Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

B.B. was back with me in our unofficial “green room,” the restroom in the hall that leads to Gwen and GrandPa’s house on one side and Aunt Pink’s office on the other.  We were both decked out in our red.  After all, it was Pentecost Sunday.

As if it were planned that way, the Turtle Team had the weekend off and they were all in attendance.  Our discussion in the restroom centered around who would be invited to a hurricane data collection in the summer.  They had a couple of good options and then a few competent options, but most that they were trying out were duds.  But Dr. Kildare feared summer jobs, summer vacations, and other distractions.  He had reasons to have a big crowd, but he had told no one his plans.

We came into the den of the Big House where our meetings were now held due to the overflowing crowd, like today.  And everyone was wearing red.

But then, Aunt Pink had told me to keep an eye on Brooke and Goober.  Something had happened to them, something with court cases pending, but Brooke had been a basket case lately.  But what I saw was Brooke holding hands with Mercedes, and the two were laughing, probably because one or the other hit a wrong note.  Since the hymn was so familiar, everyone was singing loudly, or maybe it was just Pentecost.

Joseph led us in prayer, a lengthy one which called on the Holy Spirit to be present among us.

Emmett led his choir.  The lead was sung by Menzie, Carla and Arabella.  At alto, there was Brooke and Mercedes Lothrop.  At tenor, Samuel, Michael, and Emmett.  And baritone, Dr. Ben.  And Goober sang bass.  The hymn was a Fanny Crosby hymn I Am Thine O Lord.

I asked, “Why that hymn?”

Emmett said, “The Immanence of God is how He is throughout us and the chorus of the hymn says to draw us nearer to God.  Why not?”

Samuel said, “Aunt Jemima, what attribute of God are we studying this time?”

I had to catch my breath. “As if you did not already know, we are studying God’s Immanence.”  Then I turned to Arabella, “Do you need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella giggled and shrunk her head between her shoulders, “I don’t know.  We had immanence before, and I am just trying to get my head around God watching me take a shower, but to be in me and through me?  Yikes!”

I groaned, “Okay!  You ask Belle a question, and you are going to get an answer, whether you like it or not.”

Joseline (Jeremiah 23:23) “’Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away?”

Jos asked, “The ‘only’ throws me off.  Yes, God is very near to me, and I do not mind him watching me in the shower, Belle.  He might be the one who keeps me from slipping and falling.  Think of it that way, instead of your creepy way.  But God is not just nearby.  He is within us.  The Holy Spirit guides us.  He cannot do that while sitting in a chair in the next room.  When I finally become a doctor, He will help me see inside my patients.”

Margie asked, “How does God do that?  Don’t you just listen to the patient’s symptoms and then make a diagnosis?”

Jos smiled, “That only goes so far, Margie, or is it, Margarette?”  Margie said the formal name was what Blaise uses.  Jos continued, “But what if you even run some tests and it could be three different things?  You might order another test that rules out one of the three, but with prayer and eventually a lot of experience, you can make a proper diagnosis.  But that is just me thinking.  I have only had a few days of sitting in with Dr. Mel.  And I have been so blessed to have that opportunity.  I’ve only had one class that has office visit observations, just to see if we really want to be a doctor.  And who do I get, but my own doctor!”

Kevin chuckled, “I think Dr. Mel had something to do with that.  I think she likes you.  Then again, could that be God within Dr. Mel?  God’s will is going to be done.  He uses those who trust and love Him, and the other folks, too.”

Kevin (Matthew 10:30) “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Kevin said, “I have heard people say that God is aware of every cell in our bodies, but if Jesus had said that, no one would know what he was talking about.  But they could understand hair.  So, hair is small and thin.  There are a lot of hairs on your body: hair on your head, eyebrows, hairs in your ears and nose, and then small hair all over your body.  Jesus was making a point that no matter how many or how few hairs you have, He is intimately interested in each of us.  We could discuss the cellular level, or even the chemical level.  But with that type of interest that God has in us, we should be that kind of interested in Him.  Just attending church on Sunday morning is not enough.  God is with us all week, and we need to recognize that He is touching us every hour of every day.”

Jos said, “Kev, Sweetie, my hair is not thin and tiny.”

“Yes, dear.” Kevin replied.  And then he turned to the class, “And if any of you need a strong rope, I have just the thing for you.”

Jos huffed, “If I were not holding our little one, I’d slug you.  And to all of you, if you made a rope out of my hair, you would have the lasso of truth.”

Kevin said, “But that rope was golden.  Your hair is brown.”

Jos gritted her teeth.  “We will hit the wrestling mat when we get home from church!”

Kevin cowered, “Can I just say ‘uncle’ now and avoid the strained muscles?”

Jos leaned over and they kissed.

Brooke leaned over and whispered to Carla, “I always thought they did not like each other, but…”

Carla snickered, “Yeah, it was just an act, but I have started patterning my arguments with Brenton after Jos and Kevin, especially when I beat him on a hole on the golf course.  The man may be the head of the household, but we are the boss.  And they better not forget it.”

I sighed, “Okay, let’s move on.”

Mary Jo (Colossians 1:17) “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Mary Jo said, “Wow!  So, God is the power that holds us all together?”

Blaise said, “I heard a lecture about how the protons in each atom that make up each molecule in every cell in our bodies…  Those protons are all positively charged.  They want to get away from each other, but some scientists think that the Higgs Boson, who the atheist scientist dubbed the God Particle, keeps those protons in the nucleus of every atom together.  So, without the God Particle, nothing would exist, we would all be disembodied subatomic particles flying through empty space.  There wouldn’t even be planets or suns.”

Margie asked, “Why did atheist scientists call it the God Particle?”

Blaise said, “It was a taunt.  They were saying that God and the Higgs Boson were equally difficult to find.  But then they found it at the CERN Supercollider and discovered what it did.  Then, the joke was on the scoffers.”

Mercedes (Acts 17:26-28) “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”

Mercedes smiled, “That’s from Paul’s sermon to the people in Athens.  It amazes me to see how Paul always had the right way to communicate with his audience.  The message was the same, but the way he presented the message was different.”

I smiled, “And that is why we are all wearing red today.  Sure, it is the birthday of the church, but it is also when the Holy Spirit came down and dwelled in each believer to guide and counsel them.  The red represents the tongue of fire that hovered over the believers in the upper room and then it separated and became a flame over each believer.  Then they started speaking in tongues.  And then they went to the temple and everyone was astounded that these, presumably uneducated people from Galilee, could speak their language, that is all the languages of the known world at the time.”

Jochebed shrugged, “But I’ve spoken in tongues in this class many times, and no one was terribly impressed.”

I smiled, “Jochebed, there is a difference in speaking in tongues and knowing a lot of languages.  My dear friend, you know more than many in this room who have advanced college degrees.”

Jochebed nodded, “Yes, and I know things that I would not wish for any of you to know.”

Brooke asked, “Like what?”

Jochebed sighed, “I now hold my little girl, Dinah.  I once gathered my four sons close to me and evil men gunned them all down.  I lay on the ground, covered with their blood.  The only way that I was not killed was that they saw all the blood on me and thought I was dead too.  Then, when they were not looking, I escaped just to have them come to the next village during the next year.  Then, I get to come to Tracy.  This is now my home.  And I pray each day that what happened to my children in Africa never happens here.”

Brooke said, “I didn’t know.  I am so sorry.”

Jochebed smiled, “Sorry is for then.  Now I have a new life in a new land.  I already had God’s love in me.  And I found love in Georges, and in Mommie Pinkie.  You, Brooke, you are in a good place here.”

Then Brooke put her hands to her face and started crying.

Carla sighed, “Aunt Jemima, can I make a prayer request for my friend, Brooke?  Something happened this past week and it has left Brooke worried that she might never have children.  I can’t say more because it is an open legal matter.”

Samuel said, “If it is what my Dad said happened to one of my classmates, then it was very bad.  You’ve had my prayers and I didn’t even know who it was.”

I smiled, “Yes, Carla and Brooke, we need to have a prayer list.  Just for those in this room.”

Joseph said, “I’ll make it easy.  I will print a class roster and give it to each of us in the room.  Then as prayer requests come in, we can write that request next to their name.  That way, we can go down the list praying for everyone here, and when we get to something specific, we can pray earnestly for that person’s immediate need.”  Everyone nodded and then Joseph walked over and placed his hand on Brooke and prayed for her to be healed, and if that was not God’s will, then use what had happened as a springboard to greater service in God’s kingdom.

Brooke said, “God has already been working in Goober’s and my life.  We have accepted Jesus.  We are just getting started, but we want to catch up with the rest of the class.”

I smiled, “It’s not a contest, but then Paul likens the Christian life to a race and we should all run as if to win it.  Wow!  We have had a lot today, but one more.  And so you can speak in your tongue…”

Jochebed (Psalm 139:13-16) “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

I said, “But you read that in English!”

Jochebed said, “I have to keep the teacher off balance.  Now for Psalm 139:13-16 in the Louis Segond.  ‘C’est toi qui as formé mes reins, Qui m’as tissé dans le sein de ma mère. Je te loue de ce que je suis une créature si merveilleuse. Tes oeuvres sont admirables, Et mon âme le reconnaît bien. Mon corps n’était point caché devant toi, Lorsque j’ai été fait dans un lieu secret, Tissé dans les profondeurs de la terre. Quand je n’étais qu’une masse informe, tes yeux me voyaient; Et sur ton livre étaient tous inscrits Les jours qui m’étaient destinés, Avant qu’aucun d’eux existât.’”

I laughed, “And did you keep your teachers off balance as you were growing up?”

Jochebed smiled, “I had many teachers, but I never attended a school.  I learned to read from my first pastor in French, from the Louis Segond, and from my second pastor and his wife, the parents of Resurrection and Esther Hill who live at the CRAGS, the Columbia River Gorge Site of Lily the Pink.  I learn English from them.  But now I watch the teachers that we have in the nursery.  I learn while the children learn their pre-K.”

Jochebed continued, “These verses give me hope.  God knew me from the second that I was conceived.  I will someday go to Heaven and my four sons will be waiting for me there.  And there will be a special community in the New Jerusalem that is reserved for all the unborn children who never got to see their mother’s face.  Sorry, I get emotional.  I lost four sons.  I run a nursery here at Lily the Pink.  I now have a daughter.  My entire life revolves around little children, and I weep for those who God knew and we never had the chance to know.”

I said, “Wow!  We are learning a lot from each other today.  I prayed that the Holy Spirit would move in us and through us.  I would love to say more, but I see a little bus alarm approaching.”

Lauren came from behind Menzie and patted her on the knee, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I smiled, “As we have been doing, let’s end with the Mizpah benediction.  Everyone, bow your heads in prayer.  “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.’” (Genesis 31:49b)

As we finished, the door opened, and a red streak ran past me like a lightning strike.

Kanok yelled, “Imminent!  Soapy!”

Emmett said, “Kanok.  I am not about to be here.  I am here already.  And you missed a great Sunday school class.  We talked about how God has immanence.”

Kanok asked, “God has you?!”

Emmett said, “Yes, and God has you, too.  But what is that in your hair?”

Kanok got very serious, serious for her.  “Mommie Pinkie says I can’t touch them.  They are orks.”

Sophie said, “Kanok, I think she said that they were orchids.  And they are beautiful red orchids.  Do they grow orchids in Thailand?”

Kanok nodded excitedly, “Yeah, yeah!  But these aren’t real.  These are made out of silk.  They have silk in Thailand.  That’s where I come from.  Look!  There are Book and Booger!”

Brooke came up and laughed, “Yep, here are Book and Booger.”

Kanok said, “But you always say you are something else!”

Brooke squatted down and hugged Kanok.  “A very wise teacher taught me something today.  Always keep the teacher off balance.  So, I have to keep you off balanced, kiddo.”

Kanok wheeled around toward me.  “Aunt Jemima, Book says I’m a teacher!”

By this time, Aunt Pink had entered, dressed to the nines, even with a red hat with roses on it, silk ones probably.  She said, “Yes, Kanok teaches all of us things.  Whether they are right or not is a different matter.”

Carla and Brooke approached.  Carla said, “I want no negative thoughts with my sister here.  Brooke is going to carry your baby to the bus, Aunt Jemima.  She better get used to it.  She’ll be carrying her own in good time.”

Brooke, with a few tears in her eyes, picked up Stormie’s carrier and went with us to the bus.

Credits

I am now starting to use the David E. Fessenden study guides for The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. Again, no quotations, just some Scriptures that keep the flow going.  But I will admit that I did a search on the topic and found most of the verses that I used this time.

The lasso of truth is the golden lasso used by Wonder Woman in the comic books and movies.  Wonder Woman is supposed to be an Amazon.

God’s Physical Record of Creation by Ruffin I. Rackley is where I got the “lecture” that Blaise heard. My uncle wrote about how the God Particle holds every atom in our universe together. The book is available on many online bookseller sites.

I had two trips to Thailand to work at a steel mill.  One Thai hotel chain had a hotel near the beach in Pattaya.  It was called the Orchid.  They had an orchid shaped swimming pool, and every night, for turndown service, they had a chocolate on a tray next to the bed and a freshly picked orchid on my pillow.  Somehow, they knew when we left to go out for dinner at night.  The linens had already been changed during the day, but when we returned from our evening meal and a little shopping, our covers were turned down and the orchid stood out on the backdrop of a white linen pillowcase.

Here is 200-member mass choir singing I Am Thine, O Lord.  It was recorded for Classic Hymns for their “Sweet Hour of Prayer” album.  I have written before about being in Jamshedpur, West Bengal, India.  My boss and I were teaching at a nearby steel mill and our driver took us to a small Church of Northern India church near our hotel.  Oddly, they used the liturgy and hymnal from the Church of Southern India.  But when we sang this hymn that takes this choir less than four minutes to sing, this little church took three times that long.  Each nearer became “Ne-ah-ah-ra-ah-ah,” not totally non rhotic.  Hey, the organist may have never seen the music before, so he went through it slowly.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.