Because He Lives

“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” – John 14:19 (NIV)

What does it mean to you that because Jesus lives you also will live? What kind of freedom does that offer you? How do you live in that freedom?

I’ve heard the following story about Frank Luke Jr. and it is often called, “The Day the Lilies Bloomed”
Frank Luke Jr. was an American fighter pilot in World War I and is considered one of the heroes of the Great War. He was twenty when he joined the army air corps and was accepted into flight training. After his training he was commissioned and given a brief leave before going off to war.
While at home he was going to leave with some friends one afternoon when his mother, Tillie, stopped him and asked, “Frank, I was hoping you would plant some lily bulbs for me. Would you mind doing that before you left?”
Frank did as his mother asked, and then went off with his friends. A couple of days later he went to join the war in France.
Quickly Frank became one of the stars of American fighter pilots. Between September 12 and September 29 Frank was credited with shooting down 18 German balloons and planes.
Back home in Phoenix, on September 29, Tillie stepped outside to discover that the lilies Frank planted were in full bloom. Lilies typically bloom much earlier in the year so this was strange. They had been planted in the shape of a cross, like one of the side of a fighter plane. Frank loved airplanes and was a devout Catholic. When his mother saw this she was nervous that something was wrong.
Two months later word reached America that Frank had been shot down and killed. He died on September 29, 1918, at the age of twenty-one, the day the lilies bloomed.

It makes sense that Frank’s mother was nervous. The bonds of love often will let us know that something is wrong with our beloved, even if oceans and continents separate us. However, the symbolism cannot be ignored. The Easter lilies stood bloomed in the shape of a cross. Paul remembering the prophet Hosea once wrote, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” And we recall that Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live.” This Easter will be a day the lilies bloom. Go somewhere, anywhere and celebrate the victory of our Christ!

With hope and joy,
Garrett

Slowing Down

“And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”– Matthew 6:28-29 (NRSV)

What do you worry about? How has the kept you from noticing others things? What all do you think Jesus meant when he said, “Consider the lilies of the field?” Have you ever gone outside and considered a flower? What was it like?

When I was in my church’s youth group in high school, we use to go on an annual backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. One year my dad accompanied the group as an advisor. He was a good addition because he knows a lot about backpacking and staying safe in the wilderness.
All of us boys in the group always tried to make a competition out of the trip, trying to see who could get to the next campsite the fastest. While I was almost never the fasted, I tried to go as fast I could. My head would be down watching the trail in front of me. One foot plodding down in front of the other, step-by-step, huffing and puffing with the full weight of all the possessions I would require for a week bearing down upon me. It was work but by golly we got there quick, and we were always so proud of ourselves.
One day we got to the camp much quicker than my father who appeared a couple of hours after we arrived. Like any pride-filled boys we gave him all sorts of grief for taking so long. “Why were you so slow old man?” “What you can’t keep up with us athletic guys?” “If you took much more time we’d have to be getting ready to go again!”
My dad took it all with a smile and then replied, “I could have got here when you guys got here, but then I would not have seen the beautiful waterfalls, or the amazing fields of flowers, or have stopped to watch the water flow in that stream we passed, or took pictures of the tree line where it looks like God put his hand down and said, ‘Trees stop growing.’ I am sorry you guys missed all of that.”
Like I said, he knows a lot about backpacking, and I will never make the same mistake again.

A lot of times our priorities are all messed up. We are more concerned about keeping up with the Joneses, and what we are wearing, and getting to some place faster than everyone else so that we can be considered successful, all the while failing to consider the lilies of the field. Maybe we are stressed out these days because we believe we have so little time to notice how beautiful the world is. Let’s slow down and realize that life is a journey and not a destination. The journey is full of wonder, beauty, and joy we might miss if we keep looking at some destination we may never reach.

With hope and joy,
Garrett