Little monsters will knock on your door on Thursday. Do not misunderstand - with my use of "little monsters," I am not referring to ill-behaved children (although those might ring your doorbell, as well). Rather, I am referring to those children who will don masks of various kinds while politely asking for candy.
Some of those masks will be the face of Frankenstein's monster. Notice, please, the important detail that the masks - those of a block-headed, stud-necked, and stitch-faced green guy - are of Frankenstein's monster. Not Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's protagonist in the classic book bearing his name. He is a young, curious (even idealistic) scientist who discovered, after much trial and error, how to create life. In doing so, Frankenstein created a monster. He intended, mind you, to create a gentlemanly being who would add joy to the world. In reality (fictional reality, to be sure), the young scientist created a being who caused much destruction and heartache. Near the end of the piece of classic literature, Shelley gives voice to Frankenstein as he mourns his act of creating. He looks upon the body of Clerval, his dear friend whom his monster killed and says . . .
"The completion of my demoniacal design became an insatiable passion. And now it is ended; there is my last victim!" (192)
Notice the second occurrence of the personal pronoun "my." The young scientist refers to his friend as "my" victim. The monster took life; yet the scientist took blame. He recognized the destruction which his "insatiable passion" caused.
Neither I or you have created block-headed, stud-necked, and stitch-faced monsters. Yet both you and I have created our own share of messes. To the horror of Shelley's protagonist, the possibility for him to undo his mess passed.
Our story, praise Jesus (I mean that) is different. God remains in the business of cleaning up messes. For that I am eternally thankful.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (NIV)
All - that's right - all unrighteousness.
On Thursday when a little green monster asks for candy, hand over the loot and then praise God for the way He has cleaned up after the monsters you created.
#ordinarylives
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. San Diego: Baker & Taylor, 2013.
In spite of the fact that the ages of all three of my children end with "teen," I still enjoy reading children's books. Perhaps vividly colored pictures and brief sentence structure provide a welcome respite from small black letters numbering in the hundreds on white pages with no pictures.
I enjoy a good story; children's literature authors know how to craft such stories. Julia Donaldson (author) and Axel Scheffler (illustrator) joined forces over twenty years ago to craft what is one of my favorite stories.
The Gruffalo takes the reader on a journey with a mouse. Along the way, the mouse (not given a name) encounters other animals that, from a mouse's perspective, instill a healthy yet troublesome sense of fear. Natural predators make their way into the story - fox, owl, and snake. In order to protect himself in the presence of his foes, mouse describes to each of the three the physical attributes of a made-up-on-the-spot creature - "a gruffalo." The gruffalo, according to mouse's imagination, possesses such things as "terrible tusks," "terrible claws," "turned-out toes," and "a poisonous wart on the end of his nose." You get the horrifying picture! Mouse "created" a creature to protect him from foes and fears.
Perhaps Donaldson, as she crafted The Gruffalo thought of how people act a lot like her mouse. If not, I sure did as I read it. I thought about how we "create" things to protect ourselves. Don't we?
Personas
Embellished resumes
"Safe" places (isolation, addiction, dependence, distraction)
Yet we need not create anything. Our Creator already stays with us when we trust Jesus as we encounter the foxes, owls, and snakes in our lives.
Jesus, rather than terrible claws, has nail-scarred hands.
Jesus, rather than a poisonous wart, has a welcoming smile.
We, along with David, can say . . .
"Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for [God] you are with me."
#ordinarylives
Donaldson, Julia. The Gruffalo. Great Britain: Macmillan Children's Books, 1999.
Two days ago our church family gathered for supper. If you are from the southern portion of the Lower 48, you may think that means we ate the day's last meal together. The supper we shared was much less substantial in quantity when compared to an average evening meal; but it was exceedingly more substantial in meaning. And, strange as it sounds, our supper was dedicated to a remembrance of death. Quoting the Lord Jesus, Paul wrote . . .
"This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
and
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
When Christians take / receive / observe the Lord's Supper (Communion), they do so with past events in mind and the present realities those events ensure.
Past Events We Remember:
- Jesus invited His disciples to eat and drink with Him.
- Jesus shared a meal that symbolized the suffering He knew He would soon endure.
- Jesus suffered and died for sinners.
Present Realities We Celebrate:
- Jesus invites Christians to "take and eat."
- Jesus' suffering spared us from the deserved consequences of our sin.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NIV)
- Jesus suffered and died for us.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)
In the second chapter of Acts, Luke details the acts of the first disciples. In addition to teaching and supporting one another in community, they broke bread.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. . . . Acts 2:46 b - 47a (NIV)
It may seem strange that we, like they, break bread together in remembrance of Jesus' suffering and death. Even still, we continue to do so because of those amazing present realities. We remember and we celebrate.
#ordinarylives
Tomorrow evening, Alaska Airlines will transport my wife and me to Phoenix. The occasion? Grand Canyon University's Family Weekend - AKA the first weekend we get to enjoy visiting our daughter who is now well into her first semester of college. I'm sure it will be a great time. For one reason, we will be doing much less shopping than we did in August. Who knew a person could go to Target so many times? (Not to mention all the other stores we frequented.) For another reason, we will eat some delicious "street" tacos and a not-found-in-Alaska Chick-fil-a #1 meal with extra pickles. For another reason, it will not be 114 degrees like it was the day we moved her into her dorm. I really do look forward to the less shopping, good eating, and cooler temperatures.
Yet, I most look forward to just spending face-to-face time with our daughter. That is true even if it does include more shopping. Why? Because she is our daughter and we love her. We are traveling to see her because she is our daughter and we love her.
In John's account of God's good news, we read about a Father who did something very similar yet far more profound. Borrowing the well-crafted words of Max Lucado, "God came near." God came near, by sending His Son, because He loves you. You are His daughter (or son) and He loves you. Jesus came not for "street" lamb tacos or extra pickles; He came for you. He traveled to the world because you are His child and He loves you. Don't ever forget that!
#ordinarylives
It all began near 2015's end. And it continues today. This is blog number 200 for The Ordinary Life. Last week I invited you to make a "to do" list. (How are you doing with that?) I added to my list this week by investing some time in evaluating my faithfulness to the (self-assigned) task of celebrating the ordinary things of life. In light of that evaluation, I will dedicate the rest of today's blog to re-posting my original post.
Hello. My name is Mark Goodman and I am a fan of ordinary. As you join me on this blog journey, we will delight in the ordinary things of life that often receive less than their share of attention.
Sunrises - yes Hawaiian, but also the less-often photographed as well.
Museum-ready works of art - yes; but without overlooking the crayon creations of children.
I live in Anchorage, Alaska where my wife and I raise our three children. We love Alaska, our home for over 14 years. You will find one or more of us skiing down a mountain, or down a trail, dancing ballet (not me!), playing racquetball, eating at Moose’s Tooth Pizza, hiking, reading, doing magic tricks, playing the electric guitar, piano, or violin, or just hanging out together. I serve as Senior Pastor of Rabbit Creek Church, our community of faith. We love Jesus, reach out to people, and teach them to grow in relationship with the Lord.
As I launch this blog, I must confess that I delayed for some time. I prefer sharing my thoughts verbally or through the medium of an ordinary 0.5mm Pentel P205. Three cheers for pencils! That said, I realize that not all who read this blog will visit Alaska and my pencil marks fade.
Others blogs can focus on the “extraordinary” and “great.” I commit this blog to the celebration of the ordinary and the good. I trust that together you, the reader, and I will enjoy this journey through observing life.
Long live the ordinary!
Mark
#ordinarylives
