unconditional love

Most of us learned love with conditions.  When I was a child, some of the big ones in my home growing up sounded like this...

•  I will love you as long as you behave. 
•  I will love you if you agree with me.
•  I will love you when you do what I want. 
•  I will love you as long as you don't embarrass me.

On Sunday, my pastor reminded us that God's love does not have conditions. He just loves you. No matter what you think, no matter what you do, no matter what you say. God loves you. No strings attached.

Romans 8:38  "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Think about it.  Get it through your head.  You are loved.  There is nothing to worry about.  Just accept the love, let the love fill you, and give it away.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Who am I

Who am I and how did I get to be this way?  And while we are at it, who are you and how did you get to be the way that you are?

I am shaped by so many things.  You are shaped by so many things.

Can you love me in spite of the broken parts of me?  Can I love you in spite of the broken parts of you?

I have come to believe that when you love people, you stop asking questions about why they are the way that they are.

You just love them. And you enjoy it, and you suffer with it.  And you love them.

I love you.  Warts and all.  Can you love me the same???

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

hold that tongue

Have you ever tried to grab your tongue? The dentist does it with a paper towel. It is not easy to hold our tongue, especially when we get our feelings hurt.

But may we all remember that when someone says something hurtful, you don’t have to, I don't have to hurt them back.

Ignore it. Hold your tongue.  Absorb the pain.

In a few days or a week, the pain will go away or at least it will fade.  Heck you might not even remember what you were upset about.

And then you can go on.  And believe me you will be glad that you did not hurt back.  Hurting back never achieves what we hope it will.  It simply expands the divide.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Pride Pt 2

On Wednesday, June 17th I posted this: "Pride will cost you everything and leave you with nothing."

A friend wrote in and asked this question... "Should we say something to those showing so much PRIDE!! Or just avoid and ignore regardless of how hard they want to make that impossible ??"

I think that it is a good question. Sometimes I feel like I want to write a letter or reach out to a person who I feel has overstepped. I almost always stop myself from doing so.

Why? I guess in my opinion, a letter or a statement to someone in power will usually do nothing at all. If they had a modicum of decency, they wouldn't be displaying arrogance to begin with.

On the other hand, I have had pretty good luck talking face to face with employees and people that I was close to.  And along the way, I sometimes learned something about how I was coming across.

Moral of the story is this... maybe we should say something, maybe not. It is a case by case basis. But for sure we need to keep our hearts and minds on alert for pride in our own life.

Selfishness is pretty sneaky.  We see it in others, but tend to turn a blind eye to it in our own hearts.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

disappointment

"sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one's hopes or expectations"

I have been disappointed at times by others. That is not much fun. But what is worse is when I disappoint another person. I did that recently and it is killing me.

We want everyone to like us, but particularly we want the people that we like to like us.

I am sorry if I have disappointed you.

Do better Brinkman...

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Please pray for ...

So on Sunday night, I asked two of my friends to pray for something.

I should not have bothered them.  One is dealing with serious physical ailments and the other is on a fantastic vacation.

But sometimes we want to ask for prayers.

I asked.  They both said that they would pray.  Now I do not believe that our prayers control God, but sometimes, I have this urge, this desire, this need to pray.

And so I prayed. And they prayed.  Will you join in praying for the need, the person.  That things will go well for them.

Thanks.

We don't know how prayer works.  I don't believe that our prayers control God.  But sometimes,  I feel the desire to pray.

God bless the person that is on my mind.  Thank you.  Amen.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

How are you???

People will commonly ask, how are you?

It is a phrase that is often uttered with out much thought.  Sometimes, if the person is struggling with something, it is almost hurtful to ask how they are.

I was listening to an interview on the radio and when the woman was asked how she was, She talked about how insulting the question was.  Her response to "how are you" was this: "what? you can't see the dagger sticking out of my chest?"

We humans need to be a bit more thoughtful with our small talk.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

ministering to those who differ

I heard several speeches or sermons, at annual conference about the particular side of politics that United Methodist leaders are currently embracing.

Ok.  Great.  I get it.  Help the least of these.  Stand against injustice.  Sure. I am all over that.

But here is my question... 50% or 51% of the country, and 50% or 51% of our churches, voted for Trump.  Whether you did or not, I still love you.

The Christian faith is or should be a place where everyone is welcome and accepted.  Romans, Pharisees, the poor, common Jews, Samaritans, Republicans, Democrats... everyone.

In my world, that is non-negotiable... everyone is welcome.  everyone needs to be loved.  Not just those who agree with us.

So as a Christian, how do you care about and minister to those humans in your neighborhood and in your church who differ with you?

Jesus ministered to those who differed from him.  Instead of just bashing those who disagree with us, please give us some handles on how to follow that.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Pride

From my friend Sherri...

"Pride will cost you everything, and leave you with nothing."

And a couple of scriptures on the subject of pride...

Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Jeff comments... humans can be so arrogant... it is a bad look and in the long run it hurts others and it hurts you.

As we grow older may we grow better, not bitter.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

from fear driven to love drawn

Edited from Richard Rhor's daily devotional May 15, 2026

It seems we are addicted to our need to make distinctions and judgments, which we mistake for intelligent thinking. Most of us think we are our thinking, yet almost all thinking is compulsive, repetitive, and habitual. We are forever writing our inner commentaries on everything, commentaries that always reach the same practiced conclusions. That is why all forms of meditation and contemplation teach a way of quieting this compulsively driven and unconsciously programmed mind.

The desert fathers and mothers wisely called this process “the shedding of thoughts.” We don’t fight, repress, deny, identify with, or even judge them; we merely shed them. We are so much more than our thoughts about things, and we will feel this more as an unlearning than a learning of any new content.

When we meditate consistently, a sense of our autonomy and private self-importance—what we think of as our “self”—falls away, little by little, as unnecessary, unimportant, and even unhelpful in many cases. The imperial “I,” the self that we likely experience as our only self, reveals itself as largely a creation of our mind.

Through regular practice of contemplation, we become less and less interested in protecting this self-created, relative identity. And also, we don’t have to attack it; it calmly falls away of its own accord, and we experience a kind of natural humility.

If our prayer goes deep, “invading” our unconscious, as it were, our whole view of the world will change from fear to connection. We won’t live inside our fragile and encapsulated self anymore, nor will we feel any need to protect it. In meditation, we move from ego consciousness to soul awareness, from being fear-driven to being love-drawn.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

loneliness

From Courtney...

"loneliness isn't a failure, it's a classroom for your soul.  It's where you learn to be enough without anyone else's approval."

Jeff comments... there is always something to learn, especially from the difficult moments of life.  It is just very important in times of pain and struggle to be open to learn from what is happening at the time.  Too many people, thinking that life is supposed to be about their comfort,  just wish trouble away and never learn the lessons.

Be open.  be listening.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

something I want to learn most of all

My friend Bruce sent this in...


The Arrival

After I drove six hours
she welcomed me at the door
of her home
with a pair of slippers
and a glass of water—
there are many languages
I want to learn to speak fluently.
Kindness, most of all.

—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer


It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

at the edge

I found this poem on Richard Rohr's daily devotional...


“A Blessing for Those at the Edge”

Maybe you walked here.
Maybe you ran here.
Maybe you followed a trail of stones, of feathers, of flowers,
of scents, of sky.
Maybe you went afoot with the Mystery & so how you got here
is also a mystery.

But here is where you are & here
is always its own kind of blessing & here
at the edge, blessings compound.

Bless those at the edge of the river
of their heart, full of promise.

Bless those at the edge of the morning,
singing the bright face of day into the blue.

Bless those at the edge of what they know,
watching the old certainties crumble.

Bless those at the edge of doom,
bearing it out, as the famous bard wrote,
with or without the draw of a happy ending.

Bless those at the edge of love
of self, of other, of world,
as the way forward grows more subtle, less sound.

Bless those at the edge of language,
whose tongues & tales & names
are more pledge than guarantee.

Bless those at the edge of believing
a life can be lived at the edge.

- Alison Davis

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

not afraid to be wrong

I will live by the best I can discern today. Tomorrow I may find out I was wrong. Since I do not live by being right, I am not destroyed by being wrong.

—Verna Dozier

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

sometimes

Sometimes.  Sometimes it sneaks out.  The worst of me.  That part that I try to keep in check, sometimes, it sneaks out.

Sometimes when I am driving, I cannot control the frustration that I feel with drivers that will not turn left or who are on their phone and don't know that the light has turned green.

Sometimes I am annoyed with what people post on social media.

There are all kinds of things that annoy me, and sometimes the worst of me sneaks out.  I try to keep me in check, but sometimes... you know... I show up.

May we all keep working on keeping the worst of us in check.  May God grant his blessing to our efforts to help make us all a bit sweeter.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

the first thought

I am not always the best person or the person that I want to be.  So, here is a bit of a reveal...

The first thought in my brain isn't always good.  Sometimes the first thought in my brain is small, judgmental and hurtful.

I was waiting for the tram at the Atlanta airport. A very attractive young woman stepped up right next to me.  My brain thought, "my goodness, I'll bet that she’s just totally full of herself." 

I guess I thought that because I have had experiences with very attractive people who came across like they were all that. 

And then my brain went to it's second thought.  My brain said, "no that’s terrible. That’s a terrible thing to think. She may be the nicest person in the world."

Thank God for second thoughts.

I only share this because sometimes what our brains think initially isn’t fair, it isn’t right and can be judgmental.  And we can't always control our first thought.

We need to pause that first thought and look for a better thought.

Actively work to move your brain away from judgment to love and acceptance.  You will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

She lost her phone

I was waiting in line to drop off a package at the UPS store.  A woman can rushing in.  She was in panic mode.  She bypasses the line and yells to the clerk.  "Did I leave my phone in here?"

He looks.  He says, No.

She leaves.

A few minutes later she is back.  "I know I left my phone in here.  I was talking on it in here."  The clerk acknowledges that she was talking on it, but he doesn't think that it is here.

I step in.

Ma'am if you give me your number, I will call your phone.  She does.  I call it.  There is no ringing.  The phone is not in the store.  

I tell her to go out to her car and I will call her there.

By this time, I am done with my UPS transaction and I am standing by her car.  I call her number again.  She says, "I can hear it in here, but I don't know where it is."

She opens the hatch back and sure enough, there is her phone, sitting in the trunk area, right where she left it.

My favorite author, Anthony Demello says, "if you can't find your keys, I know where they are.  They are right where you sat them."  The problem isn't that we don't know where they are, the problem is that we are not paying attention to life.

We are in such a hurry that our brains are on to the next thing and we didn't pay attention to what we just did.

Time to slow down.  Time to live in the moment.  Time to pay attention.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

When reality says "No"

"Can you accept a 'no' from reality? Can you allow things to not go your way? Suffering means that you are having a tantrum because reality isn’t behaving the way you want it to."   Anthony DeMello

Jeff comments... when we choose to accept the moments that we do not like, when we choose to relax in the face of difficulty, when we come to grips with the fact that it is not going to go my way,  then we find a peace that the world cannot give.



It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Loan or gift?

A friend of mine loaned another friend $10,000.  A good deal of it was paid back.  But then the payments stopped.  It became clear that friend #2 was unable to make any more progress on the loan.  

The situation wore on both of them.  It affected their relationship.

Finally, friend #1 said to themselves, "this money is getting in the way of our friendship.  I don't need the money and they obviously are not going to be able to pay it back."  Friend 1 called friend 2 and cancelled the remainder of the debt.

Let nothing be between you and me.

Some things are more important than money.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

the hereafter

I am starting to forget things.  It is fairly common, it happens several times a week that I will forget.  I will walk into the garage, or into a room in the house and totally forget why I went in there.

So I believe in the here after.

I walk into the room and I ask myself, "what am I here after???"

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

be prepared

Some people are surprised, even angry when difficulty comes their way.  Into each life a little rain must fall.  Don't be upset and don't be surprised when trouble comes knocking on your door.

My friend Courtney sent in this screen shot...  it is a quote from the book "This Beautiful Truth" by Sarah Clarkson.

This is how the world works... beautiful and terrible things will happen.  Do not be afraid.  You are not alone.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Nothing to Earn

We humans keep trying to earn love.  What if there’s nothing to earn?  What if God just loves us as we are?  There’s just nothing to earn.  There’s nothing to prove.  That is true love.

You just wake up in the morning and realize that you are loved.

Sure, there is a negative voice that tells you that you were bad or wrong or ugly or stupid or a sinner or should be going to hell.  Love washes that voice away.  Just take a deep breath and admit all of those voices were wrong. 

You have nothing to prove.  You have nothing to earn.  Love is just given.  Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Receive it.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

triangulation

Triangulation is a concept in relationships where a conflict between two people is engaged in by a third person.  For example, I have a beef with a co-worker, so I go to a third co-worker for help.  Or in a family, a brother has an issue with a sister, but instead of working it out between the two of them, he goes to a third sibling in hopes that they can help resolve the situation.

Triangulation is never healthy. In his book, "Creating a healthier Church" Alan Richardson says, "one person cannot change the relationship between any two people; efforts to do so usually only make things worse.  If you are person C in the triangle, you can only manage your own relationship with either A or B.  You cannot do anything about the relationship between A and B.  As soon as you take a side in the triangle, regardless of the righteousness of the cause or of the issues involved, you automatically become a part of the problem."

If you are engaged in triangulation, you may want to take a step back.  Let them work it out.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Love

My friend Bruce sent this quote in...

"Love- the greatest thing that one will ever learn in this life is to love and to be loved in return."
          Eden Ahbez

Personally, I think I am doing better on learning to love, still struggling with being loved in return.  Let's keep working on it!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

just borrowing and sermon audio from yesterday

If you are interested, here is the sermon audio link from yesterday...  open the link and scroll down past classic worship to modern worship on 5/31/26

click here for yesterday's message

Now on to today's blog post...

In response to my post a few days ago about going to garage sales, my friend Arthur wrote in about going to estate sales.  He said that it bothered him for a while, buying things that belonged to the dead... kind of morbid...

Then he said that he had this thought... we really don't own anything permanently, we are only borrowing it while we are here.

How much did the rich man take with him when he died?  None of it.

Everything that we have is on loan from God.  After we have no need for it, it will go to the rubbish pile or someone else will borrow it while on their earthly journey.

Something to think about.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Thank You

The last few days, I have awoken with one thought on my mind.  "Thank you."

Thank you God for the gift of another day.  Thank you.

Although the simplest of prayers, I find it to be truly profound.  To begin the day with gratitude and to keep an attitude of appreciation during the day is such a healthy and positive thing for us humans to do.

A grateful attitude keeps our egos in check and effects how we treat others.

Meister Eckhart, a German Catholic Priest 1260-1328, said quite famously, "If the only prayer that we learn in this life is 'thank you,' it is enough."

Practice practicing gratitude, you will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

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Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

loneliness

I was watching a movie the other night called "All is Lost."  It stars Robert Redford as a man on a sailboat, alone and in trouble in the middle of the ocean.

I had to watch in sections as the feelings of loneliness were so powerful.

I thought of so many people who feel lonely.  I thought about how we can feel lonely even with a house full of people.

I thought about the remedy for loneliness.  To me, that remedy is friends.  We all need them.  People to talk to, people to sit with, people who care.

If you are lonely, please reach out to a friend.  Send me a note if you like at jsbrink57@gmail.com

Even though we get lonely from time to time, it is still a beautiful day in God's world...be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

It could be me

I went to a garage sale last Saturday.  Sometimes I get the urge.  Usually I find nothing, but this time, I hit the jackpot.  For $20 I got a box of sprinklers, sprinkler fittings, a log chain, a collection of drill drivers, a bunch of little lead birds, four concrete tools and some other cool stuff.

Turns out the husband had passed and the wife was selling his collection.  He collected the same things as I do.  Now I have more.  [we always want more don't we???]

I realized... it could have been me.  A bunch of locals coming to the house to buy my precious collection of fix it stuff.  It could have been me.  One day it will be me.

My point in all of this is to say this... no matter what is going on in your world, you woke up today!!!

Life is good.  Life is a blessings.  Life doesn't last forever.

Enjoy the day.  Keep a good attitude.  You only get this day one time.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

The Sabbath - quote 3

"The higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information, but to face sacred moments."

Far too many Christians are pursuing a Christianity of knowledge and information.  Learn more about the Bible.  Learn the secrets.  Know the stuff.  Know the secret stuff.  Knowledge is power.  Know more.

But knowledge is not salvation.  Knowledge is not the mark of a Christian.  Love is.

Too many Christians sit on their hind ends in class rooms, filling their head with knowledge and never get out for the sacred moments.

Sunday School is fine, but it pales in comparison to feeding the hungry, visiting the lonely or working the shower ministry.

Sacred moments are not experiences of the mind, they are experiences of the heart.  

Close the book and get out amongst them.  You will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info

Chocolate

Most of you know that I take chocolate for the flight attendants when I go on an airplane.  It is one way that I have chosen to express kindness to people who are often treated poorly.  How we treat people in the service industry tells so much about our Christianity.

Anyway, I give them the chocolate and they are almost always grateful.  I don't do this because I want a response, sometimes there is none.  But usually they are thrilled and they want to give me snacks and drinks.

On a recent trip to Ashville NC for a wedding,  the response was surprise, joy, and this:

a bag of snacks, note the pilots wings pin

and this note...

"Thank you for making us feel seen."  Wow.  I thought that was fantastic.  And it just goes to show you how many human beings are out there, waiting tables, standing behind the counters, cutting the grass, and they don't feel seen.

Everyone wants to be acknowledged.  Every one want to feel like they matter.

See the humans in your life.  Look them in the eye.  Show kindness.  It will make their day and it will be a blessing to you as well.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to be the good.

- - - - - - - -
Sherri Swanson and I are leading a trip to New Zealand January 30-Feb 12, 2027
If you want to sign up, you can use my host number 17768 or Sherri's 57707
Here is a link for more information
Click here for New Zealand Info

Sherri Swanson and I are also leading a Canada/New England cruise in September of 2027
Here is the link for more information

click here for Canada New England cruise info