Mama Always ~ L.A. Brown, Author

A song, a meme, a memory...all triggers for me. Perhaps they are for you, too. Hearing a certain song can bring a smile to our face or tears to our eyes. A meme can make you laugh, or has the power to may one cry. A memory can make your heart glad, or break it all over again. A week ago tomorrow, I received the news that my life-long friend had passed away. I don't know the particulars, really, just that she didn't have to go. See, she took her own life. I have been avoiding saying this even in person as much as I could, but it is what it is. This, in her eyes, was the only way to fix things. For years she had been suffering. From the first thing that broke her heart, her father's passing, to her last days with mental, physical, and spiritual pain, she felt alone, a bother to those who were helping her. She was sick and tired of being sick and tired, literally. For the last few years, I have been there for her...and this is not ringing my own bell, this isn't abou...

Today, after a very long battle, my best friend passed from this life. Sandy and I have been friends for over 47 years. I look at that number and am amazed. They say that any friendship that lasts longer than seven years will last a lifetime. I tend to agree. I mean, after seven years, a person, a 'friend' can see your quiet side, your wild side...all OCD tendencies you may have or whether you're a slob. Are you an introvert or an extrovert, they see that. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your quirks, if after seeing that for seven years and they still like you, well that person's a keeper. Sandy and I met in Jr. High School, Middle School for you youngsters. We were okay friends then, but when we went to High School, that's when our friendship gelled. To call us polar opposites was an understatement, I was the yang to her yin. I caught my Mom shaking her head on many occasions with us. I even took our mini bike a few times, on the back dirt roads to go over to t...

You know, sometimes I imagine what your faces must look like when you read the titles to my blogs. This is one such title that I can see eyebrows raised right into your hairline, wondering what on earth am I going to blog about today! Actually, it's not as weird as the title suggests. But I want to pose a question to you. Do you know you're surrounded by a sonic song? It's true! Psalm 32 is subtitled The Joy of Forgiveness. It was a song of contemplation from David. We all know that David had his share of interesting events in his life. A shepherd boy who slew a lion and  a bear. A boy who was chosen over all of his brothers to be King of Israel. He slew Goliath...a much bigger task than the bear or the lion, no doubt. He survived King Saul's many hissy fits and attempts on his life. Heck, he could have taken Saul's life, probably more than once, but the most well known occurrence was when he took a piece of Saul's robe, then sent a messenger to tell him all...

Perspective. Everyone has one, no two are the same. For example, take a car accident. There are four witnesses to the accident, yet none of the statements that the police have taken are the same. Yes, they all agree that an accident occurred, and in some cases, they may agree on who may be at fault, but after that, everything is up for debate. So, how do the officers figure out what happened? They take all four of the statements, take into account each perspective,  look at the physical evidence, then draw conclusions from there. The same can be said for our interpretation of the Word of God. I know, I'm on really shaky ground, but bear with me. I'm going to take some examples in the four Gospels...Matthew, Mark, Luke (whose perspective is not first hand, but rather as a result of bringing the observations of the Apostles and others), and John. This is what is known as Harmony in the Gospels. The first such incident is when Jesus begins His ministry. In Matthew 4:12, Mark 1...

Kintsugi is an art form believed to have originated in Japan. It is said that it has similarities related to wabi-sabi, or the embracing of the flawed or imperfect. I have always loved the pieces that I've seen that have had this technique applied to it, the gold (I've only seen the gold, but silver and platinum have been used as well) seems to set the piece off, bringing a new brilliance, and the sight of the broken pieces reminds me that not everything is worthless when broken. That brings me to a thought I had this morning, and I've contemplated it before. The Bible says that God uses the weak to confound the strong, that broken vessels are used for His purpose. Examples of the weak to confound the strong bring to mind David and Goliath, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. The broken vessel? There is a story, not in the Bible, about a man who used a broken vessel to bring water to his master's house. Every day, he went, with two pots on a yoke, to...

Faith, they say, can move mountains, and I believe it. I've seen figurative mountains in my own life move. I say I have faith, and I do, but when the rubber meets the road, and the potholes and sink-holes, and detours pop up, faith is called into question. We grow weary, dodging the holes, we complain about the detours. We whine when the road seems longer than we wanted it to be or even expected. We say we have faith, but here's my question...when it comes right down to it, how much faith do we really have? Is our faith on sinking sand, or the Solid Rock? This actually brings to mind Abraham and Isaac - Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his only son on Mt. Moriah. This was roughly three days journey from where he had encamped, and during that journey, Abraham had every opportunity and option of calling it quits, but he didn't. He knew, by faith, that God had it handled. When the last stick was placed, the fire lit, and the last knot made, and he placed his son on the a...

Good morning, all! A very cloudy start to the day, to be sure, but a glorious day, nonetheless! This morning, I was able to have quiet time...not even the cats were bothering me this morning, and I was studying the Book of Daniel, chapter 4. Now, the study that I'm using was originally printed in 1965, but I still found that the writer has hit this modern day on the head. If you are familiar with the 4th Book of Daniel, you will know that it has to do with Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian King...the one who threw Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace. Well, by this chapter he has come to see the error of his rule, and is working to change it...sort of. Nebuchadnezzar at this point has proclaimed that the God that Daniel and his friends serve is THE GOD, and He is mighty above all other gods. This is good, but then comes the dream. He dreams of a massive tree, that its cut down, but, it's stump is banded for "seven times," or in our vernacular, seve...