March 2011

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For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17: 21b


Within

When our ninety-six-year-old across-the-gravel-road neighbor, Clark Dinwiddie, passed away last month, our family lost not only a wonderful Christian neighbor, but a dear friend.  He was a man who was both wise and fun-loving.  "A ninety-six-year-old teenager," my teenage son called Clark, his best friend.  Now, Clark was one of the worst drivers I've ever had the terror-inducing honor of riding with, but he was also a man who never lost his love of learning or his sense of adventure, and he was a man who loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.   This man was a surrogate grandfather to our children and grandchildren, and he was a godly father figure to me.

            Frightened one morning, I called him to ask what to do, who to call, about a raccoon (probably rabid) that was in a stand-off in the driveway with our Black Lab. Clark, then in his nineties, drove over on his golf cart with his .22, dispatched that raccoon, grabbed it up by the tail, tossed it into the golf cart, and hauled it off to I don't know where, but, thank goodness, it was someplace that wasn't here!  It was just the sort of thing a protective father would do. 

But one of the best things about Clark was that he believed the best about people.  During the last conversation I had with him on this Earth, though his mind had begun to wander in and out of this world and the next, each person he named, family member or friend, was spoken of with kind words and in a fond tone.  When one can no longer fully govern one's own mind and body, attending church or speaking church-ese can no longer serve to make one appear righteous.  What is truly in the heart is bound to come out.  Goodness flowed from Clark's.

"The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17: 20b-21

At the Last Supper in the upper room, while the disciples were busy quarreling among themselves about which of them should be considered the greatest, Jesus addressed Simon Peter with these words:

"Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Luke 22: 31-32

            Though He knew that Simon Peter would wander away from Him for a time, (for one can't return unless one has wandered), Jesus looked beyond that time of Peter's wandering in the wilderness of unbelief, and believed in Peter.  Jesus spoke affirming words to Peter, and even commissioned him to a future ministry of strengthening his brethren.  All before Peter had betrayed Him!  Now that's choosing to believe the best about someone!

            Lord, I want to be more like You, and your servant, Clark.  Help me become more of a person who sees others the way You see them-- as people worthy of doing service for You in the kingdom-- than I am a person who dwells on determining her own value.  If I live long enough on this Earth that the time comes when I can no longer govern my own mind and mouth, I want only Your goodness to flow from me.  And before then, right now, to live this way, is my desire. . . .Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within in me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. . .This is my prayer, oh Lord.

 

Daye Phillippo

March 2011