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Philippians 4:6-7
NAB 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
KJV 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
When I was a kid we sang a chorus in Sunday School called, “I have a Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart.” One of the verses was “I have the Peace that passeth understanding down in my heart.” That was always a tongue-twister for me so I always sang, “I have the Peace surpassing understanding down in my heart.” That was easier to say and easier to understand – or so I thought. When I learned to play guitar that was one of the first songs I tried out. It turned out I had a lot of Joy in my heart, especially when playing and singing hymns and Gospel choruses. It wasn’t until I started making real trouble for myself that I began to understand what kind of peace surpasses understanding.
That happened in the late fifties and early sixties. By the end of the sixties, my head was is a totally different realm. I’d tuned in, turned on, dropped out, rolled over, ducked under, muddled through, gone from Dean’s List to Uncle Sam’s List, and burned more than a few bridges along the way. Of course, I built a few, too. Mainly, though, I “expanded my consciousness” until I knew all the answers but couldn’t remember the questions. All through that period one thing remained constant. I stayed connected to Jesus. By the time Uncle Sam got me, my friends referred to me as a “Jesus Freak.” And once the Air Force finished with me, I pretty much had to surrender the Flower-Power kind of Peace in favor of “Work it out from the inside” peace.
In short order I got a haircut, a change of clothes, a change of health, a career (Medical Technology), a new religion (Roman Catholic), a wife (Crucita who agreed we would have a Christ-centered marriage), and a new outlook on life (mostly from the middle of Texas). I stayed connected to Jesus through all of those changes, but I also noticed I was more stubborn, louder, more easily agitated (Crucita noticed all this, too), and way less patient. The Peace surpassing understanding must have gotten shorn from me like my Hippie hair.
As the years ground by, I found more changes – new places to live, an expanding career in Clinical Laboratory, lots and lots of new friends (many of whom are now old friends), a smattering of pets – cats, ducks, dogs, rabbits, goats, and one trouble-making heifer – more responsibilities (including two kids and a mortgage), more education (a BA in Medical Technology and a MSM in Human Resource Management), and even more friends. But I still stuck with Jesus. The Peace surpassing understanding showed up intermittently, but it did surface once in a while much to the relief of those who had to put up with me when it wasn’t around.
Sometimes things happen that really get your attention in ways you never planned. “Sometimes?!?!” Yeah, you’re right. Like Ike said, “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.” The kids got sick, or the dog got run over. I lost my job, or got a job that changed my whole life. People came into and went out of my life. I made huge mistakes and small victories. Jesus went along for the whole thing, patiently waiting for me to figure it out. I remember one time in Kayenta (you’ve heard this story before) I was really disgusted with having to stay 120 miles away from the family and drive over two hours to get home Friday night and then leave before sun-up to get back before work Monday morning. I asked “What do you want me to do here?!?!” And God’s quiet answer was “Live here!” Oh, yeah, no?
Many times He’s had to smack me up the side of the head to make me pay attention. I’ve been surprised by what He thinks is relevant and even more surprised by what He thinks is funny. Here’s a little something which was relevant and funny – funny as in “Wow! Where did that come from?!” and relevant as in “Oh, yeah, no?” This is from shortly after we moved to Kaua‘i, and I was teaching in Waimea.
For this morning
Hastening toward the front door
to get to the car and roll
up the windows I am rushed
by the squallish rain that threatens
me and my upholstery (so vain).
For some ridiculous reason I snatch
up my jacket, wrestling against its
flopping arms. It will get wet,
and stay wet, faster than me
and longer than me, but will
not object. Or so I thought.
In an instant the rain becomes
the lesser foe and seems only
an agent of my present distress:
My jacket zipper is stuck,
I curse it because I cannot
willingly curse my haste and still
be accountable to my little man
in the right-rear quadrant of my brain
who barks accusations of things
I have already confessed:
“Well, that was stupid, you STU-PED!!”
I yank up and down on the
fiendishly small handle of this
apparently demonic device
and begin the argument that
will ensure the upholstery will
get soaked before one of us
loses it or loosens it.
The zipper, that is.
The zipper that was.
The zipper that will
always be.
With or without me.
Then the miracle happens in
waves of wonder surging through all
thirty-two dimensions of my
singular reality in this
predawn darkness.
The rain lets up. I see
the windows closed. My false
accusation of carelessness is
equitably acquitted. The
zipper’s rebellion subsides
and there in front of me
shimmering like light
filtered through summertime’s
weak lemonade is
a poem. But, was it this one?
I don’t know! How can I tell?
This one might belong to Reid, or
Byron, or Wendell Johnson, maybe
even Pliny, or Sartre, but
it could be mine if I am the
one who catches it.
It really could
be if only I could
zip it up like a jacket to
hold back the squalling rain of
poems I am not quick enough to write
or too clumsy to close correctly
Winter, 2002
Make it a wonderful day full of the Peace that surpasses understanding, Beloved. I am so very happy to have you and your love as part of the rain of poetry in my life. God bless you always and all ways.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
chick
Special Message from MG: “Tell everyone thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts. My doctor says the surgery and chemo worked and now my stomach cancer is a thing of the past. I only have to go in every four months for a check-up. Thank you all very much. Praise God!”
Have a praise report? Send it in. I’ll tell the MBN!
