Hello, This is ___________ from __________. Who am I speaking with please?
Weeping...Snuffles....This is Rosa.....More crying...
What's going on, Rosa?
I have made mistakes in my life....
So what is happening now?
I am pregnant, and I can't have this baby. I am going to have an abortion and I know it is wrong.
Me, praying, stalling for time, thinking....
Can you tell me more about your situation?
I already have an 18-month old. I have plans for my life....
When are you going to have the abortion?
Tomorrow...And I know it is wrong....But I have to do it...I want to start making right choices. I want to be strong.
Do you have any spiritual beliefs? Do you go to church?
Yes, I am part of a small church. I believe in God.
Rosa, the people in that small church will all be pro-life. Christians always are. Tell them what is happening. They will rally around you and help you in every way. Think what a privilege it will be for them to be able to act out their pro-life commitment. It will be such a joy to them, and you will be surrounded by so much love....We also have a partner organization that can counsel you, give you any practical help you might need. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. May I give you their number?....And Rosa, about being strong, and making good decisions. Why don't you do what is right and start right now, not after you have had the abortion. Making difficult,right decisions always strengthens you and blesses you longterm. Sinning weakens you and will leave you with a lifetime of regret and guilt. Abortion is not a good long-term solution....Also, I am going to be very honest here, Rosa, I would not want to stand before God on that final day and have to answer for the murder of my own child....
Crying...
Would you like me to transfer you to (our pro-life resource), Rosa, and you can talk with them now? Remember, they will help you in any and every way...
I am too upset right now.
If I give you their number, will you call them?
Yes.
Promise, promise that you will call them right away?
Yes.
So I pray and we hang up. And what has happened?...I don't know.
This caller I have not yet forgotten...But...I did all I could and it is in God's hands.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Melchizedekian
I have been re-reading one of the many missionary stories I love-about the early days of the gospel penetrating the Ethiopian Wallamo tribe...Presbyterian missionaries presented the gospel for a few years before they were forced to leave by the Italians as they conquered Ethiopia during the Second World War years. The missionaries left a church in its infancy...They eventually were able to return and found that, in the midst of much Catholic persecution, the church had permeated the tribe so thoroughly it was hard to find a non-Christian Wallamo ...Wondrous...They put much thought into the reasons the gospel spread so rapidly amongst this particular people...This is one of the interesting incidents they learned about...One that had occurred years earlier....
"Around the turn of the century, Wallamo province was filled with talk about a man named Asa. He was originally from Gamo, but his fame and his teachings spread throughout the whole area. He claimed to have a revelation from God - the God who created the heavens and the earth. Wallamo people should stop worshiping Satan, he said, and should worship only one God, the Creator. Asa also taught the people to pray, especially on one day of the week, Sunday. In praying, he would dip his fingers in honey and flick the honey toward heaven, symbolizing that his prayers were directed to God, not to Satan. The code of laws that Asa taught resembled the Ten Commandments.
As his message spread, Asa's following increased. The practice of witchcraft was forcible restrained. Many of the witch doctors, who were actually priests leading in the worship of Satan, were converted to Asa's teaching. Others who practiced witchcraft did it secretly.
Eventually the movement became absorbed in politics and Asa was imprisoned. He died a few years before the missionaries came to Soddo, and though the movement died with him, there were still traces of this movement all over Wallamo. None of the first converts had been personally influenced by Asa's teachings, but there was a widespread spirit of expectancy for a fuller revelation from the One True God. Asa had prophesied that the foreigner would come with God's book. He urged the people to follow the teachings of this book because it would tell them more about God's will for them...."
Wondrous. Amazing. Intriguing.
"Around the turn of the century, Wallamo province was filled with talk about a man named Asa. He was originally from Gamo, but his fame and his teachings spread throughout the whole area. He claimed to have a revelation from God - the God who created the heavens and the earth. Wallamo people should stop worshiping Satan, he said, and should worship only one God, the Creator. Asa also taught the people to pray, especially on one day of the week, Sunday. In praying, he would dip his fingers in honey and flick the honey toward heaven, symbolizing that his prayers were directed to God, not to Satan. The code of laws that Asa taught resembled the Ten Commandments.
As his message spread, Asa's following increased. The practice of witchcraft was forcible restrained. Many of the witch doctors, who were actually priests leading in the worship of Satan, were converted to Asa's teaching. Others who practiced witchcraft did it secretly.
Eventually the movement became absorbed in politics and Asa was imprisoned. He died a few years before the missionaries came to Soddo, and though the movement died with him, there were still traces of this movement all over Wallamo. None of the first converts had been personally influenced by Asa's teachings, but there was a widespread spirit of expectancy for a fuller revelation from the One True God. Asa had prophesied that the foreigner would come with God's book. He urged the people to follow the teachings of this book because it would tell them more about God's will for them...."
Wondrous. Amazing. Intriguing.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
I now live in a five-day week. Monday and Tuesday, as I have known them most of my life, are now non-existent - long shifts of phone calls and chats, phone calls and chats...
Cutting, sexual abuse, physical abuse, adultery, pornography, fornication, suicide, homicide, loneliness, aloneness and alienation...
But you know what shocks me the most? It has become just a job. It is a job I love and that I put all I can into, interaction by interaction but - still, mostly just a job...I hang up the phone or I end the chat, look back at my call lists a few minutes later, and I can't distinguish the people or recall what we talked about....The issues are - unfortunately - so similar, and things move so quickly...
As I said a couple of posts ago, I am so glad God is not like me...My extreme limitations in compassion and imagination are just mine, not His...I speak with these kids, "love" them and forget them. But He carries me right within His heart always and forever...
Cutting, sexual abuse, physical abuse, adultery, pornography, fornication, suicide, homicide, loneliness, aloneness and alienation...
But you know what shocks me the most? It has become just a job. It is a job I love and that I put all I can into, interaction by interaction but - still, mostly just a job...I hang up the phone or I end the chat, look back at my call lists a few minutes later, and I can't distinguish the people or recall what we talked about....The issues are - unfortunately - so similar, and things move so quickly...
As I said a couple of posts ago, I am so glad God is not like me...My extreme limitations in compassion and imagination are just mine, not His...I speak with these kids, "love" them and forget them. But He carries me right within His heart always and forever...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
No, I will not be at the women's group today...I am playing truant...John and I are going to go hiking...
I make a stir -fry quickly, for the hungry hordes, and we head out about 1:15 - a beautiful day, sunny and warm...Julia has said that Stone Door is absolutely beautiful and Justin seconds her, so that is where we are going...
And we head toward Nashville....
Farther than we thought...We drive through exquisite mountains valleys until up, up, onto the Cumberland Plateau...And more driving...Not so pretty now, kind of like being on the Niagara Escarpment - poorer soil and that shows in general wealth of people.
But here we are....First overlook and, oh my! We can see for miles in all directions...Mountains and valleys, more mountains and valleys...And - no safely walls of any sort - no place to bring kids! ...Holes falling who knows how deep into the earth....And a cleft between two high stone walls - with stairs down through it. This is amazing...
We head home, total trip has taken four hours - but another world, another life...Good for the soul.
I make a stir -fry quickly, for the hungry hordes, and we head out about 1:15 - a beautiful day, sunny and warm...Julia has said that Stone Door is absolutely beautiful and Justin seconds her, so that is where we are going...
And we head toward Nashville....
Farther than we thought...We drive through exquisite mountains valleys until up, up, onto the Cumberland Plateau...And more driving...Not so pretty now, kind of like being on the Niagara Escarpment - poorer soil and that shows in general wealth of people.
But here we are....First overlook and, oh my! We can see for miles in all directions...Mountains and valleys, more mountains and valleys...And - no safely walls of any sort - no place to bring kids! ...Holes falling who knows how deep into the earth....And a cleft between two high stone walls - with stairs down through it. This is amazing...
We head home, total trip has taken four hours - but another world, another life...Good for the soul.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
He calls every Monday and I look forward to it...A young Muslim man who is restless in his community.
Hi, this is -------.
Hi again! Nice to hear from you....Did you get to church again last Sunday?
Yes.
Did you go to the same one?
I did.
So, what did you think of it? What did the pastor preach about?
Silence
I suppose it was hard for you to concentrate on that, right, with so much new stuff all around you
That's right.
Then what stood out the most?
The music. I love the music....I feel like I am falling in love with God. Is that all right?
Of course it is. That's what happens when you learn about God's love and compassion for people!
But I feel this is like a marriage kind of love....
That is just what the Bible says happens as you become God's own...How interesting that you understand that already!
So it's ok?
Yes, it's ok.
And THAT is why I love my job...
Hi, this is -------.
Hi again! Nice to hear from you....Did you get to church again last Sunday?
Yes.
Did you go to the same one?
I did.
So, what did you think of it? What did the pastor preach about?
Silence
I suppose it was hard for you to concentrate on that, right, with so much new stuff all around you
That's right.
Then what stood out the most?
The music. I love the music....I feel like I am falling in love with God. Is that all right?
Of course it is. That's what happens when you learn about God's love and compassion for people!
But I feel this is like a marriage kind of love....
That is just what the Bible says happens as you become God's own...How interesting that you understand that already!
So it's ok?
Yes, it's ok.
And THAT is why I love my job...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
The Book The Book, The Book
Today I hope to have several hours to devote to -The Book....Please pray that I will be able to concentrate and pick my way successfully through all the shoals of lack of clarity, omissions, general brain-freeze....
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
My Job
Hello...This is --------- from ----------. Who am I speaking with, please?
Hello...My name is Gerald...
(Oh no! Gerald again!)...But I say, All right, Gerald. Before we begin, may I just ask a few quick questions? And I get initial information.
What is on your mind today, Gerald?
(What else? His ex-girlfriend AGAIN...) And I listen and listen and listen...Usually I can move callers through the process as quickly as I have to, but this time it is not going to work...We are now on to bodily injuries he has sustained in his short life....
I clear my throat, make entering-the-conversation kinds of noises....
Now it is his ex-girlfriend's family, her friends...
Yes, I know, I know...I have heard it all before - exact and in detail...
Back to bodily injuries
I am getting restless. I grimace and gesture impatiently, but no one can see....For which I am glad...
And finally I interrupt and just barge in with some spiritual challenge - not very nicely, but not very rudely - somewhere in the middle...
Click...He hangs up.
The phone rings immediately and he is back - Sorry, my phone disconnected
(Oh, no it didn't...You were shopping around for a different counselor....)
I resume the spiritual challenge...
Click.
The phone rings again...Different number, but probably Gerald again. He calls from different numbers
Hello, this is .....Click
I am so glad God is not like me.
But I am so glad that not all callers are like Gerald.
Hello...My name is Gerald...
(Oh no! Gerald again!)...But I say, All right, Gerald. Before we begin, may I just ask a few quick questions? And I get initial information.
What is on your mind today, Gerald?
(What else? His ex-girlfriend AGAIN...) And I listen and listen and listen...Usually I can move callers through the process as quickly as I have to, but this time it is not going to work...We are now on to bodily injuries he has sustained in his short life....
I clear my throat, make entering-the-conversation kinds of noises....
Now it is his ex-girlfriend's family, her friends...
Yes, I know, I know...I have heard it all before - exact and in detail...
Back to bodily injuries
I am getting restless. I grimace and gesture impatiently, but no one can see....For which I am glad...
And finally I interrupt and just barge in with some spiritual challenge - not very nicely, but not very rudely - somewhere in the middle...
Click...He hangs up.
The phone rings immediately and he is back - Sorry, my phone disconnected
(Oh, no it didn't...You were shopping around for a different counselor....)
I resume the spiritual challenge...
Click.
The phone rings again...Different number, but probably Gerald again. He calls from different numbers
Hello, this is .....Click
I am so glad God is not like me.
But I am so glad that not all callers are like Gerald.
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Fairness Doctrine
Was reading 2 Corinthians today and was struck by Paul's language...I use the English standard Version...8:13...."I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness...."
If "fairness" is a good word equivalent for whatever Paul used in the Greek,how interesting...Most of us - I certainly do - claim that God is just and holy, but not necessarily "fair"...And his providence is often not fair, humanly and horizontally speaking -but here he is demanding that we should, in fairness, make up the lack of his own providence....Because it is "unfair" not to....
What a serious reality it is to be part of the body of Christ...What a serious calling it is to balance Christian truths...
Wow!
If "fairness" is a good word equivalent for whatever Paul used in the Greek,how interesting...Most of us - I certainly do - claim that God is just and holy, but not necessarily "fair"...And his providence is often not fair, humanly and horizontally speaking -but here he is demanding that we should, in fairness, make up the lack of his own providence....Because it is "unfair" not to....
What a serious reality it is to be part of the body of Christ...What a serious calling it is to balance Christian truths...
Wow!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Theological Conundrum
Why didn't Noah swat the two mosquitoes on the ark?
Courtesy of my cousin, Jill....
Courtesy of my cousin, Jill....
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Thought
I was reading Second Corinthians 5 this morning and the words reminded me of the article Tim linked to recently, regarding art and nudity....Is it proper, even in this "high" cultural context, or not...And I am really not addressing that here...
But it is interesting that in verse 4 Paul says, "For while we are still in this tent we groan, being burdened - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life...."
Of course, clothing serves the purpose in this life of protecting us from lust, but fascinating that in heaven - when sin, and the sin of lust, will no longer have any place in our hearts, we will still be covered - literally, I believe, in some kind of clothing. Just as Christ will always bear the wounds of his payment for sin, we will always wear clothing as a reminder of what our righteousness rests on...We are never, never going back to the Garden, but toward something so much greater - being "further clothed" in Christ's garments...
But it is interesting that in verse 4 Paul says, "For while we are still in this tent we groan, being burdened - not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life...."
Of course, clothing serves the purpose in this life of protecting us from lust, but fascinating that in heaven - when sin, and the sin of lust, will no longer have any place in our hearts, we will still be covered - literally, I believe, in some kind of clothing. Just as Christ will always bear the wounds of his payment for sin, we will always wear clothing as a reminder of what our righteousness rests on...We are never, never going back to the Garden, but toward something so much greater - being "further clothed" in Christ's garments...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Alice in Wonderland, but We Love Her
I am in Joe's office, and he is wondering how to reward me for the score on my evaluation...He looks at me...Would you like a Support Seven windbreaker....
Pause....Well....I probably wouldn't wear it....Thanks, anyway....
I thought you wouldn't...That's what I just told Gavin....Would you like one for John?
Pause....He already has one. You gave him one on volunteer appreciation night....Thanks!
Hmmmm....Well, what about an extra break on the day of your choice? And a Kitkat chocolate bar?
Perfect! Great! Thanks....And may I just have one minute to ask you about something?
Sure....Oh, wait a minute, though....In walks Linda, another Hopecoach, also here early for her shift...She is in her seventies, was brought up in a Catholic orphanage, and converted at some point during her adult years. She is our Hopeline "character"..We all love her...
Hey, Joe, can you do me a favor?
Sure, Linda
I want you to help me find out if my son is alive.
What?
I want you to help me find out if my son is alive...Someone told me I should look in the obituaries.
What do you mean, Linda?
The obituaries. Someone told me if I find an obituary then I will know he is dead.
Well, ordinarily that is true, but can't you just ask him whether he is dead?
Oh, I haven't heard from him in years...The police in Florida have looked for him and can't find him, either...I would just really like to know if I'll ever see him again...But if I don't, I know I'll see him in Heaven.
Well, how will I go about looking? What is his name? Ok...No, nothing there...What else can I type in? ...Nope, nothing there either....I don't think I can help you, Linda..
OK, Honey....Thanks for trying....See you later...
Joe: Now, what did you want, Barbara?
Pause....Well....I probably wouldn't wear it....Thanks, anyway....
I thought you wouldn't...That's what I just told Gavin....Would you like one for John?
Pause....He already has one. You gave him one on volunteer appreciation night....Thanks!
Hmmmm....Well, what about an extra break on the day of your choice? And a Kitkat chocolate bar?
Perfect! Great! Thanks....And may I just have one minute to ask you about something?
Sure....Oh, wait a minute, though....In walks Linda, another Hopecoach, also here early for her shift...She is in her seventies, was brought up in a Catholic orphanage, and converted at some point during her adult years. She is our Hopeline "character"..We all love her...
Hey, Joe, can you do me a favor?
Sure, Linda
I want you to help me find out if my son is alive.
What?
I want you to help me find out if my son is alive...Someone told me I should look in the obituaries.
What do you mean, Linda?
The obituaries. Someone told me if I find an obituary then I will know he is dead.
Well, ordinarily that is true, but can't you just ask him whether he is dead?
Oh, I haven't heard from him in years...The police in Florida have looked for him and can't find him, either...I would just really like to know if I'll ever see him again...But if I don't, I know I'll see him in Heaven.
Well, how will I go about looking? What is his name? Ok...No, nothing there...What else can I type in? ...Nope, nothing there either....I don't think I can help you, Linda..
OK, Honey....Thanks for trying....See you later...
Joe: Now, what did you want, Barbara?
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