Sometimes I dispute, but the act of writing things down has always been helpful to me. It clarifies things. Scattered thoughts come together. Extraneous ideas are filtered.
It works for me.
There are many biblical examples of a person receiving an insight or even a revelation and writing it down. Sometimes, it is is even a command. One example, however, stands out.
Jesus was being manipulated ... or at least they tried ... by detractors and critics. They were trying to control His agenda in order to discredit Him. He took His time, made the dirt His paper and His finger a pen.
Then He wrote.
We don't know what. It is fun to speculate. Maybe folks could read His writing; maybe not. It possibly wasn't for them.
"They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger." - John 8:6
The fact is that when He was done, He knew what to say and what to do.
I can't think of a better endorsement for making notes to myself in all of history, literature, or scripture.
Trending topics are hot topics. They are sure to attract attention and create clicks for our comments and blogs.
They also encourage us to write, speak, or comment before we have time to process our own thoughts and temper our remarks.
Immediacy is not always the friend of authenticity.
They also encourage us to meddle in other people's business on a global level. Then, it becomes everyone's business because it triggers issues that belong to all of us.
The recent episode with Chris Rock and Will Smith raised issues that transcend their characters and behaviors. These issues include insensitivity, appropriate humor, respect, violence, self-control, decency, the stewardship of influence, shame, and on and on and on.
They also include the power and place of apology and accepting responsibility for one's own actions. There is accountability from outside of ourselves which we cannot control, but there is also self-accountability.
Yesterday, both Will Smith and Chris Rock, published sincere apologies to each other, to Will's wife, and to the public, taking accountability for their actions and making themselves vulnerable.
Apologies do not make us heroes necessarily and they do not fix what is broken. But they can be the first step toward restoration, reconciliation, and growth. As such, while we may not applaud them, we should affirm them and learn from them.
Then, we learn the lessons of how to live.
Hurtful humor wounds souls. That is never OK. Laughter is the best medicine, but it can also be a weapon. Comedy can be a force for good, but it can also destroy people. It should be weighed and measured before it is delivered.
Violence is pervasive in our society and is almost never appropriate. It is usually delivered disproportionately, even by those who intend to use it as protection of themselves and others.
The news is full of it: spousal abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, retaliatory murders, excessive use of force to subdue criminals, pushing and shoving, road rage. The list is as long as the day.
It is obvious that Will Smith is no street fighter by his form. It is obvious to me that both he and Chris Rock have far better sides to their natures. Both are gifted and both have contributed much. Both are hurting right now and realize what they have done wrong.
We should forgive them even if we continue to condemn their actions. We condemn that we might learn and teach. Once an act is public it becomes the property and legacy of the public and the actors in the drama become reluctant, but perpetual teachers and object lessons.
Going further, Jada Pinkett Smith is a lesson in courage, strength, and beauty. I love that she has embraced her life and become an example to so many who might succumb to body shaming. And I love Will Smith's love and loyalty for her, however misplaced his expression of that might have been.
It is interesting to see how people are taking sides in this thing, almost the way we did at a schoolyard fight forgetting that the real heroes are those who broke up the fight.
The only fight I ever got in at school brought me and the other guy to the principals' office where we became fast allies and best buddies. By the way, if I sucker slap someone to defend my wife, I will have a high price to pay when I get home.
I hope to see great work from Will and Chris and Jada in the future.
Now, a lesson about jumping the gun: After writing all of this, I see that the apology attributed to Chris has been reported as fake. My solution is that he simply say, "I did not write that, but I endorse it as representing how I really feel."
Most of what I said is still true.
Then, what I said will be true and we can all move on.
"Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."-Luke 5:5
Been there!
I've done my best. I am sure I've exhausted all the possibilities, expended all the energy, and exercised all the faithfulness possible with no results.
It is as if reciprocity has evaded us and the laws of nature have been suspended to deny us just recompense for our efforts.
It is the dark side of light, the defining moment of discouragement. We have worked all night for nothing and we are ready to quit. We could not muster another moment except ...
and then
and until
comes Jesus
Infuriating and inspiring Jesus comes and bids us cast our nets one more time.
One more time!
We would not do it for anyone else, even ourselves. We don't want to try again. We don't even really believe ...
But your word!
At your word, if you say so, we will.
And that is all it takes!'
We let down the nets one more time and this time, only this time, they are filled.
What will we do today, with feeble hands, faltering faith, and failing history, simply and wearily at the word of the Master? Even if we have no hope of success, we will drop our nets and let Him fill them as He will.
Do you remember the lost and found box at your school? Have you ever lost something important to you that you later found? How did you feel? If you rejoiced, you have something in common with the Father.
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Join us for the prayer our Lord taught us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.-
Lost and Found
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Joshua 5:9-12
New Revised Standard Version
The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.
While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.
Psalm 32
New Revised Standard Version
Of David. A Maskil.
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
New Revised Standard Version
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Luke 15
New Revised Standard Version
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
------------------------------
God is the one who looses.
We are the one who are lost.
We are also the ones who lose.
We are, furthermore, the ones who called to rejoice.
I don't look for my morning themes to post in my blog or social media.
I just sort of gravitate toward them as if there is a magnet drawing the little specks of scattered metal dust into a meaningful center of thinking where a message might emerge if there is anyone to hear, discern, and apply it.
God comes into the scattered dust of our existence and there is something metallic in us and magnetic in Truth that draws us from randomness to reality and purpose.
Sometimes, it is an angel voice that calls and sometimes our own random seeking that draws, but always, always, always, there is an invasion of divinity into our little conclaves of humanity that speaks with clarity .
We are being invaded daily by an army of memes, invaded, infiltrated, and influenced.
I decided that, if I could not beat them, I would join them. I have begun to create regular, if not amateurish, attempts at engaging the culture.
But first, what is it and what are they?
Definition of meme
1: an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media… the band encouraged fans to make memes to advertise the U.S. release of their EP …— William Gruger
The grumpy cat meme frowned its way onto the Internet in September 2012 and never turned its dissatisfied head back. Since then, the image of the cranky cat has grown more and more popular in direct proportion to appearing less and less impressed by fame.— Anastasia Thrift
2: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture, Memes (discrete units of knowledge, gossip, jokes and so on) are to culture what genes are to life.
Just as biological evolution is driven by the survival of the fittest genes in the gene pool, cultural evolution may be driven by the most successful memes.— Richard Dawkins
What is the meaning of my moments and movement beyond the movement of the moment?
In Genesis, the story of Joseph crescendos with this dance he choreographs to reconnect with the brothers who dealt so treacherously with him years before. Perhaps they have tried daily to forget, but they cannot. Nor can they know fully the pain and possibilities that were pregnant in their choices.
When Joseph "sets them up," they are confronted with a question that is deeper than the moment:
" ... Joseph said to them, 'What deed is this that you have done?'" -Genesis 44:15 ESV
In fact, the deed they had most immediately done was none - none that would indict them. They are different men at that day than the men who sold their brother as a slave, but their transformation is not complete until the reconciliation is transacted and Joseph was confront them as much as they must be confronted.
And they must confront the question that has ultimately brought them to this moment, "What have you done?"
It is, in the long run, a redemptive question and it is ours. It is mine? What is the meaning of my moments and movement beyond the movement of the moment?
What is the meaning of my life in an honest and full assessment of my life?
What would it mean apart from redemption? What does it mean in the light of redemption?
Henk Caspers/Naturalis Biodiversity Center - Natural history museum Naturalis, Leiden. Exhibition Earth.
Here we are today, standing on a rolling ball, trying to maintain our balance yet balanced by an unseen hand.
We are suspended between the ground beneath and the sky above and somehow unimpressed.
We are ever bumping into one another and looking the other way with muttered apologies for living.
We see through and around and over and under with the illusion of our own invisibility.
We are witnesses to what we are and what we know and who we know and choose to live in anonymity.
And we live on, day after day, moment after moment in the drudgery of routine and the ritual of sameness moving steadily toward some undefined goal we call "retirement."
Retirement from what?
Indeed we are tired, but not from engagement, not from work. Work never wearied a soul engaged in purposeful pursuit. Work invigorates, regenerates, and illuminates our lives for what they are and are to be ....
We ...
We are called, chosen, and unfrozen to be instruments of peace, God's peace, to sow seeds of love, kindness, joy, and healing.
And if we ever get caught up with that, we can talk about retirement.
So get up, get connected, feed your face, wash your teeth, and move out.
Pieter Brueghel the Younger - Village Lawyer - 1621
There are at least two times when you appreciate an attorney.
The first is when you want a good lawyer joke.
The second is when you need a good lawyer.
Perhaps there is a third. That is when you want to watch hey good legal drama.
Remember. When it was time to write the Declaration of Independence, they chose an author who was an architect and a farmer. But when it was time to write the Constitution they assembled a group of people who included the brightest legal minds of the day.
So, enjoy a good lawyer joke, but remember that when you really need a lawyer, a plumber just won’t do. When you need a doctor, you don’t call a philosopher. It takes all of us bringing our best skills to the community to make the world go round.
That is my point today. Since you will never hear the end of it anyway, I decided to overload you withy PI songs and graphics with a little bit of homespun wisdom. My point?
Take a minute to enjoy it.
If something prompts a deep thought, chase it for a while, but don't let it distract you from the joy of the journey!
Be silly.
Have some square PIE for PI.
Learn and Eat!
Just around the corner There's a rainbow in the sky So let's have another cup o' coffee And let's have another piece o' pie!
Irving Berlin
It is time to celebrate life.
Things go around and round and life is both linear and cyclical. Here is where science and philosophy meet with theology.
And
It is all about the people who surround us and make the journey meaningful.
Love them.
Shake their hands.
Hug them.
Listen to them.
They are part of a circle that cannot be broken!
Life is defined in the living of it.
So live it!
Don't complain; you are going to miss me when I'm gone.
Scripture texts are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Luke 13:31-35
At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
May the kingdom of God find it's way into the hearts of all.
I am a preacher. I was lamenting yesterday about how so few sermons moved me anymore. I am going to have to backtrack on that statement after hearing Ambassador Young preach his heart today. I am both moved and challenged and my heart, like Wesley's, has been strangely warmed.
Let's love the hell out of everyone!
May God's kingdom come in every heart, even our enemies.
There is a university of potential learning philosophically, theologically, ecologically ,and poetically in the human body.
The body is comprised of multiple systems, but no system can be compartmentalized in complete isolation.
Physically, we are a system of systems.
Then, there is the integration of the physical and the emotional which is less tangible, but no less observable.
Moving outward while moving inward, the spiritual dimension is least measurable or controllable, but vibrantly real.
From there, we move into our immediate environment and beyond the immediate where everything is connected by implication and integration.
Nothing operates in a vacuum and nothing and no one is an island. Here is vast, unexplored territory for meditation and a vast battleground for mediation.
On March 10, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya. All 157 members of the crew and passengers died.
One might say, "That was over there. It does not impact me."
But, the 149 passengers had 35 different nationalities. 8 were from the united States.
22 passengers were affiliated with the United Nations.
All human tragedy is international tragedy. it knows no borders or boundaries, no hue, no ideology, no affiliation. It is human.
For Whom the Bell Tolls by John Donne
"No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee."
9-11-2001 struck the soul of America and sent shock waves around the planet. In nations around the world, the shrapnel of personal grief cut the hearts of people impacted by loss.
It was international.
It is always international.
Empathy is an allusive and illusive emotion until is becomes an informed decision.
The choice to care, grieve, pray, an act is both laudable and logical.
Without empathy, we will perish because all tragedy is international whether it is in Ethiopia, Ukraine, or New York City.
There is actually a road to Success in Central California. Traveling west from Porterville on highway 190, you will soon see signs indicating that you are, in fact, on the road to Success whether you knew it or not.
Life can be like that.
But know these things:
#1 - The road to success is paved with the cobblestones of failure, defeat, disappointment, and loss.
We recently rented and viewed, "We Are Marshall." There is a poignant moment in this film set in 1971 about a team, a university, and a city coming back from the loss of an entire football team and many community leaders in one fatal airplane crash. The question arises about whether or not winning is everything and the coach muses that he has always felt that way and will feel that way again in the future. However, in that moment, what counted was getting the team on the field, showing up, risking loss, and playing the game. Once they had achieved that, they could begin to win somewhere down the road. You will never reach your destination if you don't get on the road. Take the risk.
#2 - The road to success has some sharp and unexpected turns.
You can't anticipate all of them, but you better be flexible enough to turn with them or you will find yourself stuck in a field or gully or worse. Pay attention to the signs and to the road. Anticipate what you can, but don't rely on predictability. The thing about this road is that it can change in a moment and you need to be ready for change, crisis, and opportunity.
#3 - The road to success has some pit stops.
Take them. There used to be only one stop on the West Virginia Turnpike between Princeton and Charleston. If you didn't take it, a little time card would show whether or not you had been speeding. There was no point. People would stop to kill time to cover up their haste. On the road of life you must stop to rest, refresh, and renew. You could press on past the rest places, but you do so to your detriment and the detriment of your cause. You will not be your best. You will not be as productive and efficient in your use of energy. Take the rest stops along the way.
#4 - There are narrow places, slow downs, road blocks, and other forms of frustration along the way that call for attention and intention that may not come naturally to you, but will be necessary to get through to success.
You may believe that sitting in stop and go traffic is the most wasteful, useless, and infuriating thing you could ever be doing, but the Designer of the Road who is the Master of All Traffic and the Source, Force, and Course of your dreams and goals knows better. Develop techniques for stilling your restless soul and channeling your energy toward alternate tasks so that no time is lost. There can be and is purpose in every moment.
#5 - There are inclines and declines on the road to success.
Sometimes it takes all your power to climb and sometimes you coast. It is all one road and one destination. Just as it is never always easy, it will not always be hard. Keep on keeping on through the difficulties.
#6 - There will be switchbacks - especially if your goals are as lofty as a high mountain peak.
In mountain driving, which I love, there are 180 degree reversals - sometimes 360 degree turns around a hill. If you are watching a compass, it can be very confusing. You get the impression you are going away from your goal even though you are making progress. Switchbacks in driving and setbacks in life are part of the process. You can't get there "as the crow flies." You have to follow the flow of the road and it is determined by the topography of your times and circumstances. Keep your map and compass handy, watch the signs, and keep on keeping on.
#7 - There will be speed limits, speed bumps, warning signs, and arbitrary rules along the way.
Honor them. They are purposeful. Someone who knows the road far better than you put them there. The Engineer of the Universe knows the science because He invented it and has called you to your purpose. None of these "hindrances" are designed to prevent your ultimate success.
#8 - The road will end or merge with another.
I remember riding country roads with my dad at night on vacations and other times knowing that he was lost, but not flustered. He quoted his father with words that made little sense to me at the time. "Son," he said, "my daddy always said that all roads lead somewhere." And he was right. Another old boy just scratched his head when asked for directions at the country filling station, finally muttering, "Mister, you can't get there from here."
But you can. It may take some course corrections, more time than you allotted, more energy, a lot of patience, repairs on your vehicle, multiple vehicles, and change in your own life, but YOU CAN GET THERE.
You are on the road to success, whether or not you know it.
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.
Joel 2:12-17 New Revised Standard Version
Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Isaiah 58:1-12 New Revised Standard Version
Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
Psalm 51:1-17 New Revised Standard Version
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10 New Revised Standard Version
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Matthew 6:1-6 New Revised Standard Version
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-21 New Revised Standard Version
“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I wish for you all a day filled with extraordinary, audacious, and joyful success.
May it be extraordinary because we were never called to be merely ordinary. We were called, fashioned and equipped to do the one job no one else in the world can do: be ourselves under God in a world that needs the uniqueness we have to offer.
May it be audacious because audacity is that which is invulnerable to fear or intimidation. May nothing intimidate you on your path to greatness today.
Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. May your critics on the highway to mediocrity simply confirm in your heart that you are going the opposite and right way.
May it be joyful because joy is the culmination of a life of grace, gratitude, and generosity. If you can discover the secret of abiding an d overflowing joy in the midst of all circumstances, you will be a success indeed.
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