A Better Way

 I’ve not avoided the subject that is on everyone’s mind right now…but I’ve not said much about it either.  Today, I’d like to visit with you some about violence in our society.  Right now, we tend to think of gun violence, mass shootings and the like when we think about a violent society.  That’s only natural because of the recent events that have been reported by the media.  It seems that schools, churches, malls, and even hospitals are not immune from the threat of someone with a violent nature causing irreparable and incredible harm to innocents.

Violence in this society, however, manifests in ways and with instruments other than just firearms.  Think about it.  Road rage, domestic violence, fights and altercations, sexual violence, bullying of all kinds, aggressiveness and hostility…all of these are forms of violence that are part of our culture.  Many of those kinds of violence don’t use firearms, or for that matter any external weapon at all.

Certainly, there are times when society needs to concentrate on one particular kind of violence.  Domestic and sexual violence are a couple of areas where we have chosen recently to concentrate our efforts to mitigate.  And now, with the recent knowledge of the mass shootings in many parts of our nation, our energies are being concentrated on how to mitigate the incidence of these kinds of events.

It isn’t my purpose here to tell you what I think we should do politically about firearm violence, domestic violence, road rage, or any other form of violence.  I’m not a politician.  I’ve often said that I don’t have the political answers, and I’m not even sure at times what questions to ask.  I do have thoughts and ideas, but will keep them to myself regarding political solutions.  Instead, I’d like to, as the now well-worn saying goes, “drill down” to more of the root causes and what can be done.  And that means a journey into the spiritual side of things.

First, violence will always be with us.  This fallen creation…this fallen world…has been a harborer and encourager of violence ever since Cain killed his brother Abel.  No one is immune from either committing some kind of violence or being the recipient of some kind of violence.  We will never eliminate it…we can only help mitigate it with political solutions…laws, law enforcement, education, prevention, etc.

Second, Christianity has always been, and is, counter-cultural.  Where the norm is me-first, Christianity is “love your neighbor.”  Where the norm is grab-all-you-can-get-while-you-can-get-it, Christianity is “God loves a cheerful giver, and Honor God with your wealth.”  Where the norm is self-superiority, Christianity is “whoever is the greatest…let him be your servant.”

Third, mixing the Christian faith with politics and political/ideological dogma is a great mistake and a grave wrong.  Political evangelicalism is part of our culture now, as is other kinds of the blending of religion with political and ideological dogma.  God isn’t a Republican.  Nor is He a Democrat.  He’s not a Libertarian either.  He’s not on “our side,” and can’t be used in that way.  God is God…the author and ruler of the universe.  How dare we reduce God to a certain political party or one side of a societal issue!

“OK,” you say.  “So, what DO we do about the violence and apparent uptick in violence in our society?”

First, it’s OK for a Christian to be active in political things.  Running for office, voting, communicating with one’s elected representatives, and even contributing to a political party are all well and good.  However, to make these kinds of things the substance and be-all of one’s life is to place politics and political activism as one’s god.  It’s idolatry, plain and simple.

Second, Christians need to understand that God doesn’t take political sides.  He’s not on “our side” because we’re the “good guys,” and God just has to be for the good guys…how could He possibly be for anyone else?  God’s ways are not our ways.  After all, God establishes governments and rulers…all governments and rulers.  Look around at the governments that have been in history and are now.  Do you really believe that God established them all and permitted them to rule?  If you don’t, you disagree with the Apostle Paul in his Roman letter where he says, “there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”  Again, I say with emphasis…”God’s ways are not our ways.”

Third, the only cure for violence in culture is Jesus Christ.  Only Jesus can wipe violence away.  Only Jesus can cleanse one’s heart.  Only Jesus can restore, heal, and forgive.  Our job as Christians is to tell the story of Jesus…to plant the seeds of restoration, forgiveness, and redemption.  It’s not our job to tell God what side He has to be on.  It’s not our job to make sure things work out politically as we think God would want them to work out…God’s perfectly capable of making sure His will is accomplished without our help.  And it’s not our job to meld the Christian faith with political ideology.

I trust this has helped you somewhat as you process recent events and search for answers.  Above all, remember, God is still on the throne and one day will make all things new.  While we look forward to that day, we also know that we need to emulate Jesus in our lives…kindness, compassion, gentleness, meekness, generosity, service, and so on.  In doing that, we show the world a better way.

 

Blessings,

 

 

Purpose

 

This post was written before I heard about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas some days ago.  I am well aware of that situation; however, I chose today to present those thoughts that I have already written.  I try to not insert politics into this Thursday Thought series.  I will only say for now that something is horribly, horribly broken in this society.  My great concern is that there may well be nothing government can do to fix it.  It can, I think, help mitigate and reduce the occurrence of these kinds of tragedies.  However, as a Christian, I believe the only real fix is Jesus Christ and a great, national as well as personal repentance and return to submission to the God of the universe and Jesus Christ His son.

I’ll leave it at that, at least for right now, and go on to what I had originally planned.

Steve Hartman is a reporter for CBS News.  His assignment is and has been for I think about 25 years to travel the nation producing stories about ordinary people doing ordinary things, living life day to day.  His emphasis has been on those stories which promote kindness and service to others.  This kind of story doesn’t sound very exciting, but the reality is that his segments every Friday on the evening news are some of the most-watched.  His stories are called, “On The Road with Steve Hartman.”  You can also find many of these stories on YouTube.

During the COVID lockdown, Hartman, along with his daughter Merril and son Emmitt, put together a summer “class” series for children highlighting various forms of human goodness, using prior “On The Road” pieces to make the point.  Kindness, honesty, courage, justice, friendship, gratitude, and other attributes of the human spirit were highlighted.  One of those attributes was “purpose.”

I’ve watched most of those “classes”, which ran 16 to 18 minutes each and are also available on YouTube.  The class on purpose especially resonated with me.  In that session, Hartman featured four “On The Road” segments…a bus driver whose bus students are his surrogate family, an ex-NFL player who could barely read when he went to Alabama to play football, yet determined to learn to read and became a children’s book author, a ballet dancer/instructor in her late 70’s who is still going strong in her profession, and a widower who so loved  his departed spouse that he created a museum in her honor in his back yard.  Each person featured had a unique purpose in life that was obvious to all.

Following the airing of the “Purpose” lesson, Hartman received a letter from Alana Calhoun.  Ms. Calhoun is an adolescent girl who had watched Hartman's summer series for kids, including the series focused on purpose.  She was so moved by that lesson that she wrote to Mr. Hartman.  Here is part of what she said regarding her own purpose in life.

When I thought about what I could do with my life to change the world, I was stumped.  I'm still an adolescent.  I can't drive; I can't work at a hospital; I'm not even allowed to use my stove unsupervised.  So, what can I do?  What is my purpose?

What if my purpose isn't to change the world?  What if my purpose is something as small as helping people in need when I see them?  This isn't something that can solve hunger or stop terrorism.  For me, maybe doing something small is enough to inspire others to do something big.  And that is enough to change the world.

This is Jay again.  Alana Calhoun has, at her tender age, found wisdom beyond her years.  She has discovered that purpose doesn’t have to be some grandiose thing that costs billions of dollars and changes the world right away.  It can be the smallest things.  The routine kindnesses.  The ordinary ways we help others.  The words of comfort we say or the smile we give.  These, I believe, are what Ms. Calhoun meant when she talked about doing something small being enough to inspire others to do something big.

Not many of us are equipped to do the big things.  Not many of us have our own private foundations or organizations that can tackle the big issues of life and culture.  But we all have the ability to affect, for the better or worse, those we come in contact with on a daily basis, mostly one person at a time.

I am reminded of this pretty much daily as I work with those who come to our church door for some kind of help or service.  We can’t do a lot of what some would call the big things.  We don’t have apartments that we can give to those without shelter.  We can’t afford to buy motel rooms.  We can’t purchase a car for them.  We can’t gift them with ten thousand dollars.  There’s a lot of the big stuff we can’t do.

But we can give them some food or water.  We can help out with some fuel for a vehicle.  We can help someone pay a utility bill.  But one of the biggest things I’ve found that we can do is just listen to them.  Listen to their story.  Listen to them as they tell of life and living…their struggles and their hopes.  We can take the time to validate them as human beings and afford them the dignity and respect that they should inherently have as humans.

So much of that is missing from the lives of so many.  Many of those who come to our doors have been shoved off to the side, ignored as if they aren’t even there, and treated as less than human all too often.  To give them our time and attention is something they crave and are very appreciative of, even if we for some reason cannot help them financially.

I have to wonder if Alana Calhoun has yet found those small things that she can do which might inspire others to bigger and greater things.  I know I have over the years often found that the small things…the little-noticed things…those things which seem so routine and ordinary…can indeed be sparks to cause change far beyond my own sphere of influence.

What is your purpose in life?  Why are you here?  Yes, we who are Christians know we are here to serve and love the Lord God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.  And we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Hopefully, you indeed are loving your Lord God whole heartedly.  And hopefully, you have found, or are finding what it means to love your neighbor…as that is the second of the two great purposes of the Christian life.

Loving one’s neighbor can be as simple as a greeting, smile, or a listening ear.  These kinds of things can often move mountains, and just as often, that mountain-moving is unbeknownst to us.  Purpose.  Why are you here?  What is your purpose?

 

Blessings,

Twenty One

 

In the past three years, the RiverWalk family has lost 21 members to death, if our count is correct.  I have been thinking for the past months that we have lost quite a few of our church family the last few years, and asked for a list.  Linda, our office manager, had that information and gave me the list that we have.  Twenty one.  Twenty one out of a congregation of about 200 or so.  Twenty one who are no longer with us, but are with their God.  Twenty one of our church family that we have mourned and are mourning; yet knowing of and celebrating their release from pain and suffering in this life and their entrance into eternity in the presence of their Lord.

The pandemic, of course, didn’t help matters.  Several of those we lost succumbed, we believe, to either the illness itself or to one or more of the outliers of two years of being cloistered…isolated away from other humans and unable to attend to basic needs.  Still others simply wore out.  Their bodies could no longer cope.  Hearts gave out.  Cancers invaded.  Dementia did its deadly deeds.

I’ve recently heard several comments from others in our church family asking for some respite from the all-too-frequent gatherings to mourn a death and celebrate life.  Even for those of us whose families have not been hit with a death, the strain is palpable.  The weariness is apparent.  The struggle is real.  I can’t imagine what it must be like to not only mourn for others in one’s church family, but then to have one’s own loved one be one of those we all come together for to mourn and celebrate a life well-lived.  The emotional toll must be incredible.

And I also think of those I don’t know in places like Uvalde, Texas, where at least 21 precious souls are no longer part of the Uvalde family.  And unlike here, those 21 were lost all at the same time in the most horrific of events.  Add to that the eyes and ears of the world as media captures every word, every movement, every facial expression and sends those around the world.  To top it off, the pundits, the politicians, and the public all weigh in with their own take on what happened, many with the goal of furthering their own agendas and lining their own pockets at the expense of a Uvalde people already suffering incredible pain and suffering.

The 21 mostly children who died in Uvalde are in our hearts this day, along with the inevitable nagging questions and thoughts that all zero in on the overriding question of why.  The second question that immediately follows is usually, “What can we do to prevent more occurrences of this?”  Neither question has a simple and plain answer, and depending on one’s world view, those questions can garner a wide range of thought and possible answers.

For the 21 of our RiverWalk church family who have died, the answers are more easily obtained.  Cancer, cardiac issues, COVID, old age, and other factors are the why.  And on the prevention question, that’s an ongoing process in the medical field.  The deaths are, however, real, unsettling, and another stark reminder of our own mortality.

Just as the twenty one Uvalde victims have been individually named in media reports in an effort to bring some dignity and acknowledgement to the unspeakable tragedy, I’d like to close by giving you the twenty one names of those of our church family who have passed from this life in the past three years.

 

 

Beverly Bolton (Oct. 2019)

Mariann Gamble (Nov. 2019)

Mickey Barber (Nov, 2019)

Clarence Daniels (March 2020)

Ron Bolton (June 2020)

Bill Hooten (Sept. 2020)

Nellie Scott (Sept. 2020)

Stella Schadegg (Dec. 2020)

Terry Schadegg (Jan. 2021)

Dena Badgett (April 2021)

Frank McAllister (May 2021)

Russ Sims (June 2021)

Joann Jeffery (Sept. 2021)

Denise Ward (Jan. 2022)

Bob Parnell (Jan. 2022)

Nick Wheeler (Feb. 2022)

Liz Burr (March 2022)

Kay Foster (March 2022)

Bobbie Carr (March 2022)

Mary Manlove (May 2022)

Regina Dunbar (May 2022)

Blessings…

National EMS Week

 This week is National EMS Week.  In 1974, President Gerald Ford authorized EMS Week to celebrate EMS practitioners of all kinds.  It is designed to honor those who dedicate themselves to providing pre-hospital medical care.  The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in partnership with the National Associations of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) sponsors National EMS Week.

 “OK,” you say.  So what?  Just this.  There are lots of National Whatever Days and Weeks.  Many of them are rather quirky, such as National Cherry Cobbler Day, or National Notebook Day.  Some, however, promote legitimate and deserving issues and events…not that cherry cobbler doesn’t deserve at least some kind of recognition…  This is one of those.

 Having been an EMS provider in a past life, I know that I didn’t do it for the money, the recognition, or the fame.  I did it because there was a need and I thought I could help fill that need.  Little did I know when I first became certified in 1990 that I would obtain through EMS service the wealth of experience and memories that are now mine.  Nor could I have guessed that I, along with my co-workers, would be making a huge difference in the lives of many.  There were days when I was on top of the world after serving in some way, and days that I would have just wanted to chuck it all into the dumpster because of a bad medical outcome, a horrendous wreck that we worked, or someone dying in spite of all we could do.

 I served in my home town…the place where I was born and grew up.  I knew most of those who needed us.  I knew most of their families.  They were friends and sometimes even relatives.  It was a privilege to serve them in their time of need, but it was also very difficult at times to serve them knowing that their lives would never again be as they were because of a stroke, heart attack, or traumatic injury.  More than once I recall taking a stroke or fall victim out of their house to the ambulance waiting in the street, with that victim’s spouse following along behind us with a small bag in hand filled with a change of clothes, medications, and perhaps other items they thought they might need during the emergency room exam and hospitalization.  I knew that the one we were transporting would never be able to live at home again…never be able to walk again…never be able to have it be as it always had been.  Yet the loving spouse following along behind with a small bag of clothing wasn’t aware of that…hoping and thinking about a short hospital stay, then back home to things as they always were.

 I also think of the ones…and one in particular…we picked up in his apartment who had a ruptured aneurism.  The signs of aneurism were clear, and the emergency room diagnosis confirmed it.  He was bleeding to death, and there was nothing we could do.  We couldn’t get him somewhere where that kind of surgical procedure was performed soon enough.  That medical service would have been an hour away by ambulance.  He passed peacefully in a hospital room about 20 minutes after the diagnosis.  His daughter was able to see him a few minutes before his passing.

 I had the privilege of being present during that holy time when many took their last breath.  I performed CPR more times than I can count, both on the ambulance as well as at the hospital where I had a day job.  I’ve witnessed new life making its appearance in the world.  I’ve comforted a wife, mother, or son as their loved one was taken away in the ambulance.  I’ve been present when a loved one wanted to view the body of a deceased spouse or family member.  I’ve responded to emergency situations such as multiple automobile accidents, structure fires, and “code blue” situations.  I’ve helped medically in the emergency room, X Ray, physical therapy, in patient rooms and elsewhere.  The range of experience I’ve had has been incredible as well as incredibly satisfying and emotionally heart-wrenching.

 I don’t want to go through any of that again…I’m done.  And I’m at peace with that.  However, I wouldn’t take a million dollars in place of the experiences and memories that time in my life provided.  The sound of sirens and the flashing red and white lights still stir up a little adrenalin from time to time.  They also stir up memories of not so long ago when my younger body could jump out of bed at 2am, slip on clothes, run outside to my vehicle and drive to the ambulance garage in less than 5 minutes.  Those days are long gone.

 Yes, it’s National EMS Week.  Take a moment this week to honor those who serve and have served.  And pray for their safety and their mental as well as physical health and wellness.

 Blessings.

That "Dignity & Respect" Thing

Good morning !  Let’s hope you haven’t been washed away by all the rain in the central part of the country.  We really did need the rain here, though.   We’ve been in a mini-drought, and the two-day off-and-on rain has really been a good soaker.

 I don’t like to talk politics on social media or in this venue.  What I’m about to say here is about as close to politics as I’ll come.  I’ll begin with some what many would call “introductory” material, which will help out later on in the video.

 We’ve all heard the expression, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”  The meaning of that saying is clear…you can make and keep more friends by being respectful and treating people with dignity than you can by criticizing and putting others down.  People wish to be, and should be validated as human beings worthy of being treated with kindness and respect.

 I know that it is sometimes difficult to do that, especially with others who may not understand the Golden Rule…treating others the way they would like to be treated.  We may also have difficulty being respectful and dignified when we are interacting with someone who may hold differing views on religion, child-rearing, hot-button issues such as immigration or abortion rights, politics in general, and a host of other issues wherein differing viewpoints are the norm.  And the “dignity and respect” treatment may not always be the thing that smooths out relationships…sometimes, it just doesn’t work that way.  But generally, the old axiom is true.  Generally, one really can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 We Americans tend to typecast people of varying viewpoints and vocations into one huge lump.  For example, we have a basic mistrust of used car sales people, lawyers, insurance sales people, and politicians.  We tend to lump all lawyers into one box…all politicians into one box…all used car sales people into one box…all insurance sales people…into one box.  Of course, when one really thinks about it, one knows that not all politicians, for instance, should go into the same box with the label of crooked, power-hungry, money-grabbing.  Yes, there certainly are some who are those things.  But there are many who are sincerely and honorably serving, trying to do the best they can to make their corner of the world a better place.

 Politicians are human beings.  They have feelings.  They have aspirations.  They have families and friends.  They’re people.  And as people, they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  Name-calling, non-constructive criticizing, threatening words…should have no place in interactions with one’s political representatives.

 Some years ago, I decided to do my best to develop some kind of relationship with those who represented me on a local and state level.  I knew that those men and women were generally more available than national leaders, and often made decisions that affected me more directly than many of the national representatives.  I also knew that those people often were the recipients of hate mail, vitriolic criticism, and coarse language directed at them.  I decided to try the ”honey” approach instead.

 And, what do you know…it worked.  Over time I have developed what I consider to be good relationships with my city and county representatives as well as those who represent me on the state level.  I have met one-on-one several times with many of them.  We’ve had lunch and have been able to talk over the issues of the day.  My emails to them are read, considered, and given a respectful answer.  My phone calls are answered and we’re able to talk with each other.  Our conversations sometimes betray a frustration with the way things are, but we are able to work past those times and continue the communication with each other.  The honey works.

 Try it some time.  Reach out to your elected representative on a city, county, or state level.  Take some time to develop a relationship.  Be respectful.  Be supportive.  Be informed on the issue you want to discuss.  Find some common ground to begin from.  State your opinions based on facts and non-biased research…not alternate facts, slanted statistics, or hearsay.  Listen to their responses.  Thank them for their time and for their service.  Be genuine.  You may be surprised at how far a little kindness and respect will go.

 Then take those lessons on treating other people and apply them to all of your interactions with others.  Your friends, relatives, neighbors…the check out person at the store…the clerk who is renewing your car registration, and others.  I think you’ll find it a much better and more satisfying way to live.

 Blessings.

Is It Ministry

 

Good morning !!  I’m happy it’s Thursday, because that means Friday is just ahead.

 Coming in to work this morning, I wondered what I needed to do today to finish up the week.  You see, I don’t work at the office on Fridays, and today will be the last work day of this week.  I knew I needed to write this Thursday Thought.  And I also had an email to send to a member.  But other than that, I had nothing really on my plate.  Or so I thought.

 Arriving in the parking lot and coming to the entrance door, I first looked into the Paxton’s blessing box we have near the entrance.  It had a few items in it that no one had taken, and no one was going to take because those items were used and not appropriate for a blessing box.  I removed them and carried them toward the entrance.

 As I did that, I noticed one of our disabled members already here, waiting to be let into the building.  No one else was here yet, and she has the public transportation van bring her to Thursday morning Bible study.  Sometimes the van has to bring her early due to scheduling issues.  That was the case this morning.  So, before I got to my office, I came into the building, threw away the items I took out of the blessing box, opened the door, and helped her into the building and back to where the class was going to be held.

 While I was in the Bible study area, Doug, the teacher of the class was there setting up a virtual meeting for the class.  He told me he couldn’t get Internet access.  I remembered then that the evening before, in that same area, I couldn’t get access for the Wednesday evening class and I had to punt by using a DVD for the lesson instead of YouTube.  We had Internet in other parts of the building, so I presumed that the switch and associated gear in the tech closet was working.  I then guessed that the WAP, the wireless access point that serves that part of the building was somehow not working right.

 I used an app on my phone to see that there was indeed a signal from the access point…but no Internet on the signal.  My limited I/T experience only gave me the option of rebooting the device.  So I went to the janitor closet, got out a ladder and found the access point in the ceiling.  I unplugged it, waited ten seconds, and plugged it back in, hoping and praying that would fix it.  After about a minute of rebooting, the device indeed came back on with Internet capability.  I checked with Doug to be sure he had Internet, then reinstalled the ceiling tile and put the ladder away.

 While in the classroom, someone mentioned that the clock which was there wasn’t working.  All it needed was a battery, so I went to my office, found a double A battery in my junk drawer and installed it into the clock.  That made it work and I rehung it on the wall of the classroom.

 Forty five minutes after I arrived, I was finally able to sit in my office chair and begin my “official” day.

 I tell you all of that to tell you this.  What happened this morning is not an unusual thing for me.  Many times I find myself dealing with something totally unexpected…something which immediately takes priority over whatever else I may have to do.  Something which does not appear in any way to be “ministry.”  And you deal with similar situations in your daily life and living too.  You may have your day planned when a phone call, a text, someone at your office door, or some other notification makes you immediately re prioritize your day.  Often, those things which force that reprioritization apparently have nothing or very little to do with your work or daily responsibilities.  Nevertheless, you take them on anyway.

 In my case, was what I did for the first forty five minutes today “ministry?”  Was it part of my work as a minister and shepherd at RiverWalk?  Or not?  Or does it matter?  What I did needed to be done, whether it could be placed into the “ministry” category or not.  People were in immediate need.  I could help fill that need.  Had I refused, needs would have gone unmet that I could have alleviated.  That wouldn’t be “ministry.”  That would be selfishness and an uncaring, unloving attitude.

 Sometimes we have to step back and see the bigger picture of our role in God’s kingdom.  We can’t, of course, see the entire thing, but we can catch glimpses of God at work in and through us as we go about our day.  And we can by faith understand that we may well be part of a much greater work in the lives of others than we ourselves can comprehend.  So we leave it to the Master Planner to order our lives.  And we continue to understand that we are, as the great Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Ephesian church, “God’s masterpiece, who has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

 Blessings.

Those Thoughts

 Good afternoon, and welcome.

 In the midst of everyday life and living, as we go about those things on our daily schedule, or deal with the unexpected that crops up from time to time, we sometimes find ourselves thinking about things totally unrelated to the task at hand.  Our minds wander.  They can go far away from whatever it is we are doing at the moment and latch on to something that seemingly came out of nowhere.

 I don’t know about you, but my mind often wanders, even when I’m driving on Kellogg, reading, or as I’m doing right now, typing this Thursday Thought.  That wandering covers the gamut from what I’ll be doing the rest of the day to thoughts of things that happened in my life decades ago.  Of course, everything in between is fair game, too.  Sadly , all too often those things that come to mind when I think about decades past are things that in some way I perceived as being detrimental to me.  And sometimes those thoughts are of are things that I probably shouldn’t be thinking about at all because of their moral or legal questionability.

 Out of nowhere it seems, a memory of a perceived slight by someone else toward me that happened years ago, or harmful words spoken to me, or that I spoke to someone else, or perhaps the memory of some bad experience of some kind comes to mind as my conscience wanders.  Maybe it was something a classmate said to me in junior high school.  Or perhaps it was something I did in Kindergarten class that brought the teacher’s attention.  It might be some disagreement I had with my wife decades ago where I can recall pretty much every word I said that I should never have spoken.

 Or maybe it is some kind of thought of something that never happened, and is morally or legally questionable, but that I might fantasize about happening to me or I myself doing whatever it was that I was thinking about.  You know what I’m talking about.  We’ve all been there.

 Those good memories…those pleasant times…those kind words spoken or heard…those thoughtful things that others did for us when we were in need…those good times with good friends…those memories are often shoved aside by the bad memories or questionable thoughts.  Those bad thoughts and memories then seem to grow and take root, expanding almost exponentially as we find ourselves caught up in the process and unable or unwilling to put it to a stop.

 I cannot get into your mind with a mind meld like Mr. Spock on the Star Trek series was able to do.  But I can tell you with pretty much absolute certainty that you relate to just about everything I’ve said so far.  You too recall entirely too many negative memories.  You too remember too many things that happened to you or that you did or said that are negative.  You too have thoughts of dubious moral, ethical, or legal value that keep coming into your mind anytime, anywhere.  And you too tend to dwell on these thoughts and memories, unwilling or unable to blot them out of your head.

 I know it may disappoint you, but I don’t have an answer for this phenomenon that seems to inhabit the human race.  I don’t know of any quick fixes or miracle cures.  What I do know is that dwelling on such memories and thoughts does one no good and can sometimes promote bad behavior, depression, and even physical illness.  Now, if you are willing follow me into the spiritual side of things regarding this issue, I can point you to a panoply of places in the Bible that talk about just the things we’ve been discussing.  Perhaps the most well-known of places is in Philippians where the Apostle Paul says this:  “

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

 There are other places in the Bible where the topic is speech, the tongue, giving grace, being merciful, and so on.  The Psalmist says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Try me and know my thoughts.”  There is also a Biblical place where it says, “The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind.  They are vanity.”  And the Bible has many places where the “thoughts of the heart” are mentioned, most of the time reminding the reader to be careful to keep those thoughts on the straight and narrow.  Such reminders would not be necessary if we humans didn’t have a great propensity for dwelling on the sad, the bad, and the ugly.

 As I said, I have no easy answers for the multitude of thoughts, many of them negative in some way, that come your way or come my way.  I do know, though, that with some discipline and in paying attention to our thoughts, and with the encouragement and help of God, we can train ourselves to dwell on better, happier, and healthier thoughts and subjects.  It takes work and effort, but is totally worth it.

 May God bless you as you work within His will to corral…hog tie if necessary your thoughts…and keep your thoughts pure and lovely and good.

Final Frontier

 

Good afternoon, and welcome.

 Tomorrow, we at RiverWalk church will have yet another memorial service for one of our members.  Kay passed away several days ago from illness not related to COVID.  She joins several other RiverWalk members who have passed relatively recently from illness, only one of which was COVID related, as far as I know.

It is times like this that make those of us who remain alive think yet again of the reality of life and death, mortality and immortality, and the relationships we have with each other.  These times also force us to think of those things in life that are truly important compared with those things we often place in positions of great importance, but which pale in comparison to reality.

You know what I’m saying.  Those truly important things are a life well-lived; people in our lives who we love and cherish; family ties; friendships; and for people of faith, most importantly our relationship with the God of heaven and earth.  The pseudo-important things…those things we often place in positions of greatest importance in our lives…power, wealth, prestige, influence, accumulation of things…those things suddenly shrivel and essentially go away when we are facing our final frontier.

It is sad and puzzling to me why we don’t recognize the truly important things of life sooner.  Why is it that people, relationships, family, and our faith in God seem to come front and center when we are in our final weeks of battle with incurable cancer?  Why do we humans hold on to the false narrative that gives preeminence to wealth, prestige, and the accumulation of the material?  Why do we persist in holding on to idols crafted by mankind instead of holding on to the One who created us and wants us to share life, freedom, and endless joy with Him for eternity.

I can relate to those questions because I myself am guilty…as are we all…of doing that exact thing.  I have, and continue at times to hold on to that false narrative.  I find it so difficult to let go of the material…let go of the here and now…let go of the selfishness of me-first.  I am right there in it with Paul the great Apostle when he said, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

And Paul also provides, in the next sentence, the explanation for this deliverance through Jesus.  He writes, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Now, I don’t pretend to understand all there is to know about what Jesus did for me or how his death on a Roman cross somehow made me free, as Paul says, “from the law of sin and death.”  I can’t fathom how one man dying some 2,000 years ago can have any effect on me, or anyone else for that matter.  But when I look at the entire Biblical story from cover to cover, I see evidence of a God who loves me, who had (and still has) a plan for me, and who tells me that the death of Jesus did indeed have a profound effect on me and my relationship with this God.  And as Peter the apostle said once to Jesus when Jesus asked his disciples…his adult students…if they would leave him as the rest of the crowd just had, “To whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

There is no other place, person, or thing we can go to.  We can’t take our prestige, power, or wealth with us when we die.  Jesus is the one…the only one…who has the words of eternal life, and is the only one we can take with us when we cross that final frontier.

 

Blessings,

Daily Influence

 

Good afternoon, and welcome to this edition of Thursday Thought.

 Have you ever given much thought to how wide your circle of influence extends into society and the world?  Now, I know that’s a rather deep question to start off a Thursday Thought, but the question is certainly pertinent.  Perhaps a question you might have for me before you even begin to answer my question might be, “How in the world did you come up with that thought, and why are you asking the question?”

I’m asking because as I count off the months and years, which by the way seem to be coming at me much more quickly than they did in my childhood and younger adult days, I think back to those people I’ve met and developed some kind of relationship with or events that I participated in which were somehow more important than I perhaps thought at the time.  I especially can think back on people I’ve known, many of whom I still know and have a relationship with, who are scattered far and wide on the earth.  The rise of the Internet and social media has made those kinds of widespread connections very easy and accessible.  I have to wonder just how much their knowing me has influenced them in some way, and how my knowing them has influenced me in some way.

The web of relationship is much more complicated than we might at first think.  And the fact that we have some kind of friendship or relationship with someone else pretty much naturally leads to some kind of change in that person and in us…some kind of alteration in how we think or behave…some kind of way in which we are different somehow for having that relationship.  Sometimes those changes are positive, for the good.  Other times those changes turn out to be destructive and cause damage to one’s health and well-being.

And one’s circle of influence…oh my, that is usually much, much larger than we ever have thought could be possible.  At times, we are unknowingly much more influential upon the lives of others than we ever could imagine.  And we’ll probably never know the extent of that influence or how our influence has changed not only the person we know, but people, situations, and events that they know and are part of.

We don’t exist in a vacuum.  We are not the only ones we affect when we say or do some thing or other.  Each of us looms large in the lives of others, whether we know it or not.  What we say.  What we think.  What we do.  Those actions affect others even if we do them in private…even if we make every effort to hide them…even if we take all measures to keep them out of the lives of others.  We may succeed in keeping those things private; however, they will have an effect on us and in turn we will alter in some way, large or small, how we interact with others.  Society and the world are very tangled webs of relationships.  We can only begin to understand small parts of those webs.

And the amazing thing about it all is that this influence is felt even when we are living our ordinary, routine days.  We don’t have to do or say something spectacular in order for the influence to be there.  Every day.  Every hour.  Every interaction has the potential to affect others for the better or the worse.

That doesn’t mean that you have to somehow be fearful of interaction or be overly cautious when you live your daily life.  It just means that we are indeed not islands.  We don’t live alone.  We aren’t just our own.  We’re all interrelated in some way.  We affect others in ways that we cannot fathom.  We are indeed in many ways our brother’s keeper.

Live your life.  Live it with joy, contentment, and peace.  Live it as God intended.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  And love God above all else.

 

Blessings.

Strength Renewal

 There’s a lot going on in the world today, both near and far away.  The war in Ukraine continues to drag on with daily reports of death and destruction.  Then there’s the news of a possible COVID variant that is spreading.  And now, at least in the Great Plains, we have out-of-control wildfires that have hit Central Kansas grasslands recently.  And those fires continue to be ignited and spread by the March winds.  You know, with all that is happening right now, it can become easy for us to hit the doldrums of life and living.  We become bogged down by all of the stuff that bombards us daily…stuff that seems to suck the spring out our step, sap our energy & drive, and cause us to want to just stay in bed and pull the covers up over our heads.  We don’t eat as we should.  We don’t exercise as we should.  We don’t interact with others as we should.  We ignore the laundry, the dishes, and the bill-paying.  You know the feeling.  You’ve been there.  You may be there right now.  You know full well what I’m describing.

Sometimes even in our gilded society of hot and cold running water, comfortable transportation, air conditioning, instant communication, and all the food we could possibly want, we become tired.  We get weary.  Life still presses in on us.

We still battle cancer, dementia, and heart disease.  We deal with sometimes untimely death.  We struggle with mental health issues and disability.  Families and relationships become estranged.  We experience divorce, societal breakdown, the gulf between liberal and conservative, and religious fanaticism.  The struggles are real.

So, where do we go?  What do we do?  Do we stay in bed all day?  Do we never get dressed our go out of our homes?  Should we seek medical or mental health care?  Maybe we could go on a sort of permanent vacation or just slip away to another city…another state…and start over.  Or we could become advocates for change, joining this group or that non-profit or some other do-good organization.  There are all sorts of ways to help mitigate the effects of human misery, none of which is perfectly satisfactory.

However, I’d like to point you to a place you may not often think of when thinking about possible cures for what ails you.  And although you might at first glance think this is a “religious” thing, in truth it isn’t so much religious (as many people think of the word) as it is practical, good advice.  I’m pointing you to the Christian Bible, the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, chapter 40, verse 31.  Here’s what it says.  “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

That word “renew” when examined closely, actually means to exchange one thing for another.  In this instance, we are exchanging our feebleness for the strength of God.  We will gain new strength…strength from God himself.  That newly-imparted strength will enable us not only to soar like eagles and run without becoming weary…but the last part of that verse says we can walk…continuing to simply put one foot in front of the other in ordinary, everyday life and living…and not grow faint in so doing.

Yes, some of us will soar.  Some of us will run.  But many of us will just be walkers…going through the routine of life while we continue to encounter, battle, and deal with those things that life in this fallen creation gives us from time to time.  Our own strength will not be sufficient.  By our own strength we will fail.  We will give up.  We will lose hope.  But by the strength given us by God, we can continue to go down life’s path, not growing weary, not growing faint.

I don’t know what your situation is now.  You may be in great shape, ready to conquer the world.  You may already be soaring and running.  But I suspect that many of you who are watching this are at least at times feeling overwhelmed and out of energy and strength.  Some of you may not even know how you will finish out the day or face the day to come.  However, if you are a Christian, then “Because He Lives,” you can indeed face tomorrow, tapping into the strength provided by the unmerited favor God bestows on you.

May God bless you this day and every day.

No One But God May Know

 

My Facebook friend Jennifer Dukes Lee, in her book “Growing Slow,” talks about times when they went to the beach.  One of those times, she encountered a dad and his son building a sand castle.  As the day went on, others, many of whom were strangers, would join the two and help build the castle.  At the end of the day the castle was adorned with many towers, a moat, a stairway, and other kinds of bling.  And one thing everyone knew was that the castle at some point was going to come down, whether from humans or from the waves.

Sure enough, the next day the castle was down, having been destroyed by some kids who had jumped on it.  Dad and his son were there, building another castle.  When asked about the one that was destroyed, Dad just said, “We know these castles won’t last.  We come to this beach every year.  Our favorite part is building castles.  They never last.  But this is what we do.  It’s hard work, but mostly, it’s just a lot of fun.”

Ms. Lee then says this:  Here's what I learned on that beach:  We may build some amazing things in life that last a long time. But not everything we build will produce a measurable legacy.  Your best efforts may be washed away or trampled.  You may be forgotten.  No one but God may know about the most meaningful things you did with your life because they were done in obscurity, when no one was watching but Him.

She continues:  You might think that what you’ve built with your life so far isn’t all that grand.  But maybe that’s not the point, anyway.  It’s not what you’re building; it’s Who you are building with.

Come to the shore.  Kneel next to your Father, and get your knees dirty as the sun warms your back.  And when the day comes to a close, stand next to your Father, and take a moment to admire what you’ve done together.  Then, watch as He turns to you, squeezes your hand, and says, “Wasn’t that fun?  Let’s do it again tomorrow.”

This is Jay now.  Recently, I’ve been thinking about some of the things that I do in everyday life and work, and how futile those things I do sometimes seem to be.  And I think we all can relate to that feeling that we’re just spinning our wheels…we’re just going through the motions…we’re just doing what we are supposed to be doing as we go through our day.  Our best efforts, it seems, don’t bring about much in the way of change or recognition.  We begin to feel and believe that what we are doing is not productive at all, and more than that, no one notices what we do and no one recognizes our efforts.

The point of Ms. Lee’s post, however, is that we should place less emphasis on how much we think we accomplish and more emphasis on doing the good works that God the Father has given us to do…working alongside Him as we joyfully work with Him to renew the creation.

The fact that we may well never see the results of those good works is irrelevant.  The fruit of those good works may not be apparent ever, or may become apparent only years or even decades later.  Or we may see those good works seemingly destroyed much as the sand castle was destroyed.  That doesn’t mean we cease to do the work.  It only means that we continue those works for as long as we are given the breath to go on.

Nor does a failure to receive recognition from others for those works give us permission to cease those works.  We aren’t in the good works for the recognition and accolades from others.  We’re in the good works business because God accomplished a great work in us…forgiveness of sins, our salvation and our adoption into His family.  That’s why we do what we do.  The accolades and recognition make us feel good for a moment.  But our recognition of God’s great work in us and our thankfulness and gratitude for that great work are what should be driving us to those works.

Whether our good works consist of raising a family in the shelter of the Lord, providing good value to a customer from the business we own or work for, giving someone a ride to the doctor’s office, donating food to a food bank, being neighborly to those in our neighborhood, or whatever it may be…we do them out of our gratitude and thankfulness…not for the recognition and accolades.

May God continue to bless you with wisdom and strength as you go about the good works He has given you to do.

We Are Unique Creatures

 

Good morning!  Again today, as I did last week, I begin this thought acknowledging the current world situation with Ukraine as well as the State of the Union speech by the President and other political and ideological events and situations.  However, Thursday Thought is not a political venue.  It is, rather, a venue for me to reach out to you with what I hope and trust are words of comfort, instruction, reflection, and even information.  I don’t intend to become overly religious in these videos; however, I will not hesitate to point out certain teachings of the Christian faith when appropriate.  It is, of course, your choice whether to view these videos or not.  It is my choice to select the topics.

We are having a warm spell in Kansas this week.  Temperatures are fifteen to twenty degrees above normal.  Such spring-like temps bring out the desire to get outside, dig in the ground, clean up winter’s mess, and even go to the shops and stores that sell seeds & plants, planning the spring and summer planting seasons.

It’s all an illusion, of course.  The warmth is just a tempting ploy to get us to believe that spring maybe has arrived.  The reality is that colder weather is around the corner.  Frosts and freezes are yet to be endured.  Tender buds and shoots may well be frozen back.  And we will go back to wearing layers to keep out the cold, and endure the biting north winds that are sure to come.

The month of March is such a tease.  Days of warmth and breeze are interspersed with days of snow, ice, and gusty north winds.  Plants begin to green up and sprout in the sunny warmth only to be beaten back by several days of below average temperatures and stifling, overcast skies.  March seems to be the month when the battles between summer and winter begin in earnest.  Those battles seem to peak in late April and May with thunderstorms, hail, and even tornadoes criss crossing the plains.

Then, the battle finally having been won by the summer’s heat, June starts the calming down of the weather and July & August are just downright hot.  Late September and October begin the battles again between summer and winter with winter eventually winning out…and then the next March we do it all over again.

There are, we know, parts of this earth that don’t see these battles.  In those areas, it’s either always hot or always cold.  And there are some areas that are always, it seems, just right with very little change in temperatures from summer to winter.  Sometimes we in the temperate climates long to live in a place where the daytime temperatures are always in the upper seventies and the nights are always in the mid sixties.  A place where rainfall is abundant and plant life is rich and full.  However, people who live in those places sometimes long for more of a change.  The sameness of the weather day after day becomes a little too much.  People long for variety, even in the weather, sometimes.

I don’t know what your preference is regarding the weather.  Some like it hot.  Some like it cold. Some like it the same all the time.  Some like the variety.  We are all different.  And that’s my point.  We aren’t all the same.  We aren’t clones.  We each have our preferences and our desires, even when it comes to something we can’t control like the weather.  Those differences don’t mean that some are right and others are wrong.  Those differences don’t mean that we trash and demean those who hold to preferences that we don’t hold.  Nor do those differences mean that we are somehow superior to those who have other points of view.  All it means is that we are not cut from the same mold.  We are unique individuals created by God to fulfill a unique purpose in His creation and in His plans.

May that same God…the God of heaven and earth…the God of, as the Old Testament says, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…the God who inhabited the earth in Jesus Christ…bless you this week as you fulfill that purpose.

Appreciate What You Have...

 

Our “across the street” neighbor lady likes to use sidewalk chalk to write messages on her drive.  Last week, she posted one that hit especially close to home for me.  The message?  “Appreciate what you have before it turns into what you had.”  In all probability, she got that quote from somewhere…where, I don’t know.  Nevertheless, it’s a great line and deserves to be explored.

 You may think you don’t have very much, or at the least it wouldn’t be a big deal if what little you may have became something you had.  If you’re thinking like that, you need to dig deeper.  “Appreciate what you have.”  Don’t think about only material things.  Think about the “other” things…friends, family, relationships, health, job, spouse…those things we often take for granted in life.  Think about those things and appreciate them, protect them, guard them because these things and these people are more precious than any material thing could ever be.

 And these things can easily be things you once had rather than currently have.  You can easily push friends away from you by inappropriate words or actions.  You can ruin family relationships and your relationship with others in the same ways.  You can throw away your health through unhealthy habits and actions.  You can lose your job and lose your spouse just by uttering words that should never be uttered or engaging in just one act of infidelity or disloyalty.

 Gaining the trust of friends and developing a love for others in deeper relationships are not easy or flippant processs.  Sometimes it takes years to more fully develop the kind of friendships and relationships that we all crave.  However, just a few misplaced and ill-timed spoken or written words can shatter that trust and faith, resulting in broken relationships and the prospect of having to rebuild…sometimes with great cost and difficulty…that trust and faith again.

 And just one act of infidelity, a one-night fling, can destroy or at least forever change the otherwise great relationship you have with your spouse or significant other.  It is so easy to slip into compromising situations…many times without even knowing what is happening until it’s almost too late.

 I can’t begin to tell you how often I’ve had to rebuild relationships or seek new ones over the years.  I also can’t begin to tell you how many times my friends, relatives, and my wife have overlooked and forgiven things I’ve said or done that might otherwise have resulted in a break in trust and faith in me.  It greatly saddens me to know that I have put these my friends, relatives, and yes, my wife through that pain.  Knowing this gives me an even greater resolve to think before I speak, consider before I act, and slow down before I rush headlong.

 Just changing two letters in a small word…turning “have” into “had”…means a life change…a forever difference…a future that will never be what had been.  Please stop and think before stepping off of the pier into the ocean.  Please take the time to weigh the consequences of your words and actions.  Consider who you hold dear before you flippantly or selfishly toss them aside in favor of something or someone you shouldn’t be involved with in the first place.

 Appreciate what you have before it turns into what you had.”  Blessings.

Tim and Clara

 Good morning !!   I was perusing YouTube yesterday during a break and came across this human interest, feel-good story.  You may have seen something about it a few years ago.  Rather than re-tell the story, I will mainly quote from a viral Facebook post about what happened on an airplane between a blind and deaf man named Tim and a young woman, then age 15, whose name is Clara Daly.  A woman named Lynette Scribner tells the story in a June 20, 2018 posting on her Facebook timeline.

Ms. Scribner writes, I saw this gentleman, Tim, in Boston’s Logan airport with his sister that he had been visiting.  It appeared he was both deaf and blind, as I observed her signing into his hand for him to feel her words.  When he came aboard the plane he had been assigned the middle seat of my row.  The kind gentleman named Eric, who had the aisle seat, graciously gave it up for Tim.

At this point, Tim was traveling alone.  The flight attendants sincerely wanted to assist him, but had no way to communicate.  I watched as they didn’t flinch when Tim reached out to touch their faces and arms.  They took his hand and tried so hard to communicate with him, but to no avail.

Tim had some verbal ability, but clearly could not understand them.  Eric did his best to assist him with things like opening coffee creamer and putting it in his coffee.  When Tim made the attempt to stand up and feel his way to the restroom, Eric immediately got up to help him.

The flight attendants were talking among themselves and someone suggested paging to see if anyone on board knew sign language.  They did page that request.  That’s when this lovely young woman, Clara Daly, came into the picture.  Fifteen years old, she learned ASL because she had dyslexia and it was the easiest foreign language for her to learn.

For the rest of the flight she attended to Tim and made sure his needs were met.  It was fascinating to watch as she signed one letter at a time into his hand.  He was able to read her signing and they carried on an animated conversation.  When he asked her if she was pretty, she blushed and laughed as Eric, who had learned a few signs, communicated an enthusiastic “Yes” to Tim.

I don’t know when I’ve ever seen so many people rally to take care of another human being.  All of us in the immediate rows were laughing and smiling and enjoying Tim’s obvious delight in having someone to talk to.  Huge kudos to the flight attendants of Alaska Airlines who went above and beyond to meet Tim’s needs.

I can’t say enough about this beautiful young woman named Clara who didn’t think twice about helping her fellow passenger, and Eric’s instant willingness to assist as well.

It was a beautiful reminder, in this time of too much awfulness, that there are still good, good people who are willing to look out for each other.

This is Jay again.

Can you visualize the scene?  Here’s a 15 year old young woman spending her flight time of about five hours seeing to the needs of a rather grizzled older man who can neither see or hear.  Additionally, a man seated next to him also is helping out as much as he can with the basic needs of this gentleman.

I don’t know Ms. Daly.  Nor do I know Eric or Tim.  I don’t know if these people are aware of Jesus’ teaching on who is their neighbor.  I don’t know if they are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan or not.  What I do know is that they set an example for us all on being a neighbor to someone, especially someone in need.

If you ever begin wondering just who your neighbor is and what your responsibilities toward your neighbor are, just familiarize, or re-familiarize yourself with the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan.  Also, review the story of Clara Daly, Eric, and others as they helped this man on a flight across the country.  Then do some soul-searching and come up with the answer that is blaring at you in bright flashing lights.  Then, love your neighbor as you love yourself.

 

Blessings.

I Feel So Dumb...

 I have become somewhat addicted to the East Idaho News videos on YouTube where the news staff has taken on the responsibility for handing out thousands of dollars in gifts to deserving people in the Eastern Idaho area, complements of an anonymous Secret Santa who evidently lives somewhere in the area.  This past Christmas, Secret Santa gave away one million dollars in cash and gifts, including cars, gift cards, cashier’s checks, and other gifts that truly make a difference and change the lives of these people and their families.

Nominations for beneficiaries of these gifts come in from the public and are vetted by the East Idaho News staff in consultation with the Secret Santa.  They together make the decision what to give.  Then the news crew finds the beneficiary and gives the gifts.

I recently watched one video where a woman with five children had just buried her husband following a protracted and painful illness.  Secret Santa decided to pay for the funeral, which had just occurred a few days before the visit by the news crew, give a five thousand dollar cashier's check, and provide several thousand dollars in gift cards.  The woman was stunned and truly grateful for the help.

There are usually many comments below the video.  Below this particular video, the comment at the top of the page was this:  “I feel dumb and ashamed when I complain about insignificant things. They just suffered a terrible loss. May our heavenly father watch over and be with this family. Give them comfort and love.”

I read the comments somewhat regularly.  This comment stopped me in my tracks.  “I feel dumb and ashamed when I complain about insignificant things...”  Many people posted replies to this comment, agreeing with it and commenting further.  The comment really hit a nerve for many.

What the woman who was the beneficiary of the Secret Santa gifts went through definitely would NOT be insignificant.  This woman cared for her ill husband for about 10 years...nursed him through a kidney transplant...and cared for him through his terminal cancer, all the while holding the family together and caring for five kids.  She had just finished the funeral memorial and didn't have the funds to pay for the funeral...the home agreed to put it on payments for her.  “I feel dumb and ashamed when I complain about insignificant things.”

When one looks at what this woman and family have gone through, most everything that we encounter in our lives looks more and more like the “insignificant things” that the woman referred to in her comment.  I know we all have issues in life.  I know things don’t always go our way, and for some of us, things are tough right now.  However, many of us complain loud and long about the most trivial of inconveniences in life.  We think that our few aches and pains, our temporary setbacks, our not being able to live our lives exactly as we had planned, our inability to turn the world around and make it all go our own self-centered way...we think we're the ones who are so abused.  We pout.  We get angry.  We push others out of the way.  We have pity parties for ourselves.  We complain loudly about the unfairness of it all.  We are concerned only with  ourselves and how we can get things to go our way again.

“I feel dumb and ashamed when I complain about insignificant things.”

I know it's tough to do, but I'm asking you right now to give an account of yourself when some “insignificant thing” comes into your life.  How do you react?  What do you do?  What do you say?  What do you think?  How do you act?  What kind of a person do you become?

The next time you're tempted to throw a pity party for yourself, throw everyone else under the bus in a fit of self=centeredness, or scream about the unfairness of it all, STOP.

Think of this one sentence.   “I feel dumb and ashamed when I complain about insignificant things.”

Blessings.