acceptance speech for the Republican Party’s nomination as the American Presidential Candidate. Even Christians are concerned.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association posted the following:
Jonah’s Song 