What Now! One Whole Year Later!

For those who have followed along you are probably wondering where can we possibly go now. If you have followed along there is something very important to realize about all this information. It is not just for reading and enjoying. No, there is work involved as well.
You see, this life is a journey. It requires a travel plan, heading for a destination, an end to where we started and a finish line. St. Paul tells us in his letters that he was running a race. I’m not a very good runner so I look at it a little differently.
I want to follow a path–a way, maybe slowly, maybe taking time to smell the roses as the saying goes. So I want to look at the end of each day and see what I have accomplished and where I went and what I did.
There are good things happening, possibly challenging things, definitely frightening things and, although I hope not, possibly even bad things.
Whom will I share the daily travails with? Who will help me as I go through each day? When will I share? Am I scared to?
One big help for me is that when Jesus’ best friends told him,”Lord
we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus replied, “I am the way: I am the truth and the life.”
John 14:6.
So how shall we discover the holy? Will we do it together or will it
be a journey of one? I suggest thinking over what you have done each day and whether you are sad or glad about the way things went and with whom you want to share your thoughts.

He is not Here! He is Risen!

Those words ring clearly to those who are still huddled in shock about the occurrences happening over the past 48 hours. Jesus died on Friday; the Jews could do nothing on Saturday so he is rushed to burial. The good women who supported him and took care of him on his journeys through the countryside wanted nothing more on Sunday morning than to clean the signs of suffering from his body and wrap him in the customized linens that were the proper form of remembrance for the holy. They knew he was not a criminal in any sense of the word and did not deserve to be condemned and die so tragically.
They are the first to hear the words of gladness as they hasten to the tomb wondering how they will be able to get the huge stone pushed back. No need to worry–the cave is open! Someone sits in the cave and tells them, “He is not here; he is risen!”
They rush back to where all the friends are hiding and Peter and John don’t believe them and head out to see for themselves.
They find only the linens in which his body was wrapped. Mary
Magdalene seeks him next. She believes the body has been stolen by the leaders and desecrated. She is crying so does not see clearly. However she recognizes his voice when he calls her name.
He tells her he has not yet ascended to the father but he certainly is not dead.
That same evening Jesus breaks bread with two followers who have left Jerusalem heartbroken and is unrecognized until they supper together. The disciples are so happy that they head back to the secret hiding place of the disciples and their friends to tell everyone that the Lord has risen. The disciples in the room tell them that the Lord is indeed risen and appeared to Peter.
To be sure Jesus is indeed risen; he makes many appearances within the next 40 days to those who have mourned and suffered with him and makes his final presentations to those who follow him. What does this all mean to me as I read this?

The High Holy Days Are Coming Closer!

Am I preparing to be better, more alert, to agree with Leo Tolstoy, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” ?
Sunday is Palm Sunday for many religious groups. The world was looking for a KING/RULER. They were unable to comprehend the fact that one doesn’t have to be a physical ruler, a bully, a gang leader, a loudmouth to take charge. They tried to treat Jesus as a King. They gave him a way to ride into Jerusalem; they cheered at their victory parade. But he paid no attention to the cheers, the excitement, the crowds. He knew what was coming and he prayed for those who believed in him and professed to love him.
Am I preparing to jouney with him on these sad days? To remember how much he must have loved me–a nobody, who few people know and will probably never be remembered for anything spectacular.
Now is the time to become more introspective, to look at my life, “what I have done, what I have failed to do,” and prepare to walk on this journey with the Lord. He says,”I am the way, the truth, and the light,” which makes the journey less lonely because he goes with us on the way. Maybe I can make the trip a little less burdensome for a fellow traveler whom I find accompanying me. Take a look around. You do not have to leave your home town or your neighborhood to make your way the way of the Lord. Blessings on your trip.

Lentan Thoughts Week Two

The second Lenten Sunday is about a miracle that occurs in the three early Gospels. They are all very similar and written around the same time. It is believed that Mark was first; Matthew, second and Luke third.
Usually anything that is mentioned in all three is believed to have really happened.
This is a writing about something called Transfiguration. Today we do not think so much about people changing their appearances. We have creams, hair dyes, surgical procedures–all to make us look more like we would choose to. In biblical times these things only happened by special effects.
When Moses saw God and received the Commandments we are told when he came down the mountain his hair had turned white. Of course, none of us was there so I am using this as an example.
But in Jesus’ case we have three witnesses, Peter, James and John–sometimes referred to as Jesus’ favorites. Time out here! I believe we are ALL favorites so I have reasoned why these three were called. Peter became the first Pope or head of the newly founded church, James becme the first Bishop of Jerusalem where the church has begun, and John was the youngest and last of the Apostles so he was around longer to carry on the spread of the teachings. Back to the Tranfiguration.
If you read the accounts in the Bible you will realize certain similarities. Jesus appearance becomes white and bright, there are two visitors named Moses and Elijah by the apostles present and a voice from a cloud. Moses is the most important man in the old testament and Elijah did not appear to die as he was lifted up to heaven in a fiery chariot. (Jesus is the most important person in the new testament and Jesus ascended into Heaven after appearing to die.)
What I think is most important for me in all this is the voice in the cloud which says, “This is my son. Listen to him.” How do I listen? What do I hear? Do I spend a little extra time figuring out what God is saying–what he wants from me? Scary? O yes! But I will feel a whole lot better if I take time to do this. And when I look up after doing this I, like the Apostles,will see only (ONLY!!!!) Jesus.

Two Thoughts for Lenten Week One

The first thought has to do with temptation:
Christ goes to pray in a private place–the desert. In the Holy Land a desert is not like California’s death Valley. Yes, it is hot during the day and cold at night but not unbearably so. It is flat land and treeless or with low growing vegetation, more brown than green. A great place to relax and think peaceful thoughts, to look to what might be ahead and what one can do to be part of the future. I suggest “re treating” to a private place and spending some quality time alone or with a good and highly recommended spiritual reading book. I don’t know if what happened to Jesus will happen to you. Anyway, after these 40 days of private time, Jesus receives a visitor. None other than the devil. The evil one throws out a good line to this hungry person–good food, worship evil, be a daredevil and tempt someone to save you.
If Jesus can be tempted how about me? I certainly do not have all the protectors that he has. What I do notice is that after all the temptings and Christ’s refusal to follow them, the devil left him alone. but with plans to return at a later date!
The second thought:
EVIL–the word just adds a D to become devil..I never made that connection until my private thought time. So I decided to think about this evil person.
I do not think that he has a red suit, is terribly scary or ugly. If he were frightening we would not ever be tempted to follow his ideas rather than good ones. So he must seem pretty nice, speak with a beautiful voice and be easy to listen to and follow. Maybe sometimes he is disguised as a she or HORRORS! maybe I am the great tempter! I am going to spend some time thinking about how I am tempted as well as by whom I am tempted. This just might be self-revealing…

Gloom and Doom

That’s how I feel about Lent. I know we are supposed to be thinking of all the things we have in our lives that are not right. And I have a lot of them–like everyone but…forty days of thinking, kind of scares me.
Each day when I rise I ask God to guide me through the day so I won’t knowingly hurt anyone and each evening I spend some time going over my day to see if I acted the way I wanted to and treated everybody I met the way I would want them to treat me.
That said I now know that I am preparing for the great feast of Easter. Christmas is really for kids. I love it also but just watching children enjoy the celebrations is a good treat for the adult in me.
Easter is the grown-up celebration. It is a lot more than bunnies, chicks and painted eggs. And the six weeks before the Sunday is the time to prepare your inner self to celebrate this cornerstone of belief in God. Because that is what Easter is; a belief, a faith in things that ought to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus was who he said he was.
Today I walk around with a black smudge on my forehead indicating that I am aware of the fact that I am dust (The Bible says that Adam was made from God’s spit into dirt and the mud fashioned into man.) and as the priest who anointed me with the ashes of burned palm finishes this sentence with: and unto dust you will return, I realize I have some heavy duty changing to do to get ready for that Easter day.
So I begin this journey with the effort of putting the doom and gloom behind me and recognizing that the snow will vanish and the earth will begin to awaken and birds will come back and flowers will spring up and I will realize that the Scriptures tell of life–all of life–good and bad.
So I will make some promises to do something to get rid of the doom and gloom. Hopefully these practices will lighten my soul and free me to reflect on those who love me. God loves me more than I can imagine and these days become the welcoming of Spring into my life.
This will be my holy time when I look for the things I have to change to make me a better person by endeavoring to shed those old ways I am so unproud of.
My thoughts then are to give up a bad habit or practice which might hurt someone else and to do something positive which will open me to
listen to Scripture and its promise of eternal happiness by making the doom and gloom become the JOY and GLORY of Resurrection!

Growing Up in A Foreign Land

The spectacular birthday in the stable with singing angels and lowly shepherds is over. We,too, have put away our reminders of these festive celebratory days.
There are some additional times when the young family is spoken about. The first time is celebrated on the 12th day of Christmas. Yes, the 12th day after the birth is January 6th little Christmas.
The Kings, Scientists, Magicians, Astrologers or whoever they were, found the youngster in Bethlehem in a house–yes, a house. Read the Bible account (Matthew 2:11). The use of the word “house” occurs because the Wise Men followed a star for a long time. It led them as far as the capitol and they visited the King of the Jews, Herod, thinking if someone great were to be born he would be born in a palace or the son of a ruler. Herod does some homework and discovers that the great one is to be born in Bethlehem. So he gives directions to these men(an original GPS signal!) and asks them to return and tell him where they found this child who would be someone Herod and his family would have to be nervous about in the future.
They brought their gifts of gold(THE WORLD), frankincense(RELIGION),and myrhh(SUFFERING & DEATH). They return home bypassing Jerusalem because they did not trust the King. He did not trust them either and called for the slaughter of all the little boys two years and younger using the date of birth the visitors had told him.
How cruel! How much crying there must have been in that tiny town that day! But the baby Herod looked for was saved! His protector followed a dream he had. He alerted his wife and they packed up and moved to a neighboring country where the youngster was able to grow up safely.
What thoughts this brings up! Especially today when there is so much unease about immigration and the help foreigners need in a foreign land. Who helped them? Did they offer money? Did the young fellow make friends? Did he go to school? Would I have been kind to him if he did not know the language?
Would I have made fun of him if he was different?
What are my present thoughts about the many immigrants in the United States today? Just some musings on growing up away from home…

2010–The New Year

I am always shocked by the change of times from 19 to 20. So 2010, which I enjoy typing, is always a shock to me. Will 2010 continue to be filled with hope and good will? Will it be a better time for both bloggers and readers of blogs? Did you make New Year’s Resolutions? Have you kept them so far?
Someone said to me just recently that we should make positive resolutions. That is, instead of NOT DOING something we should turn around and do something positive.
That got me thinking because I never keep my resolutions. Once I completely changed my lifestyle because I wanted to avoid my resolution!
What if I decided to do a good deed every day for example. At night before getting into bed I could ask myself: What did I do for myself or somebody else this particular day?
I have always been a list maker; so this would be perfect for me. After awhile I could see if I do my good works for the same people all the time or the same deed over and over or is there someone included on the list with whom I am not in a positive relationship. Many things to think about in the New Year 2010.

Almost here. . .

When all the eating, gift-giving, gift opening, game playing, noise making is over what is left of the special day? Why do I feel as though something or someone has been left out?
It is a birthday party which has been celebrated through the centuries no matter who or what has tried to push it down or out. They try to remove the Christ word but it is there in the word Christmas no matter how many ways one says it.

And we celebrate the coming of a little child, a newborn, a simple and poor tiny baby. He comes each year to an unfinished people with incompleted works in continuing times. As we look upon you, little one, may we never shrink from what we need to do, may we continue to save rather than waste, may we not neglect those around us. May we your older siblings who will experiment for you, empower our friends, proclaim and communicate this wonderful news that you have come again to celebrate with us.

May we enjoy the new beginning of a new year in which the Babe of Christmas begins a new time of
peace, love, and happiness. Happy New Beginnings to all.

More on Advent: the Special Coming

I feel the excitement building in the air. Christmas is coming; and music, ads, stores, and persons are moving toward celebration big time. A person usually remembered during this season of waiting is a strange Biblical character. Like the Macchabee brothers who kept all their religious rules and died for their beliefs, John the Baptizer went into the Jerusalem desert to find truth and would later die for this faith in the coming Messiah. These foreshadows of the upcoming event can be found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
I happened upon this quotation from Rick Warren in his book, “The Purpose of Christmas.”
“If you’ll slow down for a few minutes, take the time…to consider the purpose of Christmas, you can receive and enjoy the best Christmas gift you’ll ever be given. Christmas is a time for celebration! Christmas is a time for salvation! Christmas is a time for reconciliation!”
Did you realize Christmas is a birthday celebration? Yes, Christmas songs, Christmas presents, Christmas parties–they all are celebrating a birthday!
And while we celebrate do we usually ignore the person whose birthday we are celebrating?
How often do we do that?
Well, it is Christmas and Happy Holidays just does not really cover it, do you think?