Jesus – Page 6 – The Faith Cafe

Posted on November 27, 2023October 20, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Explaining Rituals

Image by Terren in Virginia via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

While I was raking up fallen leaves in the yard recently, a passerby stopped to talk.

This lady was from India, and was curious about why Canadians raked up leaves each fall. Was it some cultural tradition of ours, she asked, a ritual that we enjoyed doing?

I smiled at her mistaken assumption, but explained that if we didn’t rake up the leaves, the lawn underneath would die. With a blanket of leaves blocking the sun and air, the grass would be smothered.

We’re certainly not raking up dozens of bags of leaves because it’s fun!

Our conversation got me thinking about rituals, and how we sometimes need to explain them to puzzled outsiders.

Why do kids dress up in outlandish costumes on Halloween and go door to door asking for candy?

Why do we decorate a tree in our homes at Christmas?

And why do Christians have bread and wine at Communion? Is it because they get hungry and need a snack partway through a church service?

Like Lucy in the old sitcom, we have some explaining to do…

Posted on November 13, 2023October 18, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Shine Your Light!

If you’re fumbling around in the darkness, what should you do?

Turn on a light, of course.

But there are places on earth where this truism can have unexpected effects.

The “midnight zone” of oceans is one of them.

This zone, ranging from about 3,000 to 13,000 feet below the water’s surface, is in constant darkness. The sun’s rays simply cannot penetrate this far down.

The only light at this extreme depth comes from the bioluminescence of various sea creatures themselves.

Scientists who want to study the sea life in this region are faced with a problem. Normally, if you want to examine a dark area, you’d simply shine a light into it. Indeed, the submersibles scientists use for underwater research have headlights for this express purpose.

But casting a light on the creatures in the midnight zone freaks them out. They’re not used to bright light, and assume it’s some sort of enemy.

Startled swordfish will attempt kamikaze runs at a submersible’s lights. Other creatures are blinded or are plunged into terror by the blazing illumination: they either freeze or flee.

Scientists soon realized that their submersibles’ lights were simply creating a no-go zone around the vessel, hampering their research. So they switched to using a red light, a colour which most of the undersea creatures can’t see.

Sometimes light can have a contradictory effect, can’t it?

As believers we see this when we introduce the light of Christ to others.

Posted on November 6, 2023October 17, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Forgive and Forget? Not!

I know you’ll love these wise insights on forgiveness from my friend Veronica Gerber. We’re very fortunate to have her as our guest blogger today!

It’s popular to think of “forgive and forget” but, paradoxically, the bridge to forgiveness includes remembering, not forgetting!

Remembering what?

How much I’ve been forgiven and what it cost the Savior
Actions have consequences; learning from past mistakes
Vengeance belongs to the Lord

What dynamic is at work when you find it hard to forgive?

In my own experience, I’ve found it easiest to forgive when I remember how much I myself have been forgiven. When it’s hard to forgive, perhaps it’s because I’ve actually forgotten how much the Lord has forgiven me.

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32, NIV)

That being said, actions do have repercussions. There is often a place for rebuke. Forgiving one another does not mean sweeping consequences aside! It’s not an easy or glib exercise.

"He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favour than he who has a flattering tongue." (Proverbs 28:23, NIV)

True forgiveness includes a thorough assessment of the offence and yet chooses to extend the grace of forgiveness.

Posted on October 30, 2023October 16, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

How to Pack for Eternity

The way you pack for a trip says something about you.

Some people are super-organized, and that’s reflected in their packing behaviour.

They create lists of things to be done before the trip. Colour-coding of priority tasks is often involved. Any item they could possibly need while abroad is obtained, efficiently packed, and checked off the list.

Some nations have gone to war with less preparation than this.

Other people are more random. Sure, they’ll throw some clothes in a suitcase, but there’s no grand plan they’re following. Often, the things they pack for a trip will be a bit puzzling.

A survey of British travellers revealed the odd things that some people bring along with them wherever they go. The top 10 strangest items that people simply couldn’t do without when on a trip included:

Framed pictures of dead cats;

A loved one’s ashes;

A stuffed pet hamster;

An emotional support boa constrictor. (Really?)

But seriously, what’s the most important thing to bring with us on a trip?

People!

The ones we love most: our best buddies or our dearest family members.

Movies like “Home Alone” have taught us the perils of leaving behind someone important when we travel.

But what about life’s most important journey?

The one to our eternal home?

The same holds true. The most important thing to bring with us is people.

Posted on October 23, 2023October 16, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

The Cure for Seasickness

Ever been to sea?

If you have, you just might have experienced a bout of seasickness. For landlubbers, the first time on a boat that is rolling and pitching on the waves can produce feelings of nausea.

Why is this?

The problem is a disconnect between the messages your eyes and your inner ear are giving your brain. If you’re in an enclosed space on a boat, your eyes tell you that you’re standing on level ground. The fluids swishing around in your inner ear, however, tell a different story: that you’re being tossed to and fro. It’s the contradictions between these messages that produces the sensation of seasickness.

So what’s the solution?

A time-tested remedy for seasickness is to get up on deck and look at the horizon: it’s the only thing that isn’t moving when the boat you’re aboard encounters heavy seas.

Looking at a fixed target gives your eyes a stationary point of reference, allowing your brain to reconcile this information with the motions your inner ear is reporting. Once you can see what “level” is, your brain can more easily deal with the feeling of movement from your inner ear.

And this isn’t just an old-wives’ tale: scientific studies have backed up the idea that staring at the horizon actually does make you feel steadier while at sea.

But what if you’re on dry land and feel “seasick” with the turbulence in your life?

What if it feels like the challenges in your life have put you in heavy, roiling seas, and you can barely tell up from down?

The same advice applies: focus on a fixed point, something that can be relied upon not to change.

For believers, that thing is Jesus.

Posted on October 16, 2023September 28, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Who Floats Your Boat?

Today we have a special treat—a guest post by my dear friend Veronica Gerber. Be encouraged by her insights into the story of Jesus stilling the storm!

“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

“He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

“They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:35-41)

In this true-life adventure story that Mark recounts for us, Jesus is roused by the cries of his disciples and dramatically calms the storm.

Are you also in a storm? Perhaps you are a believer and so Jesus is already living in your heart—in your boat so to speak—but you feel as if he’s asleep?

Posted on October 9, 2023September 25, 2023 by Lori Cartmell · 1 Comment

Multiply Your Thanksgiving

Is it ever possible to be too thankful?

Not in my books.

Especially when Thanksgiving Day involves your favourite foods; roast turkey with all the trimmings, cranberry sauce, potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie.

That’s why Canadians who visit relatives in the States in the fall are lucky: they get to celebrate Thanksgiving Day twice.

This year, Canadian Thanksgiving is today, Oct. 9, while Americans celebrate their Thanksgiving on Nov. 23. Canadians popping across the border to spend time with American relatives on their holiday get to have an encore of the Thanksgiving feast.

This is not a problem if you love turkey, as I do. (If you don’t, please invite me over and I’ll eat your share for you.)

This got me thinking: is it ever possible to be too thankful to God?

Again, my answer would have to be no.

It pleases God greatly when we thank Him for what He’s done in our lives.

Posted on September 18, 2023August 14, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Jesus, Our Fellow Astronaut

When you’re an astronaut about to set foot on a new world, you don’t want an amateur at the helm back at Mission Control on Earth.

That’s why the role of CAPCOM is so crucial to any space journey.

CAPCOM is short for Capsule Communicator, the person at NASA who is the liaison between the astronauts in their “capsule” and Mission Control. This individual is the single voice the crew members on the spacecraft hear when communicating with Earth, with all information being filtered through them.

The CAPCOM is listening to all the data about the mission from every console at Mission Control. This person hears what the Flight Director wants the crew to know, and turns it into words the crew will understand. They’re also the crew’s trusted agent on the ground, fighting battles and arguing in their stead.

The CAPCOM is essential to the success of each mission.

Understandably, this job isn’t given to just anyone.

Right from the start of the U.S. space program, it was recognized that the astronauts would need someone they could trust to be their relay back on Earth. Someone who knew what they were going through, because they’d gone through the same experience.

So the role of CAPCOM has traditionally been given almost exclusively to former astronauts.

Although there are numerous highly trained and very talented people at Mission Control who could assume the job of CAPCOM, NASA felt that someone who had been an astronaut themselves would be best able to understand what’s going on in the spacecraft and to pass information along in the clearest way.

After all, no one but an astronaut knows what it’s like to blast off in a rocket and “let slip the surly bonds of Earth.” No one but a fellow space traveller knows the vulnerable feeling of floating in the vast blackness of space, hundreds or even thousands of miles from your home planet.

Even though you and I may not be launching into space anytime soon, we still need a CAPCOM of our own.

Posted on September 4, 2023July 7, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

God Is Always At Work

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

On Labour Day, we get a welcome day off. But even so, our minds aren’t very far from matters concerning work.

Here’s a question about work that people often bring up:

Why is it that when traffic is diverted around “Men At Work” signs on the road, we often don’t see anyone doing any actual work?

Sometimes the construction zone is deserted, and work on the project seems to be at a standstill. And yet vehicles are still forced to circumvent the area.

At other times there might be a few workers milling about and talking, or peering down an open maintenance hole. But again, lanes are blocked off and traffic is being slowed down for seemingly very little reason.

We naturally find this very annoying. The disruptions and delays would be easier to handle if we could actually see some work getting done, some real progress being made.

Sometimes we show the same impatience with God, don’t we?

We have prayers that we want Him to answer, and things in our lives that we want Him to change. But we get frustrated when nothing seems to be happening.

Posted on August 21, 2023July 7, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

God Is Always a Step Ahead of You

Don’t you love it when someone anticipates your needs?

You feel good when someone makes provision for something you’ll require before the need even arises. Or when they start setting in motion something for you before you even ask.

It makes you feel sort of special, doesn’t it?

As a teen, I’d occasionally stop by a little fish-and-chip joint on my way home from school. This little restaurant had an open kitchen, and the owner/cook could see the street through the front window.

Carlo, the owner, would see me get off the bus and wait at the lights. He knew what I liked to eat, so he’d start deep-frying my halibut before I even crossed the street and entered his restaurant.

He anticipated what I’d want and started cooking it before I even placed my order.

God does the same sort of thing for us, too.