Are My Blades Sharp?

“Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or Faith in Christ. I have no right really to speak on such a difficult question, but it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.” 

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

As any serious sewer or crafter knows, those blades – both of them – need to be razor sharp in order to be an effective pair of scissors. The tiniest nick in just one blade can really make a mess of a project. To that end, I treat my sewing scissors with care. I store them in a protective case and keep from using them on blade-destructing projects. So that when I need to use my scissors they are ready and able to do the job they’re called to do – and they can do it effectively.

I wonder if my Christian blades are just as ready to do the job they are called to do? Or do I carelessly toss them into my “junk” drawer where they are repeatedly dulled and nicked by all sorts of blade-destructing encounters - and then wonder why they aren’t as useful as they should be.

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Impossibilities

When God is about to do something great, he starts with a difficulty. When he is about to do something truly magnificent,he starts with an impossibility.

-- Armin Gesswein

Don't you love it when an impossibility comes to pass?

How often do we see a situation as having no good outcome only to find the opposite true. Not only is there a way out but it is a fantastic, unbelievable way out; one that could have only come from God.

This would make a wonderful journal to keep.  A Book of Impossibilities - to be read and reread so that those experiences in our life are not forgotten.

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Morning Coffee

"It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say 'I don't know'."

~ W. Somerset Maugham

I believe I'll pour another cup of coffee and wonder about all I do not know!

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There are no little decisions!

From Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis:

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.  The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. 

“An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.”

I love how Lewis puts things.   He leaves no doubt of the importance of our each and every decision – no matter how small it may seem to us. 

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Morning Coffee

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and sings it back to you when you have forgotten how it goes."

~ Author Unknown

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A 712 Page Challenge - Update

An update on my reading of The Book of Abraham by Marek Halter - which I first posted about here.  

I am currently on page 432 of this 700+ page tome. As I began my reading while it was still August, you can see I am moving very slowly through the story.  But what a rich story it is!!!  

 I am not an intellectual – by any stretch of the imagination – so my journey through this historical novel barely scratches the tale’s surface.  Yet I love it! If you are at all interested in the history of the Jewish people and the Jewish religion, this is a wonderful book to read.  A five star book, for sure!

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Morning Coffee in October

"She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last."

-  Willa Cather

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Charitable Giving - According to C.S. Lewis

I pride myself on being a pretty good money manager.  I watch my pennies and try to make the most of my dollars.  But I’ve noticed something lately (helped out by the writings of C.S. Lewis).  When it comes to spending on me and my personal life style I do cut myself an awful lot of slack.  When debating whether or not to purchase something – I don’t spend hours on end weighing the pros and cons of that purchase; I pretty much make a quick analysis of the situation and then either buy or not buy – with “buy” being the choice as often as “not buy”. 

But when it comes to charitable giving, the story is a bit different.  Oh, I think I’m generous; I make it a point to set aside a monthly amount for church and another monthly amount for the various causes and collections that present themselves. But that’s pretty much where my analysis ends.  In my reading Mere Christianity, however, I found I’m really not even close to reaching a charitable life style. 

Lewis writes in answer to the question of how much should a person give:

“I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.   In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc. is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little.  If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.  There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.”

Talk about some food for thought!  I think Lewis has presented a banquet here - for both thought and some serious prayer!

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