Peace Be with You

Leonard Nimoy by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg - Created: 27 May 2011

Leonard Nimoy said he was inspired to create the Vulcan salute after seeing the priestly blessing sign in his Synagogue.  Deuteronomy 5:33 (NIV), includes the phrase "live and prosper" as part of Moses' admonitions to the Hebrew people prior to entering Canaan; other translations include the notion of long life as well.

 

Live long and prosper!

Some Random Thoughts Woven Together

This is a stream of consciousness. Jump in and let it take you along. May you find the water refreshing.

We are weak, weak in body, weak in strength, weak in resolve, and weak in spirit.

We are powerless to change, even our own minds, much less the minds of the masses.

In weakness, He is strength. In helplessness, He is help. At the point of our extremities, God is sufficient. At the limits of our power and mobility, we rely on Him. His grace is enough. When we are powerless, we can know His greater power. When chaos bellows, shalom rules.

Amen.

Now that we know and affirm that, let us exercise our axioms of the day.

We are up against some thick, hard walls of resistance to truth and the search for truth.

People with strong opinions tend to collect evidence that reinforces those opinions even if it contradicts them. It's all in perspective & interpretation. People who seek truth also have strong opinions, but constantly question them and even question their most treasured teachers.

We know that only God is always right.

"As a lawyer for God, putting up his case, I was a failure. As a witness for God, telling what he had done for me, I was a success." - E Stanley Jones

God does not need me as an attorney.

Yet ...

"We are thick into idolatry." - Walter Brueggeman

We are thick, also, into our prejudices and narratives of the way things are and ought to be.

The dominant narrative does not produce life, only the alternative narrative of the gospel.

Egypt is all we have known. We have not envisioned the promised land. All we imagine, we compare to a land of bondage.

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!" -Isaiah 31:1

Let us awaken our hearts and minds. Today is a new day to embrace new grace and truth so old that it is fresh and new.

I am awake.
What a delightful surprise,
A twist of events that I embrace.
I would say shocking, but that would mean a stopping.
It is a stirring.
I greet this morning with wonder and anticipation.
For those who wondered, I am well.
For those who assumed it was so, it is.
For those who gave it no thought ...
Why should you have?
To you, I smile and say, "Good morning."
It is, you know. It is a very good morning.
We do expect to wake up, after all and
We expect all around us to do so with few exceptions.
But sometimes, rare moments, we see it for the gift it is and,
More than a gift,
A calling.

Now, we must speak truth to power, to people who vote, people who influence others, people who drive the markets, and people who wield authority in the name of other people.

A word to them:

World leaders -

Love your people.

In return, they will love you. You cannot win them by oppressing them. You can build statues to your own honor with bricks and mortar, but you cannot build respect without building people.

Come to think of it, this may work in business, civic affairs, churches, and families. Thanks for the material, despots of the world!

You aren't useless. We can use you as bad examples.

But we'd prefer to use you as good examples.

And to all:

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " - Hebrews 13:20-21

 

Peace be with you.