to "Heart of Texas"

“ A sculptor does not use a 'manicure set' to reduce the crude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.

To do His supreme work of grace within you, God will take from your heart everything you love most. Everything you trust in will go from you. Piles of ashes will lie where your most precious treasures used to be!”
— Aiden Wilson Tozer in the opening monologue of The Heart of Texas

I've glimpsed this chiseling in the lives of family and friends who have lost those whom it seems too unbearable to lose.  I've glimpsed it in the lives of family and friends who have forgiven what seems too unbearable to forgive...during these times can be seen, if we are but open to widening our vision, revelations of what life and loss and love and forgiveness can really be about and what Life and Truth and Love and Forgiveness really are. 

Sometimes we are just along for the ride, fists gripping tightly onto God's shirt tails, as the ride is terrifying and we go along reluctantly, and yes, with eyes half-shut....yet we could not let go even if we willed for we are stunned not only at what we endure but at the beauty He creates as He reveals Himself through the journey... revelations of what His Love and His forgiveness really look like.  I fear that as Christians we aren't typically open enough as vessels to truly see Him and His work during these times.  And when we encounter the things that God allows onto our paths we are prone to frenetically attempt to swathe a way through the brambles based on our own limited perceptions.  In the process we can easily lose a little bit of ourselves and a lot of others' along with us....If it weren't for God faithfully foreknowing our weaknesses and shining His grace through both our worst and best attempts to forage on...

I cannot retell the story of "Heart of Texas".  Others have already done it in about as fine of a way as humanly possible.  And I don't want to give away information out of time.  That is not my place.  Perhaps all this post can really end up being is a call-out to see this movie which is based on the lives of the Grove & Jill Norwood and the Ulice Parker families.  I have no idea, nor want to know, which Christian denomination, if any, endorses or sponsors this documentary.  If we concern ourselves with that, we probably miss the point. 

So I'll just let you know that today on television I watched an hour long documentary simply entitled "Heart of Texas."  Three simple words which don't accurately depict what transpired in the lives of these two families, and in the lives of those blessed enough to have been a part of their heart-wrenching yet heart-exhilarating story.  No three human words could accurately summarize these happenings.  I know "Heart of Texas" does not.  Maybe an appropriate title could only be depicted with the tongues of Angels... I know I cannot describe it with any where near complete justice.  It is one of the most bitter-sweet, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories that I have encountered in quite some time.

Let me give you but a taste of what there is to soak up if you do decide to share their story:

"I saw an invisible God become visible."  Ulice Parker

"The Character of God is the only stability in Life".  Jill Norwood

"I saw forgiveness for the first time."  Ulice Parker

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels--a plentiful harvest of new lives."  John 12:24 New Living Translation

Hopefully and as a rememberence, we can "leave" knowing that "It is with Joy that God builds His house"....

heartoftexasthemovie.com

to the Cartwrights

Due to the loss of my job last July, my husband and I suspended our satellite/DVR television coverage about six months ago and just very recently "got back on line". As a result of those six months sans TV, I happily found that there IS fulfilling life to be had out there without it.

That said, we did miss watching our weekly favorites together: Fringe, House, CSI or CSI Miami, Leverage, The Closer, Mental, Mentalist....those hour-long dramas sprinkled with a good helping of suspense, science and/or mystery are the ones we like to save & watch when we're together. During our "real TV" drought, on those evenings in which we hungered for and hunkered down for an hour or two of mindless entertainment, we'd end up borrowing or purchasing cheap "b-rated" compilation DVDS, which typically consisted of five or so fairly bad sci-fi or disaster movies or, in one case....was comprised of 10-15 episodes of.....Bonanza. And so, for the first time in recorded history, I got a little hooked on a western TV show and got a slight crush on the most charming of the 60's western TV characters- Adam Cartwright.

Yes, I spent a week, in the presence of my husband, falling a little in love with Adam and those other three handsomely rugged men from "Bonanza". Adam particularly so, not just because of his dark good looks, but because, like me, he would rather have worked out his problems doing something which involved "cerebral grease" than to be out doing something which involved a lot of heavy elbow grease. Now that was my kind of hero!

Like I mentioned, I've never been a western-"phile" but I just got this crazy little crush on those four good-looking Bonanza guys. (Yes, even Hoss had his own good looks, a big-teddy bear appeal, not unlike my husband's). These guys were charming, unlucky-in-love, hard-working and loyal to the bone.

So, today, as I heard of the passing this week of Pernell Roberts , the last of the four actors who portrayed them, I wanted to tip my hat to the Cartwrights. Because, as Baby Boomers and lovers-of-things Americana may know, the Cartwrights stood for various values which are best not to be lost in our society today:

1) Undying loyalty to family
2) Looking for the best in everyone, especially in the unlovable

3) Taking in and caring for the underdog
4) Treasuring "the land"
5) Courage under fire
6) Appreciation for other cultures and ethnicities
6) The ability to laugh at ourselves and those we love.... a trait most undervalued

And I'm sure you could add to this list. Yes, TV is quite a vast wasteland, as said by FCC Chairman Newton Minow in 1961, but I think Mr. Minow may have forgotten that there is always gold to winnow out if you're open to discovering it....

And so today I tip my hat to.....the Cartwrights.