The Better Way

I have read more than once of how people in Europe, generally speaking, have a greater handle on relaxing and savoring the ambience of the moment compared to those of us in the USA.  The utter devastation of the big wars, something most Americans cannot even begin to comprehend, resulted in some cases in a determination to celebrate the moment whenever there was a moment of peace.

Most conservatives, of which I am one, decry the mentality that would sooner accept a government handout than look for a job.  But how often do we realize that there are also some Americans who drive themselves relentlessly, even ruthlessly, in a self-imposed and unnecessarily severe work ethic which precludes taking a time out for rest, relaxation, recreation, and soulful reflection.

It is one thing to struggle when necessary for SURVIVAL.  But quite another to drive and push in order to procure the myriads of material things that many of us have grown to believe we need and must have—items far beyond the basics of food, decent shelter, and adequate clothing.

To clarify, please understand that I really enjoy material things—and I have an abundance of them, although many are of the vintage shop variety purchased for a little more than a song:  things the trendy crowd would sneer at superciliously.  But I am not, and never have been, willing to sacrifice a lifestyle of savoring the moment in order to obtain myriads of “things”—and certainly not “high status”, flashy, grandiose things which mean absolutely nothing to me in contrast to a better way:  the timeworn, gracious, contemplative, and appreciative quality of life.

We Christians should understand and appreciate God’s mandate to “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Quite apparently, it runs against the grain of human nature to “be still”, and when it comes to noise I know I can contribute volumes.  But God calls us to a lifetime of poised stillness—an inner attitude of restful quiet while we work or socialize, and as we defend God’s truth in our words and actions.

Too frequently we leave the serenity factor to the New Agers.  They are great at focusing on tranquility and peace; but theirs is a false, demonic “peace”—a counterfeit of the true peace that only the One True God can give through His Infallible Word—and through quietly savoring each moment He gives us.

Our nation is in the midst of a vicious political/cultural season, with evils of immorality and the horrendous demon of anti-Semitism on the rise.  Frequently we must speak and act to project the truths on which we stand.  But to speak and act with an attitude of genuine inner serenity—that is the challenge, one of which I too often fall short.

There are times when we must (and will!) be visibly, viscerally angry.  For instance, I am livid over the Obama-via-Samantha Powers dissing of Israel at the UN on 12/23/16—a day of infamy—and I express this anger with every opportunity.  Yet I must cling to the understanding that God is in control; He must be the very center of my being as I speak, act, and even as I express my abject anger.

In view of national and global chaos, I pray I will never forget the better way—to be still and know that God is God.  For my husband and me, the “better way” translates to treasuring the simple joys:  time spent with family and friends, birds at the feeders, the drip-drip of melting snow from our rain gutters during a January thaw, these ever-stretching daylight minutes since the darkness of winter solstice, and ever-present scenes like the one above—a fantasia of ice and snow photographed from our patio.

Meanwhile, I’m wishing you a New Year blessed with tranquil islands of solitude and serenity, for savoring the better way.

Margaret L. Been, 1/22/17

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Piano Musings, Recollections, and Resolution . . . .

In a good week I have four or five of them:  piano days.  I never sit down to play without thinking of childhood.  How pleased my mother would be with this daughter who, when young, preferred to putter in the shallow creek at the base of our property (crunching on ice floes in winter and catching pollywogs in the summer) to the discipline of piano and violin.  Yet practice I did, many hours per week.  Mom gave me no alternatives.  I had to do a couple of hours of music before messing about in the river.  Mother was passionate about music.  She was a classical pianist, and sat me down at a piano long before I can remember.  At age eight I began my 10 year stint of violin lessons.  I thank Mom for her music passion.  Throughout adulthood, music (especially vocal and piano) has been one of my passions as well.

Mother was unique—so different from some Moms, and how I praise the Lord for that!  Now and then I was allowed in the kitchen to make chocolate chip cookies.  After every meal I helped with the clean up; Mother washed the dishes and I dried them and put them away.  (That was special bonding time.)  But I NEVER cooked a meal.  I picked up a few tips from kitchen observation, but I was not taught to cook.  Mom’s famous words were:  “Soon enough you will grow up and have to cook, and since you can read you’ll be able to manage!  Anyone can cook!” 

I was taught to work.  I had to clean the bathrooms and do the ironing (both of which I absolutely love to this day).  But Mom was the cook.  We frequently had company for dinner and my job—my wonderful job!—was to get out the silver, china, and stemware, and set a beautiful table.  The centerpiece was my domain; I had free reign to arrange flowers, candles, and whatever else I could dream up.  Even when there were only the four of us at the table—my parents, my sister, and me—I dressed the table and took enormous pride in the job.  I still do!  My mother wanted me to invest time in reading, knitting, stitching, and doing other creative things along with the music—rather than cooking.

Obviously, as a wife and mother of six children, I did end up doing a lot of cooking and baking over the years!  My mother was wise.  She schooled me in the even more vital, life energizing creative things that bring grace, beauty, and elegance to those chores we have to do in the midst of life’s inevitable challenges.

I’m eternally grateful for both of my parents, and the older I get the more I think of them.  My father traveled frequently because the company he worked for (Lauson Motors in New Holstein Wisconsin/the company eventually became Tecumseh) was knee deep in wartime production.  But when Dad was home, he was my Dad!  He frequently came home with the gift of a book for me, and he always wanted to read whatever I had been writing.  The greatest boost I can recall was when, at age 11, I showed Dad an essay I’d written for a school assignment.  Dad read the text carefully, and said:  “You really think thoughts!”

I could go on forever and bore you readers to distraction about my delightful life, but I won’t.  I hope to stop short of causing abject ennuni!  Meanwhile, much as I have always thought New Year’s resolutions to be rather silly, I have set a goal for the coming year:

To constantly evoke a rather maudlin, corny old Bing Crosby tune the lyrics of which went:  “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative . . . “.  Not that I subscribe to “the power of positive thinking”.  Mankind is fallen, and without intervention of the life of Jesus Christ we are lost.  The power of positive thinking is hogwash.  I cannot eliminate ISIS by thinking.  We cannot change our nation, by just thinking; we must pray and WORK—and then only God’s Spirit will make a difference!  Just “thinking” will never deal with the horrendous world issues which our clueless, muddleheaded, and/or downright evil President refuses to acknowledge.

Only God can change the world, and eventually He will—as He has promised through ages of Old Testament prophecy confirmed by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels, as well as in the New Testament Epistles!  Meanwhile, as I pray and live as the Lord leads, I can—as old Bing crooned—“Accentuate the positive”.

Here is an example:  rather than continuing to spout off about Obama’s idiotic State of the Union address, or grousing about the Packers’ failure to complete their great start against the Seahawks last Sunday I can (and am!) robustly cheering Speaker John Boehner for his classic End Run around our President, by inviting Benjamin Netanyahu to address The House of Representatives on the threats of Iran and Islamic terrorism.  Clearly, the Seahawks—even Obama’s speech—fade into the back of my mind, next to Boehner’s Play of the Week—maybe the play of the year!

To summarize, my goal is to continually and faithfully focus on and publish good news.  But specifically, what do all these musings have to do with a piano day?  Simply this:  On my piano days I begin by struggling over the few Chopin nocturnes I can even dream of playing, adding some easier classics such as George Winston’s arrangement of Pachelbel’s beloved Kanon, lightening up with a Scott Joplin rag or two, and ending with my treasured book of Gospel hymns including Amazing Grace. 

AMAZING GRACE!  Forty four years ago almost to this very day, I was catapulted in the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It was a bitter cold day in January of 1971 when I entered the Kingdom.  The sun pounding down on the pristine banks of snow was so bright, so exquisite, so unspeakably and amazingly beautiful that I still experience a flush of joy when I think of it.  And every time I play Amazing Grace, the wonder, brilliance, and joy of that day is new—all over again!

Salvation and eternal life in Christ.  That is the “positive” to accentuate, the Good News which tops all else—yes, even John Boehner’s Fabulous End Run around our misguided, muddleheaded, and possibly (quite probably!) evil President!  🙂

Margaret L. Been—January 22, 2015

Note:  Here is an aside:  my pick from the cast of GOP contenders for nomination is Dr. Ben Carson.  Someone new, someone non-political, someone with real straight arrow values—although others in the list, including our own Governor Scott Walker, project straight values as well.

In his book, ONE NATION, Dr. Carson begins by demonstrating how “political correctness” has undermined our nation, as it is literally killing freedom of speech and promoting dishonesty at many levels.  I can accentuate the fact that I positively agree 

Dr. Carson is outspokenly Biblical in his views on the sins of abortion and homosexuality.  He is not afraid to quote Scriptural references, and point to God’s Word as the ultimate authority.  Coming from a distinguished man of science, this is especially refreshing!

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How does your church view Israel?

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a jewelry nut, and an antique nut also.  Over the years I’ve accumulated a stash of charming vintage necklaces and some antique rings.  There was a time when I changed off frequently in order to wear them all, but not anymore.  In today’s world the above pieces, along with my wedding ring and diamond, are an essential part of every day’s décor–yet far more than “decoration”.

Like the wedding ring and diamond, the “religious jewelry” makes a blatant statement to all who behold—a statement both spiritual and political.  On occasion I may add a pretty Victorian cameo ensconced in teeny pearls.  But the Cross and the Star of David, the rings my husband gave me, plus a pair of dangling Star of David earrings (not shown in the above photo) are constant visuals standing for everything I value and hold precious—both in Heaven and on Earth!

What was once the Christian Church in the USA is presently in tatters.  Churches may be divided along many terms:  faithful and fundamental vs. emergent and seeker friendly; doctrinally sound vs. apostate; uplifting and life-changing vs. stagnant and ritualistic.  The list of contrasts could go on.   But there is one huge distinguishing watershed:  How does your church view Israel?

A local church that treasures God’s literal Word, upholds the nation of Israel, and passionately loves God’s chosen people the Jews is less apt to lose its moorings than today’s mainstream no-longer-Christian institution—which has departed from God’s truth, blasphemed His righteousness, and mocked His life-affirming values.

How anyone could ever consider the church to be “a new Israel” is confusing beyond the beyond.  I really wonder what these churches use for Bibles.  Certainly not the Bible I know and love, albeit King James, New King James, or NIV.  How can the nearly 1/3 of Scripture which reveals historically-proven events as well as the yet-to-be-fulfilled End Times scenario, be sloughed off as if it were never written—or nefariously twisted into volumes of fallen human interpretation in symbolic language with no exegetical basis whatsoever?

Of course the answer is obvious:  the Great Falling Away has been prophesied!

The current world wide groundswell of anti-Semitism is thoroughly sickening, perhaps especially to those of us who vividly remember what happened in the 1930s and 40s—as well as to anyone who has an understanding of the Bible and world history!  In Genesis 12:2-3, God promised Abraham:  “And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Thus we can be sure that a nation which has recently pledged $400 million to “rebuild Gaza” will not last much longer.  With our millions, plus other UN contributions amounting to a total of 5.4 billion, Hamas will undoubtedly build many more rockets, plant them in their hospitals and schools since they do not begin to value human life, and aim those rockets at the only civilized nation in the Middle East—indeed, one of the few truly humane and decent nations left on earth.

With the accrued billions, can’t you just visualize a tangle of new tunnels providing entry from Gaza into Israel?   “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work we go.”  But unfortunately, Hamas and others of its ilk are not the Seven Dwarfs!

Prophecy assures us of that glorious culmination when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to earth to reign in His Holy City, Jerusalem.  Romans 11:26 promises,  “And so all Israel shall be saved:  as it is written, ‘There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer . . . .’ ” 

Passage after passage, book after book of the Old Testament project this promise along with the heartbreaking and utter devastation which will preempt the Lord’s return to earth—that devastation which the true, Bible believing Church will be spared, per I Thessalonians 4:13-17.

My Bible is perfectly clear, and I hope yours is as well!  How does your church view Israel?

Margaret L. Been, © October 2014

NOTE:  Here is a list of views over the last 30 days.  WordPress makes it easy to see what is going on in one’s blog.  They list “Views and Visitors”.  Visitors are the number of people who land on a blog–either from knowing what they are looking for, or accidentally due to a tag word or category.  “Views” are the entries actually read.  My views always exceed the number of visitors, and an average is given showing the number per visitor, of articles which are actually read.

This is very satisfying as it tells me that my visitors are not “hit and run”, but rather they are individuals who linger and read more than one piece—individuals from all over the world.   

The stats are fascinating.  For instance, why on a recent day did one of my 5 blogs receive 20 readers from Turkey and only 1 from the US and several other countries?  Enough to keep the imagination alive!

(Incidentally, my 2 blogs which always feature church and spiritual issues are consistently getting more attention than the other 3 sites.  People want answers, in this crazy world!)

Country	Views
United States	257
United Kingdom	12
Canada	12
India	6
Republic of Korea	5
Philippines	4
Sweden	3
Germany	2
Macao	2
Nigeria	1
Romania	1
Japan	1
Australia	1
Saudi Arabia	1
Russian Federation	1
Italy	1
Finland	1
Netherlands	1

Stats of views and visitors are given for each day, 7 day period, 30 day period, and year—all the way back for 2 and 1/2 years.  

Meanwhile, the posts remain “forever”—as forever as anything can be these days and it’s fun to see that entries over 5 years ago are still being read.  (WordPress tracks those stats as well.  And all of this is FREE!) 

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One, Only One!

I watch, listen to, and read a lot of world news.  As far as I can see, there is ONE, ONLY ONE “true statesman” in leadership today.  I hope I am wrong, in that I hope there are others—and especially some in our own USA.  But the only true statesman I see is Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

I just watched Prime Minister Netanyahu as he was interviewed by FOX’s Brit Hume, who tried to play devil’s advocate with the Israeli leader but didn’t get away with it.  Here is one world leader who is refreshingly real, non-political, and right on target.

What would President Obama do if our nation’s cities were bombarded by rockets?  Well, providing the rockets were not actually falling on the White House, Obama would probably not know about the crisis unless he read it in the newspaper.  Then, if he did know, Obama might be shooting pool and enjoying a beer.  If the president got really serious, he would TALK/TALK/TALK/TALK/TALK.

Obama would talk about how since this is the 21st century, rockets simply can’t happen.  (Secretary of State Kerry agrees with that line of “nonsense”—which goes by an infinitely more effective, “earthy” term not suitable for this blog.)

Finally, Barack Obama would lecture us on how we need to (get this!) “NEGOTIATE”—even though it is extremely hard to negotiate with an enemy who plans to decapitate you!

Remember that crazy emperor who fiddled while Rome burned?

Margaret L. Been, July 2014

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Thankful? Yes!

Two years ago on Christmas Day, Sanmi arrived from Nigeria after a long red-tape wait for his visa.  On December 30th, 2011, Sanmi and our youngest daughter, Martina, were married right here in our condo clubhouse with a Salvation Army Major officiating.  And now their family has grown to include our littlest treasure, Tuks, who enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and the wonder of eating most everything but the turkey.

It was Martina’s first Thanksgiving of waiting to eat until after her food cooled to room temperature, but as you can see she didn’t mind at all.  Martina is the happiest Mom imaginable!

Our earthly blessings abound in family and friends.  And there is more, so much more:  our freedom, which is rapidly becoming increasingly fragile and endangered.  Indeed, God is judging our nation for its rampant and arrogant disobedience as exemplified by our President who simply cannot tell the truth—a “leader” who is great at delivering speeches, yet either incapable or unwilling to do anything else but talk and by-pass the vital role of Congress.  President Obama is a self-proclaimed Caesar, a potential dictator of the most frightening and mind-boggling ilk!

As if a president who lies through his charming smile were not enough, that president is represented by a Secretary of State reminiscent of a certain long ago Prime Minister.  In the words of Los Angeles journalist, Eric Golub on November 24, 2013:  “Only days after President Obama gave Iran the green light to obliterate Israel, he took time for a victory lap to celebrate his most epic failure to date.  America and other world powers have just agreed to ease sanctions on Iran in exchange for an empty promise. Iran will pretend to stop its quest for nuclear weapons as the West celebrates the greatest meaningless paper agreement since Neville Chamberlain declared “peace in our time” with Hitler.”

In countless ways the USA has sinned and fallen far from its original design and intent.  Seduced by materialism and pride of accomplishment, we have failed to give glory to the God who made it all possible.  Countless churches have abandoned God’s literal Word for fun, games, and other ludicrous ploys to get bodies in the pews.

In 30 plus years of evil legislation millions of children have been slaughtered, sacrificed in the Baal worship of “Choice”.  Moral values have plummeted to the depths of disgusting degradation.  And God’s nation of Israel has been compromised to a level which is sickening and revolting.

God’s Word proclaims His chosen people, the Jews to be “the apple of His eye”.  Regarding Israel and the Jews, God has promised:  “I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse him that curses you; and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  Genesis 12:3, NKJV

Unlike President Obama who cannot keep a promise, our Lord has never broken a single promise.  He will not fail to punish our sinful, murderous nation and our leaders who have betrayed His chosen people.  We are long overdue for severe judgment, and unless God provides miraculous intervention it will come soon!  It’s only a matter of time.

Meanwhile I pray that in the process of receiving our deserved judgment, this country will be blessed by the cleansing wind of revival.  I pray that many individuals in our country will return to faith in the Lord of history, the Lord who controls the destiny of all nations and rulers.  May we be broken and remorseful as a nation, as we beg our Lord for forgiveness and restoration to His righteousness.  Although The United States of America may suffer greatly while on earth, we have a merciful, forgiving God and we we can trust Him for eternity.

Thankful?  Yes!  I’m thankful for family, friends, and for my Lord Jesus Christ—the Righteous Ruler who will always keep His Word!

Margaret L.Been, 2013

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