Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

• 2 Corinthians 3:17

The Boilerplate

My wife started to write her thoughts down at one point in her life.  Some hints point to 2018 and 2019, after she had her open-heart surgery.  In spite of her trials and the atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) that required her to take blood thinners, this was before her major health decline.

Sometimes, she wrote a thought.  Other times, she wrote a Bible verse, and maybe her idea on that day.  Other times, it is a prayer, but I am going to take one entry at a time and try to write about it

Her comment

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.”

• My wife’s next comment in this notebook

The Discussion

Of all my wife’s notes, I have been able to remember vague conversations.  When something was important enough to write it down, it was important enough to talk about.

But this may have been something personal for her.  I do not remember us talking about it.

She often had conflicts with her Catholic upbringing.  It was a big joke, and sometimes not funny, that she filled out her menu for the week and I would argue that she switch Friday’s menu for any other day of the week.  Her brain computed that I hated fish, but I did not say to eliminate the fish, just having nothing but fish every Friday.  I wanted her out of that Pharisaical mindset of doing things because there is a rule, a rule that is not biblical.

She had no problem talking to God directly.  She was a faithful prayer warrior.  And I think going to a priest to intercede was one of the things that led her to leave the church.  She had never read the Bible until we were married.

But there were times when she felt she was doing things wrong.  As a family, we never thought twice about Lent until we moved to the Pittsburgh area.  With what seemed like half the church being former Catholics, Lent was a special time, but I cannot remember ever celebrating anything other than Holy Week prior to that time.  But my wife felt guilty for not fasting, not having a fish dinner on Ash Wednesday, and on and on.

But as my wife got to know who God was, she loved God for what He was and how she changed as she got to know Him better.

The rules upon rules and the guilt for forgetting one rule or another seemed to melt into the background.

She could finally declare her freedom.  God just wanted to be her friend, her guide, and in the end, her everything.

That beats a lot of man-made rules that can easily be forgotten.  As Jesus said, He gave us a new commandment, to love one another.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory