Irrational vs Clear, Logical Thinking

When I was a little girl, I struggled with asthma. Extremes did me in. 

• too much heat
• too much cold
• too far away from home
• too much laughter 
• too much running
• too much scary stuff

I remember having to go to the ER on countless occasions — usually when we were on vacation or were away from home and had forgotten my inhaler. 

I remember getting all worked up one night in the bed at grandmother’s house because I could see a little red light outside in the darkness and I fancied that it was the devil. 

One time we were staying for the weekend at a friend’s home and I got terrified over something (who knows what). Mother stayed up with me most of the night trying to calm me down so that I could breathe. 

That is when Mother introduced me to this verse and helped me to memorize it. 

II Timothy 1:7 KJV

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Today I want to look at two components of this verse.

• fear
• soundness of mind

Someone once said that we can look at “fear” as an acronym: 

False Evidence Appearing Real

If someone has you in a chokehold with a handgun to your head, I think it’s safe to say that it is reasonable to be afraid for your life. 

But having an asthma attack over a little red light in the darkness is irrational. 

Having to leave a concert in a panic because an inhaler was left in the car is irrational. 

Not sharing with someone about God because of fear of rejection is irrational. 

For Christians, God’s Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. He goes with us everywhere we go. His characteristics spill out of us onto those around us — His power, His love and His rational thinking. 

And even with a handgun pointed to your head, God can give you the ability to stay calm and to think clearly about a way of escape.

So we have no good reason to be crippled by the unreal emotion of fear. 

What are some things that you have been afraid of that you later learned was unwarranted?

How did you combat the fear? Did you succumb to it. Did God replace the fear with rational thinking?

Did it take a concerted effort to overcome the fear or was it an easy thing to do?

LORD, Thank you for your Holy Spirit and for the fullness He gives our lives. Thank you for giving us the ability to think through things and to approach them purposefully. May you be glorified in us as we show the world who you are. 

Some Flowers in Greece, Turkey and Italy

Thursday, June 19. 2025

While in Greece, Turkey and Italy we saw enough rock/marble/granite to last us a lifetime. 

Sometimes the unexpected 

splashes of color were a breath of fresh air. 

Farmland in northern Greece

Kitten at the base of two date palms. This was not the first cat we saw nor was it the last!

These trees in Ephesus reminded me of the evergreen-lined road to my grandfather’s house.

Bougainvillea 

Blue Jacaranda 

Prickly Pear

Cathedral Cactus 

Jade Plant

Candelabra Aloe

Spruce? Cedar? It’s an evergreen!

Bougainvillea 

Spanish Broom

Gipsy Rose

I just love this shot through the relatively young evergreens of Delphi at the archaeological site in the valley below. 

Cyprus 

Umbrella trees — Italian Stone Pines

Purpletop Vervain

Oleander

Gazania

Nerium 

LORD, Thank you for the opportunity to see the vastness of your world. And when we were so far away from Kentucky I thank you for the jade plants and the cathedral cactuses and the pine trees that reminded me so much of home. 

Father’s Day

Sunday. June 15. 2025

Happy Father's Day

From the jacket of Dondré Whitfield’s book, “Male vs Man:”

• Men are more than simply grown males. 

•Males are the self-serving individuals stuck in negative cycles that we hear and read about daily.

•Men are healthy and productive servant leaders who bring positive change to their communities. 

•Males create chaos and put themselves before others. 

•Men cultivate calm and help others step into their God-given roles. 

Our family gathered around the table tonight and had supper as is our Sunday night routine. Tonight’s conversation was a little bit different. Since it was Father’s Day, Bill asked me to share something about my father that was special to me. He followed with a story about his own dad. 

Initially, I think Bill just wanted our children and grandchildren to know more about our fathers. But what happened next was really cool. Each of our children and their spouses shared their own stories about their dads. Then the older grandchildren told their tales. 

We laughed. We reminisced. It was nice. 

I was honored to be surrounded by such wonderful men at my dining room table. My husband has been the absolute best role model for all of them. My sons and son-in-law are fine young men and great fathers. And my two older grandsons are on their way to becoming reflections of the men in their lives. 

LORD, Thank you for blessing me with some incredible men in my family—my Granddaddy, my Pappy, my daddy, my father-in-law, my husband, my sons and my son-in law. I know that if they warm my heart, as their perfect Father you must be really proud of them.

St. John Lateran

On Patrick’s birthday, June 6th, we visited some pretty awe inspiring places. 

• Catacombs (which I wrote about on that day)
• Basilica of St. John Lateran (my topic for today)
• The Holy Stairs
• The 9/11 Monument
• The Vatican—Sistine Chapel
• The Vatican—Swiss Guard
• The Vatican—St. Peter’s Cathedral 
• The Vatican—St. Peter’s Square

Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran

This is the official title for the church. The land for it had belonged to a family whose last name was Lateran. It honors both John the Baptist and John who wrote Revelation. It is considered to be the Mother Church of the world and for that reason, it bears the title, “Archbasilica.” Most people we talked with refered to it simply as “St John Lateran.”

Look at the people in the arches of the front to get some perspective of how big this place is. 

Not being Catholic, I was a little confused about this being the Pope’s church. St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is often used by the Pope. But the Pope is also considered to be Bishop of Rome. And this is the cathedral church of Rome’s Bishop. So, this is the Pope’s church. 

The Baroque style incorporated a lot of gold. 

I was drawn to all the huge sculptures along the perimeter inside the church. They stand 23 feet tall and are all on the second level but visible from below in the main sanctuary. 

This is St. Paul. He is usually depicted with a sword. I thought that might be because he shared the Word of God (sharper than a two-edged sword) wherever he went. But apparently it is because in the end he was beheaded with a sword. 

I can’t imagine the precision required to create this tile floor. I’d venture to say that the design just might find its way into my art.

This is the Apostle Peter. He is most often shown holding the keys to the gates of heaven and hell. 

This is Thomas. 

This is Phillip. 

Tradition has it that Bartholomew was skinned alive. Here he is depicted carrying the skinning knife and holding his skin. 

Matthew was a tax collector before he became one of the disciples. I guess that is why he has his right foot on a bag of money. 



This is Pope Leo XIII.

Pictures just can’t do it justice. 

LORD, I am amazed at the talent required to build such a beautiful place as this. I pray that I will be ever mindful of the fact that you are my high priest and I can come to you any time, any where. Thank you. 

The Constantine Arch

Thursday, June 12, 2025

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On June 5th we walked around the Constantine Arch in Rome. This was the Arch of Triumph for many rulers over the years as they returned from battle to Rome. 

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Who was Constantine?

Constantine the Great was born in 272 AD to Helena and Flavius Constantius and lived until 337 AD. His father was one of four rulers of the Roman Empire. But by 306, Constantine (the Great) was the sole Emporer. 

By 303, persecution of Christians had reached its greatest intensity in Rome. In 313 Constantine declared such persecution illegal. Over the years of his reign, he did many things to help bolster Christian churches and embraced Christianity himself on his deathbed. 

Constantine was instrumental in having the day of rest for Christians changed from Saturday to Sunday. This partly had to do with Christ’s resurrection having been on Sunday.

At one point during his reign, Constantine developed the christogram formed by the first and second Greek letters, chi and rho, that spell Christ (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ). 

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He used this labarum as the army standard going into battle and is said to have defeated many adversaries who had outnumbered his men. 

Constantine’s family was not without its issues, though. He had one of his sons killed for supposedly seducing his wife. Then upon learning that his wife had lied about it, he had her killed, too. 

In the end, he converted to Christianity and was baptized just prior to succumbing to a fatal illness. 

Intricacies of the Constantine Arch

The Arch of Constantine is one of only a few triumphal arches to have three entryways. Interestingly only the ground level has carvings dealing with Constantine the Great. The second level has pieces taken from Hadrian sculptures while the third level has Trajan and Marcus Aurelius sculptures. It is said that the arch was built so quickly that they had to swipe art from other sculptures in order to complete it on time. 

LORD, Regardless of when Constantine was actually converted, how thankful I am that he made it possible for the persecution of Christians in Rome to stop. That was crucial. Thank you for letting us see this incredible arch. Amen. 

Eighteenth Day of Lent

 Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Wallace Nave 

[Some] seed fell into good soil and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great…. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Luke 8:8 NAS

Many of the most profound lessons of my life have been learned in the yard or digging in the dirt. Until I got sick, there was no place I would rather have been than planting and pruning and weeding. I enjoyed seeing the lawn flourish and the beds bloom.

In Kentucky, I had a troublemaker in my garden called Johnson grass. Try as I would, there seemed no remedy for the stuff. The more I pulled, the more it grew. One day I dug and dug until I reached the end of a particularly persistent blade. To my amazement, when I had it out of the ground, I found that the green shoot on top of the ground was about three inches high but the roots were about two feet in length! Suddenly I knew why I could not rid my garden of this pest!

I took that piece of grass into the house and showed Pat. We talked about the fact that the grass is so hearty because its roots are so deep and sustaining. We both knew that we wanted to be like that grass —not too much showing on the top but growing deep in the Lord and His Word so that we would be so strong that we could not be uprooted! Cut down. Burned. Cursed. But not destroyed. 

Lord, thank you for causing the seed of your Word to fall on good ground in my own life. Thank you for the desire to nourish that seed much as I have done the seeds in our yard. Thank you for teaching me all that you have about who you are, what you have done for me, how you lived and died that I might live and not die. Thank you for deep roots of faith – roots that hold me firm this Easter and cause me to rejoice in life! Amen

 

Hallelujah! He is Risen!
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2011
compiled by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
reproduced and edited by Patience Fort

Twelfth Day of Lent

 Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Hallelujah!  He is risen!

A Lenten Devotional Guide

By Wallace Nave

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NAS

Years ago, we were in an era that had no cable and an area that got poor TV reception. I determined that I would build and install a good antenna, high enough to pick up the stations some miles away in Nashville.

Finally with the tower carefully cemented into the ground, the antenna itself had to be raised and lowered into the hole at the top of the tower. I wrapped a good rope around my waist and secured it to the tower so that if I slipped it would hold me. I made a hoist to raise the antenna and climbed the tower.

I had two problems. I really do not like heights and I had a wife on the ground who kept encouraging me with such words as, “Oh, no! You’re going to fall!” or “Please don’t look down!” I also found that the antenna was too heavy for me to manipulate with one hand. I’d have to turn loose of the tower and use both hands to put the antenna in place.

Finally, I mustered the courage, leaned back against the rope, turned loose of the tower, and put the antenna into its groove. At that moment, these words came into my mind: “I am much more dependable than your rope. Lean back on me and trust me with your life as you have just trusted this rope.” I leaned back and surveyed the world from my lofty perch. I could hardly wait to get to the ground to tell Pat what had happened.

Sounds simple, but really trusting God has been a great challenge. I lean, and He never lets me down! The longer I live the more grateful I am for Jesus who is my friend and who allows me to lean – on a daily basis.

Father, thank you for giving me your Son to climb towers with me all through life and to hold me so that I don’t fall. And thank you for Easter and the life I know because of Him. Amen.

 

Hallelujah! He is Risen!
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2011
compiled by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
reproduced and edited by Patience Fort