I came across a tortured, twisted pine tree some years ago, high on a ridge—an ugly, misshapen thing at first glance. But I looked again and saw something deeper and better and thought of those whose deformities are overwhelmed by rare beauty.

Appearance is overrated, a mere sensation in the eyes (or brain) produced by shape, color and motion and conditioned a good deal by society and association. (In some cultures, foot-long ear lobes and distended lips are thought to be the essence of loveliness.)

A philosopher–friend of mine once pointed out to me that objects cannot be beautiful in themselves for they’re only arrangements of colorless, shapeless, invisible atoms. We can’t see them, but if we could, they would bring us no delight or satisfaction.  Continue reading →

Encore

Morning has broken, like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for the springing fresh from the word

—Eleanor Farjean

Ever since I first read G. K. Chesterton’s work, Orthodoxy, I have been intrigued by the notion that God is still creating the world and everything in it. Chesterton proposed that just as a child delights in seeing a thing done again and again, so God delights in the “monotony” and repetition of creation every day. “It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them…The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE!”  Continue reading →

First, I want to thank everyone for their prayers for John’s recovery. Not only does God always hear our every prayer, John heard your prayers for him. Please check out John’s Facebook page dating from March 23rd to last night, where you can ride the roller coaster with us and maybe even recognize how Lord’s power has moved throughout this past week in the most unexpected ways and within the strangest places.

Please welcome our very beloved friend, Dave Roper, who is filling in for John until John returns to his writing, which will probably be next Monday. Dave is a believer in the real and active Headship and Lordship of Christ over His people (in reality, not just as a doctrine); the ministry of all God’s people (not just pastors); making disciples; the thorough exposition of the Scriptures; and operation under the New Covenant (of Christ’s adequacy for every situation). He is a most gracious man who with great humidity would say his life can be attributed only to the faithful leading of our Lord. “The mistakes,” I can imagine him saying, “are all mine; the victories all His.” Check out Carolyn, his wife (and the real brains of the family – Shhh – don’t tell him I said that) and his E-Musings’ website at http://davidroper.blogspot.com

In John’s absence, we remain open for business. While for some of you the Catch is an email; for some of you it is more, an online community with virtual (but real) relationships.

Yet while John is not present in the mornings through his Catch writing, the Catch Ministry continues — with or without him, which is the desire of the Lord. The Catch doors email open and operating for many people who see the Catch as a beacon of hope, the only one they can see in their sometimes dire struggle to live out their convictions and their relationships with Christ. Many other Catch citizens respond in very personal ways to the hope of a gospel of welcome.

I say all of this because most of the hours of ministry do not go into the website. We want you to be aware of this, and to uphold the many Catch workers and volunteers all the more as they seek to serve you through the Prayer Ministry and one-on-one counseling through the prayer requests found on the website and the,“boots on the ground: discipleship program. All programs operate 24/7 and, as I mentioned, whether John is up and about or recuperating from surgery at the Mission Hospital in Mission Veijo, California.

Marti

by David Roper, Guest to the Catch

“I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment…” (Philippians 1:9).

I have a good friend that I fish with now and then. He’s a very thoughtful man.

After climbing into his waders and boots and gathering his gear around him, he sits on the tailgate of his truck and scans the river for fifteen minutes or more, looking for rising fish. “No use fishing where they ain’t,” he says.  Continue reading →

by David Roper, Guest to the Catch

I came across a tortured, twisted pine tree some years ago, high on a ridge—an ugly, misshapen thing at first glance. But I looked again and saw something deeper and better and thought of those whose deformities are overwhelmed by rare beauty.

Appearance is overrated, a mere sensation in the eyes (or brain) produced by shape, color and motion and conditioned a good deal by society and association. (In some cultures, foot-long ear lobes and distended lips are thought to be the essence of loveliness.)

A philosopher–friend of mine once pointed out to me that objects cannot be beautiful in themselves for they’re only arrangements of colorless, shapeless, invisible atoms. We can’t see them, but if we could, they would bring us no delight or satisfaction.

There is a spiritual beauty, however, that is much deeper and more enduring than anything we can see with our natural eyes. It is the symmetry and splendor that God brings to his children, what scripture calls “the beauty of holiness.”

Our present culture turns the phrase upside down, worshiping outward appearance and the holiness of beauty. But that’s a terrible mistake, for it leads us to vanity—the desire to exceed the limits God has appointed for us—and is the means by which pride and self–preoccupation enter in and we miss the highest good. Preoccupation with our bodies unavoidably leads to the diminishing of our souls. Plato in his dialogue, Phaedro, argues that we can love wisdom, or we can love our bodies, but we cannot, at the same time, love both. In fact, he concludes, “Beauty is rarely wise.”

We must be satisfied, then, with the way God has formed us. Our disabilities and deformities are not a mistake, but part of God’s eternal plan. His way of dealing with them is not to remove them, but to endow them with godlike strength, dignity and beauty and put them to his intended use—as they are.

McGuffey had it exactly right…

Beautiful faces are they that wear,
The light of a pleasant spirit there;
Beautiful hands are they that do,
Deeds that are noble, good and true;
Beautiful feet are they that go,
Swiftly to lighten another’s woe.

—McGuffey’s Second Reader

Has aging or accident brought humiliating disfigurement? Do you consider yourself an eyesore, too ugly to be of use?

No, you are “(God’s) workmanship” his special creation, designed from birth to manifest God’s loveliness in a unique way. The Craftsman’s plan surpasses the material.

Your countenance, though wrinkled and blemished, can be adorned with the joy of the Lord and made lovely with his kindness and compassion. Your body, be it ever so humble, can be graceful in unselfish service and love. This is “grace beyond reach of art,” human ugliness hidden in divine loveliness, beauty at its very best.

David Roper