REFLECTIONS AFTER A DEVASTATING WEEK OF EVENTS
I was so disturbed by the unjudicial demeanor and conduct of judge Brett Kavanaugh at the senate hearing that I used the wrong name several times in my last blog. The outcome was preordained by the senate Republicans, but it is still disturbing. I've decided to change the subject since I can't do anything about it now.
Be Who you Are
In today's world there is a need for genuine people. People who are not hiding behind a mask or pretending to be what they aren't. Here's good advice about that:
St Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15: "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect." Dr. Seuss said: “I am lucky to be what I am! Thank goodness I'm not just a clam or ham or a dirty jar of sour gooseberry jam! I am what I am. That's a great thing to be.”
Growing Old
At my age, I tend to read the obituaries first and focus on matters of life. Here's advice from Willy Nelson:
Old Timer
You been down every highway
Burned your share of bridges
You found forgiveness
You think that you're still a young bull rider
Til you look in the mirror and see an old timer
One by one
Your friends have crossed over
You pray for mercy and a few more days
Still got dreams inside your head
Someday it's a struggle just to get out of bed
You been down every highway
Burned your share of bridges
You found forgiveness
You think that you're still a young bull rider
Til you look in the mirror and see an old timer
An old timer
Matter of Faith
Given our political situation here at home and the world wide crisis of violence in a time of climate change, faith becomes important. Here are a few thoughts about that:
It isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
That gives you a bit of a heartache
At setting of the sun.
The tender work forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flowers you did not send, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.
The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way;
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle, winning tone
Which you had no time nor thought for
With troubles enough of your own.
Those little acts of kindness
So easily out of mind,
Those chances to be angels
Which we poor mortals find –
They come in night and silence,
Each sad, reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a chill has fallen on faith.
For life is all too short, dear,
And sorrow is all to great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late:
And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you a bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
William Barclay, who died in 1978, was a New Testament scholar and a theologian of international distinction. In his meditation book Day by Day he tells the story of an English servant girl who was not well educated and came to join the church of a great preacher. Wishing to make sure she knew what she was doing, the preacher asked her how she proposed to live the Christian life. "I haven't much time off, sir," she said, "and I can't attend any meetings or even many services. "Well," said the preacher, "what do you do?" "Well, sir," she said, "I always take the daily paper to bed with me at night." The preacher was puzzled, "what's the good of that?" He said. "Well, sir," she said, "I look at the first page and I read the birth notices and I pray for the babies that have been born; and I read the marriages and I pray that they may be happy and true; and I read the deaths and they pray that God's comfort may come to those sorrowing homes." As Barclay writes: "is it not a staggering vision – the waves of prayer that went out from that attic beneath the tiles?"
Nothing profound in this posting, but I'm still recovering from the weeks events. Stay strong and not discouraged. Continue to do what you believe is right