In mid April, we were the victims of a scam. Because an investigation is ongoing, I cannot share additional details. I reported it to Bank of America, and, when they denied my chargeback, I filed a complaint w/the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB, as well as the AZ Attorney General, and the FBI. I had lots of evidence against the merchant in question.
Following my complaint to the CFPB, I was contacted by a gentleman from Bank of American named Dustin. I’ve been working closely w/him for awhile now. He told me that my chargeback had been denied by the merchant’s credit card holder, but that he wasn’t letting it go. He told me he was prepared to take this one as far as he needed to in order to help us not lose our money. He said he was with us every step of the way.
Sometimes it helps to have friends in high places. In this case, we have 2–one named Dustin and the other named God. I don’t know what will happen in terms of getting our money back. I do know that these 2 friends are with us, and it’s a great comfort. I thank God every day for Dustin and for the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
2 Cor 1:3-5 NIV
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Update: After I finished writing this post, I checked my email to find, much to my surprise, a notification from Bank of America. Obviously I was not expecting that late on a Saturday night. The notification stated that the money will not be deducted from our account, and that this was a permanent decision. There are bad people in this world who want to take things that aren’t theirs. Thanks be to the dear Lord, there are also folks like Dustin who fight hard so that doesn’t happen. The world is a better place because of him and all those like him.
The problem, of course, is that God is viewed by Christians as a Father, and He gets all the garbage we project on Him because of our relationship with our own.
I remember once watching an episode of MASH (1 of my all-time favorite TV shows). Drs. Winchester and Pierce were talking. Winchester said to Pierce something similar to: “the difference between us is that I had a father. You had a dad.” Dr. Winchester’s tone expressed pain at how little his father had interacted with him. He was distant. He expressed love only when Dr. Winchester had done something exceptional, and even then only begrudgingly.
I think a lot of us view God that way. Actually, I think many of us look on Him as someone who delights in punishing us, who’ll send us to hell for the smallest of indisgressions,, maybe even like a predator torturing its prey before the final merciful kill.
The Bible says something different. It refers to God as “Abba”, which, in English, might be better translated as Papa, Dad, or Daddy, as opposed to Father, which is how it’s normally rendered.
The image God wants us to see, I think, is that portrayed in Luke 15:11-32, the parable of the lost son. Indeed, He loved each and every one of us so much that He sent His son to die on a cross so we could be with Him.
The late Dr. Larry Crabb wrote a book in 2006 called “The Papa Prayer.” I recommend it highly. In fact, I think I’ll read it again after I’m done with this, because no matter how many times you read it, there’s still something to be learned when you re-read it. The point is that God is our father–no, our Papa or daddy. He loves us so very much, and His greatest longing is that we come to him with everything–our hopes, dreams, joys, sorrows, and fears. No matter what your relationship to your father was, your relationship to God can be deeper and more fulfilling.
God is our very life. In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28). He wants the very best for us, and, like the old TV show called “Father Knows Best” says, He actually knows what that is. It may not pertain to our earthly comfort, but it will lead to our union with Him if we’ll allow it.
I wish for you a happy Father’s Day. Even more, I wish for you the relationship God wishes to have with you. May He bless you richly.
The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Tomorrow is June 14, or Flag Day. Less than 3 weeks from then is July 4, when America will be celebrating its 250 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Lot of patriotism floating around.
America has grown from 13 colonies/states in 1776
to a country that literally spans “from sea to shining sea.”
My relationship w/patriotism has always been a bit frought. When I was growing up, the saying regarding it was “love it or leave it.”, which basically meant American could do no wrong, and if you called out injustice, you were somehow unpatriotic. I don’t think that’s how the founding fathers saw it, but then, how would I know? I wasn’t there.
My problem was, I was doing a lot of calling out injustices, primarily discrimination. Discrimination against those of color; discrimination against women or those who maintained different sexual & gendor identities; discrimination against those living w/disabilities. It wasn’t that I didn’t love this country. I just knew it could be better. And I definitively did not like the “love it or leave it” attitude. I still don’t.
I understand no country is perfect, and, because those who inhabit it and those who run it are human, it never will be. On the other hand, failure to acknowledge and correct those things we are doing wrong is nothing but cloying loyalty, on which the 3rd Reich thrived.
The Constitution and its Bill of Rights was designed to protect the rights of those voices crying in the desert for justice. Calling America out for those areas where she needs to improve is not unpatriotic–it’s our God-given duty. Those of us who raise our voices in dissent do not do so because we hate America. We do so because we love her and want her to truly live the ideals to which she aspires. Dictators flourish when people are unwilling to do that. Democracy burgeons when people demand that justice be served and won’t rest until that happens.
My prayer for this nation and for all nations and peoples who strive for freedom is Amos 5:24. “Let justice flow like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream.” NIV.
Father, thank you for the fact this nation has survived 250 years. It’s young compared to many nations, but old to others. We know we haven’t always lived up to our pledge of “liberty and justice for all.” Please forgive us where we’ve failed and help us do better. Please allow people to see that those who demand justice are not doing so to draw attention to themselves or annoy others, but rather because they long to see this nation achieve her full potential. Help us first and foremost to abide by your commandments and precepts, and speak the truth in love boldly, for only then can we be free. To God be the glory. Amen.
Today is Sunny Kitty’s 10th birthday, and we are celebrating this very special day w/him. Sunny and Snickers came home w/us from the All About Animals shelter on Mar 31, 2017. Sunny is the black cat in the picture and is a neutered male. Snickers is the tan-and-grey female. Sunny was 9 months at the time. Snickers was 4 months. He was blind. He also was sneezing and had a runny nose, which has proven to be a constant throughout our time together.
We kept them both in their crates for a bit, but Sunny was soon pawing at his and meowing, so, reluctantly, we let them out. He began walking around the house, emitting frequent little meows. I wondered aloud to husband Karl if he might’ve been echo locating, which is something that bats, dolphins, and blind humans do to navigate their world by listening to sound waves bouncing off objects. An hour later he was running around the place like he’d not only lived here forever but owned it as well.
3 days later I was trying to capture him for some reason, I dove toward him, and ended up breaking my wrist. Not exactly an auspicious start to his new arrival. Jesus and I have always had a bit of a tiff regarding his views on the blind leading the blind. I think it can have remarkable outcomes–He says we both fall in the manhole. Having said that, whether or not the blind leading the blind is a bad idea, I don’t know. I can tell you, however, that the blind chasing the blind definitively is not.
Because of his chronic sinusitis, his nose gets clogged up w/dried mucous, making it hard for him to smell his food. Obviously we keep his dish in the same place so he can find it, but even sighted cats who can’t smell their food don’t eat, and we basically daily have to give him saline nose spray as well as Flonase & an antihistamine pill in order to interest him in his meals. Sometimes he fights that, but mostly he seems to realize we’re trying to help and accepts the treatments gracefully.
We often call him “the Reverend Mr. Black” after the old 60’s folk song because he is such a gentle little spirit–except, of course, at the vet’s. He greets most everyone who comes in, and some folks, if he particularly likes them, he’ll stand in front of them meowing, demanding to be petted. In return, he rewards those who show him attention w/a rumbling pur that belies his small size.
Snickers takes advantage of his sight loss, smaller stature, & gentle nature at times–stealing his food and batting him w/her paws. Normally he’s incredibly chill about it, but if he gets tired of it all, he’ll hiss and growl once, and she skitters off to hide. She knows very well whose boss,–& it’s not her. The little black blind cat reigns silent and supreme.
We also call him our “shepherd” cat, because he’ll hang around us when we’re sick, often jumping into bed to lay down beside us, whereas normally, if he stays on our bed at all, it’s toward the foot.
All of his physical problems never seem to get him down, and he appears to enjoy his life here. I hope he does. We love him dearly, and I believe he feels secure and cared for here, and for a kitty, that’s probably as good as love gets.
We’ve had just a little over 9 years w/these 2 little treasures, and all I can say is, I think sometimes angels are equipped w/4 paws instead of wings. They have been wonderful sources of joy and laughter and love.
Happy birthday, Sunny. Your name fits you so well because you bring abundant sunshine into our lives, whether or not you can see it. We hope the Dear Lord will permit you to stay here many more years and that He’ll bless you w/the abundant joy you’ve given us.
