Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Throne of Grace

Image by Ralph from Pixabay

What does your favourite chair look like?

Is it a ratty recliner held together with pieces of duct tape, like the one used by Marty Crane on the TV sitcom “Frasier”?

Or is it more regal and imposing, dominating the room like a throne?

I think many of us rather like the idea of having a throne like the ones monarchs throughout history sat on.

The seat of the Chinese emperors was known as the Dragon Throne. The Mughal emperors of India had the Peacock Throne.

Korean monarchs sat on the Phoenix Throne, and Japanese emperors on the Chrysanthemum Throne.

The Shahs of Persia sat on a royal throne known as the Marble Throne, while Swedish monarchs were crowned on the Silver Throne.

Both the emperors of Vietnam and the Pharaoh Tutankhamen were enthroned on a Golden Throne.

And of course fantasy novelist George R. R. Martin has given us the Iron Throne, the seat of the monarch in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. It was said to have been made of the swords of defeated enemies.

But there’s a throne made of something infinitely more precious than any of the above…

The Throne of Grace.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

The Other Side of the Window

Image from PIckpik

While walking in my neighbourhood the other day, I saw something mysterious.

On one person’s front lawn there stood a jumble of foot-high letters of the alphabet, placed upright on stakes near the front window.

But the letters seemed randomly placed; they didn’t form coherent words. Was this some sort of secret code? Also, the letters were backwards from the perspective of anyone walking by on the sidewalk.

I then realized that they were meant to be read by someone inside the house.

When I deciphered the letters with this in mind, it suddenly made sense. Someone inside looking out the front window would see this message clearly spelled out on their front lawn:

“Happy Birthday!”

I was looking at the letters from the wrong side of the window. If I had been inside the home gazing out, the message would have been clear from the get-go.

I think this is true of a lot of things in our lives.

Some things we go through as believers won’t make sense until we’re on the “other side of the window.” By that I mean when we’re in Heaven, looking back at our time on Earth.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

When Nature Sings, Sing Along!

Image of crocuses by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

No matter where you live, spring is a time of joy.

In my part of the world, shy white snowdrops are the first flowers to bloom in spring.

Crocuses, slightly bolder in colour with their yellows or purples, are the next to make an appearance.

The tulips take their time, first poking the tips of their leaves above the ground like a periscope, as if checking to see whether it’s safe to emerge. They then burst forth in bright, vivid colours, their blooms held aloft on tall stems like upright trumpets.

“The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.” (Song of Solomon 2:12)

After a long, colourless winter, it makes my heart sing to see the arrival of spring.

But do the flowers and trees themselves sing? And if they do, what is their song telling us?

Author Linda Brooks, in her 2018 book, “Orchestra In My Garden,” seems to share my sentiments about the spring season:

”Once the snow disappears and my garden starts to emerge from its slumber, I cannot jump up fast enough to catch the first light, to lose (and find) myself among kindred spirits and bend my ear to their voices. No, I am not deluded. I do understand that plants are not human and cannot speak, but no one can convince me that they do not sing.”

She’s right: plants do sing. But she’s perhaps missed who they’re singing to.

They sing to God.

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell · 2 Comments

It’s Raining Diamonds!

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, I’m on the wrong planet.

I’ve just discovered that there are planets on which it rains diamonds.

Scientists believe that diamond rain could occur deep in the atmospheres of our gas giant neighbours in the solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Thousands of miles below the surface of these planets, carbon atoms come under such crushing pressure in the dense atmospheres that diamonds could form. The conditions are so extreme that further down, the diamonds could melt into liquid, forming diamond “rain” drops.

On some planets in the universe, these drizzles could involve diamonds millions of carats in size.

The wonders of the cosmos don’t end there. Scientists suggest that on the exoplanet WASP-121b it rains liquid rubies and sapphires. Clouds on this planet could be made of corundum, a mineral out of which these precious gems are formed.

It gets better.

The asteroid Psyche 16, which orbits the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is made entirely of solid metal. It has enough gold to turn every person on Earth into a billionaire. As well as gold, this intriguing minor planet contains metals such as platinum, iron and nickel in abundance. If Psyche 16’s metals were on Earth, their combined value would be worth perhaps $100,000 quadrillion.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches!

What does all this tell us?

That the precious gems and metals we covet are a dime a dozen in God’s universe. After all, Scripture tells us that in Heaven, the streets are paved with gold.

More importantly, God has an inexhaustible supply of the things that we truly need: grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.

Read more