Rumination… a noun.

1. The act of pondering; meditation. 2. The act or process of chewing cud.    (courtesy of www.dictionary.com)

I am going with pondering and meditation as my preferred meaning as I review some responses to previous posts. By far the greatest volume of readers and responses to this fledging blog was in response to the Victoria Osteen incident prior to Christmas. Some took me to task for my call for Mrs.Osteen to humbly repent and seek forgiveness of those affected.

Reader Kevin wrote the following…

I will pray that you never make any mistakes around your house or the wall mart , so you don’t have to feel like her .
Pls lets just pray for that family that is touching not just the neiborhood but the world.

• It is because the Osteens have such a wide audience that I believed they needed to immediately respond. I can assure you Kevin that I will make mistakes and my prayer is that someone around me will have the courage to confront me and challenge me to respond in a way that reflects Jesus in my life. My point was never that we don’t make mistakes. Of course we do. My point is that Christians have a higher standard in how we respond. So if I make a mistake around the house I have a godly wife and three sons (when they visit) who are very committed to pointing that out. If you see me make a mistake at the old Wal Mart or anywhere else you have my permission to let me know. When I started writing Christian books and blogs I raised the bar on my life. So when I do make a mistake I must repent and repair. Period.

Mary Jane shouted this at me…

NO ONE IS PERFECT.

• I don’t recall ever saying that. See above or any of my posts about the incident.

The most personally meaningful weblog I have written centered around the amazing grace demonstrated by friends going through the trials of life and death. On Wednesday January 4th I wrote about my Nominations for Persons of the Year.

Sue wrote about being in the room when Trisha’s too short life ended…

We were privileged to be part of Trisha’s “Bon Voyage party” in her hospital room, and Mike redefines the concept of “radiant faith.” Even in the face of soul-crushing grief.
Jesus is so very real!

• I will tell you that I would have thought comments like that were ridiculous before I came into a relationship with Christ. Now I have experienced and witnessed first hand the kind of faith that Sue described in her post.

The next day (January 5th) I wrote about what really matters in this life in a post called the “Good Stuff”.

Mark wrote…

“I am getting slightly better at not allowing the irritants of life to rob me of the good stuff.”

Regretfully far too true, particularly where the church is concerned. I must say church has been the worst experience of my life (so not that bad a life then!) whereas my family have been the best. But I’ve let the irritants distract me and spoil me.

• My heart aches when I hear comments like that about being wounded by the church and other Christians. How far have we strayed from the teachings of Jesus that we have thousands and thousands of people who would echo Mark’s said comments? Perhaps some are self inflicted or even false perceptions but as my granddaddy used to say, “when there is that much smoke there has to be a fire somewhere.” I was joking the other day that I am starting a minsitry with the acronyn CTC. That stands for Cut the Crap! I think that the events of last week (the homegoing of my friend Trisha) brings home again that my days are uncertain. I want to finish strong for the Lord. And I don’t mind you holding me accountable to that goal. I will finish with the last couple of paragraphs from the “Good Stuff.”

I am getting better at discerning and treasuring the good stuff. I am getting slightly better at not allowing the irritants of life to rob me of the good stuff. Every day is a treasure. Every day that you can look into the eyes of those you love is a gift. Jesus knew what the good stuff was all about. He wasn’t a cosmic killjoy trying to keep us from pleasure. Jesus taught us what mattered.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?   Luke 9  NIV

Loving your family. Having friends who will be there when things are rough. Knowing that you and those you love have a relationship with the living God. That’s the good stuff. Don’t let the world tell you otherwise.