Managing Our Gift of Life

In this gift of life we see the negativity that captures us. We wonder why the love that we are capable of doesn't get practiced as we ply this gracious life, both you and me. Our need to control this gift is sure; to this we cannot seem to die.

The self-centeredness we fight both day and night is a pattern, one that seems to be our plight and the consequences we do reap, that ultimately come to pass. The actions we so freely take, and leave so many lost in our wake, are always nasty in their toll.

This right we exercise is so precise; that we find it so easy to be cruel. Forgiveness and love are not to be found; for we are not looking for a way to bless a brother or a sister in our lives. Instead we seek to find a point of disagreement; so that we can make another pay a price.

We deliver pain without a thought about it. That we're a gift to each other we've forgot. The lessons are there, we've read and seen. If we'd only remember the things that we've been taught; our need for each other we must brightly see.

And in each other things will come to be. These things of life that keep us bound eternal, do bless us through the stumbling blocks of life. And then you can see the Christ in me and I in thee.

The Bible is full of instructions on how we should live our lives in a good and just way. One of many examples is in Leviticus 19:11: "You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord."

 As I seek to understand the Lord’s role in my life in new ways, I am constantly reminded of a way that we can deal with all the negatives that come out of our sinful nature. I have sought to use this method to overcome my anger, dissatisfaction, criticism and other afflictions in the past, but I have not thought of it in such a broad and intentional way as I do today. The more that I have tried to abandon to God in every aspect of my life, the more I have been able to use positives to overcome negatives in my life, especially with difficult people.

We should approach every moment in our lives as a wonderful gift from God, no matter what is going on at any given time. It all begins with compassion for or forgiveness of the other person. We must become abundant in love if we hate or are angry. We must acknowledge another's needs when we are full of selfishness. We must look for the good in the people we dislike.

There is a family story credited to my Great Grandmother that is a good example of positivity: There was a man that was considered an odd-ball troublemaker in my great grandmother's small town. The fellow had recently died and my grandmother was at a gathering with some town friends discussing the life of this fellow. After listening to all the negative talk about this fellow and his life, my grandmother spoke up with her thoughts. She said, “You know, he was a good whistler." We need to look for the "good whistle" in everyone and everything.

 

The Times That Try Us

Inspired by Thomas Paine’s writing in his pamphlet The American Crisis, circa 1776, I offer this for our present days: Like those who have gone before us we are sometimes faced with acts against humanity that cause us pain and confusion. This is in addition to natural disasters and accidents that impact us in a similar way. These man-made acts and others cause us to feel insecure and unable to defend and protect ourselves. However, we soon learn that the more difficult life can seem to us, the more wonderful we feel as a people when we survive and conquer these tests of life. We relearn just how dear our country and its people are to us.

Paine’s words, “These are the times that try men’s souls”, certainly fit our time with the recent Boston Marathon bombing, the Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion, the killing of innocent school children in Sandy Hook, the theater murders in Colorado, the tornadoes in April 2011, to name a few. We are all reminded of just how important our faith in God is to us. Our politicians use words recognizing our Creator God that are at other times politically incorrect to speak. God gets us through these times in ways He has been using since He created us. John 16:33 tells us: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

As sad as we feel for our fellow Americans who are killed or maimed in an act of violence against them and us or impacted by something accidental or natural, we are called to come together and move ahead with a new outlook on our wonderful gift of humanness and our need to love one another. It is amazing how these kinds of tragedies tend to bring out the best in us and hopefully sustain us in our future lives together.

In Psalm 46:1-3 we are reminded: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah.” 

Habakkuk 3:17-19 addresses the possible loss of all the sustenance of life and says in part: “yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights.”

As the present living children of God’s Creation, we are only a small part of humanity that has dwelled on the Earth since God began creating His children. It is inevitable that we will soon join those who have gone before us. As a God loving people, we believe in eternal life in and with Him. When we view our lives in this eternal way, we realize that no murderer, no disaster, no accident can separate us from our eternal relationship with our Creator God.

As God’s children presently living in this natural world it is, however, our duty and our calling to love one another and support one another in times of trial. We are the instruments of much of God’s Love and Grace. He uses us in so many ways to help Him reach out to His children. In Luke 12:48 we see: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.”

Experience has shown us that we children of God go through a transformation when trouble knocks on the doors of our friends and neighbors and those we don’t even know. Sometimes we fall back to less caring ways, when there is no imminent danger.  Oh, that we could live daily in such a sensitive way. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring out the best in us and remind us of our duty through and to the Lord.   

Some People Hate Broccoli

I am aware that many people hate broccoli, but I love raw broccoli with a nice dip or cooked broccoli with some cheese melted on top. Do you think that some people actually hate broccoli? Is it possible to hate a vegetable? Is the hate that moves some folks against broccoli the same kind of hate that moves them against other people?

Jesus has made life very complicated for us in some of his expressions and choices of words. He tells us to love our enemies in Matthew 5:44-45: ”But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” Then Jesus changes gears in Luke 14:26 and says: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

As with hating broccoli, hate as used in scripture many times does not necessarily mean to love something less, be aggressively against it, or otherwise want to destroy it. 1st John 3:15 further complicates this “hate” thing by saying: “All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

Through the Word of the Lord it seems that we are being told both to hate and not to hate. What do you suppose Jesus was up to in this apparent contradiction? Each time Jesus uses the “hate” word, we have to ponder on just how to interpret His usage according to the subject at hand. In this way of looking at the use of the word hate, we see that it is being used to inform us that God must have the number one position in our lives. We don’t really have to hate others.

Now if we think the “hate” word is confusing when we read the Word of the Lord, let’s take a look at “Jesus the Recruiter”. Luke 9:57-58 informs us: “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’”

There’s an old saying: ‘How do you boil a frog in a tub of water without it knowing it’s being boiled?’ The answer is ‘turn the heat up very slowly’. Jesus is certainly turning up the heat quickly on those who say they want to follow Him, so they’ll know what’s expected of them.

 In Luke 9:59-60 He said to another: “‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’” Wow! This is getting worse than the “hate” word confusion. I believe it was a Jewish tradition for a man to live with his father until his father died. Is Jesus being too insensitive with his comment to this man? Is He turning up the heat too fast?

In Luke 9:61-62 we learn: “Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” Jesus would have made a good Army Drill Sergeant with commands like these.

Jesus is like God himself, as we see in Deut. 13:6: “If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’……….,’ you must not yield to or heed any such persons.’” As a good Son, Jesus thus requires that obedience to God must take precedence over all human obligations. Jesus, of course, is “God with us”, Emmanuel.

And finally here comes the “hate” word again in Luke 6:22-23: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven…” Thanks be to God!

Dealing wih Our Sleeves

Our sleeves are harmless, usually protective parts of our shirts, jackets, coats and the like. They are the part of a garment that wholly or partly covers a person's arm. If you could ask a million people if they considered their sleeves a problem, 99.9% of them would probably say no. Let’s take a look at some history of using our sleeves.  

Throughout much of history, human behavior has many times been connected to a sleeve in the formation of an idiom that describes that behavior. There’s a long list of such idioms, some of which I’ll share with you here.  It has been noted that a person’s behavior can indicate: 1) they have something up their sleeve 2) they have an ace up their sleeve 3)  they laugh up their sleeve 4) they roll up their sleeves 5) they wear their heart on their sleeve 6) and they are given advice not to stretch their arm any further than their sleeve will reach.

In these sayings it is suggested that your sleeve is the keeper of the following: some hidden or secret plan to use to your advantage when the time is right; a way to cheat at cards or have a last resort answer to a situation; to laugh secretly or quietly to oneself; to get ready to work or take on a task; to display one’s feelings openly; and not to spend more money than you have.

Did you ever think your sleeves could have such an impact on your life? I’m surprised someone hasn’t started a new religion concerning the meaningful part sleeves play in our lives; maybe the ‘First Church of the Sleeves’ or something like that. You may have noticed in recent years that it is appropriate to cough or sneeze in public by doing so into your sleeve at the inside of your elbow.

These idioms reflect the good and the bad of our nature as children of God. They represent our way of needing to be in control, to hide things, to set out on a task, to share our emotions and to be conservative in matters of money. God knows all about the good and the bad of our sleeves. He’s been trying to communicate with us since He created us about how we live our lives.

There is an expression similar to our much used expression, "roll up your sleeves." It comes from the ancients who wore robes, but needed to pull them above their knees and tuck them in their belt (girdle) to have freedom of movement. Thus "gird up your loins" means to pull up your robe and tuck it into your belt for action.

In 1 Peter 1:13 it says, ^“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

In The Message, the Bible in Contemporary Language, it gives us the same chapter and verse from 1 Peter as, “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing.”

We humans have come up with many ways of describing what we do in life as it relates to our clothing. They describe good and bad things. As we seek to live our lives according to God’s Will, we certainly need to “roll up our sleeves” and get to work. The similar expression of “girding up our loins” is found in many places in Holy Scripture. God knows that we have to prepare and use our minds in a very proactive way in order to follow His teachings in Holy Scripture and His guidance through His Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God.

Let's Join the Glad Club!

Most of us weren’t alive in 1913, but that was the year that Eleanor H. Porter published the book titled Pollyanna. If you’ve read or heard about this fictional story, you are aware of a young girl named Pollyanna, whose mother died when she was very young as did her church preacher father. Pollyanna became an orphan as a young girl, but it was a game of finding the good in all things her father taught her that made her life a blessing to many. Her optimism about life changed the whole community she lived in.

As the family was poor, one Christmas Pollyanna’s father requested a doll as a Christmas gift for her from the Ladies’ Aid Society. When the missionary barrel arrived that Christmas, instead of a doll, there was a pair of small crutches for Pollyanna. Her father convinced her to be glad about such a gift since she had no use for them. Thus began their future frequent exercise called the ‘Glad Game’.  As a result of this idea in the book, Glad Clubs sprung up all around the country.

A quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln was used in the Pollyanna book without reference. It was, "When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.” Pollyanna certainly lived life looking for the good in the worst of situations. When her father died she moved in with her Aunt Polly who was a bit of a sour puss and was mean to her. As time went on, Pollyanna changed the attitude of the dispirited people in her aunt’s town, getting them to be optimistic in life during both good and bad times.

In the book, Pollyanna experienced things like being hit by a car and her legs being paralyzed. In that old glad game way her father taught her, her new found town friends gathered around her and helped her be happy that at least she still had her legs! This was the kind of optimism example that helped her change the people in Aunt Polly’s town as Pollyanna interacted with them.

As the story finishes out, Pollyanna’s optimism finally got to her Aunt Polly. The townspeople gathered around Pollyanna, she got therapy and was able to walk again. Aunt Polly married her old lover, Dr. Chilton and all became players of the Glad Game!

It’s a difficult task for us, but we should all start our own ‘Glad Clubs’ and play the Glad Game. In Proverbs 4:23 it tells us: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” The name Pollyanna has become a word in our language. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as, “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.” If you are that way, you are considered Pollyannaish. Some use the term as a negative by saying if one is super optimistic they are not real and they are being pollyannaish.

Isn’t it like that in our spiritual journeys? In viewing those who are seeking God in their lives in all things, many say they are weak. Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the people.” Seeking God for sustenance in life and thus looking for the good in life, however, is being Pollyannaish in the most wonderful way. Our belief in a loving creator God leads us to look for the good, as He is our keeper.

In Romans 8:26 St. Paul tells us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The Gospel of John reinforces this in 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. AMEN.

Jet Lag and God Lag

We humans are very complicated creatures. In our genes and many other parts of our minds and bodies, we have all sorts of biological clocks ticking 24-hours a day. The Free Dictionary defines this as Circadian Rhythms in part: “present in humans and most other animals, it is generated by an internal clock that is synchronized to light-dark cycles and other cues in an organism's environment. This internal clock accounts for waking up at the same time every day even without an alarm clock.”

Flowers open and close due to these circadian rhythms just as we humans are impacted. Biologists have observed that birds exposed to artificial light for a long time sometimes build nests in the fall instead of the spring.

 Many are familiar with or have experienced aircraft Jet Lag when flying across several time zones. If a person flies from California to New York arriving at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, their body feels like it’s 4:00 a.m. because they had been living in the Pacific Time Zone where their bodies had become fixed on that cycle of light and dark. 

There are all sorts of ways the circadian rhythms affect us in causing strange things to happen in our bodies that most of us don’t understand. They are controlled mainly by the release of hormones. In humans, the internal clock is located within the brain's hypothalamus and pineal gland, which releases melatonin in response to the information it receives from photoreceptors in the retina. This “melatonin” is released in a cyclical manner. Now don’t we understand how it all works?

It looks like God did His homework when He created life on Earth. He put in all sorts of ways that we can function daily in the environment He has placed us in. He gave us this gift of life with the idea that we’d be around for a while and would need to be adaptable to the world around us. This was not the end of His work. As some have thought, He did not just wind the clock of creation and walk away from it never to return. His creation efforts were not just a game for Him. He created all things as a loving God wanting His children to have the best possible environment and to have a relationship with each of His children.

In the Gospel of John 1:3-5 it is proclaimed in describing Jesus the Christ that, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Yes, God did want a relationship with His Children, but in giving us the privilege to seek or not to seek Him in our lives, He found that we humans were having a hard time in seeking Him in all things. Thus, He sent His Word Jesus to better connect with His children and us with Him.

The good news for us children is that we don’t have to depend on hormones impacted by the rising and the setting of the Sun to connect with our creator God. The circadian rhythms aren’t needed to accomplish our true and full relationship with God. Yes, the light He sent through Jesus is a forever light to us and darkness can’t overcome it. It is up to each of us to be sure we don’t have God Lag. He is always available.

In the Gospel of John 3:20-21 it is says, “For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” 

For Our Sake and for God's Sake

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “sake” is defined as an end or purpose for the good advantage or enhancement of some entity or as an ideal; a personal or social welfare, safety or benefit. The use of the word “sake” goes back as far as the Thirteenth Century.

We can think that something is good for our own sake or even for God’s sake.  The expression,  “for God’s sake,” has been used in many ways as a call-out for something to either happen or to not happen or stop.  That usage is considered by some to be almost cursing or taking the Lord’s name in vain, but it is usually an attempt to discourage or encourage something so as to be pleasing to God. That is, to be sure that the will of God is fulfilled and He is not angered. St. Paul says in his 2^nd Letter to the Corinthians 5:13  “ For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you.”

Living our lives then, is best done when we can blend the two acts of living for our own sake while living our lives for God’s sake.  That way we are sure to get the best possible outcome that is good for us while pleasing God.  In 1st Peter 2:13-14 we read “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.”

As Christians we recognize that God did something for His sake in order to accomplish something for our sake. You guessed it didn’t you?  God sent us Jesus as His Word for his own sake to better connect with His children and then sacrificed His Son for our sake that our sin would be forgiven and we would have a more direct line to Him through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds us in his 2^nd  Letter to the  Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The more we dwell on the word “sake,” the more we see how it has filled lives throughout history. People have done things for the sake of their family, their friends, their country, their churches, their communities, their jobs, for strangers, for the needy and hungry.  The list goes on.  In our lives we must match all the things we do for our own sake and for the sake of others with that which is for God’s sake.

Probably the most important thing to do for our own sake, for the sake of others and for God’s sake is to forgive.  In His forgiveness of us through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, God gives us the example of how we should act for His sake and for the world we live in. In the Gospel of John 13:34 Jesus tells us, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This love message from God through Jesus has forgiveness wrapped all around it for it is impossible to love without forgiving. We can’t pick and choose who to love or who to forgive. For our own sake and for the sake of God, we must love one another.

Spirits Experiencing Life

On a recent visit to a doctor’s office I became engaged in conversation with a lady. The conversation led to comments about experiencing and participating in spiritual things in life. I told her that I had written and published a devotional book and was currently writing a spiritual weekly column in the Messenger Newspaper.

At some point, my new lady friend said in so many words, ‘I consider myself a spirit having a life experience.’ Her comment caught my attention, and I pondered on it the rest of the day. Do we consider ourselves spirits living in a worldly human experience? Were we spirits before we were born and while we’re alive only to leave this life as the same spirit moving into eternal life?

Most all the religions of the World that are seeking a creator God recognize that we humans have some sort of soul or spirit that is part of us. Some differ as to just how long we are spirits.  In the Christian Tradition, we can sense that spirit in each other and have faith that it is an eternal life promise. When we think of most friends and family during their lives and after their death, we certainly sense some kind of spirit relating to them.

We are all tiny physical pieces of our vast universe, God’s Creation, but we see ourselves as spirits whose souls have always existed. While our bodies seem to be separate from our spirit, we are in some sense immortal in our spirit as we leave these short natural world lives to be in God’s Eternal Kingdom.                             

God does not measure time with a clock? Each of us will experience our own death at a worldly time unknown to us. We are, however, on God’s Time. Einstein probably understood that more than anyone with his theory of Relativity, the thought of which brings us closer together with all humanity that has ever been.

St. Paul tells us in Chapter 8 of his letter to the Romans: “9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you …though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness……nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Ben Franklin once wrote to a deceased friend’s family (in part), “Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party of pleasure, which is to last forever.  His chair was ready first, and he goes before us.  We could not all conveniently start together; and why should you and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know where to find him?”  Adieu, Ben Franklin

My personal certainty of God’s Love & Grace and Eternal life with Him comes from my personal revelation experience from Him through His Spirit during a 10-hour brain tumor surgery and 30-day recovery at UAB Hospital, Birmingham, in 1993.  I was forgiven and comforted by Him, and my fear of death was removed. He even gave me a glimpse into His Eternal Kingdom. Nothing has changed that understanding I received some 20-years ago.

If we believe that a spirit-soul is alive in the heart of every living being we are halfway to understanding how to live life. To know that our bodies can be destroyed, but our spirit is indestructible, gives us a whole new way of looking at life and our relationship with others. We can proceed with life without a sense of fear and worry because we know our spirits are immortal. We can approach each day with confidence in the Lord.                         

Discerning Pathways and Shortcuts

Let’s take a look at something most of us do at least once a day if not many times a day.  That would be when we leave our home, work, or any other place we might find ourselves, for a particular destination and return to the original starting place. If you’re like me, you may take one route to your destination and a different route back to your original starting place. When asked why you took different routes between the same points you may say something like, “well it seemed easier to go a different way back than the way I came.” Then you make another trip to the same place you recently traveled to and from.  More times than not, you take the same route as before to the destination and a different route in returning.

Now we turn our attention to the back seat drivers and the friends that tell us there’s a shorter route to our destination than we’re using. Everyone has their own way of getting from point A to point B. This moves us to the old idiom, “different strokes for different folks.” Basically, this means that different people do things in different ways that suit them.

Let us now crank up our engines and head for a wonderful destination—the presence of God. The question becomes, ‘Is that a one-way trip or round trip?’ If it’s a round trip, then on our way back home do we lose some of the blessing that His presence gave us? Is the best choice then to move in with God?  
“Those who wait on the Lord . . . shall walk and not faint” — we read in Isaiah 40:31 

Oswald Chambers tells us, “There is no thrill for us in walking, yet it is the test for all of our steady and enduring qualities. To “walk and not faint” is the highest stretch possible as a measure of strength. The word walk is used in the Bible to express the character of a person…… Having the reality of God’s presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually.”

Unlike our earthly pursuits, we should avoid making trips to and from God, coming and going on different routes.  We walk with Him always. He is always there walking, even if we don’t recognize Him. Like the “footprints in the sand” story reveals, God carries us from time to time. We must never think we walk by ourselves, ignoring God’s Love and Grace.

No matter how painful life becomes for us, the sense that we’re always walking with God gives us 24/7 comfort through His Holy Spirit. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us,  ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

Many of us change residences, moving to new homes from time to time for a variety of reasons, for example a job change, better location, better house, cheaper rent or mortgage, etc. When we move in with God, we mark the last move of our lives. When we move in with God it means that we have spent time preparing for the one way trip. Unlike moving to a new house where we pack our belongings to take with us, in moving in with God we do the packing after we get there for He has much to load upon us. The good news is: that which He loads upon us is weightless so our trip into eternal life with Him is a blessing.  

Suiting Up For The Game

Back in the “Dark Ages” when I was playing college football, I had a teammate whose favorite saying was, “You win some, you lose some and some are rained out, but you always suit up for the game.” That’s not necessarily one of the Top Ten sports sayings, but it still sticks in my mind these almost 50-years later.

Today I’m amazed at how many people think about their favorite sports teams.  These “sideliners” expect so much from their teams.  They know just who their team can beat and when the team fails to win one of those games they just can’t believe what they’re seeing. They think their team should show up for every game with a switch they turn on and play the game to the fan’s perception of how they can and will play.

Fans sometimes forget that these teams and players are just like them. Fans wake up every morning with a different take on life and the world depending on how they think and feel that day. They sometimes know that they have not prepared properly for what the day will bring, but are unwilling to give the players that leeway.

Let’s think about some of the things that impact the player and team and how they or the team will perform in any given game. To start out, no matter what the sports pundits think, different teams matchup differently. A team can kill a team one week and get blown away by a seemingly lesser team the next week. Maybe their strengths and weaknesses matched up better with the first team played than with the second, even if the second team is rated lower.

Now let’s get more personal about the players that make up the team.  We’re talking about men and women here. The day before the game, did any player sneak any alcohol or drugs? Did they break the curfew, and the coach let them play anyway or did they get sent home for a penalty that penalized the team by their absence? What were their eating habits in the days before the game? What personal relationship issues are they presently having with a friend or loved one? Have they been doing the assigned work to better understand what to expect from the other team.

There are many more individual dos and don’ts we could talk about, but what about their support and training people.  Are the coaches good trainers, motivators, scouts and do they know the ins and outs of the sport? Do they manage the staff and team in a good manner? Are they good communicators and set a high level of expectation with a good game plan?

Let’s put aside our team and player expectations and look at ourselves as to our game plan, or if you will, God’s game plan for us. We are so fortunate that we don’t have to rely on human coaches, trainers and teammates for our game plan hoping that all is right, but God does use our teammates to help him communicate to us. If we live in the present, trusting in the Lord in our daily living, He will direct us and guide us toward what He wants us to do in the future. We do our part and he does His part. He does not show us what the future is, but by living today for the Lord, He leads us and the future takes care of itself.

St. Paul’s letter to the Romans 12:1 begins "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

So we have the perfect Life Game Plan in our seeking God in all that we do. Instead of having to listen to many opinions as to how our game will come out, we have the certainty that life with Him is the one and only game plan as we suit up for the game.

In closing, St. Paul tells us how to suit up for the game in his letter to the Ephesians 6:13-17, “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

The Inequality of Being Created Equal

In 1776 the Second Continental Congress asked five of its delegates to write the Declaration of Independence. John Adams was one of those delegates as was Benjamin Franklin. Adams convinced the group to have their fellow member, Thomas Jefferson, write the document. After Jefferson finished he gave the document to Franklin to proof read. Franklin suggested some minor changes, but one stands out.

Jefferson had written, “We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Franklin changed the beginning of that statement to what was the final version, "We hold these truths to be self-evident."

Let’s take Jefferson’s original words and combine them with Franklin’s change. That would be: sacred, un-deniable, and self-evident. Something is sacred when it is Holy and set apart as Godly. Something is un-deniable when it is incontestable, plainly true.  Something is self-evident when it is evident without proof or reasoning.

Franklin’s change may seem to have watered down Jefferson’s original thought, but everything is tied together when we add Jefferson’s next phrase, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights….” Yes, our Founding Fathers recognized our Creator God and their dependence on Him, not upon man.

With these wonderful words, however, there was an underlying lie. Slavery was accepted in most of our new nation. Thomas Jefferson was a consistent opponent of slavery his whole life, yet he owned many slaves to help keep up his vast property in Virginia. He believed that slavery presented a threat to the survival of the new American nation. Not being able to change the view of slavery among his contemporaries, it’s possible that he kept his slaves (many whom he inherited) lest they fall into the hands of someone who would mistreat them. While Jefferson couldn’t single handedly stop slavery in his time, with his words, “all men are created equal,” he set a goal for our country that took roughly 180 years to begin implementation.

Jefferson knew that change was needed in our world view of God’s children and deserves credit for challenging those of his time and future generations. Martin Luther King was able to use these words as a springboard in his great Civil Rights efforts.  For more information on the Declaration of Independence go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence  and Jefferson’s owning of slaves go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_and_slavery 

So where are we today? Even with the improvements the Civil Rights Movement brought to America, whether skin color, religion, economic status or national origin, prejudice is still with us.  Much of the rest of the world is way behind us in striving for the “all men are created equal” proposition.

Martin Luther King relied on his relationship with God and was able to achieve much through non-violence and openly accepting God’s leadership in his efforts.  While God created us equal, we know that everyone can’t have or do all the same things. As St. Paul reminds us in 1^st Corinthians 12:4-7, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

If we are not exactly alike, then how are we equal? The answer is in the words of Jesus when he said in John 13:34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” His message of love and forgiveness should drive us in our Earthly journeys.

If we love one another no matter our differences, we have the beginning of community. In Christian Community we support one another and offer ourselves up as conduits for God’s Love and Grace. Loving those of different religions is a big challenge. Most all religions are seeking a Creator God. We have that in common and we must not be judgmental in interacting with those of other religions.

The Reverend John Woolfolk Cruse says this in his piece entitled God’s Design. “God does not care a bit whether you are rich or poor, clever or stupid, but He does care greatly whether you are holy or not--whether you are genuine or not. God’s design for you is that you should be just as authentic as you can be.

A sculptor may fashion one thing in clay, another in wood or gold or marble, but He would wish each of us to be as true as possible. We all have different capacities, and we each express something different, but each of us is meant to be beautiful. Though He may fashion us in a lesser metal than gold, yet He fashions each of us in the image of Himself.”

God's Doppler-like Tracking Method

Most of us are at least slightly knowledgeable about the Doppler Shift or Effect as we get a glimpse of it when we tune in our TV or Computer to the weather.  Doppler Radar is what the weather folks use to show us the movement of storms and other weather conditions in the World and our local areas.

This Doppler Effect was proposed by Austrian physicist, Christian Doppler, way back in 1847. If you do the math, that’s almost 20-years before the Civil War.  Merriam-Webster tells us in their “kids’ version dictionary” that the Doppler Effect is: “a change in the frequency with which waves (as of sound or light [or radio]) from a source reach an observer when the source and the observer are moving rapidly toward or away from each other.” Doppler Radar is a tracking system using the Doppler Effect to determine the location and velocity of a storm, clouds, precipitation, etc.

With this Doppler thing, we get a much better vision of location, movement and speed of our weather. We can better see how the rain, clouds and storms are going to impact us in our neck of the woods. God already knew how this effect worked long before Dr. Doppler recognized it. After all He created all that is. So how does God’s “Doppler” effect work?

Have you already guessed? God doesn’t need Doppler Radar to track us or anything else in the world.  God connects with all of His Creation through His Holy Spirit.  He is capable of doing what Science can’t do or explain. In Luke’s Gospel beginning at 12:1 Jesus addresses the Disciples and the crowd of thousands by saying in part: “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.”

God’s Holy Spirit and Doppler Radar do have one thing in common. They both have to be engaged.  Just as the weather reporter has to use his tools to observe and forecast the weather, the storms of life can only be dealt with by seeking and engaging God’s Holy Spirit continuously. Jesus goes on to say in Luke 12:7: “But even the hairs on your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Turning to God is not an on-off switch. It involves the constant seeking of Him in our lives and most of all trusting in Him. No matter what befalls us, He is in charge.  In Luke 12:4-5 Jesus tells the crowd, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

Exhortation to Fearless ConfessionGod loves us and wants us to seek Him in all things.  “All things” means all things. We need Him with us in daily living, in our celebrations of life events and in our times of trouble. In Luke 12:11-12 Jesus says, “When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”

Life itself has an ever-changing frequency that requires close monitoring.  As a people, we don’t have all the tools to monitor on our own.  Just like the Weather Forecaster needs Doppler Radar to do his job, we need God’s Holy Spirit in our lives each moment to ensure our best connection and protection. For best life results we must ENGAGE God’s Spirit.

God's Gift of Insignificance

While today’s scientists think we know so much about the Universe in our time as opposed to past generations, new things are continually revealed that let us know we are far from understanding this universe we are a part of.

The latest revelation is the discovery of the largest known body/structure in the universe. It is a grouping of 73-quasars which are the brightest objects in the universe and are fed by black holes (collapsed stars), which have a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape them.  This new found grouping is 4-billion light-years across at its widest place. To put that into perspective, the Milky Way galaxy, which is the home of our Earth's solar system, is about 100,000 light-years wide. And the Milky Way is separated from its nearest galactic neighbor, Andromeda, by about 2.5 million light-years.

One light-year, which is a measure of distance not time, is 5,878,625 million miles. So this grouping is 4-billion times that in total miles at the widest point. To read more about this new discovery I found in a January 11^th, 2013 Fox News article by Mike Wall go to “Largest structure in universe discovered” at:   http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/01/11/largest-structure-in-universe-discovered/#ixzz2Hn7DiouG

This new discovery challenges much of sciences past understanding of the universe.  What was thought to be more uniform in layout when viewed as a whole, has to be looked at as a universe with an oversized hunk of quasars stuck in the middle of it. This changes man’s view of the universe going forward in study and research. Science will have to determine the significance of this new understanding.

Now, what does all this mean to us humans as we daily creep around on our little planet?  First off, we think how much more insignificant we are in the greater scheme of things in the universe. We are now an even smaller piece of God’s Creation.  Does this make us think we are more vulnerable than we thought?

As the Genesis creation story tells us, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.”

Maybe it doesn’t give us the more detailed descriptions given by the scientific community, but the Creation Story does describe a huge environment in which we were created by a loving God. Do we need to worry about how big is big? While some might be concerned that we are a smaller more insignificant part of creation than we thought, maybe we should realize that being a smaller part of God’s creation makes our gift of life on Earth even more special.

Let’s face it; with all the craziness out there in those billions of light years of creation, we have been pretty well protected and loved by our Creator God. Fire, heat, cold, explosions, flying objects are all around us, although some are light years away.  God must have had some kind of plan for us to protect his children in this place called Earth.

Yes, this human populated Earth is an insignificant spot when compared to the rest of the universe, but it may be the most special spot in the universe as it houses God’s children. Shouldn’t we do a better job in being thankful for what God has given us? Can we afford to leave Him out of these lives He has gifted us with?

As Psalm 95:2-3 tells us, “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.” God has given us free will. If our choices are poor in life, we reject Him instead of seeking Him and giving Him thanks for our special spot in His creation.

And then in 1st Timothy 4:4-5 St. Paul reminds us, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” We can make this life as hard on us as we choose, but in seeking the Will of God and experiencing His Grace, we can come to know how important our “spot” in God’s creation is to Him and to us.

 

Worry Is As Worry Does!

Our worry and anxiety about things in life can become self fulfilling prophecies. These traits can lead us to a path of fear instead of the road to strength. In any case, worry and anxiety certainly don’t help us deal with the challenges that confront us in this life. And it’s not just our own behavior that we need to confront, because those close around us can help push us in the wrong direction as they respond in a worrisome way to our challenges.

Jesus tells us, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life……   “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25 & 34

It’s easier said than done in this elimination of worry and anxiety in our lives.  We walk a tight-rope that makes our job difficult as we move through the bumps on the road of life.  Christian community is certainly a support in our lives and God uses each of us who seek Him in this life through community to help each other.

A number of years ago, my wife and I became quite close to an elderly widow lady in our church. She was very active and participated in church retreats at our church camp among other activities.  She had a great sense of humor and could always be counted on for a comment that would send everyone into laughter. She was an inspiration to all around her as she approached her old age with vigor.

One day I was chatting with her and she said, “I am very happy and relieved.” I then asked her, ‘what about?’ She said, “I’ve been worried all my life about getting cancer, and now that I’ve been diagnosed with it, I can stop worrying!” I’ve been pondering her statement ever since. What good did her worry do for her other than cause her displeasure for years?

Yes, we should take care of business in the challenges of our life.  We have our health to tend to, our finances to handle, our jobs to fulfill, but worry and anxiety don’t serve us well as we tend to everyday things. How then do we overcome the worries and anxieties of life?  We must turn them over to God.

As we approach each day of our lives, we must do our part in dealing with the challenges of our life, but we must let God do His part.  We can’t control the whole challenge. When we try, then the worry sets in and becomes an impediment to our dealing with things and with God’s help reaching a solution or outcome no matter what it might be.

 

Are We Naturally Aggressive People?

Americans have the good fortune to live in a free country that encourages good relations among its citizens and has a role in the world to stop tyranny where possible. In some sense our Founding Fathers set the clock in motion for our nation to resist the negative and aggressive behaviors that surround us in this world and test us from within.

Man’s innate ability to be aggressive and warring  has been the thinking of world psychoanalysts, humanists and philosophers over the years, but more recently, others have found that we humans are more aggravated from without than from within. 

Alfie Kohn, author & lecturer, once wrote, “Biology does not condemn humanity to war, and humanity can be freed from the bondage of biological pessimism. Violence is neither in our evolutionary legacy nor in our genes. The same species [that] invented war is capable of inventing peace.” From: Are Humans Innately Aggressive?  By Alfie Kohn.

As we view the world in our time, it is hard for us to understand why so much of humanity is trying to destroy its neighbors and others. Whether it be for political, cultural or religious reasons for hurting others, it is hard to accept that we are biologically doomed to it.  We Americans are not completely off the hook, however, for we see some among us trying to hurt fellow citizens. Again though, is it just a biological matter?

In Matthew 26:52 we see, “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

The recent events of the murdering of innocent children in our nation are hard to understand.  Surely this has been done as a result of a mental illness and not something that God intentionally created in any of us.  We are still children of a Creator God that allows us to make choices in life.  If we are not in touch with Him in our lives, we can make some bad choices.

In Matthew 5: 38-39 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”  These are tough orders for us.

By seeking the Lord our God to be in all that we do, we make it easier for better choices in life.  Non-forgiveness is our greatest enemy. In Hebrews 10:30, St. Paul reminds us, “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

It appears in Holy Scripture time and time again, that we must forgive others, so the Lord may forgive us.  Seeking violence in the world is not our nature as humans.  Instead it is the straying from our Creator God’s will, that we should love and forgive one another.  By making this choice in life we can change the world.  What a beautiful thought that our Godly nature is capable of making a real difference. We children of God are called to make this our purpose in life.

 

Humbled by Forgiveness!

In my retirement, I reflect on an amazing life story that took 43 years to evolve. In my senior year in high school, I was recruited to play football at an academically strong major college.  As with many players that didn’t quite have the high school course background needed to succeed academically at this engineering college, they would send their recruits for a year of prep-school to take courses that would enhance their being accepted while also playing football for the Junior College.  I was one of those candidates.

I was sent to a Military Junior College out West.  About 10 or 12 of us prep players began meeting as we arrived on that warm day in late June to begin football practice and get our class schedules setup for the fall.  We were assigned roommates and my roommate was a prep fellow from the mid-west. My new friend/roommate and I had a great year together studying, doing military drills and playing in football games all over the Western U.S. – from El Paso, Texas, to Long Beach, California, to Boise, Idaho.  We were one win away from playing in the Junior College Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, but it didn’t happen.

We both qualified academically to enter the freshman class at the sponsoring college in June of that next year.  Once at our new 4-year college, we became separated, living in different quarters on opposite sides of the large dormitory.  Our main contact time was at football practices.  After college and during my second year of marriage, my old roommate and friend made a trip to visit me and my wife for a few days.  We showed him around our historic city’s downtown area and we had some good meals and conversation together.  The night before my friend was to fly home, and my wife had gone to bed, he and I sat in the living room chatting.  The conversation moved into politics and before long it was obvious that he and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum.  We had never before discussed politics.

I then allowed myself to become “politically” angry with my friend, saying some things and acting in a way that I regretted for the next 43-years. I stormed off to bed leaving my friend behind and barely spoke to him the next morning as we got up and went to the airport.  At that point I had written him off as a friend. It would be 43-years before I would speak to or see my friend.

The next twenty or so years I was busy with my job, marriage, community volunteering and helping my dear wife raise our children.  I didn’t think about my friend very much.  When I did, I was sure that he was probably happier than me that we disconnected, especially after the way I treated him on his visit many years before.  Fortunately, early in my marriage my wife led me into the church.  I soon became part of a Christian Community and started to grow and mature in my relationship with the Lord.  During the past 20- years, I have thought more about my friend and have suffered from guilt for my part in our long separation.

I started checking phone listings in my friend’s home town to no avail.  Phone calls became dead ends.  With the advent of the internet and its ability to provide people searches, I continued to look for my old friend and prayed that he would forgive me if I was able to connect with him.  I was afraid that he would reject me and had written me off as I had him.  By now we were separated by 43-years with not much hope of reconnecting.  I thought, ‘maybe in heaven we’ll reunite’, but wished it would happen in this life.  As far as I knew, he may have already died.

Then, in October of the 43^rd year, my phone rang.  I didn’t recognize the out-of-state number, so I didn’t answer.  I figured if it was important, they could leave a message and they did.  To my disbelief, the message was from my old written-off friend, asking me to give him a call.  He had also been searching for me and in his internet travels he saw something that connected with my name.  He had found my old work number and called there only to find that I had retired.  A former workmate that answered his call gave him my contact number.

As I began to return my old friend’s call, I rehearsed my apology, feeling that I needed to mend that fence immediately.  I was sure that he had been in pain for 43-years over the way I treated him.  To my surprise, as I awaited an opportunity in our conversation to apologize, my friend never mentioned that episode.  In fact, he referred to his visit all those years ago in a positive way, never indicating it had been anything but a nice visit many years ago.  He also reflected on our time together at prep school as roommates and how much it had meant to him.  Shocking me even more, he shared with me that he had always told his parents that there were three things that helped him more than anything in his life.  One of the three things was the year he spent with me as his roommate.  He said that I could look at a wall and find something funny or interesting about it!  He also said that the insecurity of his big step after high school, was greatly lessened by getting to know me.

So a couple of months passed and I got a second call from my old friend.  He said that he and his wife were driving halfway across the country to spend Christmas with their daughter and they could come through my town on the way.  He said he and his wife would arrive at their motel near town late in the evening and suggested we have breakfast together at an interstate exit restaurant the next morning.  I said yes, and I was really looking forward to seeing him again.  Nevertheless, my guilt began building up again. Even though he had not yet mentioned the probable cause for our long-time separation in any of our recent communications, I just knew that it would come up or that I would need to bring it up, apologize and try to get a good start on our future relationship.

My wife was working and couldn’t make breakfast, so I went alone to the restaurant to meet my old friend and his wife.  It was like a blind date, not knowing if he would recognize me or me him.  As I walked in the restaurant, I immediately spotted him and he spotted me.  We embraced and he introduced me to his wife.  She and I also embraced.  We got a table and sat down for breakfast. 

My friend already had a hint that my walk with the Lord had improved greatly over the past 43-years, as he discovered such in his internet search for me.  I immediately realized that his walk and that of his wife was strong.  After catching up on a few old memories, we decided to move the conversation to the now and the future. 

The three of us had a deep spiritual conversation, with no reluctance to share our faith.  There was a very brief conversation about the present state of our government, but we moved from that as fast as we could.  Nothing was ever mentioned about that time 43-years ago when we separated. 

I was so blessed that things turned out like they did, but I didn’t have a feeling that I had gotten away with my mean-spirited attitude of some 43-years ago.  What I did feel was a most wonderful unspoken forgiveness.  I had to suspect that our breakup 43 years ago troubled him, but he was happy to remove it from his mind and make me feel like all was well.  We made plans to keep our new life together alive, and my wife and I have since traveled to visit he and his wife.  My old friend and I trusted in God’s time in the healing of our relationship and we will continue in what was and is our eternal friendship in the presence of our forgiving Lord.  

 

Mom Always Liked You Best!

If you are not too young, you probably remember the comedy/musical team named     the Smothers Brothers.  While they are known for many things, both musical and comedic, they will always be remembered for brother Tom’s frequent comment to Dick that, “Mom always liked you best!”

Recently, my 38-year old son got married for the first time.  My wife and I are blessed with two sons, just 3-years apart in age.  Our older son and family are living in Europe and couldn’t make the wedding.  Up to and through the wedding event my wife and I thought about how much we love our sons, and also how different they are.  We have always been sensitive to the possibility that one might think we love the other best.  That continues from childhood through adulthood.

John 15:12 reveals the words of Jesus, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  However, don’t people tend to love some family or friends “best” over others?  How can we love everyone the same?

In focusing all my love and emotion on our son who recently married, it raised the question, “Do I love one son more that the other?”  After all, they are very different, so is it normal to love one more than the other?  And all my friends are each very different, do I love some more than others?  Aren’t some “best friends”?

Wait a minute, I thought.  God loves all those He created just the same.  He created each one of us different than all the others. The numbers of us He has created is staggering.  His family is a lot larger than my small family.  What can I learn from this?  We all are His creations and any disappointment we have been to Him has been due to our sinful nature.  And guess what, we are forgiven when we turn to him.  He sent “His Word & Son”, Jesus, to communicate and reinforce His love and forgiveness of us.

So how does this apply to my consideration of whether I love one son more than the other?  Do their differences just guide me to love them each just the same, but in different ways? Isn’t that how God loves each of us, according to our differences from each other? 

In I-Corinthians 12:18-20,22, St. Paul reminds us: “¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be?²⁰As it is, there are many members, yet one body.’²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

We must be like our Father, God, and love each and everyone the same according to the differences of each.  I love my two sons just the same in the beauty of their differences.  And so it should be with all of our family, our friends and acquaintances, and those we will meet in the future. 

If there are differences in some that we don’t like, we must put our judgment aside and love that person from the inside out, letting God work His way in that relationship.