Until I turned 73, my “artist’s life” consisted of writing, fiber arts, and music. But for many of those years, I had a not-so-secret desire to paint. Then one day a VERY GOOD FRIEND said, “Why don’t you stop talking about it, and JUST DO IT?”
So I “just did it”—and have never looked back. Actually my drawing skills are pathetic. Color/color/color is my strength, and this is obvious to anyone acquainted with my art, my home, and my wardrobe.
For any who have not wandered there accidently or intentionally, I have an art blog which is a lot of fun. Just GOOGLE “Margaret L. Been Messy Palette”. You may be encouraged to join me in making a mess.
I’m convinced there is an artist in everyone. All that is needed to discover that artist is an unflagging desire– along with the self-discipline to work hard nearly every day, plus a willingness to buy good quality art materials in place of something else (outside of the area of pure survival).
If you are so led, I’ll see you at THE MESSY PALETTE. 🙂
I grew up in the GREAT DEPRESSION AND WWII–during which all Americans sacrificed something. Our sacrifices were relatively small compared to the sufferings in the rest of the world. Yet for some, the sacrifices were tragic!
I have seen good and not so good leadership, but have been thankful ever since I can remember for living in a true representative democracy.
But that has changed. We, the people, have been fed a huge and potentially lethal dose of KOOL-AID. At this moment our freedoms are being removed–specifically the Freedom of Speech. Soon, unless we act quickly, we will lose the Freedom to Worship.
During this time I know that–as Americans did in the 1930s and 40s–I must also “sacrifice” although mine will be by comparison miniscule!
What can I as an 87 year old citizen do? One thing. I have cancelled my pending Amazon orders, and will not order again from AMAZON until its recent ban on Free Speech has been rescinded.
AMAZON has cancelled the only remaining huge online platform for sharing pro-representative democracy and freedom of speech, PARLER. So my online shopping will be from sources other than THE BIG SMILE.
What will this mean for AMAZON, the largest “general store” in the history of the human race? Not even a dent, if I am the only one. But if several thousand, or much better a few million, were likewise motivated a statement would be made.
Every month for the last 7 years, Amazon has been my main shopping venue aside from the local supermarket. That covers gift shopping–massive in a family with 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and currently 20 great-grandchildren. Plus clothing (I am the proverbial “Clothes Horse), household essentials and decorating extras, some of my office supplies, all household cleaning products, laundering/dish washing and paper goods, electronic items, small appliances, carpets, lamps and ceiling lights, printer ink, cat food and litter, many food items, etc. Multiplied by a few more zeros, Jeff Bezos would take notice!
Actually, I have never used any social media. I am protesting the canceling of the one large conservative expression venue after thousands were thrown off Twitter and Facebook because I am a loyal American, and this Totalitarian Takeover is beyond horrible. It must be stopped!
I am not a political activist. I am not an extremist. I am a born again Christian. Decades ago, I WAS an activist, spending considerable time and energy in peaceful promotion of Civil Rights. When Martin Luther King was assassinated, I joined a massive Memorial March through the heart of Milwaukee.
I am thankful that I had the opportunity to participate in those activities, and I would do likewise today, if I could. But I would NOT be involved in the egregious demonstrations that rocked several American cities in the summer of 2020–the killing, burning, looting, and destruction of lives and livelihoods that took place affecting mainly my black fellow citizens.
Black Lives matter to ME! BUT quite categorically, BLACK LIVES DO NOT MATTER TO THE ORGANIZATION CALLED BLACK LIVES MATTER!
And I would NOT be involved in the horrendous scenario recently enacted at our nation’s capitol. Nor would the huge majority–the many millions of voters who supported our President Donald Trump because for four years he did an excellent job of making the USA a safer, more prosperous, and more equitable place to live!
The peaceful protest of “Goodbye Amazon” times 1 sounds almost ridiculous. But times a few million? It is certainly worth a try! SOS AMERICA!
With all the world developments since my last entry, some may think perhaps I should eat words. I have decided not to, nor will I delete the last post, although the current pandemic has indeed exceeded anything I (or many of us!) imagined weeks ago. I stand by the last entry, as appropriate as it was when written and still worth considering today.
Moreover, I want to continue on the theme of “perspective”—while moving from our human perspective which is limited and subject to change, to God’s perspective which has NEVER changed and—praise God—NEVER WILL!
We are so accustomed to thinking in terms of “what is happening” on earth, and what we can actually see with our eyes and hear with our ears, that it is easy to fall into the trap of an all-encompassing “here and now” focus—while forgetting that there is a far larger and more infinitely essential picture:Â the vast unseen reality of God’s eternal plan!
Of course we DO have to be aware of what is going on around us; we DO need to be involved in every day activities and temporal matters. We certainly need to be concerned about and involved with the people in our lives. People are of infinite value in God’s eyes, so valued and loved that He took on human flesh (yet without sin), showed us how to live, and then suffered the most excruciating death to pay the enormous debt we owe God for our sin: the sin of all mankind.
We are so valuable and loved by our Triune God that He not only rose triumphant from His tomb, but our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven and then sent His Holy Spirit to indwell every person who trusts in His salvation, now and throughout our promised eternal life.
Meanwhile God tells us in Scriptures, illumined for us through His Holy Spirit, that there is a reality far above and beyond anything we can see with our eyes or hear with our ears—the reality of His perfect, unchanging plan.
” ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’ ” Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV
Contrary to however cataclysmic current events might seem, the world is NOT spinning out of control. God is always, and forever will be, sovereign. With meticulous perfection, He is fulfilling His plan from Eternity Past throughout Eternity Future!
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created for Him and by Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17 NKJV
Despite the “same old/same old” major network news about threatening pandemics and vitriolic politics, here is some better news—and it’s TRUE! The Lord Jesus Christ is coming again, to rule the world in perfect righteousness and peace!
“Thus says the LORD: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth.’ ” Zechariah 8:3 NKJV
Every day I remind myself to cling to the eternal, unchanging perspective of our LORD! Meanwhile, I pray that many lost people will come to the LORD and His precious Word during this challenging time in history!
I am not showing this picture to brag about how I was raised to wear a dress rather than a life-preserver in a boat. (We learned to swim when very young, as any Wisconsin child HAS TO, and there were adults in the boat. I wasn’t out cruising alone.)  The photo simply depicts a summer day in 1941, when I was eight years old.
Summers were pleasant during June and July. But the atmosphere changed every year from August 1st through the first autumn frost when parents lived in the very palpable fear of an ominous dark presence which literally hovered over the land. Forgive me for mixing metaphors, when in retrospect I compare that dark shadow to the I Peter 5:8 “. . . . roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
But this “lion” did not roar. He came quietly, striking without warning, seeking to inflict horrific illness, to kill, or (in many cases) to disable victims with varying degrees of lifelong paralysis. To have merely a mild attack from the lion, was to be blessed indeed. And unlike our current worldwide pandemic, this illness did nottypically strike the old folks with pre-existing co-morbidities. The quintessential victims were often healthy and normally quite young—actually infants and children. Thus one of the labels for poliomyelitis is “infantile paralysis”. *
This annual late-summer virus was rampant for decades prior to and during all of my childhood, right through the early years of Joe’s and my marriage—until the mid 1950s when we were starting our large family, and suddenly were able to rejoice in one of the greatest blessings known to parents: the Salk Vaccine. I shall never forget the tremendous relief and release that I experienced as a young mom, when the polio vaccine became available!
The first known epidemic of the disease in the USA occurred in Vermont in 1894 with 132 cases. Over the following years the numbers increased. In 1916 there were 27,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths in our nation, with over 2,000 deaths in New York City alone. Our worst polio epidemic struck in 1952 when there were 57,628 cases reported, 3,145 deaths, and 21,269 cases of paralysis in the wake of the disease. Meanwhile, when I was in High School, three members of our football team contracted polio. One died, one was left with a paralyzed arm, and one had a very slight case.
Thus, with all the understandable and perfectly valid bruhaha concerning Covid-19 I’ve wondered why doctors, media personnel, and government leaders have—for purposes of comparison and contrast—referred to yearly influenza, the Spanish flu, Sars, and Swine flu but never(as far as I know) to the deadliest, most insidious virus in our nation’s recent history—one that focused on robbing children and youth of their very lives or healthy mobility.
Perhaps most individuals in public communication today are too young to remember, or even know about, that annual “beast” who made late summer a time of dread and tragedy for thousands of Americans. But I seriously doubt many individuals remain who recall the Spanish flu, either. As for later epidemics, with the exception of yearly influenza, they have come once—not year after year after year after year.
Something to mull over, as we continue today’s practical and necessary preventative measures:Â social distancing, avoiding crowds, and washing hands for twenty-two seconds (which hopefully we have been doing most of our lives).
Just a little perspective, please!
Margaret L. Been — March 17th, 2020
*One adult from my childhood era to reportedly have been stricken with polio was Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he was 39 years in 1921. From his disease, FDR was paralyzed from the waist down. However, in recent years medical researchers have questioned the polio diagnosis, believing the distinct features of Roosevelt’s paralysis coupled with the very clear onset of his illness more typically fit Guillian-Barre Syndrome. Â
Regardless of the exact cause of FDR’s battle with pain and paralysis. it is well documented that these challenges helped him to become even more of a dedicated fighter, a quality which characterized his time as President—including The Great Depression years and most of World War II.
It was early evening, just before Christmas. My Mom was shopping; Dad and I were parked, waiting for her. I was four years old, and I was sitting on the backseat floor of our family car.
No seat belts in cars, or special seats for children in 1937. We were free to bounce around as much as we liked. I enjoyed the floor after dark when there wasn’t a lot to see from the windows. The floor was my private hiding place.
Meanwhile the car radio played Christmas music. So vividly, I remember hearing “It came upon a midnight clear . . . .” and wondering, what is a “midnight clear?”
That is my earliest clear memory, and it is as vivid as if it happened yesterday. All of my growing-up Christmas recollections have to do with music. Although we did not attend a “live” Bible Church, some traditions such as a children’s Christmas program were a part of my youth. I loved the drama of the manger scene, the singing of carols, and the small brown paper bag of hard candy given to each child after the performance.
Over the years, between violin and voice, music participation was a huge part of Christmas for me, and we had musical children who continued the joyful times. Now that my once-competent contralto/second soprano voice has morphed into the croaking of a frog, I am still besotted with music year around, and Christmas music big time.
What a time to be alive, when one can stream all the great music of the Western World, via Amazon or other hosts! Here are some of the selections which go from my I-phone or I-pad, into our speakers:
John Michael Talbot’s“The Birth of Jesus”. John Michael Talbot, a monk/troubadour, has several albums and I think I have loaded them all into “My Music”. His renderings are simply beautiful, and Scriptural—ranging from soothing vocal and guitar meditations to rousing celebrations of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, accompanied by an orchestra and choir;
A Christmas album by The Three Tenors (Italian tenors. There is nothing on earth like “Cantique de Noel” sung by Luciano Pavarotti!);
Several Christmas albums by The Irish Tenors (also a trio);
The complete Handel’s Messiah performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. This is the pinnacle, in my estimation. I think of the many times I sang the beloved “Hallelujah Chorus”, all Scripture, before I actually knew what I was singing about. Many recordings of Messiah only include the choruses. I love this album because it is the entire work, with the beautiful solos. One that I love is “I know that my Redeemer Liveth”—the hope-filled words of Job, during his extreme suffering;
An especially touching and heart-rending Christmas song is available on U-tube. If you GOOGLE “Mary Did You Know?”, performed by The Pentatonix, you will glad that you did. The Pentatonix is an a cappella group, actually a modern madrigal chorus of musical excellence.Â
“Mary Did You Know?” is sung in a cave with remarkable acoustics. You can search out the lyrics, if you are not familiar with the song. Lines like “The Child that you delivered will soon deliver you” and “When you kiss your little Baby, you kiss the face of God” melt me to a jelly. But the climax is the last line—“The sleeping Child you’re holding is the Great I AM!
Obviously, Mary did know a lot that the angel had disclosed, as affirmed in her song in Luke 1:46-55. We read that Mary knew her baby would be great and He would be “the Son of the Most High”. Mary knew about the long-awaited Messiah, and she knew that she was favored by God.Â
Yet the details of Jesus’s life reflected in the above-mentioned song were things she may not have known. Especially poignant in the New International Version Bible is Luke 2:19, where after Jesus birth and the excitement of angels and shepherds, “. . . Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
This song touches me profoundly because it is a clear picture of humanity and deity: Mary, a chaste young Jewish woman, totally human and clearly from Scripture not deity and not to be worshipped, and Jesus, God appearing in flesh as a tiny baby who would grow into the perfect man/perfect God who would suffer on a cruel Cross to bear the punishment we humans deserve, and then rise victoriously from His grave to give Eternal Life to all who believe in Him.
Music that glorifies God, lifts our hearts to Him—regardless of the language in which it is sung or the instruments on which the music is played. The praise music we love is an earthly glimpse of the endless and incredibly exalting music which is to come, in praise of our Lord when He makes all things new.
“However, as it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him . . . .’ ” I Corinthians 2:9
Christmas music foretelling the birth life, death, resurrection, and LIFE with our Lord forever! An eternity of music.
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.” Revelation 21:7 NKJV
One more promise, among many, for God’s people concerning our future glory—an eternity with Him, for all sons and daughters who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Had this been the first Bible verse I’d ever read or heard, I might have thought the promise inferred that I was going to be doing a lot of work in the process of “overcoming”.
Fortunately, just the opposite is true. Our “overcoming” is accomplished by our Lord, as we look to him in faith and obedience. Indeed, God is the author of our faith; He enables and empowers our obedience through His indwelling Holy Spirit. as we admit that we are powerless and needy.
I cannot begin to count the times God has proven this principle in my life. He is all sufficient. When I am weak, He is strong. Whatever He has planned and willed for me to do, He will do through my life, so long as I realize that I simply cannot do it in and of myself. So long as I rest in Him, knowing that the Indwelling Lord Jesus Christ alone is able!
Of course, I do not always acknowledge my inadequacy and weakness. I am capable of bumbling along, thinking I am strong. How faithfully, our Indwelling Lord leads us back to realizing that every breath we inhale and every step we take depend on His grace!
“For whoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” I John 5:4-5
Nearly 50 years ago, the Lord picked me up and placed me into His Kingdom. That very night, I opened the Bible which had been given to me as a child. I had only read the 23rd Psalm in my Bible, and that had been a long time ago. But on the night of my salvation birthday, God in His grace led me to John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
And how beautifully these truths are embodied and realized in the Ultimate Birthday we celebrate this month, and every day of the year: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . .” Isaiah 9:6a
The Lord Jesus Christ is our Overcomer. He is our LIFE!
“. . . even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of the body, for we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Romans 8:23b-25 NKJV
Obviously, if we have something in our hands, our “hope” has materialized, and rather than hope we have moved on to experiencing the object of our hope.
But our eternal future is yet to be realized. Meanwhile we have the blessed hope of the redemption of our bodies—for that time when, according to God’s promise, He will make all things new, all of God’s creation including you and me! No more tears, no more arthritis, and hopefully no more trips to the dentist!
To review the meaning of the New Testament word, “hope”, the Greek word—from which our Bible is translated—is “elpis”—meaning “anticipation and a confident expectation”.
So when Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, he was notusing the word “hope” as we would use it. Examples: I “hope”that I will spend time with all of the grandchildren at Christmas; You “hope” that you can go to (wherever) for your vacation next year.
Rather, Paul was assuring the Romans that the “hope”—our promised future glory—was something definite to persevere with eager anticipation.
I have been mulling over this hope, thinking of how—yes—I eagerly anticipate the future glory. But in the meantime, life here in Wisconsin is so good—at least for my family and everyone whom we know.
I anticipate Christmas with our family, adequate medical care in the next year, and plenty of pleasant times ahead:Â spring mornings when we can take our great-grandchildren to the park which is just over the berm from our front door; frequent enchiladas and flans at Senor Tomas Restaurant, six minutes away; summer evenings on our patio—watching the fireflies and enjoying the colors of glowing solar lights in our gardens while sipping my solar-brewed ice tea.
These hopes are so lovely, it is easy to focus on them and keep the future hope on the back burner! But what of the martyrs, past and present, around the world—people imprisoned and tortured for their faith?
Their “present” resembles a living Hell. Nothing around them is gracious, beautiful, or kind. They suffer from illness and pain for which there is no medical treatment. They are starved and tortured. They exist in filthy and often solitary cells, with no sanitation.
For the Christian martyrs, there is only one “hope”, and they cling to it because they believe the promises of God; they have no outings at a park, good meals at a Mexican restaurant, or evenings of ice tea and fireflies on a patio to distract them from the ONE HOPE which is a certainty, a future of glory forever!*
Meditating on the above passage in Romans has moved me to tears as I think of those around the world who have only the hope (certainty) of the God’s promise to occupy their minds. I am praying for these people, whomever and wherever they are!
How those who are suffering due to their faith must cherish God’s proclamation in Revelation 21:6! “It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” NKJV
Margaret L Been — December 14th, 2018
*Having been greatly moved by the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written while he was incarcerated in a Nazi prison—and reading of how he was hung (near the time of Germany’s surrender and allegedly within hearing distance of advancing Allied troops) with total calm, dignity, and a gracious demeanor—I truly believe in an extra blessing of supernatural GRACE for those faithful martyrs for Jesus Christ, to enable them to lift their hearts and minds in praise for the BLESSED HOPE!
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him Who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Romans 8:19-22 NKJV
Frequently when I watch the news or hear of a tragedy, I experience mental and emotional pain and I pray, “Come, Lord Jesus! Please come soon!”  Perhaps my plea is—in a way—similar to the “groaning” of creation when flood waters rise out of control, or when drought prevails in a region and fires destroy thousands of acres of timber.
My passion for nature and all living creatures was a large factor used by our Lord in drawing me to Himself. I tried very hard to be a secular humanist, but as I grew older I began to question all my programmed suppositions, one of them being evolution—which I first learned from my high school ancient history text.
When I was in my thirties I began to ask questions big time—concluding that nature couldn’t have “just happened”:Â the intricacy of a snowflake, or the human body, or any body; the power in thunder and the beauty of a sunset; the majesty of the mountains in my beloved state of Colorado.
( I tried to be a nature worshipper but God, who knew me from Eternity Past, steered me away from that temptation*, as He was calling me to Himself—long before I had any knowledge of Him, in fact all of my life!)
Shortly after I became a Christian, I sat under excellent, thorough teaching of the book of Romans.  Here I learned that pagan peoples may be drawn to faith through the witness of creation, as well as via the God-given conscience. I learned that along with the fall of man, nature had fallen as well. Many of my questions were answered: the death of a neighborhood child to leukemia, my dog’s epilepsy, and the blight on my tomatoes.
In sequel to the above passage in Romans, God speaks emphatically in Revelation 21:5: “. . . Behold, I make all things new . . . .” No more leukemia. No more epilepsy. No more blight.
How this newness will work in terms of wiping out disease was something I could begin to imagine. After all, that once-terrifying annual threat of polio which I’d experienced as a child had been eradicated, in time for my children to be immune. Thanks to God’s revelation in science, polio was one concern I had put to rest.
But how could God’s making all things new affect those aspects of nature which, in my fallen human comprehension, were wondrous beyond words? I thought a lot about this. Is there anything more pristine than fresh snow on country fields and forests unviolated by the machinery of man? Or yesterday’s snowfall on a sunny, 20 below zero morning?
We were privy to such beauty during eight years of living full time in the Wisconsin Northwoods, 285 miles from where we live today. Winter mornings undisturbed except by the footprints of deer. That one deep cold winter morning, when we thrilled to the sight of timber wolves on our frozen lake, their coats mellowed to peachy-rose by the low-in-the-horizon January sun.
And summer nights when we could hardly distinguish between sky and water for the millions of reflected stars—far from lights of communities and civilization. What could be more “new”?  Could anything be “newer” than the Northern Lights, pouring a palette of blues and eerie greens, from Heaven to earth? More new, more beautiful?
Yes, “all things new” will be infinitely more beautiful! Our Lord tells us in His Word that He will make ALL THINGS NEW! God’s Word is true, in every detail. It follows that He will make our vision new, along with all of our senses so that we can fathom and experience the new creation. What a truth to anticipate until the time when we believers are a part of God’s ALL THINGS NEW!
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 NKJV
God has shown me this verse and affirmed the practical truth of it time and again. Scriptures abound in testimony to the glory which is to come. To focus on God’s glory and that joyous moment when we shall see Him face to face, is to put the trials of daily life in proper perspective. My “troubles” shrink in comparison.
Yet as I read this passage, I am arrested by the phrase “this present time“. And a purely fallen human thought clouds my mind: “But what about tomorrow?”
All of my past and current “sorrows of present times” have been so bathed in grace. so undergirded by the comforting presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, that I realize any question concerning tomorrow is remiss. Yet none of my sorrows have been catastrophic. I have never really suffered—never been mistreated, hungry, cold, or homeless. I have never been unloved!
With all of life’s bumps and grinds, I have never suffered what I consider unthinkable: the loss of a close family member—husband, child, grandchild, great grandchild. Will tomorrow’s unchartered territory include sorrow of that magnitude?
How frail and finite, the meanderings of the human soul! Sorrow yes and possibly pain which at this point I cannot even begin to comprehend. But will not God still be God? Has He not lovingly navigated countless millions and billions of His own through sufferings my head cannot imagine, simply because they have not happened to me?
“This present time” will not always be “today”. Tomorrow will someday be “this present time”. Times change, and circumstances change, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 NKJV
Scripture is Scripture, eternal and unchanging. In Matthew 6:34, Our Lord specifically instructs us not to worry about tomorrow, as there is enough going on today. Tomorrow will bring its own issues and challenges.
And throughout Scripture, we are continually exhorted to look ahead, beyond the things we see to the unseen but ever-so-real future glory—for each and every individual who has trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation!
If a picture is worth 1000 words, you have just read 13,000. There would be a lot more if I could find pics of everyone in our tribe—Joe and Margaret plus 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and 19 great grandchildren.Â
We have framed pictures of everyone—the entire Tribe of Been—planted around our home, but not so many in my computer files.
We progenitors are pictured above, at a formal ball—UW-Madison, Wisconsin—in 1953, just a few months before our marriage.
Family is our greatest earthly blessing, and need not be bonded by blood and DNA. Family can be any and all of those around us—the people God has given us to love.Â
And don’t forget all the other “creatures great and small”—be they canine, feline, equine, or most anyone else!
Northern Reflections--glimpses of gold by Margaret L. Been 