Be glad in the Lord always.
Let your gentleness show in your treatment
of all people.
Don’t be anxious about anything…
Then the peace of God that exceeds all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds
safe in Christ Jesus.
I have learned the secret of being content in any circumstance.
I know the experience of being in need and of
having more than enough.
I can endure all things through the power of the one
who gives me strength.
Philippians 4 Selected verses
Yesterday the clouds played games in the sky.
They swirled and rolled and tumbled.
Looked like they had a great time!
When was the last time you played a game?
So, today make time to play. Maybe it will be your
already favorite game, a new one, or one you make up.
But, do yourself a favor…set aside some amount of time
during your chores and routines and responsibilities
to play.
And, by the way, don’t feel guilty about using your
valuable time like this. You deserve some
playtime. Go for it.
Light takes many forms,
just like the containers that hold it.
Tall, short, slender, chubby, prominent,
in the background. But Light fills them all,
well, almost all. And even when you
feel like Light has gone out, you’ve got lots of
Light around you…the same flame in others who
are there to comfort, encourage, console, and to share
their Light so that you may shine once again.
It’s call Community, the Community of the Light,
the Body of Christ.
Let your Light shine so that others may know,
and if your Light grows dim or vanishes,
don’t worry. We’re here.
A new decade just around the corner?
You bet. Hang on. Life gets more interesting every day.
Through all the mountain tops and the dark valleys of 2019,
it is good to acknowledge some of life’s consistencies. Like
family, friends, church…there are too many inconsistencies to name,
and inconsistencies are not our focus, anyway.
We are people of the possible.
So I encourage you to take a look at 2019 with a sense of curiosity
and gratitude. Cherish the good. Learn from the not-so-good.
But in all things be thankful.
Bring with you into the new year the strengths you developed
in the past months, the hope that sustained you, and
a determination to cause good to happen in the months ahead.
Do these things to honor the One who calls you forward
and for the blessing of your neighbor.
And have a bowl of black-eyed peas on me.
The rosebud has the inherent ability to become a
beautiful rose. Bud to blossom.
It’s a rose now, but its full development
is yet to come.
So it is with human beings, with me and you.
We have the seed of possibility planted within us by our choice
to follow the Way of Jesus. The seed awaits the nurturing,
but that is our responsibility. No one can make the nurturing
decisions for me. No one can take the practical steps that lead
to the fullness that Jesus promised. We have received a precious gift,
but now it is time to unwrap it. Imagine carrying one of your
Christmas gifts around all year without unwrapping it.
We have the gift, the ability, the resources, even the
clear instructions to become “children of God.”
Great joy, insight, wisdom await our efforts
to blossom into the spiritual beauty that
is our inherent nature.
Go for it!
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name,
he gave the power to become children of God.”
John 1:12
“And what does the Lord require of you?
Do justice.
Love kindness.
Walk humbly with God.”
So says the prophet Micah.
The best time to begin is now.
Christmas Eve, 2019
If you look closely you will see a little
“flaw” here and there.
Nothing is perfect.
No one is perfect.
So, don’t try to be.
Just be your beautiful self!
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