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This is for those with buckets of troubles and woes:  The first motivational phrase I ever heard, back when I was a ‘tween, was: “It’s not what happens to us that matters, but what happens in us.”  I recalled this recently as I thought of a friend who died of MS five years ago.  Les lost everything to that horrific disease that killed him by a hair’s breadth — slowly, relentless, steadily – day after day.  Once a vibrant member of the community, he ended up in a nursing home, totally paralyzed. 

 

When Les thought of his future, it must have been depressing — no cure, steadily increasing helplessness, and long midnight hours to ponder his fate.  Still, whenever I visited him, he was always cheerful and enthusiastic and, before the disease robbed him of speech, had some silly story or dumb joke to share.  Oh, and then he died.  Still, lying imprisoned in a nursing home bed, Les was an inspiration to me, a gift and a blessing, and I almost always enjoyed our visits.  I would miss him today if I wasn’t able to imagine him dancing, whole and playful, in God’s eternal kingdom.

 

My point:  God’s cure isn’t always physical.  It’s about the spirit, about how we handle our journey through the desert.  Be open to the expectancy of the Lord’s promise, not the expectation that He will do it our way.  And, yes, celebrate the joys and gifs and blessings of this day.  We have many, no matter what our circumstances. — jri

 

“God’s response to our suffering is

        –    Father Jonathan Morris

               (The Promise)    

 

My mother always made it look easy.  She was always joyful, strong, outspoken, loving.  Her greatest gift was her booming, window-rattling laugh.  (Her least appreciated gift was her loud, off-key singing voice, which I inherited.)  I think she never wasted a day, even though she spent way too many of them on her back in a hospital.  Even those of us who lived close to her forgot that she lived every day on the verge of death from a bum ticker.  (Her first open-heart surgery was in 1954, a very crude affair.)  She was way too busy living and playfully enjoying the company of those she loved.  

 

Once, after a brutal, experimental open heart surgery that left her rib cage wired together, her biggest complaint was that it hurt when she laughed.  (She also called me to her bedside one evening while she fiddled with a spot on her chest and announced, “Look at this,” as she squeezed an errant piece of wire through the skin, displayed it on her thumbnail, and laughed.  Gross.) 

 

My point:  Many people might say that my mother’s life sucked.  Technically an invalid from the age of 35, she could have whined and carped.  But she ignored all that … and had a ball.  Her life was full — full of joy, full of love, full of happiness.  She was always grateful for her blessings and rarely griped about her problems.  She had a gift for seeing the silver lining in the row after row of storm clouds that passed over her life.  Amen! — jri

 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry

        –    Jesus Christ

               (Matthew 6:25-27) 

 

 

This one’s about me (something different?), so please be patient.  I have been going through a time of extreme emotional and spiritual pain the past several months — a time of almost total and complete unanswered prayers, of roaming about in a spiritual desert.  I’d awake in the morning and offer God the day, praying for relief; by evening be angry and curse the impotence of an  indifferent god; and then sweat through a long, lonely, abandoned night.

 

Well, today, I thank God for those unanswered prayers.  No, they have not been answered.  That’s the point.  My wobbly, battered faith tells me that any fool can give thanks for entry through the unlocked door to the candy store.  I believe the Lord knows me, loves me, and has a plan for me … and, no, not a plan to pull off my wings and stick pins in me for sport.  So, I thank Him for what I know … without proof, just faith. 

 

My point:  In for a dime, in for a dollar.  If we believe this Jesus story, we must believe it — and in it — all the way, not just when we get what we want.  Today’s sorrow will be turned to joy.  Celebrate this day. — jri

 

before you ask him.”

        –    Jesus Christ

               (Matthew 6:8)

 

 

These days, with jobs gone or teetering on the brink, many folks are dusting off their resumes — that two-page brag sheet designed to impress the socks off total strangers with the ability to give you a fist of money every two weeks.

 

Well, what about our spiritual resumes?  How do they look?  On one hand, Jesus never seemed to review them.  He just walked down the shore and called to a handful of apparent strangers, “Follow me.”  And He got a bunch of guys who many of us wouldn’t ask to do clean-up on our yards.  (He seemed to fare better with the women, who stuck by Him steadfastly through thick and thin.) 

 

My point:  What would we have on our spiritual resume?  Perfect church attendance would be nice.  Good works, certainly.  But it seems to me that the job qualifications as a Jesus worker would be more like:  “Loves neighbor; loves the Lord; knows how to ask God for help and forgiveness.”  And that’s about it.  – jri

 

        –    Father Jim Trainor    

 

A lot of folks are fretting these days over losses to their net worth in the current economy.  Many had their “magic number,” the amount they just knew they had to have for a comfortable retirement, and they are now fearful that they will never get there.   

 

For those of us who believe (and, no, that does not mean we understand), we try to accept that ours is a God of daily bread, not of plump and overflowing 401(k) plans.  Jesus blessed a few loaves and fishes and gave the audience enough for one good meal … and a midnight snack later.  God the Father gave the Israelites in the desert each morning enough for their needs each day, not enough to fill a silo for the next year.

 

Bottom line:  He gives us enough, exactly what we need, each and every day.  If we decide we want to horde up a mattress full, well, that’s our misguided choice.  As men and women of faith (be that faith rock solid or wobbly as a toddler), we should take, savor, cherish and appreciate the blessings of each day.  We just may find that the little things are quite enough.  — jri

 

“So he [Elijah] did what the Lord had told

        –    1 Kings 17:5-6

 

 

It is perhaps the most popular, universal motif.  Though the exact term eludes me this morning, it can be summed up as coming back against all odds.  It’s what makes the Rocky movies work, many good-guy-versus-bad-guy westerns, etc.  After a horrific pounding and assurance of total disaster, the cliffhanger hero re-emerges for a final, brilliant, total-victory comeback.  Good triumphs over evil and injustice.  Cool.

 

I guess that makes Jesus the greatest Comeback Kid of all.  But Jesus wasn’t hanging on by his fingertips; He was done, gone, over the edge, finished, kaput!  His enemies taunted Him on the cross, but imagine how His followers felt.  “Okay, Jesus, do it.  Show ‘em your awesome power. We’ve seen a lot in the last three years.  Come on.  Goooooo, Lord!”  It must have looked pretty bad.  Imagine when His body was taken from the cross.  “He’s dead?  You mean, that’s it?  Are you sure?  Check His pulse?  Oh, man, now what do we do?  Maybe we oughta beat feet out of town.”  Fortunately, we know the real end of the story, the three-days-later-Resurrection-in-Glory story!  Way cool! 

 

My point:  If we believe (and that’s the key: If we believe!), then all we have to do is … believe.  Especially at the darkest, most hopeless, most lost, most done-for moment, don’t give up, don’t walk out of the theater before the final scene.  Just believe.  Go God!  — jri

 

“‘He saved others,’ they said, ’but he

also heaped insults on him.”

    –    Mark 15:31-32     

 

A friend of mine had a one-on-one, planned dinner with her teenage daughter earlier this week.  No, there were no problems; just a need to review, remind and realign the rules.  It went amazingly well, as the young lady was open — almost eager — to hear the guidelines and accept the guidance.

 

I think it’s the same with many of us when it comes to God.  I’m notorious for wanting to go my own way and do my own thing.  (The family motto is “Don’t tell me what to do!” which ranks right up there with “It seemed like a really good idea at the time.”)  But truth be told, my way has been a hard way, and as I discover God in my lifelong quest for Him, I am finding that I like His rules and His way much better … well, most of the time.

 

My point:  God knows what He’s doing.  His way works.  So I invite you to take a deep breath, let the gritted-teeth tension go, and put it all in His hands.  Ahhhh. — jri

 

“Humble yourselves before the Lord,

and he will lift you up.”

        –    James 4:10

 

 

I remember the actual day when one of the great joys of my life — my plastic toy soldiers — failed to give me the immense pleasure I had once enjoyed … when lining them up for imaginary combat no longer satisfied.  I had outgrown my own version of Puff the Magic Dragon.

 

I think it can be the same with faith.  As a lad, my early dealings with God were based on fear.  Stay in line or get smote!  (I also thought of Him as a “creamed bean,” because the idea of a “Supreme Being” was a bit beyond me.)  Then He got to be the “Gimme God” — I behave and I am favored.  Fun.  That got old, too, mostly because I am a man ill-equipped to appreciate the gifts of the Lord (which kind of makes Him a “Gimme More God!”).  These days, though it’s still about me, I am less into my plan than into His.  I guess this is the “Your Call, Lord” God.  I worry less about getting what I want than in accepting and at least trying to embrace His plan for me.  A bit different from playing with toy soldiers at the age of seven, but still a hoot. 

 

My point:  It is my uneducated opinion that God’s plan for us changes as we grow and change.  He tests us, steels us, favors us, always giving us exactly what we need at precisely the right time we need it.  Enjoy. – jri

 

“Trust in Jesus means accepting that his

different from our idea of a good plan.”

        –    Jonathan Morris

               (The Promise)