It's Good, Now

 Last week was the time for my annual physical checkup.  It's the time when I'm poked, questioned, looked over, and generally checked out.  I don't particularly enjoy these annual visits, but they are necessary since I also take medications that I fully believe have kept me alive to this day, and I must see a provider at least once a year to have those medications renewed, modified, or discontinued...depending on my specific needs.

One of the questions my provider asked me was in general how things were going.  My response to her was, “It's good, now.”  I didn't think much of that response until I left the clinic a little later.  I went out into the cool spring sunny morning and thought back to that short response.  There was a moment when I stopped beside my pickup, not getting in, and just savored life for a moment as it pertained to that response.  “It's good, now.”

Of course, in no way to I wish to hint that life hasn't been good before now.  It has.  However, there's something about this stage of life that is just, well, special.  Yes, I have aches and pains I didn't have some years ago.  Yes, I have to take medications to keep my blood pressure and other aspects of my physical self in line.  Yes, I no longer do some of the things I used to do.  My physical limitations are many more than they used to be.  And I know I have just a limited time left in this body, regardless of the medications and checkups.

But there are also those other things that make life at this stage worth living.  I have great flexibility regarding my work hours.  Or, I could choose at any time to not work at all and be fully retired.  I am mobile.  I can drive a vehicle.  I can walk, and even run a bit if needed.  My mind seems to be working well.  The miracle of lens implants has enabled me to continue seeing clearly.  It's good, now.

More than all of that, however, are some of the more intangibles.  A wife who loves me unconditionally.  Grand kids who I can watch grow and develop into the next crop of leaders and doers.  A church family that I adore.  A walk in the park.  Visiting the in-laws.  Friends on social media.  Emails to and from childhood friends.  Sons and daughters-in-law who are greatly loved and love in return.

Most of all, there is a God who loves me.  A God who has taken away all of my spiritual filth and placed it upon Himself.  A God who upholds the universe by the word of his power.  A God who shows me His awesomeness, patience, and grace daily.  A God who is gently but surely bringing me toward Himself day by day...and preparing me for that day.  A God whose faithfulness is constant and never-ending.  It's good, now.

Earlier last week, I got a copy of Carrie Underwood's new CD, My Savior.  On this recording, she sings twelve of the old hymns, including Amazing Grace, Great is They Faithfulness, Victory in Jesus, Softly and Tenderly, and others.  By the way, if you don't happen to know Ms. Underwood's life story, check it out.

I put the CD into the player in my pickup the day I got it, fully intending to listen to it once, then go back to the FM station I normally listen to…the local public radio station.  At the end of the first time through, I did pull the CD from the player.  NPR news was on when I did that.  I listened for about 10 minutes to the news, then suddenly realized I was tired of hearing the news.  I put the CD back on and have kept it on, letting it recycle time and again.  That CD has been my constant pickup companion for over a week, playing over and over, probably 20 times or more.

There is something cathartic about those old hymns on that CD.  There is something very attractive about listening to those statements of faith, grace, and forgiveness on that CD.  There is something about that CD and about Ms. Underwood’s singing that gently tells me, “It’s good, now,” with each song.

May God bless you this day, such that you can also say, even with all that is going on in your life…”It’s good, now.”

The Passing of Time

 

Good morning.  Welcome to the April 8^th edition of Thursday Thoughts.

 

Years ago, almost in another life it seems, I was a commercial broadcast technical engineer in radio and television.  My job consisted of several facets, among which was keeping the electronic equipment in good repair, doing some on-air work, producing local commercial content, and other duties as assigned in a typical small market operation.  At the time, we didn’t have computers, the internet, cell phones, and all of the electronic trappings of modern life.  We did many things the old fashioned way.  Telephones were connected to the wall or sat on a desk.  They had dials rather than push buttons.  We looked up information at the library or in printed encyclopedia sets and dictionaries.  Computers with memories of up to 16 kilobytes where files were saved on a cassette tape were just beginning to appear in some outlets.

One of my jobs was to be certain that the clocks in the control rooms of the stations were at the correct time.  That was, after all, a critical part of the operation.  We had to know down to the second what time it was so we could insert commercials, take a network show feed, or do whatever else needed to be done in a timely fashion.

In order to do that, we needed a standard of reference for the correct time.  The United States government conveniently provided such a standard out of what then was called the National Bureau of Standards…now the National Institute of Standards and Technology…an arm of the Commerce Department of the Executive Branch of the federal government.

Now, for those of you wondering why I’m chasing this particular rabbit, I assure you I have a purpose in mind.  Stay with me here.

The government operates a clock so exact that its error rate is estimated to be one second in well over a billion years.  They make this precise timekeeping available to the public in several forms, one of which is to broadcast time signals by several means.  These signals are available to someone with a shortwave receiver at certain shortwave frequencies.  They are also available through a very low frequency radio wave that is used by what is commonly known as atomic clocks.  These clocks are not really atomic powered…they use regular batteries or are plugged into the electrical wall socket.  They are inexpensive, self-adjust in response to the radio wave, and are accurate to within about one tenth of a second at any given time.  You may well have one or more of these clocks in your home.

Another way to obtain the correct time is to make a phone call to the radio station that broadcasts the signals.  When the phone connects, you will hear the same sounds as you would hear if tuning in to the shortwave signals.  The time will be given second by second with an announcement of the correct time on the minute.  Go ahead and try it.  The number is area code 303   499 7111.

I have this phone number in my cell phone’s directory.  I call it from time to time to reset our grandfather clock we have at home.  When I listen to the time signals coming from this phone number, I am immediately struck by the reality of the passage of time.  The prior minute…the prior hour…the prior second…will never repeat.  Each tick of the second reminds me that time continues unabated, regardless of what I am doing, where I am, or whether or not I’m even alive.  And there’s something that is relentless about time’s passage.  We can’t slow it down, reverse it, or speed it up for ourselves in any meaningful way.  It just continues…continues…continues.

God had something to say about time and the passage of time.  The Apostle Peter, in what we know as his second letter in the New Testament says this about the passing of time.  First of all, you must understand that in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts.  They will make fun of you and will ask, “He promised to come, didn't he? Where is he?  Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!”

These, Peter says, are people who refuse to believe that there will be a time when time itself will be no more, and there will come a day when we will have to account to God for the precious gift of life and time that he has given us.

Peter goes on to say this:  “But do not forget one thing, my dear friends!  There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same.  The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think.  Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.  But the Day of the Lord will come.”

And he continues in the same vein regarding what those of us who are understanding these words should do: “And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him.  Look on our Lord's patience as the opportunity he is giving you to be saved.”

So, as I close this thought, I ask you again to call the number for the correct time.  Area code 303  499 7111.  That’s 303  499 7111.  Listen to the ticks of the seconds as they go by.  And understand that as relentless as they are now to continue, one day those ticks will cease and the Day of the Lord will indeed come.  Be at peace with your God.  Rest in His promises.  And look forward to that day.

 

May God continue to bless you this day.