Happy Anniversary...

...To me! I "celebrated" my third-year work anniversary today. Wow.

Love and Centrum Silver

A fond pastime of mine is watching old people--particularly old married couples. Some I see are unmistakably senile, some are quirky...like the couple that wears the matching golf caps or the brilliantly white tennis shoes (how do they keep them so white in slushy winter weather?!). Some seem nearly oblivious to the presence of the other, while others are still so evidently in love with each other.

While watching them, I often wonder, How long have they been married? what have they gone through together in the course of their marriage? what are the dynamics in their relationship? do they love Jesus? It leads me to wonder what I will be like as a little old, white-haired ancient along with my old, wrinkly husband.

Today at lunch (Perkins - the perfect old-people-watching place), one couple sparked my interest and attention...maybe it was because I was already thinking about that stalwart, sacrificial love needed to sustain a marriage.

I was "introduced" to the wife first. She walked in slowly due to twisted legs and bad feet. She lowered herself into the chair next to the window as she informed the host that she would soon be joined by a tall man...Bob was his name. She didn't have to wait long. Soon thereafter, Bob walked in and nearly immediately had a scowl on his face.

"Let's get a booth; I wanted to sit in a booth," he growled.
"Oh, I so wanted to sit by the window," she said as she looked out at the falling snow.

As I watched the display, all I could think was 'Bob! love your wife! love your wife! die to self!' After a while of him refusing to sit at that table, he walked across the room to a different (though identical) table opposite of the one his wife occupied and hung his coat on one of the chairs. As he sat, he announced to his wife sitting alone at the original table, "We're sitting here."

Not so much as assisting her to their newly chosen table, he looked out the window as she laboriously lifted herself out of her chair and slowly ambled over to the new table.

The demonstration of that small peek into their marriage astounded me, and it made me wonder what patterns had they set early on in their marriage that made that interaction apparently the norm. Sacrificial love certainly isn't the norm--for anyone. I've heard it put pithily that marriage is the continual process of discovering how selfish you are. Hm, I pray for my future marriage - that we would so exemplify Christ and the church in loving and submitting to each other; I pray for my future husband - that even now he would be grown in that regard of Christ-like love. I pray for myself - that I might learn how to truly love and respect others now and later my husband.

I hope one day, my husband and I are the cute old couple that is still so in love by the grace of God because we have learned how to love each other and die to self.

To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of
none effect.
-John Owen

Contemplation on a certain Colossians' concept

For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Having been meditating on these couple verses, I have a few questions I'd like to work through (via typing "out loud"). And so I thought I might as well put my mental meanderings up for discussion, so if any of you have anything to add or correct to my Spartan thoughts, please jump in! (Additionally, this was to avoid a hefty fine to the blog police for announcing my 'coming out of retirement,' only to appear absent once again.)

One frustration of mine that I will put forward first is that I took a very brief overview class of Diagramming and Arcing the Bible many months ago (and freaking loved it!), but have since forgotten the few techniques I gleaned. I wonder if I'd be able to root through my moving boxes to find my papers on the subject to refresh my memory... At any rate, remnants of the class remained with me and, if not marginally, influences the way I look at and meditate on a passage of Scripture.

A few things I remember most about the class is the beginning exercise of dividing the passage up into propositional chunks (in order to find the basis of what is being said), and "for" and "therefore" are, respectively, grounding and inferring neon signs in a given passage. So with what terribly primitive familiarity I have with this concept, I took on Colossians 2:5-7, captioned above.

My trial run through of putting these verses in some semblance of order produced this. If you find this to be incorrect or having the potential to be ordered in a better fashion, I'd love to hear any edifying thoughts.

There are those two neon signs in this passage: for and therefore.

For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, (should those be two separate propositions?)

Preliminarily, I took this for as grounding the statement of his rejoicing to see both their good order and firmness of faith--in Christ.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord,

I think the therefore is an inference to the base statement, the next proposition, so walk in him. Beacuse we received Christ, we should consequently walk in him.

rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,

This, describing how we are to walk in him.

just as you were taught,

Taught, I took as harking back to the statement "so walk in him." Or could it possibly be in cahoots with the following proposition...

abounding in thanksgiving.

This little guy nearly blindsided me (to be dramatic about it). I'm wondering where this came from and what it is qualifying. Is it directly tied with "just as you were taught" or is it going all the way back to walking in him while abounding in thanksgiving?

It's just a guess, but I think this theme of thanksgiving is kind of potent one. How often am I abounding in thanksgiving? Or is it more often than not merely a quaint effort of formality? Honestly, how could I dare to NOT be abounding in thanksgiving and giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?! We are to pray and being watchful in it with thanksgiving, and with thanksgiving, letting our requests be made known to God. And coming into the presence of God with thanksgiving and magnifying and glorifying Him with the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Hm. Interesting thought to let my brain sit on for a while. I would love to hear other thoughts to further my own as this post has been really nothing more than a mish-mash of rather inarticulate thoughts (though I do hope it appeases the blog cops).