Debbonnaire - Welcome to the chapel of my castle . . .

Chapel

You have found your way to the Chapel. Imagine yourself surrounded by stained glass, rich wood, soft carpets and tapestries, gentle music, and the scent of candles. There are no statues here. You have come to meet with the Creator, whose face may only be seen deep in the willing heart.

Bible Passage | Devotional | My Writing Mission

BIBLE PASSAGE

I Corinthians 3:10-23, New American Standard Bible, 1973 [I have taken the liberty of making the language inclusive.]

"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each one be careful how s/he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work which s/he has built upon it remains, s/he shall receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, s/he shall suffer loss; but s/he him/herself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him/her, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Let no one deceive him/herself. If anyone among you think that s/he is wise in this age, let him/her become foolish that s/he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, 'He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness' [Job 5:13] and again, 'The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are useless.' [Psalm 94:11]. So then let no one boast in humans. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God."

DEVOTIONAL

This Bible passage requires some deep thought. I am certain I do not yet understand all its ramifications. In the context of this new website which has been taking so much of my time and thought lately, I have been wondering, is it possible to build a foundation in anyone else's life?

Obviously, we can choose to lay foundations in our own lives. The problem is, we've been living X number of years, and there are foundations laid already, of which we are all too often abysmally ignorant. Do you truly know what the base values of your life are? What matters most to you? What would matter most to you if you knew you would die today? Is it the same value on which you spent the most time and interest this past week? If not, why not?

If thoughts like these bring us to uncomfortable realizations, it's even possible to rip out (usually with help, both human and divine) old foundations and lay new ones. But is it possible to lay foundations for another?

Who laid those deep ones our thinking and pondering has uncovered? Why did that particular value pop first into your head when you considered imminent mortality? What did your parents or teachers teach you, intentionally or unintentionally, that led you to the choices you've made, which have all worked together to make you the person you are?
My mother tells a story that happened before I was two years old, and of which I have no memory. I awoke screaming from a nightmare. She ran to my room, only to be confronted by the sight of me kneeling in my crib, back to the door, lisping tearfully, "The Lord was wif Joseph and he was not afraid. I not afraid, either." And before her amazed eyes, I lay back down and went to sleep, without the need for comfort from her.

My Bible lesson for church that week had apparently been about Joseph, facing terrifying circumstances far from his home and family, but learning that God had not turned His back on him. Who had taught me that Bible lesson? Who had begun laying a foundation that would stand me in good stead for a lifetime of frightening circumstances? Obviously, my mother. But much more importantly, who was working inside me to make choices that were already beginning a building of faith of my very own, even in my babyhood?
Which only leads to more questions:

Is it only children in whose lives we can help to lay foundations?

What kind of foundations did my words and actions build last week? This morning?

What foundations am I laying in the lives of my children or any other children whose lives I impact?

Am I also teaching them to make choices about what to build?

What am I building in my own life?

Most of all, what will I build today?

Master Builder and Architect, grant us wise eyes, tender hands, and gentle words this day. May we build up and never tear down. May we take responsibility for our own choices, and never try to force those of others, not even our children. And if anything needs ripped out and redone, grant us the grace and strength to cooperate with You in that work. Amen.

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FOUNDATIONS: MY WRITING MISSION

I must have been around 24 when I had what I've come to call the Castle Vision. I know because I'd had my first baby, and we had recently gone to a "family picnic" of all the families my midwives had served. There was a creek there, and that creek was in my mind this morning in my own quiet living room as I was meditating. When I pray, I try to really "see" Jesus there with me, listening to me, talking to me, loving me. Usually it just feels like "me imagining Jesus" even though of course I know He's there whether I "feel" Him or not. Then, every once in awhile, He makes His presence known in a dramatic way.

This particular day, in my mind, Jesus and I were together by a creek like the one at the farm. I was praying about my writing. I knew it was what He wanted me to do. It was certainly what I had always longed to do. I had already written reams for myself. But for public consumption? For others to - gulp - read? I knew I could never live up to my own expectations and hopes. Surely it was better not to try than to try and fail . . .

Unexpectedly, I found myself kneeling by the creekbank and beginning to build a sand castle. I have always loved castles, sand, stone, or any other variety. I especially admire those awesome, complicated ones that win sand castle contests - you know the ones I mean. But I can't build them. Sure enough, the one that formed under my inexpert hands looked more like an ungainly pile of mud. I looked sideways. Jesus was nearly through with a castle that would take your breath away. It had square towers, round towers, little turrets, crenellations, curtain walls, Gothic windows . . . Trimmed with jewels, it sparkled in the sunshine.

"If I could build a castle like that, I would!" I exclaimed enviously.

"I didn't ask you to build a castle like that," Jesus told me. "I only need you to build foundations for Me. I'll build the castles on them."

I was in my living room again, blinking. I don't mean I had a vision in the biblical sense of the word. I was never unconscious of my surroundings, or anything like that. But I knew it was real, just the same. My Lord had just spoken unmistakeably to me. And I knew exactly what He meant to say.

He didn't ask me to write earthshaking masterpieces. He asked me to study the Foundation (Himself) and lay the best ones, in words, that I could. Then He, working through His Holy Spirit, would create earthshaking masterpieces on them. Not necessarily for the world to see. Just in the hearts of readers who read, not to listen to me, but to listen to Him.

Not long after that, I found a poster of a castle much like the one Jesus had built that day. It said, "Fashion a dream, and make it come true." I stared at it openmouthed. Then I bought it and hung it over my typewriter.

Over the years, I've started to collect other castles, too. I have ones of sand, of pewter, of resin. I have a couple that are fountains. I love them all. But I love my poster best. It's been there from the beginning. Like me, it's pretty shabby and tattered by now. It's hung in quite a few different "office" spaces. Today it hangs over a computer in a real office with walls framed in bulletin boards and white boards. There's no name, no credit, anywhere on the poster. I don't know who built the masterpiece of a sand castle, who took the picture, who got the idea to make a poster, who wrote the caption, or who printed it. But I know what it means. It is my mission statement.

Whoever you are who made this thing of beauty, I thank you one and all. And I thank the One who gave your work to me. He knows your names.

And now you know . . .why on earth a castle theme?