Virgin Snow

Week Ninety-Nine: Goodbye JoePA
Posted by Becky on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 5:25pm

Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches….” In the months since the Penn State scandal broke, my estimation of Joe Paterno has changed. It’s gone from “admirable” to “heroic.” To me, the combination of an over-reaching press and political correctness gone amuck thrust him into a place he didn’t deserve to be. The way he was treated burdened me so deeply that I sent the Paternos a note along with a copy of my book, Virgin Snow. I was prompted by the fact that I had actually included a quote from Joe in my chapter, “The Mark of Hope.” In that chapter, I relayed the story of former Penn State player Adam Taliaferro, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury during a game. His story had inspired me to persevere through hardship—and that’s the message I wanted to now communicate to Joe and Sue. Imagine my surprise when a week later I received a hand-written note from the Paternos. They expressed gratitude for the book and my comments, and said it was their strong family, friends and deep faith that was propping them up. There was not one hint of bitterness, just a quiet confidence that the truth would come out in the end. Ensuing days continued to reveal Joe’s gracious spirit. Even when his nomination for the Presidential Medal of Honor was rescinded. Even when his name was removed from the Big Ten championship trophy. Clearly, when he and Sue recently contributed $100,000 back to the university that had spurned them. Through all of this, Joe and Sue remained steadfast. When he finally told his side of the story he neither complained of how he had been treated nor blamed others. Joe came from a generation that wasn’t comfortable talking about graphic sexual perversions. When told of Jerry Sandusky’s actions and Joe reported it to university authorities because he said he didn’t know what else to do, I believe him. It fits with his lifetime track record of integrity. Joe didn’t live to see his name vindicated, but he has left a legacy that far surpasses trophies and plaques. He played this last game of his life with honor, dignity and ultimate “success” before the only Judge that matters. The words I recorded of Joe’s description of Adam Taliaferro echo in my mind today: “…he has had an impact on everyone associated with the game, an impact that transcends any accomplishments he might have achieved…every time we hear of him we will contemplate the power…of a positive approach to adversity, of dogged determination, and of unconditional love.” Back at ya’ Coach…
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Week Ninety-Eight: The Expectation Society
Posted by Becky on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 1:15pm

Psalm 42:5 “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Our lives are packed with expectations. Daniel Boorstin’s book, The Image, describes it well: “We expect anything and everything. We expect the contradictory and impossible. We expect compact cars which are spacious; luxury cars which are economical. We expect to be rich and charitable, powerful and merciful, active and reflective, kind and competitive….We expect to eat and stay thin, to be constantly on the move and ever more neighborly, to go to the ‘church of our choice’ and yet feel its guiding power over us, to revere God and to be God.” Perhaps this is one of the results of living in a consumer society. We run on the premise of obtaining something in the future that will make us look better, feel better, be better. Even in an economy with unprecedented debt levels and relentless unemployment, I saw that over 60% of US citizens expect things in our country to get better this year! All too often I find expectations getting me into trouble. I wouldn’t have done it like that! I would never treat someone that way! I scrutinize others from my viewpoint, often from my “love language,” and end up not only experiencing disappointment but harboring unfair criticism. The other alternative is to let go of all expectations and become a skeptic. But in giving up all expectations, we also relinquish hope. The biblical perspective of dealing with expectations points us to the heart of the issue: where we base our expectations. In Matthew 20, Jesus relates the parable of the workers. Those who worked longer in the vineyard expected to be paid more than those who had worked fewer hours even though they were given exactly what they had agreed to. Further in the chapter, the mother of James and John approaches Jesus. She, too, is expecting more— she asks that her sons be elevated above the other disciples. Both situations bring mild rebuke from Jesus. But there is a third story in the chapter that goes beyond expectation. Two blind men cry out to Jesus. They ask for mercy to receive their sight. Mercy means “undeserved.” These men knew they had no right to expect anything. Unlike the previous situations, any expectation they had was based not on their “merit,” but solely on the compassion of the “Lord, Son of David.” And they received…. So as I rethink expectations, I want to remember that I deserve nothing. From God or from man. But rather than discarding them altogether, when unmet expectations causes my soul to be “downcast,” I will listen to the psalmist: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him….”
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Week Ninety-Seven: Tangible Compassion
Posted by Becky on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 12:47am

Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Rod Maynard attended the church my grandpa pastored for as long as I can remember. Although he rarely missed a meeting, he had never confessed Christ as his Savior. It wasn’t that he didn’t know his condition; he was fully aware there was something he refused to release. Years before, his youngest son had been killed in a street fight. Rod could not let go of the revenge he harbored for his son’s assailant. But he continued to be a regular at Rehoboth Mission. As Grandpa and Grandma aged, they began to have trouble getting around. Rod and his wife, Bert, loved my grandparents. They started picking them up for every church service. They took them to the grocery store and out to dinner. There was nothing Grandpa and Grandma had need of that Rod wasn’t there to meet. Rod embodied the passage in Matthew that describes the person who “gives a cup of cold water to one of Christ’s disciples.” And at long last, Rod received his reward. I remember it, because it’s noted in the margin of my Bible next to Matthew 10:42…Rod Maynard, winter ’88. That’s when Rod at long last accepted Christ as Savior. Although this passage may well be referring to rewards in heaven, I believe the Lord also enjoys granting earthly blessings to those who give to his children. Remember the Shunammite woman who prepared the room for Elijah; her barrenness was replaced with a son…due to her kindness (2 Kings 4:7-18). Cornelius’ gifts to the poor had “come up as a memorial offering before God” and as a result he became the first Gentile to hear the good news (Acts 10:4). There are many people over the years who have given me “cups of cold water.” Small acts of kindness, especially in hard times, have quenched my soul’s thirst for concrete evidence of God’s love. I pray for their reward. I pray, too, that the Spirit would give me opportunities to refresh other parched and weary pilgrims. How about you? May you and I be vessels of tangible compassion in this very needy world….
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Week Ninety-Six: The Textures of Life 2012
Posted by Becky on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 12:42am

Matthew 22:40 “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Maybe you’re a bit like I am. The dawning of a new year inevitably brings reflection on the one being put to rest. I think about the experiences that shaped the past year, and consequently shaped me. The textures of our lives include those wondrously fitted-together moments—like the answer to a long-awaited (maybe very long-awaited) prayer, a job for a newly-graduated son, and the sweet satisfaction that comes from accomplishment. The hard blows—like the death of a loved one, the prayers in need of yet more perseverance, and the instances of rejection and failure make up the rough textures that threaten to unravel the fabric. These textures reflect either compliance or resistance (by someone) to the words Jesus spoke when asked, essentially, what was most important in life (Matthew 22:36-39). The commands to love God with all our “heart” “soul” and “mind” and to love others as ourselves are of such significance that Jesus says every law that was ever given and every prophetic word ever spoken “hang on these two commandments.” This means that all of life derives its meaning and direction from these simple mandates. It reminds me of when I’m instructing students on writing paragraphs. I can’t stress enough the importance of constructing a topic sentence which supports all the other sentences in the paragraph. Likewise with the thesis for an essay. I tell them that every sentence in the essay hangs on the thesis. If it can’t be connected to the thesis, then it doesn’t belong. You and I are writing a story with our lives. We have a thesis based on this passage from Matthew 22. Adherence to the structure of love God has given results in a rich, coherent text-ure. Rejection of it causes disjointed, jagged text-ures that can only be woven into the fabric by the cords of redemption. And because “no one living is righteous” (Psalm 143:2) most of us are in dire need of some redemptive re-writing. So as you enter 2012, let me encourage you to stay connected to the thesis. Strive to let everything you do reflect your wholehearted love for God and his people. Let him weave all the textures you encounter to produce the masterpiece he wants to fashion in and through you.
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Week Ninety-Five: God With Us
Posted by Becky on Sunday, December 25, 2011 at 4:23pm

Luke 7:16 “…God visited his people.” (ESV) A number of years ago we received a calendar from some missionary friends living in France. The December scripture was taken from this passage in Luke 7: “Dieu a visite son peuple.” I remember thinking how much that verse captured the essence of Christmas (I kept repeating it in faulty French!). God came to visit his people…. And he never left. The gospel of Matthew begins with a declaration that he is here: “…they will call his name Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us’” (1:23). Then ends with the same assurance: “… surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (28:20). This profound assertion meets one of man’s most basic needs—knowing we’re not alone in the universe. Christmas, then is a season of hope, hope that Someone is here. The incarnation lets us see that in the midst of a world increasingly characterized by broken relationships and isolation, there remains a God who is both sovereign and near. But the message of Christmas goes further….heralding the tidings that incalculable good can emerge from the most unlikely of circumstances. Who would have thought that the Creator of the universe would have come to earth as a baby? Not only a baby, but a poor baby? Brennan Manning notes that Christmas is “a promise that in the end everything will be all right.” I like that. I like knowing that nothing—nothing—can harm us permanently. Neither losses nor defeats last indefinitely. Jesus is born as the Redeemer who buys the wreckage of our lives and puts us back together. One of my favorite Christmas carols… Come Thou long-expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. God has come through Jesus and remains through the Holy Spirit. The most unimaginable has become a tangible reality. It’s cause for celebration…. Happy Birthday Jesus!
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