"Faith Keeps Our Hope In Sight"

[Excerpt from an article by Pastor Chuck Swindoll]

Is it really possible to smile through the difficult trials of life?

Well, if anyone had reason for resentment rather than rejoicing, it would have been Nancy and Ed. Back in 1995, their close friend, widowed with two teenage children, died of cancer. Nancy and Ed adopted her children, which instantly grew their family of four to a household of six.

A few months later, as Nancy and Ed rehearsed for their church’s annual Christmas program, their house went up in flames and burned to the ground.

The next weekend, neighbors organized a search party to sift through the ashes for anything valuable that may have survived. They found a piece of paper, well-preserved, with a timely message encouraging a smile:

Contentment: Realizing that God has already provided everything we need for our present happiness.

For Nancy and Ed, that simple statement was like hearing the voice of God from a burning bush! He saw them. He heard them. He was with them.

Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)

 

If You Could Read My Mind

If you could read my mind, love

What a tale my thoughts could tell

Just like an old time movie

'Bout a ghost from a wishing well

In a castle dark or a fortress strong

With chains upon my feet

You know that ghost is me

And I will never be set free

As long as I am a ghost, you can't see

Ghost Stories And Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave is a national park in south-central Kentucky, consisting of the longest cave system known in the world. The Green River runs through the park, with a tributary called the Nolin River feeding into the Green just inside the park.

The cave system has formally been known as the Mammoth–Flint Ridge Cave System since 1972, when a connection was discovered between Mammoth Cave and the even-longer system under Flint Ridge to the north. As of 2022, more than 426 miles passageways had been surveyed,  over 1.5 times longer than second-longest cave system, Mexico's Sac Actun underwater cave.

One of my favorite childhood memories was taking a tour of Mammoth Cave and the guide stopping us in a part of the cave known as the Great Room and then extinguishing all our light sources. That was my first experience with total darkness, darkness so deep it makes you question any other reality, and the immense impact those moments can have on one's psyche.

The cave, as you can imagine, has also spawned many tales of the supernatural which even taken with a grain of salt, make for great campfire fodder.