Still more ancient notbook (are you tired of these yet?)

What I have done for you

The stars are silently placed in their high perch in the heavens, with a thought the sun begins to glow and the earth is formed. In a beautiful garden, life is breathed both into a man, and into a world and in a whisper on the new wind, words are spoken, “This is what I have done for you.”

Time is created and rolls swiftly on its course and blessings cascade on the world one after another like cool waves of the sea on a sunny shore. A heavenly smile is continuously cast upon earthly children and in a cheerful exalted voice that rides on a sunbeam again it is proclaimed, “This is what I have done for you!”

Then the world falls and the life given becomes stagnant in disobedience and offensive in sin. The gift of life is horribly abused and the only possible true punishment is the loss of that gift. Thus enters death into the world and sorrow finds its way into the heart of the Creator.

Time again passes on the on the blue ball and though some continue after the true and the right, others become self-absorbed and gods unto themselves. With the penalty of death still hanging over their heads the people continue on in their own designs without pause or prayer to Him who Is. Yet in his forbearance, he allows it to continue.

A baby is born and grows into a healthy young man and at some point in his years he realizes that he is living in a world which he made. Perhaps he notices that the flowers seem to look like a far away dream, or maybe the crisp air curls around his face like a kiss as he walks in the morning hours. Perhaps while sitting in a grove of trees, a robin lands on his knee and sings the sweet song of love as one sings for a friend. The boy grows in body and spirit and comes to understand his power and purpose in the world that he created. Once again the light from a heavenly smile beams down on the small globe. With the presence of God on earth the very air seems to shout, “This is what I have done for you!”

With his mission forever in front of him, Jesus gathers his flock and begins to teach them how to please the One who Is; life for the sake of love, and love for the gift of life. But still hanging like a noose, is the punishment of death. To be pure and just, that debt must be paid.

With signs given and miracles shared, the teacher moves across the face of his world. Some follow true to him, others leave when his teachings come in conflict with their desires. Others despise him for shattering their shallow packaged lives. Growing room must be forged out of the protective fences built by the prideful and self-important.

In his eyes shine love while in theirs grow the glare of hate. He teaches strangers of brotherhood and they treat brothers as strangers. They want nothing but to take his life not knowing that his life is ultimately the very gift he will give to his people, his world.

In a garden, dark from hours past the man kneels and prays. His heart is given as his body will soon be. From his forehead flows sweat as from his eyes flow tears. The trusted followers sleep on their watch as an angry crowd appears. Jesus is taken, not with swords and clubs, but with the kiss of one he had called friend. Force doesn't bend him to their will, but his obedience to the will of his Father in heaven.

An already dismal night grows even darker as time slowly passes in what has come to be the most eventful night in history. On a rugged pole with a splintery crossbar hangs the man who had known the sent of a flower before he came close enough to smell it. His love is poured out in blood. His heart, the heart that beats in time with the rhythm of all creation, is nearly crushed by the weight of the sins of the world. This great man who had done nothing wrong speaks with his last breath, “It is finished.” …

… and in heaven the One who Is turns away from his Son and speaks in an eternal whisper to each person in the world, “This, is what I have done for you!”

Tom Shuff

The Russian Bar (not a hangout in Moscow)

If you don't watch America's Got Talent, or you missed this one, I think you'll be impressed with The Russian Bar. Thank you to everyone who expressed enjoyment at the last few trips into my old notebook. I have others I'll put on later. I have to toss something else in the mix or I feel weird and self-serving. Enjoy The Russian Bar. Keep in mind that she is on a bar that is only 4 inches wide; about the width of her foot.
Tom

Drowning

With his shirt plastered to his chest, the six year old boy who had been fishing with his sister and father tried desperately to keep his head above the water. His pants were soaked with the dirty brown lake water and the extra weight pulled him under. If he had time to regret he may have felt sorry for not listening to his dad warn him to stay close by. Staying alive was more pressing than regret. The swirls of water washed around his head and the long deep stems from the lily pads wrapped around his arms and legs making it nearly impossible to stay afloat. He tasted the bitter water as he opened his mouth desperately wide for air. His attempts for oxygen brought more water into his stinging nose and throat. Scrambling to the surface he tried to scream, but his cry for help only proved to give him another mouthful of the dirty lake. Fortunately his eleven-year-old sister was nearby and capable of a more than healthy scream.

Down below the water again, and then with little legs frantically kicking he faught back up. It was then that he opened his burning eyes to see something he would never forget. As a photo in his mental album, this picture would forever stay with him. There on the shore, running along the slanted hill that ringed the lake, came his daddy. The sight of him casting off cumbersome articles of clothing, zigzagging between trees, pushing through thick branches and shedding knots of tangled fishing line took on the mystique of a man taking off his glasses and shirt to reveal a large “S” and a billowing red cape. In an instant the man was wet and the boy quickly found himself safely in the arms of his father. Through it all, the man never took his eyes off his sinking son.
Forever, the son remembers.

There is another who remembers. He recalls being pinned to a wooden cross where he waited for death to creep slowly and excruciatingly into his beaten body. He remembers the morning turning into day as he and his two companions slipped into the approaching darkness. He remembers the tears that were shed by the woman standing at the base of the next splintery death post. But most of all he can’t forget the voices. The collective voice of the mob was burned in his mind as it screamed hatred and scorn till hearts burned furious and throats burned raw. He remembers the voice of a dying thief as he ridiculed out of fear and selfishness, “If you are the Messiah, save yourself, and us.”

But then time gets jumbled and his memory a little hazy, like the world suddenly started spinning and speeding by too fast. He recalls saying something, but it takes a while to match thought with word. He remembers trying to defend the man who hung between him and the blasphemous thief. He recalls making a hopeless request. He, a man who had sinned his entire life and who had come to this wretched and deserved end approached the man from Nazareth with a plea that could only come from a drowning man. Drowning in sin, drowning in pain and drowning in death he made a very simple plea. “Teacher,” he said looking to the ground past his blood soaked feet, “Teacher, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

The response could have been the worst rejection the man had ever suffered; it should have been. Instead he was given the greatest gift of his life. He was thrown the lifeline for his soul. The drowning man was pulled from the gaping mouth of the grave.

With dried blood on his cracked lips, the forgiving voice of Jesus uttered words that will forever play through the man’s mind. “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” And with those words Jesus dove into the man’s sinful heart and pulled him out of the black waters of spiritual death. There was an instant when Jesus was wet with blood and cold with the sins of others; an instant when the sinful drowning man found himself safely in the arms of his Savior.

The same Jesus who spoke those words on that cross makes the same promise to all who choose to live for him today, and paradise waits. Through it all, He never takes his eyes off his sinking, struggling children.

Tom

The Notebook

The Traitor’s Last Song

My spirit is draped in darkness as I recall the past few days. The coins in my hand reflect a face I no longer recognize. Temptation and greed have bought my heart and I cannot seem to break their strangling hold. The compelling call of the jingling silver rings in my ears and I yield to its cry and bow to its empty throne.

The lips of betrayal have met with the face of love, and the heart of the Master looked deep into my darkened soul. Where can I go to hide from what I have done? How can I live when I have doomed the only hope for the world to his death? Forgiveness for such guilt is unthinkable. I dare not kneel to ask. How could God forgive me when I have all but killed His only Son?

A crooked tree hanging over a cliff is my home and a rope my last embrace. When the rotting branch finally breaks the awaiting rocks will be my bed though no rest will be found there. Then I will have the payment I deserve, and then I will reap the seeds that I have sown.

May all be warned who pass this way, and may all avoid my resting place, least they be tainted by the blood of a traitor.

Judas Iscariot

By
Tom Shuff

You provide the caption returns

Not sure I can come up with a caption for this picture, but I wanted to bring back this old gag to allow me a second to step away from seriousness. I was peering through my old notebook and may have a couple of other things to put on here in the days to come, but I don't want to bore everyone with them all the time. Soooo, give me your best captions.

Another visit to my little notbook of things written and forgotten

The Legacy of Eve

In the early morning hours as the sweet smell of creation lingers in the new air, Adam lay asleep. With the gentlest touch a rib is taken from his side and in his slumber he feels, as a soft breeze on his face, the breath of his comforting God. The rib lifts slowly in the air and floats above the man from whom it had been taken, and there it waits. God looks at Adam and sees in him a wondrous being of flesh and spirit. The prefect combination of emotionally driven man with the soul that is able to connect with the Creator himself. Then God looks with Adam’s heart where He knows exists an emptiness. He knows something is left missing. Then God smiles, and with a slight turn of His wrist he extends His mighty hand out beneath the floating rib and allows power to flow from His fingertips. Within the masterfully creative mind of God exist a picture, and the hovering rib begins to move and grow to match. As God wills, it changes and becomes the companion for the man. With only a thought He has given to man a being full of compassion. With less than a gesture He has gifted creation with a motivating force that will be the cause of a myriad of wonderful things. In less than an instant the awesome God has inspired countless poems, stories and songs. He has created the most perfect work of art, and the exact answers to an empty heart. He gave love to man in the form of woman. As this incredible woman floats like a feather down beside Adam, her arm gently falls across his chest and her perfect face brushes up next to his. There in the quiet dawn of a day bursting with wonderful new possibilities, while they both lie asleep, the very first human embrace gently occurs and is seen only by the eyes of the Creator. In a moment of splendor God whispers his breath on the two and calls for them to rise from his creative sleep. They do not see him as they wake; they only stare into each others starry eyes amazed at the overwhelming joy that fills their hearts. This joy will set in place a continuing pattern for everyone ever blessed to gaze into the eyes of the one they love.
A legacy was also created on that day. In the light of that creation, when God looked at Adam and Eve, He could see each couple to follow. While in his infinite wisdom He saw how happy His precious new gift would make Adam and Eve, He also knew how happy we could make each other. He knew that the touch of the one we love would fill us with the same awe Adam must have felt waking to see Eve beside him.
If Adam felt anything similar to what we are capable of, once he woke to see Eve, he must have never wanted to close his eyes again. May we often remember to take the opportunity to gaze into the eyes of the one we love as we did at the beginning.

Tom Shuff

Down to the farm

I got this in an email and thought I'd share. Sometimes a good ol' grampa and grandma can say what needs to be said. Enjoy.

Tom

Spelling Error

I am frequently an offender of the hard and fast rules of spelling, as most of you know. It is usually my goal to correct these as soon as I can (unless of course it proves to be funnier if I leave it as is). I recently ran across an example of a spelling issue far worse than any I've ever made (save my grade school report where I confused the word "Algae" for a similar sounding word which begins with the letter "O"; and since that error was on an oral report, it was less a spelling issue and more a "talk of the school" faux paux. This error is one that most all of us have seen and may not have realized. The following is the content of a page from Uncle John's Bathroom Reader 2008 Desk Calendar, Date Monday, June 9:

"Monnopely"
In 2002 Parker Brothers admitted that for the previous 60 years it had misspelled Marven Gardens, named after a street in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as Marvin Gardens on the popular board game Monopoly. But the company said that recalling the game and manufacturing new editions with the correct spelling would, at this point, be too costly.

Blogger's Note: The obvious misspelling of the word Monopoly in quotes at the beginning is as it is shown on the calendar page, and not a typo of the blogger; this time.

Blogger's Second Note: The faux paux I mentioned earlier did cause me some embarrassment, but it also managed to save my grade. You see, the oral report was being timed and while I didn't have enough material to fill the time allotted, the laughter at my misspeak managed to use up the balance quite nicely.

Anyone else feel like sharing an awkward moment or a memorable mistake?

Take a kid fishing day

So there we were, all piled out of a bus to a certain spot I know of, with our children in tow and fishing gear ready for a wonderful day of fishing. In the picture below you'll see us in the distance. I'm in the blue shirt, Christian (my boy) is to my right (your left) and Audrey and Kayleigh are beside me. About twenty-five people were involved in one way or another.


It was a very hot day and there far more people involved than there were fish. Although I have to put on my "proud daddy" hat for just a second because the two fish that did get caught were caught by my 5 year old little princess Audrey. Yay for her!

We went back to the church building and had a wonderful lunch (mostly thanks to John and Debbie who cooked and prepared the meat and some desserts, Rene who prepared enough potato salad and beans to feed a small army {other things were brought but I don't know to whom I should credit), and Cindy and Dawn who coordinated and orchestrated).

Thank you Lord for friends, for our children, and for a wonderful day (oh, and for Audrey's fish).

Tom

After Three Days

Three days after his injury, here's Christian playing in his first band concert. Unfortunately we also had a sick Kayleigh and so one of us had to stay home. Since Dawn had been on sick little girl duty all day, I took a turn and stayed with her thereby missing the show. Dawn took a video camera and recorded it so I have it. They did well. If you look closely, you can see some of his battle wounds. Thanks for all the prayers and concern. As I've said, we are very blessed.

Tom

On the way to church ...

I pulled up to the curb as I always do when we are late. I opened the automatic sliding door on the van and Christian was the first one out. In the blink of an eye he jumped to the sidewalk, jumped up and grabbed the stone blocks that top the wall to the right of the steps. That fast, two stone blocks fell from the wall and one of them hit him on the head and face as it fell to the sidewalk. He stood there for a moment thinking he was in trouble and calmly stated "Well, that never happened before." That is when we first saw the blood. A significant gash had been cut into his forehead at his hairline. Dawn was calm, I got somewhat panicky. We got him to the ER where he had 9 stitches in his forehead which are enhanced by some cuts and scrapes down his nose lip and chin. He's doing a little better now but he will be feeling this for some time. We stayed home tonight and hung out. We also prayed and hugged a lot.

Tom