Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 152

Where are the dead?

 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
 Luke 24:1-5New International Version
When my husband and I were on vacation earlier this month, I made him stop at every old cemetery we passed. And we passed a lot of them. I wish I could admit that I don’t know why I find old cemeteries so fascinating, but I do know why I can’t pass up a single one. The old headstones are beautiful, and the really old ones which are broken or crumbling break my heart. Even more heart breaking are the stories each grave holds.


 These are just a few.
And as I read each headstone and imagine the life that led to this burial place, I hope and pray that buried there is only the person’s earthly body. My wish is that every one of them has been saved and now rests in the eternal arms of their Savior. I pray that within all of these cemeteries I visit that there are no dead. That they are alive in heaven.  

Lord Jesus, thank You for the sacrifice You made on Good Friday. Thank You for Your resurrection. Without it, we could only fear death; now we can know the joy of eternal life. Amen.

Saturday Vigil

 A man named Joseph was there from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a good man, who lived the way God wanted. He was waiting for God’s kingdom to come. Joseph was a member of the Jewish council. But he did not agree when the other Jewish leaders decided to kill Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that was dug in a wall of rock. This tomb had never been used before. It was late on Preparation day. When the sun went down, the Sabbath day would begin.
 The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed Joseph. They saw the tomb. Inside they saw where he put Jesus’ body.  Then they left to prepare some sweet-smelling spices to put on the body.
On the Sabbath day they rested, as commanded in the Law of Moses.
Luke 23:50-56
Easy to Read Version
What will these women find come Sunday morning? 

Good Friday

It was about noon, but it turned dark throughout the land until three o’clock in the afternoon, because the sun stopped shining. The curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. Jesus shouted, “Father, I put my life in your hands!” After Jesus said this, he died.
 The army officer there saw what happened. He praised God, saying, “I know this man was a good man!”
 Many people had come out of the city to see all this. When they saw it, they felt very sorry and left.  The people who were close friends of Jesus were there. Also, there were some women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They all stood far away from the cross and watched these things.
Luke 23:44-49
Easy to Read Version

Maundy Thursday

15 Jesus said to them, “I wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you before I die. 16 I will never eat another Passover meal until it is given its full meaning in God’s kingdom.”
17 Then Jesus took a cup of wine. He gave thanks to God for it and said, “Take this cup and give it to everyone here. 18 I will never drink wine again until God’s kingdom comes.”
19 Then he took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke off some pieces, gave them to the apostles and said, “This bread is my body that I am giving for you. Eat this to remember me.” 20 In the same way, after supper, Jesus took the cup of wine and said, “This wine represents the new agreement from God to his people. It will begin when my blood is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:15-20Easy-to-Read Version 

Palm Sunday

“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19:30-38
New International Version 
(Today's pictures from the St Louis Zoo.Sorry that I don't have more to say this post, but I am still behind from our vacation all week in Missouri.)

Get Up Close - a photo challenge

This month's photo challenge was to get close up to our subject. For the first time ever I actually took all new pictures for this challenge. Good thing I took them when I did because - praise God - our snow is finally melting.
I took all of these pictures in my backyard the end of March using my Nikon Coolpix. Some of the pictures were taken with the close-up setting on and some were not. I have played with this setting before and have yet to see much of a difference. 


Isn't it amazing how simple snow - something we see from a distance as white and two-dimensional - takes on a life of its own up close.

The Sacred Heart, part 2

In 1988, after my first husband drove his pickup into a tree and finally realized that his life was out of control, we went for counseling. The counselor, a wise sage of a woman, convinced him that he had a drug problem and he needed inpatient treatment. At that time, insurance companies actually paid for inpatient AODA treatment because they knew that outpatient counseling for addiction really doesn’t work so well. That is no longer how insurance companies view this illness, but I won’t go there.
Part of his 30 day treatment was a three day family program. Which meant that I was inpatient during that time.
For anyone familiar with the old hospital in my hometown, there was a pretty decent treatment center on the second floor in the newer part of the building. The old, old part of the hospital, built in 1914, was where the family program was held. The room where I slept was simple but adequate, two twin beds, a sink, a separate bathroom, tile floors. And in the corner, just on the left side of the window, there was a solid door. This was an outside wall, we were on the third floor and I knew that there was no balcony out there. It was level with the windows and I had to reach over my head to touch the door knob. With trepidation, I tried the knob. It turned. I pulled it open.

In a niche in the wall was a statue of the Virgin Mary. She looked out over the street below and towards the Catholic Church across the street. From my angle, all I saw was her back. I thought it was so cool – not her back, but that I could reach out and touch her. But out of reverence I did not, even though I am not Catholic and she was just a statue anyway.   There's nothing in that alcove any longer. It's just an empty space.
 It is a shame that they don't build buildings like this anymore. And even more of a shame that they are so willing to tear them down. I understand that it would be too expensive to remodel it and bring it up to code before it could be used again. But you can't build these kind of memories any more.
 Some even say that it is haunted.  Oops, I guess that was just me and my reflection in the window.

The Sacred Heart, part 1

In the summer of 2003, the doors opened to the new combined hospital / clinic in my hometown. The new building is adequate, even state-of-the-art, as much as that is possible in our small community. But the new hospital has none of the character of the grand old building it replaced.
A few weeks ago, it was announced that they would be razing the old hospital which has sat empty for the past ten years. They are going to build an assisted living facility on the lot, which is a very good use of the space. But will that new building have any of the charm of the old Sacred Heart Hospital?
I took this picture in early March of 2008. The building hadn't deteriorated too much yet.   The rest of my pictures were taken the other day. Here is the whole front side of the hospital.
 The main entrance was on the second floor, which meant visitors had to climb a set of stairs to visit anyone. Oh, there was an elevator if you went in the side door, but as a kid there was something so cool about climbing the stairs just beyond this door. I can still remember how it smelled inside.
 Behind these windows was a beautiful two-story chapel. I don't think that I mentioned that the hospital was run by a group of nuns, the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother. You did not mess with the nuns. Anyway, when the hospital was still in operation, there were beautiful stained glass windows in the chapel. When the building was shut down they took out the stained glass and put it in a hospital about 95 miles to the south west of here. I don't know why the glass couldn't have stayed in our community.
 The backside of the building.
 My mom, my daughter and I were all wheeled through these doors with broken bones over the years.
 So sad to see the building in such a sorry state. The memories that sprouted here. The stories these walls could tell.
I have one story to share myself, but that will have to wait until Thursday. I have enough pictures here already.

Time to Start Running Again

You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one runner gets the prize. So run like that. Run to win! All who compete in the games use strict training. They do this so that they can win a prize—one that doesn’t last. But our prize is one that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25,Easy-to-Read Version
Even though my backyard still looks like this:
 And my driveway is covered in ice and four inches of snow, with one small patch of bare ground which is currently frozen mud, our road is finally free of the remnants of winter. There is actually dry blacktop out there past the frozen tundra that is my yard.
Yesterday the temperature was in the forties, so I tentatively picked my way to the end of my driveway and took my first run/walk, which was mostly walk and consisted of one mile. Over the long brutal winter months, I made an attempt to run on the treadmill at least a couple of times a week. Because running on the treadmill feels like Chinese water torture to me, I sprinkled in some aerobics and simply running the small circle that is my basement.
That did not do the trick. This morning, I feel as out of shape as ever. My legs are killing me and even my back and arms ache. I obviously did not follow any sort of strict training over the winter. I wonder if I will possibly be ready to meet my goal - run in a 5Kon June 14.
I run to get in shape, to get out of the house, because it feels good (once I get past the pain), and to see if I can run this year’s races faster than last year’s. For me that is winning. For me the prize is to accomplish my goals and not to beat out everyone else. I know that I will never be the best compared to the completion.
As a Christian, I know I will never win either, not on my own anyway. I try to be good, but I will never be good enough. I will never beat out the sins that cover my life. That is why Jesus died on the cross and rose again. He won the race for us.  

To my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thank You for giving me legs that I can run on, a beautiful road to enjoy while I run and mostly thank You for giving me eternal life. Amen 

Randomness

I went to the document where I keep everything I've written in my blogs, and at the top of it, I had these quotations that I was saving to write separate blogs about. I thought I would lump them all into one blog post and see what you think. What do they all have in common?
“. . . in the valley of the blind, it’s the one-eyed man who is king.”
“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” JFK
“I am not offended” by Joyce Meyer
“If you are too open-minded, it will all just fall out.”
“Even if you are the right track, you’ll just get run over if you sit there.” Will Rogers
I don't know. Are they just random thoughts?  Random flowers at the Home Depot two years ago. Does any brave place have their flowers out yet?? Coz it is snowing here right now.