The Hands of Time

I like music because of the message that a song can bring in ways that talking simply cannot express. The song "Hands of Time" by Michel Legrand (Music) and Marilyn and Alan Bergman (Lyrics) is one of those songs. Not only does it have a beautiful melody it's message is something that we all ponder from "time to time".

The Hands of Time

If the hands of time were hands that I could hold,
I'd keep them warm and in my hands,
They'd not turn cold.

Hand in hand we'd choose the moments that should last,
The lovely moments that should have no future and no past!

The summer from the top of a swing.
The comfort and the sound of a lullaby.
The innocence of leaves in the spring.
But most of all the moment when love first touched me!

All the happy days would never learn to fly.
Until the hands of time would choose to wave good-bye!

Wouldn't it be nice if we could revisit those moments in life when we were the happiest... To know the love that once brought sparkles to our eyes! Or maybe the time we held our child for the first time. Summers running through the grass barefooted. The screams of joy as the bike was let loose and we rode it for the first time. The home runs. The touchdowns. The recitals. Sunday picnics at the lake. Homemade ice cream in the backyard. Christmas morning as a kid. Christmas morning as a parent! Our first car. Our first house. Going to grandma's house. The family vacation.

If you really stop and think about it life has so many more good times and memories than bad ones. Somewhere along the line a lot of us tend to lose the joy that can come from the world God has given us. We become a little too serious. We get angry easily. People get on our nerves. We have a tendency to focus on the negative of life instead of the good.

As Paul wrote in Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy... Joy! We tend to forget that one, but there it is right after love. Right there in Paul's list! As the hands of time pass we should continue to dwell on the joy of today and the smiles of yesterday. If our heart and thoughts are always focused in this way then those sad and gloomy days will break apart with the warmth of which the joys of life continue to remind us.

Here it is from a You Tube post (Also known as Brian's Song):



Photo at top of story courtesy of Shareware Connection free download.

The Peach Tree Incident

When I was in elementary school my mother planted a peach tree in the back yard. That was the time when during the summer months all the kids played outside in either your yard or some neighbor's yard. Ours was no different. It was a football field, baseball field and golf course.

There were clotheslines with Yellow Jacket nests in the ends of the poles. There was a swing set, part of which worked. We had a chain link fence with a gate to the alley and Honeysuckle vines growing the entire length of the fence and of course more Yellow Jacket nests mingled with a few honeybees.

One spring my mother decided to plant a peach tree in the backyard. Since the backyard is the domain of every young boy the tree was actually in the way of several athletic activities. It covered the end zone and made us move the baseball park to the other end of the yard.

One summer the tree looked much like the one in the picture above, well shaped with full leaves and blossoms starting to emerge. As you know summer is baseball season and with baseball season comes gloves, balls, bats and bases. The peach tree was third base.

Then that summer came the incident. I'm not sure what made it transpire but nevertheless it happened. My little brother, baseball bat in hand, proceeded to take the peach tree apart, limb by limb, top to bottom. By the time he was through one whole side of the tree was completely gone. It looked like a buzz saw had gotten hold of the north side of this little peach tree. About that time my mother exited to the back yard form the screen door. I'll leave the rest of this incident to your imagination.

Mother was crushed that this had happened. Her beautiful tree now looked rather lopsided to say the least. Somehow it made it through the summer, winter and then in the spring it began to bring on new life. The limbs on the victimized side began to sprout and before you knew it the tree looked as if it had never gone through any trial at all. In fact after my brother's carefully planned pruning job the tree came out better than before producing peaches that same summer.

Life is much like the peach tree. We can go on day to day with things looking and feeling just great. We grow and blossom and enjoy the world around us. Then one day something happens and it seems like the entire world comes crumbling down around us. We wonder "how can I go on after this?" We retreat to a shell or become angry at the world and wonder again "why me, Lord, why me?"

But God in the midst of our trials still says "I love you" and puts his arm around you and helps you make it through those tough times. It may take a while, but eventually you can overcome the devastation and once again grow back to being the person you were before, but this time better for having weathered tough times. Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 41:10, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." And Jesus told us in Mt. 28:20, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So next time you feel like someone has taken a baseball bat to your life and heart. Just remember that God is still there beside you nourishing you and encouraging you to not give up and reminding you that you'll bloom again.

North Platte Canteen

One of the beautiful stories that comes out of World War II is the story of the North Platte Canteen of North Platte Nebraska. One day in late 1941 the North Platte Bulletin received a letter from a 26 year old woman, Rae Wilson. She spoke of how the mothers of the boys in World War I set up canteens along the railways for the troops as they traveled across country. On December 22, 1941 the businessmen and civic leaders of North Platte, Nebraska met and said "why can't we do the same?" A committee was selected and on December 25, 1941 the North Platte Canteen was opened.

For the remainder of the war people from 125 communities in the North Platte area sacrificed their time and talents to provide snacks, magazines, small gifts and entertainment to the troops as they crossed the country by train on their way to camp or service. On some days as many as 5000-8000 soldiers were treated with love and hospitality at the North Platte Canteen.

Soldiers heard about the canteen through the grapevine and every train load looked forward to that stop. If there was no time to get off the train the townspeople would board the train and pass out the gifts. If it were a birthday the soldier would get a cake baked by one of the ladies. The people of North Platte and the surrounding area became mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to the soldiers on their way to war.

The people of North Platte met every train from December 25, 1941 through April of 1946 with cookies, coffee, snacks, magazines but most of all love. In those years they served more than 6 million soldiers. It was a whistle stop that every American soldier would never forget.

To truly care for someone means more that just saying thanks or using mere words to express our feelings. To truly care means to take action. The world is full of "gonna doers". It is full of people who have good intentions. But the true people who care are the ones who say "why can't I do that" and then go out and do it.

For more info on the North Platte Canteen check out the website:

http://npcanteen.net

Trouble in the Amen Corner

It was a stylish congregation; you could see they'd been around
And they had the biggest pipe organ of any church in town.
Now over in the amen-corner of that church sat Brother Eyer,
And he insisted every Sunday on singing in the choir.

His voice was cracked and broken, age had touched his vocal chords,
And nearly every Sunday he'd get behind and miss the words.
Well, the choir got so flustered the church was told in fine
That Brother Eyer must stop his singing or the choir was gonna resign.

So the pastor appointed a committee, I think it was three or four,
and they got in their big fine car and drove up to Eyer’s door.
They found the choir’s great trouble sitting there in an old arm-chair,
The summer’s golden sunbeams lay upon his snow-white hair.

Said York, “We’re here dear Brother, with the vestry’s approbation
to discuss a little matter that affects the congregation.
Now, it seems that your voice is interfering with the choir,
So, if you’ll just lay out, or...Are you listening, Brother Eyer..?”

The old man raised his head, a sign that he did hear;
and on his cheek the three men caught the glitter of a tear.
His feeble hands pushed back the locks as white as silky snow,
and he answered the committee in a voice both soft and low:

“I wonder if beyond the tide that’s breaking at my feet,
in that far-off heavenly temple where my Master and I shall meet:
Yes, I wonder if, when I try to sing the songs of God up higher
I wonder if they’ll kick me out of singing in Heaven’s choir?”

A silence filled the little room, the old man bowed his head;
The committee went on back to town, but Brother Eyer was dead.
The choir missed him for a while, but he was soon forgot.
A few church-goers watched the door, but the old man entered not.

Far away his voice is sweet, and he sings his heart’s desires
Where there are no church committees and no fashionable choirs.

by Archie Campbell

This is a poem that I remembered from long ago. It always reminds me of what was written in 1 Samuel 16:7 "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."


Just imagine what the world would look like if more people started looking at others through the eyes of God instead of through the eyes of their own bias! Unfortunately, we're quick to pass judgment based on what we think about things instead of what God thinks. Jesus taught us before we criticize others and the small issues they have to stop and look at the big issues that we have in our own lives (Matthew 7:1ff). Next time before you criticize someone, pause and think about yourself and how imperfect you may be in their eyes. Then as Jesus says, "you will see more clearly".

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