How Does God Feel About Our Response?

This morning as I was waking up beside my wife, I rolled over to her and lay close to her, enjoying the warmth and softness of her body. She did not move. Whether or not she was conscious of my nearness, I don't know. But it set me off thinking about another love that people may or not respond to- God's love.

In so many ways and times, God wants to be close to us and desires our response as well as that of the whole world of people, whether persons are conscious or not of that fact. Some people are partly conscious of God's love and may have been as my wife. They may choose to respond or not respond and “snooze on” in their indifference. I wonder how God feels about that indifference.  No doubt he comes to many if not most people many times, and receives only partial response of returned love, or worse, even no response even though his love should have easily been sensed.

The irony is that God loves people so much and would do many things, almost every conceivable thing, for people to know that he loves them. No doubt he comes again and again and in many ways, hoping that somehow persons would turn around and embrace him. It seems if persons knew how much He loved them they would love him in the most intimate way possible, trying to return the love they feel from him. But it seems most people respond only partly and rationalize that they really do love him, while going on in their own way most of the time.

All this make me wonder how God feels about this half-hearted response of persons, or even less by people who are oblivious to his nearness and with whom he desire a reciprocal response. He being of infinite love, probably never gives up as long as people have consciousness and are able to respond in this life. Again and again and in many ways he reveals his nearness, providing for us in all our needs, giving us a beautiful environment in nature, and living in us by his Spirit as much we will allow him  to. But it bothers me that people can be so oblivious to his attempt to be near and experience his deep fellowship. What joy he could share with us if we only responded to him fully! What more do we want of him? Is our lonely life better without his closeness? How can we be satisfied by ourselves and be not responding when he does come as close as he can be, and in so many ways?  

                                                            God Was There

Even after so many years of being a believer, I still wonder sometimes why God seems to be doing so little about devastating world conditions. We talk about this in our morning devotions and pray. But I don't often feel his actions in my own personal life. Well this morning something happened I will never forget.

We were working at a rental unit and I was attempting to move a very heavy door down the stairs. It could have weighed close to a hundred pounds, quite a load for an old man. I had it balanced at a landing several steps from the top and was trying to get it in position where I could slide it down the stairs on the edge of the door. As I was trying to get it into position, it suddenly turned on me and came down on me and I went sliding down the stairs,  on my back, head first, with the door at least partly bearing on me. When we, the door and I, came to rest on the the living room floor, I crawled out and stood on my feet with only a slight soreness on my thigh, apparently from bumping down about 8-9 steps. My wrist may also have struck something but with no lingering pain.

My response immediately was “thank you God” that I survived. A minute later another thank you as I realize even more what could have happened, and a third thank you as the truth began to grip me, that if I survived what could have been fractures in legs, hips, even back or neck. Not even a bump on the head as I came down those stairs up side down, totally out of my control. (I might even have been unable to write this from a hospital bed!)

Could I  now doubt God presence and shielding that was I practically unhurt in such a dangerous accident? At home I rehearsed the whole event and shed a few more tears at the goodness of the protection of the hand of God. I hope I will never forget for  moment that God is our protection in daily life. Even daily driving the speed limit can put us within 2-3 seconds of total disaster. Yes, God is our protection always, whether we feel it or not.

                                          Who Reads these Blogs, Anybody?

For over three years I have shared writings of matters of interest to me and hopefully to others. There have been indications of checking in from over 50 countries and page-views of over 3,000. Yet I wonder, who is checking in on my blogs. So I am inviting persons to respond by email if they are coming across my blogs. It would also be of interest to know what people find interesting. I would even be open for dialogue with anybody who wants to ask for further clarification. Or if you want to challenge anything I had written. I want to respond to any and all responses. My email address is lornoah@comcast.net.

Sincerely, Noah Hochstetler

                                  The Life of Plants

Do plants have souls? That begs the question of just what a soul is. Souls are the eternal life of a being. Life has feelings, as a bit of God-nature within. Thus souls are precious, valuable to other life- human life and the whole ecology of nature. That sets the stage for my feeling for plants in this setting of fall, where so many plants have to die because of the season.

It was painful for me when there were predictions for freezing temperatures which would mean the death of many plants. I had to spade out some beautiful marigolds and place them in a big pot and set them in the house which was already loaded with several dozen other pots that we had brought in from the patio. Also, I sniped off other small slips to prolong their life which we would enjoy for a longer period of time. Some plants had grown so big in the summer rains on the patio that it was awkward to find suitable places for them in the house, like on the dryer and in front of the patio door which hinders us from using that door.

It was with sadness that I observed the plants outdoors, knowing that their life would be cut short so soon. At the rental property, there were exotic coleuses shining forth in their final glory and I had to bring home some snits and place them in vases for replanting as a new generations of beauty, sustained over winter, while their parents had to moved on into a next phase of life. A day or two later at that rental I again visited those plants and saw that they had mostly succumbed to the cold night, with only a few lower stems surviving. I had to wonder if we should have some kind of funeral for this dying beauty.

Back home, walking past some of those preserved plants in the hall way that made passing a bit difficult, I praised God for the beauty of those plants where God lives on in the souls of those plants. They fill the house and I have to visit them almost daily to see if they needed watering. They are my pets, more patient then any puppy or kitten. They respond to me in exuding their beauty with gratitude that I try to give them some sunshine view and water for their souls. Yes they are alive. They share with me the glory they have from God who generated them out of his love. They reflect His sense and love of beauty and share that with me, an indication to me that they also are God's children even as I am. No doubt God cares for them just like he does for me. Thus it is sad when fall comes for them as I am also reminded that I am in the fall of my life.

Life is a mystery in many ways. The beauty of it all. The transitions that are inevitable. The tragedy of the seasons that bring death. And the heavenly Father who cares about it all and lets it happen. Seems doubtless that we will ever make sense of it all. We can only celebrate life by appreciating the life God gives and resign ourselves to the inevitability of its conclusion as God allows. Maybe it will all become clear in eternity. Meanwhile we will just enjoy the life God gives in the souls of all creation.

More on the above mystery of life and death.

In our devotional thoughts following our morning reading we were discussing the above comments on how I loved the plants and grieved at their dying and impending death at frost time. We were struck at the fact that life always comes back again in the spring, just as glorious as it had been before, as if nothing had been lost, in the death of the fall freezing. Considering that we also are in the fall of our life and that winter always comes after fall, we recognized that life will continue after us and in our own beauty of life, dedicated to God, in the lives of our family. We even confidently considered that much more will bloom in the coming generations than we did. Not more is lost than in nature as fall takes away one beauty to make room for another beauty in spring to follow surely. An old man in the Bible wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4) 

                                                                                                                                  JANUARY 6, 2016                                                                                                                          

                      From the Heart and Mind of Noah

Over the past 27 months, more than 80 blogs have been posted, largely as they ruminated in my mind. They are on many subjects, appearing in rather random order. I can easily imagine some reader came on one by chance and found it on less than of a personal interest. So here I am posting an index with groupings on similar subjects and with dates on each one so they can be found by date, thus enabling a reader to go for the subject and any particular blog of interest.

     1. Love, What It Is To Me                                          [Blogs at noahhochstetler.blogspot.com]

To Like and To Love 5-1-13 with dates blogged]

New Love and Old Love 3-5-13

When You Really Love A Person 3-8-13

Feelings About Four Sons 5-27-13

Healing Love. The Kingdom of Heaven is Like.... 7-8-13

I Do Miss Her 10-1-13

Love Reflections 7-10-13

Little Tyreck 4-1-13

Loving with Heart and/or Mind 11-21-14

     2. Biography, Who Was I?

Stories Of My Early Childhood 4-1-13

A Trip East When I Was Young 5-1-13

Me and Daudy 6-10-13

Me and Daniel 3-18-14

Me and My Mother 9-4-14

Me and Dad 8-6-13

Me and Brother Norman 7-14-13

My Youth Years 16-20 8-29-14

     3. Dealing With Wealth- What Do You Do With All That Stuff?

The Christian and The World's Poor 1-16-14, also on 2-6-13

One of My Dad's Hobby Horses 8-26-14

Toward a Philosophy of Distributing This World's Goods 5-1-13

Giving to The Poor, Biblical and Cultural Reservations 5-27-13

To Family Members, A Report of Visiting Belize, 2013 3-13-13

What Is My Worst Sin? (To Hate) 7-14-13

So You Are Looking For Channels To Help The Needy 9-26-14

 

     4. Humor- What's So Funny About That?

Shopping- Creativity Out Of Boredom 3-6-13

People Are Like Animals? 4-1-13

Some Things I Believe About a Woman But I Am Not Sure They Are True 3-27-14

Forgive Me Again, But... 7-23-13

I Am A Scrounger 1-13-14

     5. From Icons of My Life, A Celebration of Seventy Years

Seventy Blessings of My Life 5-1-13

Seventy Highlights Of My Life 3-8-14

Seventy Things I Never Did and Probably Never Will

Seventy Things For Which Life Is Too Short 6-15-13

Seventy Things I Want To Do In My Remaining days 10-16-13

Seventy Things I Still Wonder About 11-4-13

Seventy Characters and Traits in our Family 11-18-14

     6. Inspiration- What Urges Us To Continue?

The Cost and Rewards of Discipleship In Mission In Belize 3-5-13

We Met Angels In Mexico 5-2-13

Three Views of Culture 5-1-13

My First Glimpses of Heaven 6-10-13

What Is Heaven Like In My Mind? 3-6-13

My Dreams 8-10-13

Our Center of Life 34-28-14

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself 3-5-13

The Proverbs of Noah 5-27-13

The Kingdom Is Close, But... 4-1-13

David and Kingdom Life 4-29-14

It's The Christmas Season 12-18-14

 

     7. Worship, Who and How We Worship

God, Our Loving Creator 3-5-13

The Sacredness of Nature 5-1-13

God's Appreciation For the Aesthetic 10-7-14

How Is God With Us? 8-27-13

Is Our God Too Great For Us? 2-29-14

The God of Intimacy

A Call To Care and Pray 10-26-13

A Call To Pray 12-9-14

What Is Our Devotional and Worship Emphasis? 11-4-14

What Does It Cost? 2-1-15

Our Focus on Prayer- Intercession 2-13-15

“We are Special” 5-5-15

What Contrasts! 3-27-15

     8. Getting Older- What Else Do You Expect?

Introduction To Aging Reflections

Aging Ideas, What Do They Call The Decades 10-4-13

What Is Different Being Seventy 10-4-13

Too Much Help? 4-1-13

How Bad Will It Be? 10-4-13

I Live Cautiously 10-4-13

At Our House 4-1-13

What Am I Doing? 3-6-13

     9. Various Writings

Epic Similes From Belize 5-1-13

Epic Similes After Belize 4--1-13

Why Write and Have a Blog 3-10-13

Science and The Bible 10-15-13

Christian Stewardship as Taught in Belize 1-4-14

Our Present Relationships with Belizeans 3-`4-14

Reflections On My Leavings and Longings 9-14-14

A Drive into the Country Yesterday

10. Videos from Youtube
11. 
    
12. Don't Blink by Kenny Chesney 7-24-13

Chuck Stoner Visits Nicaragua 7-10-13

Micheal's Children Home Singing 12-13-14

Angelina Jolie Left Speechless 1-28-15

                           

                    

                        

                                           A Drive into the Country Yesterday

Yesterday we drove through miles of rich farm land south of our town. We saw the wealth of agriculture, including newly sprouted corn only several inches tall, with some huge farm business buildings, equipped to handle bountiful crops and much livestock. Occasionally there were also huge lawns of freshly mowed spring grass, leading up to mansions, some seemingly built for tribes of families.

We were going to a viewing of a young girl who had died, apparently of an illness and in a road accident, a near-cousin to my wife. We sat there for likely close to an hour as some hundreds of people filed through to console the parents and relatives and to view one more time. I sat there among those hundreds, most of the men dressed in appropriate white shirts according to their religious costume. I felt a bit out of place, dressed a bit more casually. I was reminded how I was among another formally dressed group some time ago, where I was among the very few dressed in a white shirt. How different the costumes of these who practiced similar distinctiveness, however contrasting on that point.

But what really caught my attention was that no doubt, the great majority of these were dedicated to farming and probably not to share the Gospel with all their wealth and strength and Spiritual commitment. I felt awed and burdened that these all deeply religious and spiritual people had such a commitment of faith and abundance of gifts of farming and had build up for themselves a good and pious living. I wonder if their church has any programs to help the world in its great needs of the Gospel and basic needs of survival. Perhaps some participated in relief sales, where they may still get some reward as they give to help the needy.

I have no right to judge, but how does this look to God? I don't know. It is not my business. But I ached to see all this spiritual and material wealth stacked high while many in the world are starving for the Gospel, if not for daily existence. We prayed about this this morning, but I hardly have faith that things will ever change with these people. I hope my vision of yesterday was faulty, that they are doing so much more than it appeared. Again, I am not the Judge. But I also have to consider my priorities. Even as we drove home from there, a message was texted to us from a family in Belize who is often needy and asking for help. I just can't quite get over the experience of yesterday as we went to that viewing, and the traveling through those mounds of wealth, and the apparent treasure of the Gospel stacked there for the few, who have a long heritage of wanting to be faithful to God, and untouched by the world.

                                                       “We Are Special”

I can recall various times of things my father did when I was young that has made me feel that I was special to him. Like riding me on his foot with his legs crossed and saying a nursery rime to that rhythm. Or the way he cooed over tiny babies, and no doubt over me when I was an infant. He took us children onto his lap and sang to us Christmas songs in the season. I have often thought of how I must have been special to him. Yet I doubt much that I was more special to him than the other 9 children. He just treated me  so, to make me feel his special love for his children.

I am thinking that is the way God has imprinted all human beings to feel there is a God somewhere that is trying to relate to them. Practically every tribe on earth has a Great Spirit of some kind, even where there is not much worship in the culture. The Quaker group has a term for this pervasiveness, “that of God in every man”. God has made the human race feel special, as if this set of created beings is unique in all of creation. Way back in the Genesis story of creation, Man was the crowning work of God and given jurisdiction over the earth and all living things with the right to subdue the earth. Yet is this a real, reality, or just the sense we have, feeling we are treated by God as if we are special?

I have to wonder about this when I look at various species of nature. Birds sing and communicate with each other. They sing like they may be having their morning devotions, as I have heard them many times in the morning. When the wolves or coyotes howl at night, who is the audience? Whales also sing. I saw recently where some musicians learned the music of whales, or was it dolphins, and when an orchestra played this music, they had an audience of the sea creatures coming up and leaping, as for applause, (or worship? to the music they heard. Was it their music? I have to wonder: could it be possible that other animals and birds, perhaps even insects who are known to communicate with each other, might they also have a theology of being special just like we do?

How about plants? We hardly call them inanimate. Yet do they have any life of communication and feeling? Why are they all communicating to who ever, the motivation to be as beautiful and productive as possible, as if it is their calling? Some experiment which I cannot recall precisely, gave impressions of feelings when plants are treated specifically. When a person walked into a green house with a machete bent on destroying the plants they “shriveled in fear” if I recall rightly, but with a benevolent gardener passing they had no response. Could plants actually be smarter than we think? After all, we know we are the Special Ones.

Here I want to venture even further out into speculation. Are molecules really just little machines with atoms dancing round the nucleus with nearly the speed of light, just as they have to? I don't know. But they also are doing a lot more than they would have to just to be stuff to make a universe with things more obviously special.

Thus brings us back to where we started. God has a way of making a special creation where everyone feels they are special. We tend to feel we are the select special ones, where there are many aspects of God's creation that could as well feel special. We haven't even mentioned the sun, the stars, the galaxies and the super nova, what ever that is, all of whom could claim to specialness, each in their own way and sphere. God certainly is a wondrous God to give each aspect of his creation, a sense of being his own SPECIAL creation, perhaps each feeling they are created in the image of God, just as or in some way, like we do. Each having a theology of specialness.

I don't think this imagination is absurd. With God nothing is impossible. I am convinced God is far more than any person has ever let their mind run wild on. I am just pushing out the limits of my thinking. I invite anyone to do the same. If you feel you are special.