Time and tide

Voyage of Life: Manhood

 

'Time and tide wait for no man'.

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote those words over six hundred years ago - and we think that time flying is a modern thing!  Anyhow, a good deal of both time and the tide have flown since I last posted.  I have no great excuse other than a busy life.  In this time I have not neglected my God - in fact, many of the hours I might have blogged have been spent in study of God's word.  Back in September, at the True Woman conference in Indianapolis, IN, God gave me a directive to 'sharpen my sword' - Ephesians 6:17 Take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God - or in other words, to dig deeper into, learn more of, and memorize his word.  And so, that is what I have been doing.  As it says in Ezra 7:10 - Ezra (read 'Marla') set his (her) heart on studying and practicing God's law so that he (she) can teach His ordances and statutes to the people. 

I mentioned before that I am about to embark on the second course of classes required to study and/or practice Nouthetic counseling.  Here's a link to what that is: http://www.nouthetic.org/about-ins/what-is-nouthetic-counseling  A major requirement of Nouthetic counseling is being readily able to quote and utilize God's word, and since I came from a church where memorization of scripture was not emphasized past the age of 10, I have a lot of catching up to do!  Thanks to God's promises in His word I am doing well.  Prayer is a mighty thing.  I asked the Holy Spirit for the scripture to be written on my heart and for it to come to my tongue with ease so that I might glorify the Lord with all my words, and where before I could not remember a single verse - I now know nearly fifty!

John 16:13  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come..

1 Corinthians 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 

Today, I thought I would share a few of my favorites.  No great comments.  No deep (or otherwise) words from me  - just God's Word.  I hope to post again soon and until then, I pray that you will be blessed by these not-all-that-often quoted scriptures.  I know I have been!

Nehemiah 1: 5&6a. Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants....

I Chronicles 29:11  Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

Song of Solomon 8:6  Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave.  Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 3:11  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Isaiah 43:1b-3  Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

And the last, a little more familiar than some of the rest -

Job 19:25  But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.
And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God.

What more is there to say but 'Amen!'  Ours is a great and awesome God!

Rachel weeping for her children

I rarely post to this blog as a response to every day happenings.  Tonight I felt the need to.  As I was sitting here looking out my window, which looks out on the public square, I was struck by the juxtaposition of our town Christmas tree and the American flag which is at half staff in honor of the horrific killings that took place in Connecticut yesterday.  I, as well as every one else in America and the world, have been deeply effected by the deaths of these innocents and the sacrifice of those who attempted to shield them - often, it seems from the news reports, with their own bodies.  None of us know how we would react in a similar situation, but we would all hope and pray that it would be with the same selfless love.  This is, to put it mildly, a hard thing to deal with.  We have had killings before in this country - dozens of lives taken by deranged individuals such as we saw in the theatre killing earlier this year - but this is different.  These were not only children but little children and somehow that strikes to the core of who and what we are as human beings. 

How could a madman kill children?

Since this horror occured, one scripture has been running through my mind.  It's in the title of this post and I will quote it in full here:

Matthew 2:18  'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'

This, of course, is preceded by another verse:

Matthew 2:16  'When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under.'

There is nothing new under the sun.  Two thousand years ago a madman took the life of dozens of very small children - babies, really - out of a love of self.  King Herod was a powerful man, but like most powerful men, his power was balanced on the edge of a knifeblade.  Herod lived in a world of treachery where, at any moment, someone might attempt to assasinate him and claim the throne.  In his world nothing mattered but hanging on to the one thing that made him better than everyone else and when the Magi appeared and spoke of a baby promised to the Hebrew nation who would one day be king - well, that was all it took to make him slip over the edge of reason.  Herod had his own children.  Herod had dangled a baby on his knee and watched his son learn to walk, sons and daughters most likely, but at that moment, when his power, when what he desired, when his selfish ambitions and needs were threatened, he struck out and slaughtered dozens, if not hundreds of children.  Matthew doesn't tell us how many died, only that every boy under two years was killed.  We can only imagine how many boys died.  Eight died yesterday in Connecticut along with twelve girls because of another man's love of self.

Rachel is weeping for her children in 2012 for they are no more.

And so we struggle to understand.  People, as always - as they did in Bethlehem, I am sure - cry out, 'God, how can you let this happen?  Why don't you do something?'

I am reminded of something I read in Lee Strobel's 'The Case for Christ'.  In one of the sections Lee talks of speaking with an expert in Biblical studies.  At the end the man related a story to him.  He tells Lee of the time when his wife was dying of cancer.  She was in the house, crying out in pain, and he was sitting on the porch praying and, in a way, blaming God.  'God, why don't you do something?' he kept crying out.  'Why don't you do something?'

It is all our cry after the slaughter of the innocents in Connecticut, is it not?  'God, why don't you do something to stop this, to make this right?'

You know what the man told Lee Strobel, what God's answer was?  It is profound.

I did.  I sent my Son.

There is evil in this world.  It's prince is the prince of darkness.  Christ told us that. 

John 14:30  'I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me.'

'He has no hold on me.'  As Christians, he - the Devil - has no hold on us, for we are Christ's - washed, sanctified, and redeemed by His sacrifice and shed blood.

As the women of Israel did so long ago after their children were slaughtered, we too must look forward to the coming day of the Messiah who will wipe away every tear from our eyes.  There will be no more weeping, no more mourning - no more slaughter of innocents - no more love of self.  We will stand before the throne of the immortal God - a crowd no one can number, of every tribe and every nation - crying 'Worthy is the Lamb!'

Worthy, indeed, and the answer to our anguish and our pain.

God, DO SOMETHING!

I did.  I sent my Son.

May our prayers rise to the Lord most high for those who have lost so much in Connecticut and for all of the lost who are watching how we react to this tragedy.  God is in control.  He will use this to His purpose and His glory....

And to the saving of all souls.

Life is what happens....

                                                         Voyage of Life: Man (or woman) hood

Wow.  Life is definitely what happens while you are busy making other plans. 

The Josiah novel I mentioned a year or so ago still sits on its virtual shelf waiting to be worked on.  Since I last wrote God has continued to bless me and to hone me for that day when I see Him face to face, and you all know how that happens - by living in this world as one of His and dealing daily with everything that comes your way.  Between caring for my elderly mother who is dealing with dementia, shepherding and helping to raise my granddaughter, my work at the historic site, assisting with my husband's consignment shop, repairing dolls, teaching, and about a dozen other things, writing has taken its place on a very far back burner.  (Art too!)  I don't despair.  I have given all to the Lord and it will come back in its season.  Of course, if you are reading this blog most likely you are familiar with Solomon's words of wisdom. I remember them often.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,    

a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

 

'A time to scatter stones and to gather them'.  Are you like me?  Do you often feel like you are scattering stones and that those pesky stones just keep skittering across the ground, bouncing away from you,  remaining just out of reach?  We spend so much of our lives running, running, running.  What was that other thing Solomon said?

 

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  Ecclesiastes 1:14

 

Our lives are only meaningless, of course, if we spend them chasing after vain things that turn to dust, or rust, or fade under the sun.  If, however, we seek the eternal and hunger after God and a relationship with His only begotten Son, then we have found our meaning.  As I learn and grow, as I surrender my will more daily to Christ and seek to become like Him, as I pray earnestly to BE Christ's hands and to walk in His footsteps, I find not only purpose but peace.  Years ago I watched the BBC comedy/drama The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  In it, after chasing the wind for a season (through the galaxy and beyond) Arthur Dent finds out from some cavemen that the meaning of life is '42'.  In other words, meaningless.  Chasing after Christ brings something quite different - that is, true meaning to one's life.  The meaning of life, one finds in the end, is to bring glory and honor to God's name.  

 

So, I have found myself for a time without much self-expression as far as writing, art, etc.  That's okay.  I told the Lord to send me where He would and guess what?  I ended up taking a Nouthetic counseling course  I finished part one and am about to embark on the second session.  And what is Nouthetic Counseling you ask?  It is counseling that believes the Bible is all sufficient and able to give us every answer we need to the human condition.  As it says in Romans 15:14:

 

"I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and competent to counsel one another."

 

Nouthetic counseling is all about not leaning on our own understanding, but surrendering to the ONE who has authority over all since He created all.  And isn't that a wonder - the God of the entire universe knows I exist and is using me to further His kingdom.

 

Wow!  What more could anyone ask?

 

Anyhow, I plan on getting back to blogging a little more regularly.  I was amazed to see over 2000 people out there had read my meager ramblings.  I pray the Lord uses them in a mighty way to advance His kingdom.

 

After all, that is ALL that counts.

The Word come to man

‘They spoke the word of God with boldness’ (Acts 4:31), ‘They preached the word of God in the synagogues of Judaea’ (Acts 13:5), ‘It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first’ (Acts 13:46), ‘... to speak the word of God fearlessly’ (Phil 1:14), ‘the word of God is not bound’ (2 Tim 2:9), and above all, ‘The word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14) and ‘his name is called the word of God’ (Rev 19:13).

It is funny, if you will, how one can read the scriptures all of their life and yet miss what is, perhaps, the most important aspect of them.  Of course, for those of us who belong to Jesus Christ and witness in our lives His Holy Spirit at work, we do not really 'miss' these things so much as we lack the spiritual maturity to discern them.  In modern America, I believe, we actually strive to spend much of our time in that place which Paul names in I Cor. 13:11 as 'childish', though admittedly this is often not a conscious choice so much as it is the result of the childish culture or environment in which our Christianity is being cultivated.  We seem, or at least for me it has been this way, to see Christ as a sort of cosmic 'bandage'.  We do something wrong and we go to him to put on the 'plaster', as the English call it, kiss us and make it all better - until we do it again.  Now don't get me wrong, this is a part of the marvelous love that God has for us, that He calls us to come to him when we are hurting, when we have done something wrong, when we are weak or shamed, and He WILL make it all better.  But, and this is a large BUT, on our end these are only temporary 'fixes'.  We take our Father's love, thank Him, sing a few songs of worship, and then go out and do the same thing.  This is because we do not understand the root of sin.  We are focused on our behaviors, when we should be focused on the WORD.

God has given me a charge, or task if you will.  He has asked me to bring the story of King Josiah to His people.  A few of you who read this blog will say 'cool'.  Most of you will probably scratch your heads and head for your Bible to find out who I am talking about.  King Josiah was one of only a handful (well, that might be overstating it) of 'good' kings of Judah.  He lived and reigned in the 7th century B.C. and was an ancestor of our Lord.  Josiah was born into a culture where the word 'wickedness' was accounted a good thing.  His father, Amon, was the son of Manasseh.  According to 2 Kings 21, Manasseh, Josiah's grandfather did 'evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.'  This child, Josiah, had no hope, no worldly reason to turn out good; no chance of being anything other than the sum total of all that had gone before.  So our world would tell us.  Right?

Wrong. 

Josiah 'did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left'. (2 Kings 22) 

With God, nothing is impossible.

Now, why did I title this blog entry 'the Word come to man'?   Due to Manasseh and Amon, the Word of God - the books of the law of Moses - were lost.  Destroyed, actually, and on purpose.  For many decades the people of Judah had to rely on oral tradition, on memory, and on what they had been told by their fathers and mothers for the Word of God.  It is clear that God preserved His Word through people, for in Josiah's tale there are people of faith who guided this young man and aided him in becoming the 'good' kind who did not turn right or left.  God raised Josiah up to destroy the high places, to eject the pagan practices from the land of Judah and from His temple, and - and here is the beautiful thing - to bring His Word back to His Chosen People.

Josiah, through God's providence, brought the Word of God back to man. 

As I research this man and the world around him, I thought I would share some of that research and my thoughts about it here.  It will get me back to blogging and hopefully, edify and educate anyone interested enough to read my humble writings.

Next time, the chosen title and why I chose it -

The Uttermost Part of Heaven: The story of good king Josiah

Soldiers, a sailor, and why I hid from the policeman on the corner

Most of you who read this blog are old enough to know who Ernest Borgnine is.  Today, at 94, he is the oldest living actor to have received the Academy award for Best Actor (Marty 1955).  To say that Mr. Borgnine is 'salty' would be an understatement.  All one has to do is search the internet and read a few of his quotes.  One of my favorites is this:  "Everything I do has a moral to it. Yes, I've been in films that have had shootings. I made The Wild Bunch...but there was a moral behind it. The moral was that, by golly, bad guys got it. That was it. Yeah."  I have always had a special place in my heart for Mr. Borgnine because he reminds me, physically, and in many other ways, of my Dad.  My father was a 'man's man' as they used to put it.  Like Mr. Borgnine (Navy), my Dad (Army) spent many years in the service, and he had that quiet kind of strength that comes from having seen a lot of death and destruction - in fact, having seen the worst of your fellow man in many ways and coming out of it with your faith intact.

So why am I talking about Ernest Borgnine on a Christian blog?  If you are old enough to remember Mr. Borgnine, then you probably also remember the Biblical TV event of the 1970s - the first airing of Jesus of Nazareth.  The nearly 8 hour film made by Franco Zeffereli was controversial when it aired, but to me it is still one of the most beautiful depictions of Christ's life, death, and resurrection.  In it, Mr. Borgnine portrays one of my favorite characters of the Bible - the Roman Centurion who comes to Jesus to ask that his servant be healed.  The story is told in Matthew 8: 5-13 and Luke 7: 1-10

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 'Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly'.  And he said to him, 'I will come and heal him.'  But the centurion replied, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant,  'Do this,' and he does it.'  When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, 'Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'  And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.'  And the servant was healed at that very moment.

One of the most marvelous things about the Bible is the richness of one single passage such as this.  From it sermons have been drawn addressing faith, believing without seeing, seeing without believing, and many other topics.  The other night when I watched Jesus of Nazareth and saw this scene enacted, another thought presented itself to me concerning the character of the God of the Old and New Testaments and our perception of Him. 

God is hard for us to imagine at times.  At least I know that, as a child, I had no clear picture.  Even the concept of God as 'king' is pretty far removed from our 21st century mind.  But we have all met military men.  I don't know about you, but when I turn a corner and see a sergeant - whether military or in the police force - I instantly wonder what I have done wrong.  The man has made no move, he hasn't said or done anything and yet, still, I feel convicted that I have committed some wrong - simply by his presence.  And what does that presence represent?  Unswerving, unbending, implacable justice.  I think, in a way, this is a picture of God as seen by many through the eyes of the Old Testament.  One has only to read a bit of Ezekiel or Jeremiah to become convinced that God is justice and demands complete, perfect and unerring obedience. 

Our next thought after that is often 'and I can never measure up.'

In Bible times the Roman Centurion represented much the same thing.  The Centurion was a senior officer in charge of anywhere from 83 to 100 men, and was to be 'strict in exercising and keeping up proper discipline among his soldiers'.  Not only that but he represented the might and power of Rome.  I would imagine the words 'feared' and 'respected' only begin to cover people's reaction when this man appeared on the street.  Somehow, I don't think the adjective 'approachable' was used very often.  For many, living in New Testament times, I believe this is still their image of God.  If we don't fall into the heresy of making God all-loving and all-forgiving, then we tend to think of Him as a stern taskmaster who can never be pleased.  A 'Pharaoh God' as someone once put it, who expects his followers to make bricks without straw.

But is this a correct picture of God?  No.  Let's look at the story told in Matthew and Luke again.  The appearance of a Centurion and his men in the streets of a 1st century town would have evoked fear and maybe even terror.  His word would have been law and, believe me, there were no appeals in those days.  But was the Centurion really like this?  If you examine the passage the words that come to mind to describe this particular Centurion are 'humble, loving, giving, kind' and 'faithful'.  In the same way the God of the Old Testament, whom many see as harsh and unforgiving, is more than anything else loving, giving, and kind.  And He humbled himself as we cannot conceive by coming to Earth as a man and sacrificing Himself to meet His own implacable, unbending justice in a way He knew we never could.

That, indeed, is love.

The next time I see a sergeant a I round a corner, I imagine I will still flinch and feel the need to hide, but when I do, I will think of that Roman Centurion and remember the words Christ spoke to Him upon parting: 'Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.'

Now that's a man I'd like to know.

I'm back

For that dozen or less of you out there who follow this blog - I am back.  2010 turned out to be quite the year, and in posts coming soon I will address how God moved in my life in a powerful and very personal way to bring about changes in me, changes in those around me, and to answer my prayers.  Now before you think, gee, things like that never happen to me or, my prayers haven't been answered know this - some of these answers have been twenty years in coming.  I want to use this blog to look at some of the men and women in the Bible who had to wait for God, and at the profound ways in which they were used when at last they were called, as well as to look at the ways in which God uses 'bad' to accomplish good in our lives.  Our Lord and God does not create or instigate evil, but He graciously and mercifully uses our choices for evil for our ultimate good. 

Today, I just wanted to say 'hi' and 'I'm back.'  The other words I will leave to Pastor Greg Laurie.  I am cross-posting his blog entry from today.  If you are touched by his words and God given wisdom, please take a look at his webpage: http://www.harvest.org/ and think about becoming a contributor to his mission to spread the Word to the world.  (Think Billy Graham, but sort of an aging hippie type....LOL)


SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2011

When Bad Things Lead to Good


Chuck Swindoll tells a story about a man who was shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. Seeing that rescue might be a long time in coming, he painstakingly built a little hut to provide himself protection from the elements, and a place to store the few items he had managed to salvage from the wreck.

For weeks, this man lived in this little hut, with only the hot sun and the cold nights to keep him company. Each and every day, he would prayerfully scan the horizon, hoping for the approach of a ship.

But there was nothing.

One evening, after he had been searching for food on the island, he came back to see that his little hut was in flames. He tried to put the fire out, but it was too late. Everything he had in this world had gone up in smoke. He went to sleep that night, listening to the pounding of the surf, stunned by his own misfortune.

The next morning, he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island—the first ship he had seen since he had been marooned. Still trying to believe his eyes, he heard footsteps and then a human voice, saying, "We saw your smoke signal and we came to rescue you."

That's how it happens sometimes. In sovereignty and grace, the worst case scenario somehow becomes the best case scenario.

Sometimes disasters can turn out to be great opportunities for God to work in your life. The Lord is always present with us, always intimately acquainted with our circumstances, and He can take impossible situations and turn them around.


The image of Christ in this post is by James Jacques Tissot 1830 - 1902. 

I'd like to buy a cross. Do you have one without that funny little man on it?

Today's post is not a paradox, but a witness to my King, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I don't know is any of your receive Pastor Greg Laurie's daily devotional via email.  If not, I recommend that you subscribe.  This man has walked through the fire of affliction and come out refined and he is all out, no holds barred, for God in Jesus Christ.  You can find his devotionals, blog, etc. through this site: http://www.harvest.org/

A few days back Pastor Greg sent through a short daily devotional where he mentioned the fact that the cross has lost its meaning for many people living today.  In some cases, it is no more than a fashion accessory, and people come to the jewelry counter asking for one without the 'funny little man' on it.

Let me tell you about that 'funny little man' from my perspective.  And yes, in some ways He is 'funny', though I would deny the term 'little' could ever apply to Jesus Christ.  When you get to about the dictionary's fifth definition of 'funny', it is 'curious, strange, peculiar, odd'.  Well, that certainly describes Jesus and His true followers so far as the world see them!

I Corinthians 3:18-19 says: "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."

How foolish to seek peace in a world torn with strife.  How foolish to believe that love believes all, hopes all, endures all.  How foolish to believe that suffering is a good thing, that putting one's self aside, that dying to one's self is a way to live?  How can we be free with all of those 'do and don'ts' God sets down?  How can there be a God when there is hatred and anger and violence and injustice?  How can mourning be turned in to dancing?  How can you have hope when the world is totally and completely hopeless?

How?  Through Jesus Christ.

Long ago man chose self over God, and every baby born since the day Adam and Eve did so and were driven from the garden, has been born in sin and to death.  I have one daughter and one granddaughter.  They are beautiful gifts from God, but it doesn't take any parent very long to realize the 'nature' born into these supposedly pure and innocent little children isn't innocent at all.  "That's mine, you can't have it!"  "I hit her because she hit me!"  "I want that, and I want it because I want it!"  "Give it to me now!!!!"

Innocent?  Hardly.

Fallen humanity begins life with the belief that they deserve everything, and that somehow, someway, everything they want is being denied them and it isn't fair.  I speak from experience here.  Though I have attended church dutifully and believed in God all of my life, I still spent most of it telling Him how unfair it all was and how I could obviously run it better.  I considered myself a 'good' girl.  I obey the Ten Commandments (or so I thought), I didn't smoke, drink, etc.  However, I did continually doubt, fear and stamp my feet (so to speak) declaring MY will was the one that should be obeyed.

God has spent the better part of 52 years humbling me until I can finally honestly say, "God, YOUR will not mine."

And that is when people begin to think you are 'funny'. 

That's okay, people thought my King was 'funny' too.  Jesus asked nothing for Himself.  He had no permanent home.  He walked the world to help others, to reach out to them, and to challenge them that what they wanted and were seeking was not God's way, but their own.  Jesus came to show them the true path to God and that's its' rewards were immeasurable.  But for anything that good, there is a price.  The price for God's salvation of fallen humanity was the life of His son and our belief in that death and Jesus' subsequent resurrection - and that His resurrection was for us, to wash us clean, to save us and to set us free from self and sin.

So if you know anyone who wears a cross as a decorative item, because they think it's cool, take a moment to point to it and ask them is they know 'the funny little man' who is missing from their cross -

And their lives.

Image from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ