First Presbyterian Church of Salida

What is Distance?

Staff — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:51:21 +0000

What is the secret of distance? It is measured in miles and years, all rather foolish. I’ve known the space of a few feet that had to end in “I’m sorry,” to be so far, so interminably far, that the trip became impossible. I’ve heard a heart beat across a span of several thousand miles, and I shook in response to its immediacy. I’ve seen a look of pain etched on a face in reaction to a careless cruelty. During that second of time I aged a year, ungraciously and uselessly. I’ve seen a glow leap from eyes receiving my love, and I was beautiful.

Lincoln said, as he left Springfield for Washington, “Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good . . .”

Matthew says that Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, Amen.” Amen indeed!

My God, My God, how many miles! How many years do I keep between you and me? If you are with me always, why do I see only dimly down a long, vague passage?

I would that I could walk steadily toward those I love, regardless of miles, time, and my own foolishness. I would destroy the distance between me and the Christ. Am I walking toward him or away from him?

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

Jesus Was a Brave Person

Staff — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:27:54 +0000

Who was Jesus? He was a very brave person. Mark, who deals mainly with the actions of Jesus, tells us that one day Jesus walked through the temple. He didn’t say anything, “and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” I don’t know what they did there, but I think Jesus just sort of sat around and thought a lot, and kind of got worked up. The next time he came to the temple, he “began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves. And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” What did they do when he began to toss things around? I like the picture of birds flapping everywhere; money spinning and disappearing; robes flopping around hustling ankles.

He knew what was coming. He walked up and into Jerusalem – just like that. A couple of nights before, he sat on a hill and looked and looked at that city. I expect he prayed too. He saw the whole thing coming, and he walked right into it – just like that.

The High Priest asked him, “and he said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am.” And when he said that, he set in motion his trial and death. According to Mark, this is the only time he actually said it. And saying it, he set up his death. He knew what he was doing. And he chose to do it, of his own will.

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

Jesus Was a Wanderer

Staff — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:14:41 +0000

Who was Jesus? He was a wanderer. “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of of Man hath not where to lay his head.”

He knows the loneliness that has its own completeness. He wandered from his parents at the age of twelve, and they were irritated with him and were worried about him. He wandered from his home and never returned. What did his mother think? What did she think of this son who left her and her home? He wandered up and down the land, and neighbors brought her stories of his strange behavior. Did his eyes ever meet hers – hers full of quiet confusion, maybe pain? He wandered purposefully and directly to the cross, and there she had to stand quietly and watch her wandering son die.

Did she know that the cross would splinter into a million shafts that would wander through the centuries? When I wander from the good, the right, and the true; when I become discordant with my purpose; when I wander down roads of self-pity, busyness, weakness, and pride, it is good to know that my Savior is a wanderer too. There’s no place toward which I can drift, but what I’ll find him there. The wanderer quietly looks at me with tired eyes filled with welcoming love.

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

Is Jesus Really Real?

Staff — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:27:36 +0000

Is Jesus real? I mean really real? Did a group of men just sort of get together and decide to pull off the biggest con trick of all time? And did they write down some stories – quite alike, but not too much alike? And are they sitting on some far cloud somewhere laughing themselves sick?

I could believe that, but what would I do with all those people who talk to me in gentleness, those with Christ twinkling in their eyes? If he didn’t exist, how’d he get inside so many people? Over and over, people drop their lives and walk in Christ. Spend a day looking for Christ living in others. He’s in the most unlikely people and places. If Jesus isn’t real, then you’re going to have to exterminate thousands who live in him.

I love it when people argue that there is no love, and then stand stupid before an act of love. I love it when people argue that there is no mercy, and then whistle and glance the other way when an act of mercy looms in front of them. I love it when people say there is no Christ and frown and mumble at the life that lives in Jesus, who is stalking the world. I wonder what people see living in me.

“But whom say ye that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”

“But whom say ye that I am?”

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

I Felt Sure She’d Understand

Staff — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:48:11 +0000

I had a friend; I don’t think that we’re friends any more. I’m not sure what happened. I missed a few of our appointed meetings. I felt sure she’d understand. A couple of times when we were talking, I saw some others approach and gave them my full attention, forgetting my friend. I felt sure that she’d understand. I didn’t see her for a couple of weeks, but then when I did see her, I was careful to be enthusiastic and pretend we’d seen each other more often. She moved away. I wrote regularly for awhile, but then –well, you know how it is. I’m sure she knew how busy I was. I felt sure that she knew I thought of her often. I sent her a birthday card. It was a week late, but it was a funny one, and I was sure she would understand. I heard recently that she’d had some bad luck. I really felt very sorry. I’d like to send her a note, just to let her know that I care, for we were really very close, you see. As it happens, however, I can’t find her address.

Last night I went to a church service, and during it we sang the old hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” I felt strangely embarrassed.

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

I Am Standing at the Door, Knocking

Staff — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:26:31 +0000

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.”

“What door?”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.”

“What will it cost to let you in?”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.”

“Let me tidy up a bit. I’d be embarrassed to have you see things as they are here, just now.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.”

“I’ll be so proud to have you come in.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.’

“It will truly be an honor, a moving experience, to have you in my humble home.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking.”

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney)

Who Was Jesus?

Staff — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:03:36 +0000

He was a storyteller. He told stories. He was the world’s greatest storyteller. Ask him a question; he’d answer with a story. Give him a crowd of people listening intently; he told them stories. Give him an argument; he’d give you a story. Give him a real tricky, catchy question; he’d give you a real tricky, catchy story.

Have you ever watched a seven-year-old listening – inhaling- a story? Eyes wide, mouth slung open, mind churning, she lives, accepts, and believes. She is totally absorbed. This man-God Jesus. He was a good storyteller. He know what he was doing.

(from God is no Fool by Lois A Cheney

The Divine Voice

Staff — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:31:15 +0000

Every small decision I make has a cumulative effect, and draws me closer or further away from who I truly am. All the while, a deep hunger draws me toward the Divine Voice that lies within. Every day, in the very life I’ve been given, the Divine waits to be uncovered.

Make Life Holy

Staff — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:57:17 +0000

The gift of this day announces itself without fanfare; I simply arise to a new morning and its promise. I can, if I choose, touch something deeper than the continuing, outward movement of events. I can move past the ups and downs, the details. Clarissa Estes observes that the ego screams at us to fix things, to straighten out the untidy scraps of life that are in disarray. But the soul has a different perspective. It challenges us to make life holy.

(from Love That Beckons: Lenten Reflections by Paula D’Arcy)

Lend Your Voice to Life

Staff — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:05:51 +0000

Catherine of Siena admonishes us to speak with a million voices because silence kills. Lend your voice to life, she is saying: Grant life with the life you’ve been given. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life . . . (John 10:10). The words are a call to rise up with exuberance and know life fully.

(from Love That Beckons: Lenten Reflections by Paula D’Arcy)