Author Archives: Joe Wilburn

Autumn Leaves

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English: the forests in new hampshire in autumn

English: the forests in new hampshire in autumn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Autumn Leaves

As I look outside my window I am struck by something. It is autumn. The leaves are falling. And yet- no one seems to be terrified! How can this be? Do we not understand that these leaves produce the very air we breathe? They absorb the deadly CO2 that keeps global warming experts awake at night and converts it into life giving oxygen. And yet- here they are – falling, falling, falling. Colorful and lovely to behold, but nonetheless, dead upon the ground. The ground has become a graveyard of death and decomposition as far as the eye can see. Surely an ominous sign. Can we be far behind?

Yet as I search the cable news networks, the newspaper, and the Internet for any mention of this impending calamity, to my amazement, I find nothing. Nothing but travel reports singing the praises of fall foliage. Recommendations of how and when and where to see the best and the brightest before it all slips away. In fact, it seems that many are willing to travel back roads and byways in order to make the most of the death spectacle all around us. Some will even board planes and fly to places like New Hampshire and Vermont just to witness the destruction. How can this be? What is behind this puzzling attraction to death, dying, decay, and destruction? Especially in a culture known for its singular dedication to youth, beauty, and an obsession with endless life saving measures designed to beat back the Grim Reaper?

It would seem that at some level we all understand the cycle of life and death – at least as it pertains to nature. Everyone knows that death must occur in order to give way to life. Autumn, and the ensuing winter, are essential to the glorious new life of spring and it is the certainty of spring which allows for the beauty of seeing the leaves fall and die. At some level we know that the trees really aren’t dead. They merely have the appearance of death….

As it is in nature, so it is with those of us who are in Christ Jesus. To every single person will come a day of death and destruction of the physical body. This physical death is a necessary act for the renewing of our soul in the next kingdom. It is in the Kingdom of Heaven that we will find glorious spring and rebirth. In the same sense that the trees feel no sense of loss as their leaves are stripped away leaving them bare and exposed, we as Christians should feel no terror at the inevitable loss of our physical bodies, because we know that by faith we have been granted access to glorious, rapturous spring for all eternity. Amen.

Plummeting Meteors

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Photo of a part of the sky during a meteor sho...

Photo of a part of the sky during a meteor shower over an extended exposure time. The meteors have actually occurred several seconds to several minutes apart. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plummeting Meteors

It occurs to me that our lives are somewhat like plummeting meteors. We too are but a bright streak across the night sky burning for the briefest of moments, and then we are gone. Some burn a bit longer, but most are never even discernable. We last not long enough for the world to even be aware of our existence. We are souls streaking through this thing called life.

The good news is that we have been given a remarkable gift from the Creator of earth, sea and sky. From this One who rules the limitless expanses and who established the very principles which govern our plummet through the atmosphere, we receive the gift of suspended laws. No longer shall we burn up in a moment and disappear. Gravity, friction, incineration and impact upon the floor of death are no more. The fraction of a second that was once our lives now stretches into endless life…..

This is the power of Christ. This is the unmerited gift of grace given to every believer. For a world in need, it is faith in Christ which suspends the laws of the universe and releases death’s inescapable pull. We are no more the burning streak destined to disappear in a fraction of a second, but rather, we will free fall into an eternal life that never ends. Amen

Two Shells

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Shell Searching Not long ago, while walking along the beach, I found a beautiful shell. It was perfect to my eye in color and symmetry. I placed it in my pocket and continued down the beach. As I made my way further along, I noticed many more shells which I stopped to examine. These shells I found to be flawed with various imperfections such as chips and holes. I threw them over my shoulder and back into the surf……

As I continued down the beach, I noticed another shell seemingly full of imperfections. Yet, as if I had been given new eyes to see, this shell struck me as beautiful. It had a large hole in the middle and was worn ragged along the edges. The end of the shell was missing altogether. It was apparent to me that this shell had been beaten and tossed by the power of the ocean and drug along the bottom by many terrible storms before being washed up on the shore. Its very survival, though in a battered state, seemed to render it beautiful.

In retrospect I realized something about my quest for perfect shells. Shells, like people are judged by their external appearances. When weexamine people, we often judge them by their lack of imperfections. The perfect silhouette of a runway model, the striking smile of the cover girl, the immaculately dressed eecutive- all these we examine and judge to be good. Like beautiful shells, we judge them worthy and place in our pocket to keep. Others- the homeless in their threadbare garments, the elderly woman in the nursing home in her housecoat, the toothless gentleman who pours our coffee at the diner in the morning- these are imperfect and therefore cast aside unnoticed from our vista.

Could it be that the very people we cast aside like imperfect shells are the ones that are most needed to show us true beauty in this world? Oh that we might be given eyes to see the beauty of proven character! What a gift to be able to see the beauty of perseverance, the value of patience, the valor of submission, the radiance of longsuffering. God in His endless love and grace, has shown us perfection in the battered shells washed ashore at our feet. Our task is to see them for what they really are. Our job is to recognize their true beauty. Our calling is to deem them worthy and carry them home.

Hidden Treasure

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Cover of "The Dark Night of the Soul"

Cover of The Dark Night of the Soul

Hidden Treasure

 

To those living through significant trauma, pain and darkness can be comforting friends.  This seems a strange thing to say- antithetical really, but consider their impact on us.  They force us to look into ourselves and away from the world.  They pull us away from our familiar surroundings and help us to examine uncharted territory where we may just encounter hidden treasure- the presence of God.  This treasure is never far off, but we seldom look in the right places for it.  Being sequestered by pain and darkness is sometimes a powerful incentive to search for something deeper.  This is often a daunting process,  however.  In our unbelief, we sit longingly near the window searching desperately for some sign of light to escape the darkness.  We cling to each telltale ray seeping between the blinds.  We curse God when His hand brushes us away from the window, never noticing His tears as He does so.  We want so desperately to escape the darkness that we nearly trample the gentle Spirit of Grace whose touch is so light that we can barely sense it brushing against us.

 

How long must we sit in the darkness before we can see?  How long before we begin to feel and listen?  How long before we surrender to the darkness learn to wait upon the Lord?  How long will we ignore the voices at the door urging us to escape?  Do we have the courage to search for the hidden beauty that awaits discovery behind the thick curtain of darkness?  If we choose to submit, we will find ourselves enveloped by the beauty of the night.  For it is surely there, that our hope is found.  In the solitude of the dark night of the soul- the treasure of God awaits.