Yearly Archives: 2013

Time to panic?

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Keep calm...Most of us are familiar with the poster, “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.” I first saw it in the home of Hans’ bride, Katy, when our family arrived in England for their wedding. It was 2007, and because of the kingly crown on the poster, I figured it was strictly British. The sentiment applied nicely as busy wedding preparations saw us sometimes becoming un-calm, though we did do well at carrying on.

Apparently that poster was created by the British government at the beginning of World War II. Officials wanted to be ready with inspiration, should mass air attacks occur in major cities. Although 800,000 posters were printed, few were circulated as the war intensified, mostly because authorities thought the message trivialized the gravity of the situation. After that, the posters all but disappeared.

Then in the year 2000, one of the originals was rediscovered in the bottom of a box of books. Today the slogan has grown into an international industry and is printed on everything from mugs and aprons to notebooks and food packaging.

Although the “keep calm” motto has been altered in all kinds of ways (Keep calm and drink wine, Keep spending and carry on shopping, etc.), the original idea is still a pretty good one. It’s even scriptural.

In Isaiah 7, the Almighty was speaking when he said, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart.” (v. 4) He was talking to a king in similar circumstances to World War II, telling him not to panic over what appeared to be certain defeat by a powerful army. God reassured him by saying, “Keep calm, because I’m controlling  things.”

But he didn’t just leave him hanging by telling him to stay calm without telling him how. He followed his instructions with letting the king know he’d have to do something, too: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (v. 9)

The British poster campaign was eventually considered a “misjudgment of the mood of the people.” But maybe that’s because they weren’t told how to stay calm. If mass air attacks in large cities were the order of the day, people couldn’t remain calm for long… unless of course God endowed them with the ability to do so.

He did that in the Isaiah passage and is willing to do it for us today. In Philippians we read, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (2:13) And it pleases him when we stay calm in a crisis, because it proves we’re trusting him for the outcome.

So, when circumstances tempt us to panic, we shouldn’t ask God for relief from the situation but for strength to stand firm in our faith all the way through. After that, keeping calm and carrying on should be no problem.

“You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security.” (Proverbs 3:25-26)

Travel Advice

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Every once-in-a-while I find myself driving through our old neighborhood in Illinois, a “country” suburb of half-acre lots with room for children to roam. Although I can’t freely turn into my old driveway as I did for nearly 30 years, I have pulled in next-door for visits with my good friend Becky.

Becky D

For 22 years we shared the same lot line and were friends from our first meeting at the swing set with our babies, to the farewells after our moving van pulled away. My husband died of cancer several months after we left the neighborhood, and 6 months after that, Becky’s husband passed away, also of cancer. (See “Hi, neighbor!”) Despite living on opposite sides of Lake Michigan now, we’ve been united in heart while sharing a call to widowhood.

The year after our men died, both of us did a great deal of traveling. It wasn’t so much planned as just what happened, and it wasn’t always easy. One day I received an email from Becky (written 3 years ago) while on a trip to Europe with some of her family. Because I believed her thoughts were Spirit-inspired, I saved it.

She wrote:

“I’m trying to develop the discipline it takes for me to travel with my faith. There are quite a few Scriptures that use the visual of putting on faith as a garment. Romans 13:14 says, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Colossians 3:12 says, ‘Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’”

Becky’s faith-discipline efforts began even before she left home: “My first faith-choice was packing my suitcase,” she wrote. “I had purchased a smaller, lightweight Bible for traveling, but it didn’t sit well in my heart to leave my beloved big Bible behind. The Holy Spirit reminded me that my make-up bag was just as big and heavy as my Bible, and I would never leave that behind! So in went my big Bible.”

She continued, writing from a hotel room in France: “It’s been tricky carving out prayer and meditation time, and time to read God’s Word, when it would be easier to wake up and jump right out to the streets of Paris! Traveling depletes me quickly, because I easily get distracted from my faith-routine. It’s actually scary how fast it happens away from home, in strange lands, surrounded by folks who may not yet share my faith.

“My choice for each day, though, is to clothe myself in his Word before venturing out sightseeing, because I know when we return, I’ll be depleted again, needing more time to rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Travel plans

Today Becky’s wise travel advice has been reverberating in my ears, since I bought a plane ticket to England to meet my soon-to-be-born grandbaby. And I want to remember that nothing I pack will be more important than putting in my faith-garments.

 

 

“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness.”  (Isaiah 61:10)

 

A Happy Ending

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It was back to the cemetery for our family today, a tradition of nearly 50 years. If we count our parents’ visits, it’s much longer than that.

Rosehill Cemetery

So, in this morning’s cold rain, 8 car-loads of relatives left Michigan and headed toward Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery located at Bryn Mawr and Western Avenues. Though we have no formal program there each Memorial Day, the family historian (Mary) encourages people to prepare memories, even silly ones, about any of those buried in the family plot.

Today our brother Tom started, having brought a book detailing the history of this interesting cemetery, including its Civil War veterans. He read aloud, describing the notables buried nearby, and we were reminded of the care some take to leave detailed burial instructions for their heirs. All of us hope to be remembered well, and in an effort to shape the thinking of those still living, Rosehill burial monuments range from fascinating to bizarre.

Explaining who is buried.

This morning Mary brought photos of past cemetery visits when the adult children present today were still babies. Her notebook included large photos of each deceased relative, and she showed the children how to match the pictures to the tombstone names. The idea of death being a part of everyone’s earthly life is a topic we’ve all been encouraged to freely discuss.

We talked about Nate (the most recent death) and his loyalty to his law clients, his infectious laugh, and his soldiering on through difficulties.

We also talked of Dad bringing Mom to this spot on some of their first dates in 1940. He was letting her know that family was a top priority with him, and it might even have been a test to see if she felt the same. Now, after 50 years of marriage, they’re buried side-by-side.

Dad had also mentioned that since his brother and mother both died in the early 1900’s before effective embalming and weatherproof caskets, their bodies had probably decomposed. He told us, ”Most likely their remains are feeding the roots of this big oak tree here.”

We found his comment odd and also funny, but it revealed an acceptance of death as part of life. Dad believed, as the rest of us do, that those buried in the family plot had gone ahead to better lives.

Key words? “Gone ahead.”

These deceased relatives now know far more than we do about life after death. Though their bodies may have deteriorated at the end of their lives and after death, their spirits  soared to life-spectacular. That’s why we can stand at the cemetery every Memorial Day and talk openly of their lives and deaths without spooky feelings, uncertainty, or fear. We’re confident each of them is privy to a happy ending. Thankfully, the rest of us can be sustained by the same hope.

Prayer of gratitude

Traveling 200 miles today to be reminded of that was well worth the drive.

“In [God’s] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3-4)