C’mon Everybody by Led Zeppelin (Written by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart)
Image Credit: “homework checklist and pen” by PersonalCreations.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Busy, buzzy bees, buzzin’ all day long. Waitin’ for the end of the day, settlin’ down into the daily routine.
Through the backdoor, into the kitchen, backpacks dropped, snacks grabbed.
Homework folders out they come- complete the left, place in the right. Gotta get it done.
Supper aroma fills the air, crockpot simmerin’ on low. Set the table, grab a glass.
Dinner’s done. Tables cleared, dishes washed, and now what’s next?
Shoes by the door, jackets on hooks, backpack ready. Tomorrow will come.
This fall,
May your evening routines feel easy and calm. May you seize and freeze each ordinary moment in your memory bank, as you capture the blessings that pass each day.
Cobwebs, witches, pumpkins, and tombstones seem to pop up everywhere in October.
Do you see them?
From storefronts and public squares to front lawns all across the country. There is no doubt that Halloween generates considerable sales for retailers.
Children can hardly wait to pick out their costumes as summer fades and fall approaches. It’s become a rite of passage, starting with the Halloween Parade that begins in pre-school. Which, of course, continues in grammar school. And typically ends in middle school.
Pretty as a Pirate
For parents of pre-schoolers, it is a joyous time. Families choose together what their little ones will be for Halloween. More often than not, these young children choose happy and pretty types of costumes.
Would you agree?
Young children pick superheroes, cute animals, or princesses. Which adds a flair of innocence to the holiday.
Then come the parties.
School parties, town parties, and neighbor parties. All preceding the ‘trick-or-treat’ tradition. Where children go from door to door ringing doorbells in the neighborhood. Having fun as they fill their bags with sweets. Children clad in costumes. Parents prompt and prod along the way. They roam the streets with their pumpkin-shaped baskets as parents linger behind.
In Part 2 we will explore the origins of Halloween and the transition from innocent into the dark abyss.
In this blog post, I have taken the liberty of looking at random phrases in The Bible where the word “fall” is used. Go ahead and read each of them:
Fall from your heads – Jer. 13:18
Fall at your side – Psalm 91:7
Fall down at your feet – Rev. 3:9
Fall from your secure position – 2 Peter 3:17
Fall prey to your power – Ez. 13:21
Fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines – Ez. 35:8
Now, re-read them. What do you see? How do you feel? At first, the word submission comes to my mind. Yet, maybe surrendering is the better word. In Julie Lopes’ blog, Dancing with God, she reflects on the meaning of submission and surrendering. She says that surrendering is an act of love where we respond to an invitation, whereas submission has a power and control element. So, with that, we will look at these phrases collectively from a surrendering viewpoint.
Falling is an act of surrender. Surrendering to God, oneself, and to others. In the first three verses, there is the commonality of anatomy – heads, side, feet. What do you see or feel?
For me, there is a sense of Jesus. Jesus dying on the cross, hanging his head, and being pierced in his side and through his feet. I see a total surrendering. Surrendering of physical body and spirit. Jesus takes his last breath, and in that, he is providing salvation to the world. Abba Father, Why have you forsaken me? Jesus surrendered as an invitation for us to surrender our wants, desires, and purpose to God.
The fourth and fifth verses are analogous to the wealthy man who must sell all of his possessions to “get eternal life.” In this case, the surrendering is his tangible assets. Jesus tells the man if he wants to be perfect, he would need to sell all of his possessions and give them to the poor. Scripture says, “he went away sad,” leading to believe he chose his possessions over entering the Kingdom of God.
How often do we feel so secure, confident, and powerful that we would not want to give that up? Some of us work hard in our careers wishing to get to the next leadership position, and we don’t. Promotions are sometimes given to those who don’t work as hard. Or those who have less tenure? Or, perhaps to the person with the right pedigree, not the one who actually has the skills and experience. Falling from a secure position requires trust. And faith. Often, we fail to see what is ahead of us, or at least we fail in trusting God to direct our lives. Speaking from experience, God wants the details, and God wants alone time with you. We need to place our lives, position, power, and children in God’s hands. Then, we can enter into eternal life. Essentially, we need to “die” to self and “live” to faith.
We can’t get up unless we have fallen. The last verse is speaking to all of us. We will all have hills and valleys in life. In other words, trials and tribulations are part of it. And to overcome these obstacles, we must fall into them, and through them, we can come out the other side as more robust and more faithful people.
In this Fall season of thanksgiving, I invite you to “fall.” “Fall” into your hills and valleys, and lying in the depths of the ravine, cry out to God. Give God your everything. Only then you will be able to stand tall, brush yourself off, and spread God’s love to others.
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