DailyConnections.net

SUNDAY-MONDAY THOUGHT 8/28-29/11

WRONGFUL INDIGNATION

This falls under the category of we-always-hate-the-one-we-hurt.  I had a friend for better than 25 years.  I was loyal, true, supportive through tough times.  We were buds … at least until I went through a divorce, and he took the opportunity to put the moves on my almost-ex-wife.  Nice guy, eh?  (She laughed and told him where to go.)  But the real kicker was that he never apologized to me, or ever talked to me again, for that matter.  After trying to screw me over, he turned away from me.  Interesting.  I call it wrongful indignation. 

Of course, I can be the same way when it comes to faith.  When I turn away from God, do something I know is not in line with His laws (and, yes, we do know His laws.), I find it hard to pray, to talk to Him.  I become distracted and indifferent.  It is not until I finally face up and fess up that we get back on speaking terms again.  Funny how that works.

My point:  When God and we are on good terms, when our lives are in sync with Him and what He has in mind for us, it is easy to pray, to sit down and chat with God.  It is when we are doing it our own way – or, put another way, when we are doing it the wrong way – that we make up excuses, distance ourselves from God, and decide we’d rather not talk to Him.   – jri

SUNDAY THOUGHT & PRAYERS FOR LOU

FAITH ON MY SLEEVE

As my brother these days works in a war zone, I am reminded that my family has a fairly singled-minded trait:  We are, as a rule, transparent.  If we’re angry, we’ll tell you.  If we like you, we’ll tell you.  Also, if we think you’re a jerk … well, you get the picture.  We  tend to be blunt, guileless, open.  

That’s why my brother does volunteer medical mission work.  Fairly spiritual, as well as veraciously and voraciously non-religious, he tends to do (A) what he wants to do and (B) what he believes he should do.  He is both led and driven.  Runs in the family.  And we all love it … and hate it.

Me?  Though I’ve mellowed amazingly since becoming a reformed heathen, my bluntness comes out in my God quest.  I try to be candid and open.  That’s one reason my ramblings are not always neat and sweet little pony-ride sermons about God’s neat sweetness.  God and I, we laugh together, fight and argue, and, most of all, talk honestly to each other.  There are days when I tell Him:  “Look, go to the movies or something; I just need to be alone for a while.”  And, yes, there are times, lots of times, when, like my favorite saint, Peter, I scream, “Lord, save me!” 

My point:  Not sure, really; mostly, I just love the Matthew Fox quote below.  Also, maybe that I do wear my faith on my sleeve, and I have no problem with that.  People know where I stand.  How about you? – jri 

I heard from my brother, Lou, yesterday.  The header says it all:  “Found the War.”  It sounds rather awful in Libya right now.  Please keep him in your prayers.  His message below:

“I Yesterday we found the war. A push was on and the wounded and dead just kept coming in constantly.

“There are things I’ve seen that i never want to see again and there are things I had to do I never want to even think of doing again. 

“All sorts of weapons being fired in the compound, my hearing is better today. I need to come home. I’m out of here in a few days. The team is tired.  Lou”

Our job, I believe, is to serve as we can.  Often that means doing the most important thing of all:  praying.  God bless you. 

John R. Ingrisano
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
www.DailyConnections.net

August 21, 2011

THURSDAY THOUGHT 8/18/11

In business, “Relationship Selling” is a primary key to success, to getting what we want.  That means that before asking for the sale, we should have a solid working relationship with the prospect.  We do not just walk up to a stranger (or even a past buyer) out of the blue and try to make a sale.  It doesn’t work. 

That’s exactly how a lot of folks pray, however.  I know a young man who wouldn’t give God the time of day.  He never prayed or went to church.  But when his father was dying of cancer, he demanded a miracle; angry and scared, he challenged God.  When his father died, the young man turned away from God again.  He was only in it to make the sale, so to speak, and didn’t care a whole lot about God.

My point:  No, I do not know God’s plan, and I am not saying that the father would have lived if his son had spent more time talking to God and building a relationship with Him.  I am saying, however, that those of us who do engage in ongoing, daily “relationship praying” do tend to understand and accept God’s will … and on a more than now-and-then basis, do get a fair share of miracles.  Most of all, we get to know God on a very personal basis, and that’s pretty sweet.  So, take a few minutes today for a God chat.  Nothing fancy; maybe even just a “Hey, God, thanks for this day.  Oh, and let me know if You need anything.”  — jri

I heard from my brother in Libya this morning.  His reports sound like something out of a MASH episode.  As always, thanks for your prayers.  His brief report is below.  God bless. 

Morning,

Now this is a new trick, they stole our hosp last night!

It’s a long story but we had to pull back to our old position but now without equipment. This place is wild. I’m talking about a whole fucking hosp including an OR!

The shelling has increased but the ground fighting is nothing on this front, yesterday only a handful of wounded.

They set up mortar pit and rocket Launcher just outside our gate, they make some noise. If kadafy had any  heavy weapons left we would be on his top 10 hit list.

Actually went swimming, unbelievable water, mild surf and the sound of heavy shelling-a little surreal.

Food is no longer a big problem, we’ve learned to steal really well.

From the front with a tan and a full belly Lou.

Enjoy the blessings of this day, and put your plans in God’s hands. 

John R. Ingrisano
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
www.DailyConnections.net

August 18, 2011

MONDAY THOUGHT 8/15/11

Distracted

I had the pleasure recently of watching my four-year-old grandson, Charlie, enjoy his first solo ride on a mini-go kart.  All he had to do was push one pedal to go, another to stop, and steer clear of the walls.  Easier said than done.  He was constantly distracted: one moment deciding to rub his sandal on the front tire and crashing head-on into the wall; another watching one side of the wall only to crash into a parked go kart right in front of him.  And each time he got stuck, he would look over to his Father to help him get his kart back on track. 

Somehow, this got me thinking about our God-quest journey.  All we have to do is pay attention to God’s word, behave ourselves and … well, that’s pretty much it.  But I, for one, get distracted by all the shiny baubles and supposed troubles I encounter each day.  And, of course, I end up crashing into one thing or another and then looking around for God to straighten out my day and get me back on track.  He does.

My point:  The God Rules (oh, and how some folks chafe at that onerous word: “rules”!) are pretty simple.  If we follow them and trust in God, it’s all pretty clear and simple … no, not always easy, but certainly clear and simple.  And when we get distracted, all we have to do is look around for God (He’s there) and ask Him to get us moving in the right direction again.  – jri

“In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;

     he saved me from all my troubles.”

                    – King David (Psalm 34:6)

I heard from my brother in Libya again yesterday.  I think in his own weird way, he’s having fun.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers.  Thank you and God bless. 

“How much fermented milk can an Italian eat in 24hrs?  As much as it takes to stay alive! I almost like it – I think.  Bread and water is now a gourmet lunch (we have to steal the bread).  Tonight it gets better- camel liver.

 “The hosp moved forward and now the rebels(the good guys) are firing over the hosp. I may lose a filling yet.  Doing well. Love ya little bro”

 Enjoy the blessings of this day, and remember that God called us to serve.  

John R. Ingrisano
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(920) 559-3722
www.DailyConnections.net

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 8/10/11

POSSESSED

As a boy, I spent many a summer day clamming at low tide in the flats of the Great South Bay off Long Island.  (I could get 35 cents a dozen for cherrystones back then.)  Boat at anchor, I’d wade in the knee-deep water, walking heel-to-toe.  When I’d step on a solid object (which would almost always be a clam), I would reach down, grab it from under my foot, shake the mud off and put it in my basket.  However, one day, I noticed that, as I grabbed what should have been a clam, it grabbed me back.  Somewhat concerned, I shook the mud off in the water, raised it to eye level, and saw that I had possession of an ugly rock crab, which in turn had possession of me.  Probably in mutual terror, we quickly agreed to part ways.

That story came to mind as I read this morning (Forward Day-by-Day) about being possessed by our possessions and losing our focus on life.  I was reminded of a time when I had a fair amount of prosperity; over time, rather than enjoy it, I began to worry about losing it.  My possessions began to possess me.  The good news is that I did lose them; today, I have just enough … no more, no less.  And life makes much more sense.

My point:  This one is a gimme:  We should not let our possessions possess us.  All that we have on this earth is a gift on loan from God.  We should enjoy the many blessings and, most of all, share them.  Most of all, we should not start thinking that we actually own them or that we are special because of them.  God made them; they’re His. – jri

Continued thanks for your prayers for the safety of my brother.  I did hear from him on Sunday, a brief message sent by IPhone (whatever that is).  He is in Libya and apparently in the thick of it.  It dawned on me that this would be the first time he has treated war wounds, which I suspect are quite different from illnesses and routine injuries.  Please continue to keep Lou in your prayers.  From my brother: 

                                            “Alive. Working in field hospital. Moving closer to front. Think less than 10 miles got to go love bro”

John Ingrisano

209 Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.dailyconnections.net

August 10, 2011

FRIDAY THOUGHT 8/5/11

CHALLENGED WITH BLESSINGS

A tad longer than usual.  Sorry.

People who know me know that I spent my first 45 years building wealth and arrogance, followed by another nine or so of mixed battles with angels and demons, and the last six struggling with great material losses and beautiful spiritual healings.  It’s no wonder I have a bit of an edge on me.  Whew!

Well, here’s the kicker:  I am now blessed with peace and joy and stability: surrounded by mountains of love; plenty of forgiveness; enough material goods to meet my needs, with still plenty left to share; and the knowledge (a knowing beyond hope and faith) that the Lord has been right beside me, watching over and guiding me, every day of my stiff-necked life.

Still, I have lived by the figurative sword so long that I do not always know how to put it down, or how to trust that I need to and should put it down.  So, I sometimes awake in the middle of the night with the shadow of fear across my heart.  

That happened last night.  And when it did, with a sad weariness, I reached out, pushed Rocky the Boxer back onto his side of the bed, picked up my Bible and turned to one of my favorite verses.  (See below.)  Grace and soothing soul-balm (think of it like Tiger Balm for the spirit) fell gently upon me like rain.  Aaaaaaah. 

My point:  Sometimes it’s not about the intellectual or factual knowing, or even about surviving the tough times and getting all your prayers answered.  No, sometimes, it’s just about the pure joy of being engulfed by the joy of grace, or as C.S. Lewis once said, being “surprised by joy.”  — jri

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again

I will say, Rejoice.  Let your gentleness

be known to everyone.  The Lord is

near.  Do not worry about anything, but

in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be

made known to God.  And the peace of

God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in

Christ Jesus.”

                               — St. Paul (Philippians 4:4-7)

Please continue to keep my brother, Lou, in your prayers.  I received a brief message from him this morning, which I believe he sent from Malta before boarding a boat that will bring him to Libya.  There is a no-fly zone, so that is the only way in:

“good morning bro,
had a good night but my bags didn’t make it. leave tonight by fishing boat 22hr. the hosp was destroyed so i guess it’s basic medicine 101. no idea about next message. this will be a piece of cake. don’t worry. Lou”

John Ingrisano

209 Church Street

Algoma, WI 54201

(920) 559-3722

www.dailyconnections.net

August 5, 2011