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FRIDAY THOUGHT 10/26/12

COWARDS & CRIPPLES

Jacob wrestled with God and came away with a decided limp.  Spiritual cowards, most of us turn away from the fight, preferring to go along and get along rather than take on the tough questions about God and Truth and faith.

That’s because an honest match – going head-to-head in a best two-out-of-three  struggle with God – will be a ferocious, exhausting battle, and the outcome is never in doubt:  We will come away beaten, battered, crippled … yet somehow winning.  Most of all, we will come away different, blessed.

My point:  Life is tough, and so is God.  I’ve found that the real good stuff – the God of our wild, unbelievable joy, passionate joy – requires us to face God, ask the tough questions, listen to the even tougher answers, and discover that what He has in store for us is an ocean of pure joy, not a puddle of mediocre “okay.”

I admit/confess that I never had much interest in the syrupy sweet and sappy, Communion suit image of the Jesus of my youth.  I think that gentle-as-a-lamb, little-girl version is why so many people turn away from God when they begin to develop the ability to think and discover the real world.  No, I like the rough-and-tumble Jesus, the one who withers a fig tree with a glance, snarls at the disciples when they wake him in the boat, the one who marches bravely and boldly (not meekly) into Jerusalem knowing full well that He is going to His own slaughter that Friday.  Life is tough.  God is tougher.  Jesus didn’t surrender; He won by taking the very, very tough route.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
(770) 314-2649
October 26, 2012

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 10/24/12

ADULTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS?

Last week Susan and I helped out as greeters at a dance held for adults with special needs.  Everyone was cheerful, pleasant and loving.  Initially, I found myself casually trying to calculate who had special needs and who was helping as volunteers at the dance.   We all wore name tags, but no one wore signs declaring his or her status.

Finally, realizing what I was doing (sorting the “normal” from the not so), I laughed, shook my head and stopped attempting to categorize people.  The gym was full of wondrous folks, all having fun, many dancing with a reckless abandon.

My point:  We all have special needs, each in our own way.  For example, I have said in the past that I have as much chance of understanding God’s plans and God’s world as Rocky, my Boxer, has of comprehending the workings of the internal combustion engine in my car.  (For that matter, I struggle with that exact same point.)  God blesses all of us, is patient with all of us, protects and watches over all of us, in spite of and because of our special needs … and that refers to all of us.

I think the greatest handicap to learning and growing is a smugness, an arrogance that relies way too heavily on self.  I will always be a skeptic, slow to believe in such things as the “miracle” of the image of Jesus on a potato.  However, I also realize that, while I am of average intelligence and try to be open minded, I know a few geniuses who have outsmarted and out-thought themselves because they relied too heavily in their superior intelligence.  That’s one of the things about faith: though it is not illogical, it is not about logic.  Hmmm.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
(770) 314-2649
October 24, 2012

MONDAY THOUGHT 10/11/12

GET IT?

Some people just don’t get it.  To me, though my faith and ability to trust in God have been a hard-fought odyssey spanning decades, it all makes sense to me these days (well, kind of, most of the time).  So, I puzzle over those who don’t get it, who don’t believe.  Don’t they see what I see?  It’s clear … at least to me.

Then I recall that faith is a gift.  We don’t get it; we’re given it.  As I survey this curious world, I see people, like my late brother-in-law Phil, who are blinded by the light of a sudden conversion after years of struggle, suffering and immoral living.  Meanwhile, others, good people, by all accounts, seek God and come up with souls as dry as dust.  It puzzles me.

My point (three, actually):  First, faith is a gift.  God grants it to whomever He chooses.  Second, some people – a few hardcore atheists, in fact, who I know — are not actually denied the gift of faith, but they simply decline to accept it because they do not understand or are too stubborn to take it.  Third, for many nonbelievers, the journey is not yet over.  For these, I urge:  Keep searching; keep asking the honest questions; and be patient.

More and more, I find myself these days in the good company of reformed heathens and recovering alcoholics and addicts.  I never tire of hearing their stories of how God has transformed them from hopeless wrecks to unchained believers, how God has opened their eyes and their hearts and made them new, made them free.  It reminds me that no one is ever so lost, so evil, so deeply drenched in sin or self-destruction that God cannot reach him or her.  I’ve seen these transformations over and over again.  So, never give up, whether it is for yourself or for a loved one.  Just ask … keep asking … and leave it all in God’s hands.  He does some pretty awesome things.  Amen!

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
(770) 314-2649
October 22, 2012

FRIDAY THOUGHT 10/19/12

THE TRAP

I got clobbered last week:  nibbled at by little stuff (missed and delayed flights, a balky computer, a GPS with a bad sense of direction, a missing button, a dog that had forgotten the difference between inside and outside, and more) and nailed by a few biggies (misunderstandings leading to trouble in River City from a couple of painfully rude loved ones over — what else? — upcoming holiday plans).

It all wore me down to the point that, at one point, I raised my eyes to heaven and said, “God, if this is how you watch over and help me, can you just leave me alone for a while?”  (Thinking back on it, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from St. Teresa of Avila:  “Lord, if this is the way you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few.”)

The trap (also, my point):  I feel pretty close to God these days.  So, I had forgotten that we’re not just chums, and He’s not my fetch-and-step butler. Here is what I finally remembered:  One, He has blessed me beyond belief – hands down, votes are all in and counted, wow.  Two, He rarely does things my way; instead, He does things better … always.  Three, just trust, especially when the last thing I want to do is trust.  Because if I believe that God is good, I try to remember that He is always good. — jri

I confess that I’m still working on understanding my relationship with God.  I sometimes get confused over who I am praying to: God the Father, Jesus, or both.  (I rarely pray to the Holy Spirit because I do not understand Him.)  But is the Father, Abba, my strict Dad (the oft angry God of the Old Testament) or Pop, the loving old gentleman from the story of the prodigal son?  And is Jesus my big brother who protects me from bullies or a distant and bejeweled king on His throne?  I’m not always sure.  Maybe He/They are all that and more.  Oh, well, I guess it’s not my problem.  My prayer: “God, if you don’t give up on me, I won’t give up on You.  Amen.”

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
(770) 314-2649
October 19, 2012

THURSDAY THOUGHT 10/11/12

FAITH ROAD: FROM “IS?” TO “WHO?” TO “ WHY & HOW?”

As a child, I accepted God blindly.  He was/is.  As a late teen, I rejected Him, lacking the ability to see Him.  I measured everything I saw against the simple question:  Is there a God?  Most of the time, in those youthful dorm room debates, God lost.  Later, blessed with the sight to recognize that God is, I spent years trying to figure out just who He is:  villain, father, indifferent watch maker, friend in need?  What is the nature of this God?

Today, other questions answered, I spend my time trying to understand why He loves me and how I am supposed to love Him.  I no longer doubt His existence and presence; I no longer fear Him; I no longer wonder about His intentions for me.  Instead, I gently puzzle over why He would bother.  But mostly, I am discovering that if I am in for a dime, so to speak, I am in for a dollar.  It is today a matter of trust, and the doors that keep opening are amazing.

My point:  This God I have been seeking and found, He is the genuine Truth.  No exceptions.  He is the prism and the filter through which I find myself viewing most, if not all, events.  He is in charge, and He knows exactly what He is doing, and He knows far, far better than I what is best for me.  Mostly, if He is good and is always good, that means that everything – even the things that make no sense – makes sense.  – jri

As I read the above, I think I sound a tad smug and enviously holy.  No, I am still the same stumbling, bumbling John.  And, yes, I do doubt or, more often these days, simply forget that I am not alone and I am not in charge.  Then I have a V-8 moment and, with a smile, remember that even when I forget, I am not forgotten.  Awesome.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
(770) 314-2649
October 11, 2012

TUESDAY THOUGHT 10/9/12

DEAF, DUMB ‘N BLIND

I nearly missed it:  I have been praying for reconciliation with a person I cherish, but from whom I have become estranged … or at least our relationship had become stiff and strained.  The other day, with a simple phone call (missed, but message left), I knew that burned bridges were starting to be rebuilt … that bricks were being removed from the wall that had separated us.  Still, I did not immediately recognize just how wondrously wonderful that simple exchange of missed phone calls was.  A major prayer had been answered.  And I almost forgot to say, “Thank you, God.”

You see, though pleased, I didn’t catch the awesomeness of that blessing, that answered prayer, until I did what is known as an “examen of consciousness,”  a spiritual review of God’s play in my day, later in the evening.  As I consciously reflected on the events of the day, I came to those calls and my soul leapt.  I had to laugh because front and center each day in my daily prayers has been a plea to God for a solution to the estrangement.  And now, it is being answered … joyously.  Though I am sure challenges will continue with the relationship, the beginning of a resolution was/is a great, great blessing, one I almost missed … or at least nearly took for ho-hum, that’s-nice granted.

My point:  Take a few minutes each day not to just plop your requests and needs at the Lord’s feet, but also to see just how He is answering those prayers; and He always does … always.  Like me, you may be awed and amazed and overjoyed at just how He does address them.  – jri

I know that, more often than I’d like to admit, I am the poster child for a “friend in need.”  I am all over God when my head is stuck in the grate.  (That is a figurative allusion, thank you, though it did happen once.)  When beset by illness, financial challenges or just persistent irritations (like a recent, nasty case of Poison Oak that itched to distraction for weeks), I pray the prayer of lamentation:  “Oh, God, Oh, God, help me, pleeeeeeeeease.”  Then, when life turns good again, I wipe my hands clean, offer a clipped, “Thanks, God,” and go about living my own delightfully self-focused life again.  If I were God, I’d think twice or thrice before helping me the next time.  Thank God He doesn’t think that way.  Still, that’s one reason why I try to do an exam of consciousness daily, if only to remember to offer up a proper thank you to this awesome, prayer-answering God I am enjoying getting to know better and better.  Amen.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
 (770) 314-2649
October 9, 2012

A SPECIAL, EARLY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Would you like to give a friend or relative signed copies of my two-book devotionals,  In God’s Pocket: Spiritual Ramblings from a Reformed Heathen and A Perfect Day: Thoughts on Faith & Forgiveness?

I know, it’s still October.  However, though I love to put off my Christmas shopping until December 24, perhaps you do not.  So, here is an early, two-book set Christmas special:

Order two books and save nearly 30%.  Purchase a copy of In God’s Pocket: Spiritual Ramblings from a Reformed Heathen and a copy of A Perfect Day: Thoughts on Faith & Forgiveness and pay just $25 plus $4.95 S & H.

Or mix and match, ordering two copies of either.  (More if you like.  I have no objection to large orders). Email me at john@dailyconnections.net for quantity discounts.

How to order:

• Place your order by writing to me directly by writing to John Ingrisano, 2479 Hunter Road, Gainesville, GA 30506.
• Specify whether you want both books or two copies of one title.
• If you would like them to be autographed, please indicate to whom they should be inscribed.
• Enclose a check for $29.95, and be sure to include your full name and return address, plus the address to which the books should be shipped, if different.
• Please place your order by October 31, 2012.

Questions?  Call me at 770- 314-2649

Thank you and God bless.  John Ingrisano

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FYI:  You can also download the books onto your Kindle or Through Amazon.com

To download, go to the Kindle Store and key in the title.  Non-discounted print copies are also now  available on Amazon.  To order, click here.

WEDNESDAY THOUGHT 10/3/12

BAD BEYOND HOPE

I know a man who has walled himself away from hope, who believes his lot is spiritual misery.  He is not alone.  There are people who have done horrible things, unforgiveable things, and their burden of guilt crushes their spirits.  They live in self-destructive self-hatred, feeling different, unworthy, alienated, ashamed.  They believe they are bad beyond hope.

Fortunately, they are wrong.  Even big-time super sinners are not so unique as to be beyond forgiveness.  There is nothing under the sun – murder, adultery, prostitution, callousness, lying, cheating, etc. —  that is new or that cannot be forgiven.  Nothing.

My point:  Want forgiveness?  Think you are bad beyond hope?  Nope.  Not the case.  There is no one – no one – so bad or so guilty that he or she is beyond having those sins and that guilt washed away, forgiven, cleansed.  Just ask and trust that forgiveness is given.  That’s it.  No gimmicks.  No tricks.   – jri

Who is Christ?  He is not just a storyteller or longhair hipster philosopher.  He is not a lecturing moralizer or joy-killing taskmaster who kicked sinners in the butt.  (He dined with them regularly.)  His message was one of forgiveness – forgiveness for ALL — and of wiping the slate clean.  The price?  Not begging or doing spiritual jumping jacks or self-flagellation.  All we have to do is believe.  Just trust.  And our sins are forgiven.  That’s who Jesus is, the Man/God who said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).  If you’re a hopeless sinner, He’s your God.  Sweet.  Very sweet.  Thanks, Lord.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(770) 314-2649
October 3, 2012

TUESDAY THOUGHT 10/2/12

LET THERE BE LIGHT

The other night, late, as the world slept, Susan and I sat out on the front deck watching the mist settle over the Georgia foothills, wrapped in peaceful quiet.  In whispers, and at times just sitting in silence, we shared how God gave us darkness – rich and deep – as a time to rejuvenate and recuperate from the busyness of the bright, sunlit day.  Darkness, and the sleep it brings, is a time of subtle life, of physical, emotional, and spiritual hibernation … of silent growth.

I also have come to believe that God put darkness in our souls, and I know many people who struggle with that darkness.  It manifests itself in depression and despair, the lonely, black “pit” that is oft referred to in the Bible.  Does it have a purpose?  I believe so.  Yes.

My point:  Though I know very little about God’s plans, I have come to trust that He does have one, and that all things are part of it.  So, just as we need both light and darkness in our physical day, even times of spiritual darkness – as well as sufferings and setbacks — have a genuine place and purpose.  And one thing is sure, guaranteed, without exception:  There is always – always – a dawn that follows the dark.  – jr

I have been in that darkness in the past, and I know many people who struggle with it.  It is one of mankind’s plagues.  For those who feel empty, numb, and alone, bereft of hope, know that Our Lord is with us.  In the words of Jesus himself:  “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46)  Be joyful, even in the dark.  God bless.

John Ingrisano

DailyConnections
209 Church Street
Algoma, WI 54201
(770) 314-2649
October 2, 2012