Heather Holleman's Blog, page 142

My Best Thought

At the time of this writing, I’ve written over 3,500 blog posts, numerous articles, eight books, and countless academic essays including a thesis and dissertation. And I’ve spoken over 100 times to various audiences in various contexts. And I’ve read more books than I can mention.

That’s a lot of words. Probably too many. I think about all these words this morning as worshippers begin to sing one of my favorite hymns. In Be Thou My Vision, based on the Irish Christian poem by Dallan Forgaille and then translated by Eleanor Hull, we hear this beautiful line about God:

. . . Thou my best Thought by day or by night. . .

The best thought! I’m frozen in place by the phrase.

I think about everything I could ever possibly think or know or speak or write. I think of the highest and best of any possible knowledge I might hear. And I conclude this:

My best thought is Jesus.

I think of the excellency and supremacy of Christ written about in the book of Colossians (1:15-20). Paul writes this about Jesus:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

We know that Jesus is the One the whole world will one day acknowledge. He is the One! I affirm the truth of Philippians 2 about Jesus:

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

I think about how Paul had no greater thought and no greater message. In fact, he said that he would venture to speak of nothing else except what Christ had accomplished in him (Romans 15:18). As I grow closer to God, I can think of no better thought but Jesus.

When in Central Pennsylvania

If you live in Central Pennsylvania, you’re going to meet hunters. You’re going to become friends with hunters. You’re going to find they deliver you gifts of spicy venison sausage which you have no idea how to handle. And even though you mostly don’t each much meat, you’ll try a slice of it or fry it as they suggest, and then you realize you love it. You secretly wish for more.

Then you find out that your hunter friends have 60 or 70 more rolls of venison sausage stored up for the year. Then you realize that if anything ever happened to you, your home, or your food source, they would save you with their stores of meat. They also have all the vegetables you’d ever need–either canned or pickled or frozen.

I talk to my students about the venison sausage, and those from around these parts know that of course you survive off the land and the animals. Of course you eat rabbit, squirrel, bear, and deer. Don’t forget birds and fish. And everyone has a backyard smoker. It’s how they grew up and it’s what they know. So to inhabit the world of it, you at least try some venison sausage.

Welcome to my world.

Valentine Nostalgia

Happy Valentine’s Day! On Valentine’s Day in our house, we always celebrate with little bags of chocolate and a small gift, and we traditionally eat lasagna for dinner with cannolis for dessert. Even though my girls are older and we no longer choose Valentines to fill out for their classmates or decorate the shoebox into a Valentine’s box, I still try to make the day special.

This morning, I woke up thinking about how much I enjoyed Valentine’s Day at school in the 1980’s. What a lovely day! I loved Garfield, so I’m almost certain my Valentines looked like this:

I loved reading all the Valentines from my classmates and enjoying all the candy in my Valentine’s box (although it might have been just a big envelope taped to my desk). I would wear red or pink on this day like everyone else.

During the 80’s, I’m sure my Valentine cards reflected the cartoons of the time: The Smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake, The Care Bears, Jem and the Holograms, the Jetsons, or He-Man and She-ra. Right now, I’m not sure what children watch on TV. I’m out of touch. I think I’ll come back around to this kind of knowledge with grandchildren, but for now, I’ll rest in this 80’s nostalgia.

Anticipating God’s Work

This morning I hear from a wise older woman, Ceil, who has learned how to trust God through difficult circumstances. After many years of walking with Jesus, she writes this:

“I find that now I feel less of a need to try to control circumstances, and I have more of a sense of anticipation to trust God and wait to see what He will do. This is a very freeing way to live!”

I try to picture myself as the kind of woman who doesn’t need to control everything and who doesn’t collapse under the weight of a hard situation. Instead, I want to cultivate a life that anticipates, that trusts, and that knows God will work. Then, I’m just waiting and watching with joy to see how it will all turn out under God’s loving care.

When You Begin to Feel Old and Irrelevant

Every so often, the strange thought overcomes me that I’m too old and irrelevant to work with college students. This semester, I know I’m not imagining things. I grow older; they seem younger. I’ve already heard a few “OK, Boomer” comments (and I patiently remind them I’m actually Generation X, but that’s beside the point). I also sense a distrust and a cynicism I’ve never before experienced with younger students until this semester. I understand. I’ve heard comments that younger students blame the older generation for everything from climate change to institutional racism. With every problem they experience, they blame their elders. Perhaps they blame me. And I do understand this. So I feel this weight when I enter a college classroom.

But a few things held me tight this morning as I prayed about it. If I’m still here–and if you’re still here (in your 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and beyond)–it’s because there’s still fruit to bear. God still has good works prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). So press on! Press on to love others and pass on what you know. Press on to advance mercy and blessing in every community in which you find yourself. Stand firm and endure the anger and cynicism. I picture myself pressing forward with a patient, listening heart. I press on.

And remember Psalm 92:12-13 and this beautiful promise:

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.

In our “older age” we proclaim about the Lord. Consider the cry of the psalmist in Psalm 71: “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” In fact, if you read about aging in the Psalms, you’ll learn the primary role of elders: to tell the next generation about the Lord.

So if you’re reading this and you have begun to feel old and irrelevant, remember the truth: you’re here because God still has plans for you to love and bless others and to complete the good works He’s designed for you to do.

A New Word: Gimcrack

Last night I learn a new word: gimcrack.

Gimcrack! It’s fun to say. It means “flimsy or poorly made but deceptively attractive” as in the gimcrack prom dress sparkled fake diamonds while the hemline fell. You can call a beautiful meal without a pleasant taste a gimcrack dinner. You can talk about your gimcrack room that’s perhaps falling apart underneath the pretty wallpaper.

You can point to something in a store that’s wildly overpriced for the quality as being just gimcrack. It’s both an adjective and a noun. So you might collectively call the pile of glitzy objects in the corner your pile of gimcrack.

I’ve never in my life used or heard the word. But it’s a useful one, especially when you think of gimcrack arguments or ideas. To know that we live in a world surrounded by deceptively attractive things that, when tested by scripture, don’t hold up, matters. And there’s a word for that problem.

It’s gimcrack.

(And I just found a 17th century usage of “gimcrackery” for a foolish idea. I can imagine people shouting, “That’s just gimcrackery.” Furthermore, I understand gimcrack as a word is not completely out of use. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that you might hear the word gimcrack 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in typical modern English usage. While not often heard, I’m told the word is also not completely obsolete. There’s hope for gimcrack!)

Another Good Question to Ask

In one of our online class discussions, I ask students the same question Mary Pipher poses in her chapter “What You Alone Can Say” from her book Writing to Change the World. She asks, “What do you most respect in others?”

The answers surprised me in many ways. I suppose I thought I’d only read about honesty or keeping your word or even punctuality. Maybe I wasn’t sure what I would read.

But I discovered this: What students overall respect most in others include discipline and listening skills. These answers made me think about a cultural moment in which living a disciplined life–and all that entails– might seem harder and harder with the temptation to binge watch shows or spend all day on social media. Perhaps the disciplined life now shines through. I also realized how rare it is to find a truly good listener. We experience so much spouting of opinions on social media but not so much genuine listening. I think these students experience this more and more.

I respect most in others humility and curiosity. I love being with people who know they don’t know everything (and that they aren’t God). I love being with people who have a truly curious heart and ask questions about the people and world around them.

The Day of Small Things

This morning I read in Zechariah 4:10 the question, “Who dares despise the day of small things?” It serves as a warning and admonition to not despise or even worry about what seem like small things. I always smile because I know the Savior born as tiny baby seemed like small thing. God was helping the exiles who had returned from captivity understand that He was doing great things, but they often started–or appeared as–small things.

I don’t want to dare despise the small things God is doing. There’s always a big picture that I cannot yet see. And I think of the small things of a small day in a small town: the going to church, the serving of lunch, the praying and the singing. I don’t despise the day of small things.

As Charles Spurgeon said, “It is usually the way of the Lord to begin His great works with small things.”

He writes, “We see it every day, for the first dawn of light is but feeble, and yet by and by, it grows into the full noontide heat and glory. We know how the early spring comes with its buds of promise, but it takes some time before we get to the beauties of summer or the wealth of autumn. How tiny is the seed that is sown in the garden, yet out of it there comes the lovely flower! How small is the acorn, but how great is the oak that grows up from it! The stream commences with but a gentle rivulet, but it flows on till it becomes a brook, and soon a river—perhaps a mighty Amazon, before its course is run. God begins with men in ‘the day of small things;’ He began so with us.”

Let’s Go Find Something New Together.

In one of the assignments for our storytelling unit, students compose an I am From poem based loosely on George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From”. We includes a fun line that I cannot wait to read. You record the phrases you heard most as a child in your home. I love reading these. I laugh out loud. I glean so much wisdom. I think about these lines as I fall asleep.

I read these lines from one class:

You don’t want to grow up too fast. Treat others how you want to be treated. Mind your own business. I love you. Do what needs to be done. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. School comes first. Listen to your mother. It is what it is. Clip your toenails. Try your best. Always do what you love. The world is your oyster. You’re smarter than you think. Make good choices. I’ll tell you when you’re older. Don’t tear people down to bring yourself up. Don’t forget your roots. Enjoy the shade. Do good things.

But my favorite came from this one poem from a student with a rich Italian heritage. A mother said this: Tutto Amore, let’s go find something new together. She took the child by the hand to go find the new thing. I imagine this staved off boredom or hunger while waiting for the great Italian feast in the kitchen. I imagine the joy of turning to simply go find something new together. Would they hunt for something in nature? Would they pick out a book? I think of what it means to take someone by the hand to find something new together.

We record the words that surrounded our childhoods and talk about how we carry them into adulthood.

“Snowflakes the Size of Hamsters”

This morning, the fluffiest snowflakes fell in Central Pennsylvania. My husband said, “We have snowflakes the size of hamsters.”

I smiled about that all morning. I felt delighted by the image and the joy of novel comparisons. And I shall forever see fluffy, fat hamsters falling from the winter sky!