LIBERATION

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14

 

Even before I opened the first box, I started sneezing. Seven decades of dust is a lot to inhale. I was charged with the task of going through my Aunt Sally’s personal effects, since her son—my cousin—had recently passed away only a few years after his mother. As I sat in my cousin’s widow’s San Antonio home, I thought about how my father, Mayhue Blaine, an Army Air Corps pilot, had inspired his sister Ethel—whom everyone called “Sally”—to become a United States Army nurse in 1940. At age eleven, Sally told her one-room schoolhouse teacher that she would go to the Philippines one day. Little did she know she would do just that, stationed at Sternberg General Hospital in Manila until the Japanese invaded the islands. Soon, Sally became part of what would become known as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor: seventy-eight Army and Navy nurses who, along with a few dozen doctors and other staff and civilians, transported hundreds of patients, some severely wounded, to a pair of “jungle” battlefield hospitals on the Bataan Peninsula. These open-air hospitals, the first of their kind since the American Civil War, kept the patients out of view of the invading Japanese troops for several months. Eventually, most were captured, many enduring a “death march” back to Manila. Aunt Sally was among those interred at Santa Thomas prisoner of war camp for nearly three years.

 

As I read Sally’s dusty diaries, I was struck by how many times she had mentioned their liberation in February, 1945. She recalled the unspeakable joy of the prisoners when the American boys rolled into town to set them free. My thoughts immediately went to my own “liberations,” first from the hands of a gun-wielding rapist who let me go when I cried out to God. Then, the incomparable joy that washed over me when I laid my life down at the foot of the cross of Christ, surrendering my will to that of my Lord. As humans, we endure life’s trials, great and small. Thanks be to God that He carries us through them to our eternal home with Him.

 

Praise You, Lord for Your longsuffering love. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

RENAISSANCE WOMAN

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:25-26

 

“She’s a true ‘Renaissance Woman,’” my male doctor said to the female medical student in his office. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about me! I was completely flummoxed. One thing was for sure: whatever he was describing, I had never in my wildest imagination thought to apply that term to myself! This physician was a friend, a former colleague of my husband. We had discussed my writing “career,” if you could call it that. I had told him about my passion for social justice and human rights, my work to help end violence in society. But I had to look up the term “Renaissance Woman” as soon as I got home.

 

I found my answer in the online Urban Dictionary: “She can mix the knowledge of what is considered disparate spheres into a new whole, by using her most unique method of analysis based on her very vast, deep, curiosity and experiences…which led to a very vast and deep knowledge, that she is so anxious to apply to everyday life, and to inquire, and share with everyone she meets.” Yes, I thought, this is true of me. I’ve followed my father’s example of being a “student of life” for seven decades and counting. But there was only one guiding principle that kept me hungry for more knowledge, through which I viewed everything in my personal quest: to follow Jesus Christ and strive daily to attain “more of Him and less of me.”

 

For a millisecond, I had a “crisis of the ego,” thinking I must be pretty smart to have a medical doctor make that comparison between me and this “enlightened” image. But when I humbled myself again, I realized that the only “power” I ever had—and ever would have—to pursue “disparate spheres into a new whole” was the power, the mind, and the strength of Christ. Most days, I feel so humanly insignificant on my own, I can hardly put one foot in front of the other. But thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift of grace to grant me another day to enjoy this remarkable life through Him!

 

Lord, grant me humility and a burning quest to know You. Amen

LEVEL GROUND

I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. II Corinthians 11:26

 

Paul’s job was tough: preaching among those who were listening to the false prophets in Corinth. He was not a man to use his own trials and accomplishments to spread the sacred Word of Jesus Christ. But he said right up front that his methods were “folly,” that he was speaking of his triumphs and failures not to boast, but to have others view the playing field as level ground. Paul was saying, “I’ve been where you have been, believe me.”

 

They say wisdom comes with age, and I surely hope I am a bit wiser than I was several decades ago. My family of origin was not unacquainted with racial prejudice. My father was a high-ranking military officer, and my mother a privileged woman. We never went hungry; in fact, we had a rather lavish lifestyle. The down side was pervasive alcohol addiction and subsequent “co-dependency,” accompanied with a good deal of “acting out behavior” on my part. I drank too much, experimented with drugs, and ran with the wrong crowd. Although I eventually ended up with two college degrees, an admirable work record, and the respect of many of my peers, I was lost and very vulnerable in life. It seemed the last straw was when I was raped at gunpoint. I fully expected to die at the hands of the assailant.

 

But God had other plans. He delivered me from death, and though I struggled to make sense of all that happened, I found peace in accepting Him as my Lord. I can safely say that no part of my life is the same as it was before I met Christ. I would sum up what I have learned in this way: When we gather at the cross of Jesus, there can be no true devotion to Him in the same space and time as any negative “isms.” Alcoholism, racism, sexism, ageism, lookism, criticism, you name the “ism.” Leave it at the door if you are to follow the One True Christ.

 

Lord of Peace, fan the flame of equality in our hearts and have us live as You live. Amen

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .

 

GOD’S FAMILY TREE

So God created mankind in His own image..;male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27

 

A popular pastime today is exploring one’s family background through several online services “guaranteed” to “reveal your ethnic mix and ancestors you never new you had.” For a “modest extra fee,” you can send a DNA sample to get a “scientific” analysis of your indigenous breakdown.  I am a bit skeptical of all of this, especially when I see advertisements showing people telling how they thought they were from this or that nation or tribe or culture, only to find out they had none of that blood in them at all. These folks are switching out their entire lives based not on what they heard passed down to them from their ancestors, but from an Internet source that could be making everything they tell you up as they go. As one website says, “Get a new view into what makes you uniquely you.” Really?

 

I don’t profess to be very good at science, but I have read that human DNA consists of about three billion “bases,” made up of combinations of four chemicals. More than ninety-nine per cent of those “bases” are the same in all people. That unique one per cent is what makes each human being different. Most people think DNA was just discovered in our generation. In fact, the first knowledge of DNA was put forth by a Swiss scientist, Friedrich Miescher, in 1869. Much more has been discovered since then, but suffice it to say, what God created sometimes takes a very long time for people to “discover.” That’s why He is called God and we’re not.

 

I don’t know about you, but I like to think of myself—and everyone else I meet—as being from one and only one “ethnic” background. I am a child of God. Every human being on the planet was created in God’s own image, with God’s DNA in each of us. The Bible clearly says we were made “in His image”—some translations say “likeness” (Genesis 1:27). My “human” ancestry interests me, but I’m still delighted to know I am firmly “connected” to everyone else on earth through God.

 

Creator God, thank You for creating us in Your beautiful image! Help us to see Your beauty in each person we meet. Amen

 

Meg Blaine Corrigan is the author of three books: Then I Am Strong: Moving From My Mother’s Daughter to God’s Child; Perils of a Polynesian Percussionist; and Saints With Slingshots: Daily Devotions for the Slightly Tarnished But Perpetually Forgiven Christian. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of New Mexico and has worked with survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and war veterans.  Her books may be purchased through her website, www.MegCorrigan.com or from www.amazon.com .