It's not a sign

UGH!!!  I get so frustrated with people who are always looking for signs.  They are always looking for some reason to prove that Jesus is coming back or that Henry Kissinger, or Barack Obama or Trump is the anti-Christ.

Friends... let's get real.  There are coincidences that happen in this life... they are not a sign.  We need to stop looking for all of these crazy proofs of what ever our doctrine is.

Things happen.  Random things happen.  Don't put too much stock in what happens.  There are many random happenings in this world.

- - - - - - 

And so I was working in Richmond KY earlier this week.  Do you see the sign yet?  And by chance, in the parking lot of the retail store that we are remodeling, there is a McDonalds.  I decided to go there for lunch.  I wanted to get the new $5 lunch because I am frugal [cheap].  Do you see the sign yet?  No??? Just wait for it.

So I order at the kiosk and pick up my table tent.  My table tent is #6.  I don't think much of it until my receipt comes out.

My table tent was randomly #6

And this was my receipt #666

OMG!!! I guess that this proves that I am the anti-Christ.  Tomorrow I will see Jesus' face in a tortilla.  

The point of this blog is to point us away from conspiracy theories.  I want to point us away from speculative theology and speculative religion.

Just love the people around you.  Stop looking for special signs.  And love the people at McDonalds.  They all got a big laugh when I showed them my receipt and told them that I was ... well, you know who!!!

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

I love this story

So my friend Courtney went on a vaca with her family.  By the way, do you know the difference between a vacation and a trip?  If you take the kids, its a trip.

Anyway, the four of them travelled to Costa Rica, leaving the morning of the world wide computer failure. You read what I wrote about my experience of being stuck... here is hers...

Hope you made your flight to Kentucky!! We just arrived home last night from our family vacation to Costa Rica. We flew out on the Friday morning that the computer systems shutdown and our 6 day vacation turned to a 9 day one!  It was such an ordeal with every emotion humanly possible—but so much unexpected beauty.  Stranded in Texas, two days searching for luggage with thousands of others that became our friends. People were crying and separated from family and friends. Stressed out but so encouraging and kind to each other.  We saw no anger, just humans trying to support each other by sharing experiences and information to help make the other’s journey easier. Waiting for 6 hours for luggage in shifts with our family we would fist bump and cheer and clap for other passengers when they finally found theirs. In a time when everyone seems so divided it was an awesome thing for me to experience, for my kids to experience. It was HOPE and KINDNESS and we are all better for it. We did not take a moment of our trip for granted and we are so crazy tired and content. Just wanted to share…the world is full of wonderful people. We will all be okay when we are looking for the good.

I love it. She is so much of a better person than I am.

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

Love

I heard a sermon by the Bishop of Florida, Tom Berlin on Sunday.  The title of the sermon was, "Begin with Love."

I will bet that he has preached that sermon 100 times.  He needs to keep at it.  Over and over, the same message again and again.  Begin with love.

When you begin with love, everything changes.  What ever you are facing, whatever is going on, step back, take a deep breath and begin with love.

It will change you and it will change how others respond to you.  When we begin with love, the way we feel about everything changes.

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

a mirror

 

"It is amazing how much self contempt a mirror can produce."  Bishop Tom Berlin

Let me add... it is amazing how much self contempt we allow a mirror to produce.

Maybe when we were young, we valued ourselves based on how we looked.  Now the day has come when we need to stop that.  Our value does not come from our looks.  Not from how much hair we have.  Not from how good we think we look.

The day has come to understand that we are valuable simply because we are loved by God.  Get rid of the mirror.  See your reflection in our Father.  Feel the love and share the love and you will be aware of your value.

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

Friends in Nicaragua

This week I have friends in Nicaragua.  I worry about them.  

Funny, I visited there four or five times.  When I visited there, I never worried about me.  But I worry about them now...

I want them to share the love with the people in the village.  I want them to be renewed.  I want them to have great stories to tell.  I want them to feel invigorated.

But most of all, since it is all about me, I want them to come home.  Come home and tell me that you are safe.  Come home and tell me that we can meet up at the Mexican restaurant again.

We humans are so funny.  I keep finding ways to make it about me.  

Dear friends... thank you for your mission work in Nicaragua.  Come home soon and come home safe.  Bring home some great stories.

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

complete

"Gratitude makes our world feel complete and right."   M.J. Ryan

When we focus on what is wrong, then our lives become dominated by worry and loss.

But when we can look at what we have and what "is" and be thankful, then all is well.

We can be at enmity with life, or we can embrace it.

Gratitude makes our world feel complete.

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

One time

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet."  Emily Dickenson

Dickenson was an American poet... she died in 1886.  She was 56 years old.  And yet, in those short 56 years, she saw that life was sweet.

I remember being 13.  I will never be 13 again.  I remember my 40th birthday party.  Some of you were there...  I will never be 40 again.

Today is a day which will not repeat.  It is a singular gift that I can use to share joy or to be selfish.  Seals and Crofts wrote, "we shall never pass this way again."

Let's make this day and every moment of this day count.  This is the only July 29, 2024 that we will ever have.  Let's us radiate and enjoy it's sweetness.

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

computer glitch

Ten days ago there was a world wide computer glitch.  It threw many companies and several airlines into complete disarray.  Delta and American airlines were in complete freefall.  I hope it is better today because tonight I am flying Delta to Lexington KY.  By faith, I say I am flying into Lexington KY.

During these last ten days, I have been stranded overnight twice because flights were cancelled.  The systems of these great airlines just could not figure out what to do.  And all of this disruption happened accidentally.

I thought about the old days when we operated without computers.  What in the world would happen to our society if there was ever in intentional intent to disrupt systems?  What would happen if someone dropped an EMP?  An EMP is a bomb that destroys anything that runs on electricity.

Cars won't run.  No computers.  No TV.  No cell phones.  You get the idea.

I guess this is just one more reason for us to be nice to each other.  No more need for wars, for arguing, for fighting, or hatred.  No more need for hacking or identity theft.  And surely no EMP's.

Come on people, let's just love one another.  

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

questions

From time to time, people still ask me questions... I answer them to the best of my ability.

Recently I received this from a reader... a wonderful human...

Hey Jeff I have been thinking about something and wanted to ask your opinion on it. I was raised in a small town of about 200 people and a Southern Baptist church and was told there will be a day of judgement where I will stand before God and be held accountable for all of my sins and after they are all listed Jesus will say let him in he is forgiven he is mine but that there will be different rewards based upon the judgement. I read in the Bible that I am forgiven because Jesus has paid the price and I have accepted that forgiveness and saving Grace. That my sins are no more but as far as the east is from the west. My problem with this is that if they are forgiven and God remembers them no more why the judgment day. When I see the way Jesus interacted with people in the Bible he did not shame them but loved them. I would expect it more likely that I would be greeted with open arms of love not judgement and shame. I know who I am and have had enough shame in this world by my inability to be the person for God I should have always been I would like to think that when I leave this world it would be to experience the complete love and acceptance of my savior in person not Judgement?

My response...

Hello Brother...
I had a similar upbringing.... and I totally agree with your conclusions.

I look at it this way... a section of the church has chosen to grasp onto a few of Paul's teachings. What teachings you choose to grab onto will naturally shape your doctrine. For far too long, the church has used fear and shame to keep people in the fold. Is this what Jesus would do?

I look at it this way... God doesn't need to kill something to be happy. He just loves us because he is love 1 John 4. If God loves us, then our welcome upon our death will be like the welcome that the prodigal son received.

I hope that you do not spend one more moment fearing a God of judgment. I hope that you don't spend another moment in your life of worry. When we know and believe that God loves us, we are no longer afraid. Dying will be like a going home.

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

The Fish Cheer

Some of you will remember Country Joe McDonald and his band doing "The Fish Cheer" at Woodstock.  When I was 12 years old, I wrote my own version of it.  I liked it for some reason.

And so I am looking at the meme that my friend Kathy sent me that I posted yesterday.

And I want to plagiarize it and write my own version.  So here goes...

I have noticed the political infighting and stress.  I have read the news and someone is upset about something.  There is a war in Ukraine.  Israel is attacked by Hamas.  The Houthis are disrupting shipping.  Wars and rumors of wars.  Inflation is up.  Biden has resigned.

And I choose to focus on something else.  While I recognize the importance of much of the above, I refuse to be dominated by it.  I am going to hold the door open for the next person.  I am going to say please and thank you.  I am going to give chocolate to the flight attendants.  I am going to use every ounce of energy that I have to show kindness.

Because, that is why we are here.  Not to put bumper stickers on our cars.  Not to post nasty reviews of businesses.  Not here to hate our neighbor.  Not here to demean the other political party.

We are here to show kindness.  And while I cannot control what other people do, I can certainly control what I do.

I will engage in kindness.  It is more powerful than hate.  It is more powerful than war.  Sharing kindness is amazing.  

I invite you to look past the ills of this world and engage in sharing love.

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

awesome thoughts

From my friend Kathy...

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

this song

And so I was listening to an episode of "This American Life."

At the end of the podcast they were playing this song...

This song has a hauntingly beautiful first line...

Do you realize, that you have the most beautiful face...

I was taken in.  I listened and I listened.

I did some research.  The song was written and performed by "The Flaming Lips" in 2002.  I had never heard of the Flaming Lips.  Anyway, the version that I heard was a cover performed by Sharon Van Etten.

I am posting a link so you can listen... it has a long intro...

click here to listen on youtube

Here are the lyrics:

Do you realize
That you have the most beautiful face?
Do you realize
We're floating in space?
Do you realize
That happiness makes you cry?
Do you realize
That everyone you know someday will die?

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do you realize?

Do you realize?
That everyone you know someday will die?

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do you realize
That you have the most beautiful face?
Do you realize?

There are so many things that I wanted to say about this song.  So many positive messages.

Do you know that you are beautiful?  Amazing?  Do you know that you are loved?

Life goes by quickly... don't fail to tell everyone that you can...

They are beautiful.  You are beautiful.

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

I laughed at this one

My friend Barry sent this to me...




I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,

Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp–


The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.

Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.
Bob, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, “What’s the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How’d all these sinners get up here?
God must’ve made a mistake.

“And why is everyone so quiet,
and so somber – give me a clue.”

“Hush, child,” He said,
“they’re all in shock.
No one thought they’d be seeing you.”

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

Computer outage pt 2

So if you read yesterday's post, I could relate.

Last Tuesday Cathy and I flew to Vegas for a few days.  We were supposed to come home on Friday.  We woke up, as everyone did, to the news of a nationwide if not worldwide computer issue.  Hospitals, businesses and airlines were affected.

We were supposed to fly American Airlines to Charlotte, then on to Melbourne Florida.  The app said that everything was on time.  We got to the airport for our noon flight to Charlotte.  It was delayed two hours, but since we had a 3 hour layover in Charlotte, I hoped that we would be fine.

We landed in Charlotte at 930.  We stood away from the gate because there was a plane in our gate.  I guess that they did not know that we were coming.  That delayed us 30 more minutes.  When we rolled up to the gate, they could not find anyone to drive the jetway out, I guess that they didn't know we were coming, so we were delayed another 15 minutes.  By the time we got off of the plane, ran through the Charlotte airport and got to gate E-34, they had just shut the boarding door.

You could see the plane there.

But we could not get on.  Now we are stuck in Charlotte.  UGH!!!

We wait in line for an hour at the American Airlines help desk.  No flights to Melbourne have seats until 9:30pm tomorrow.

We decide to get a hotel room and rent a car to drive home on Saturday.  We got the hotel room ok, but guess what?  No one would rent a car for a one way rental...  very frustrating.  I had one set up at Enterprise for a rental and return to Charlotte, but they called me when they opened and explained that too many people were just driving the cars home and so they were not renting.

Cathy found a car on National.  The guy told me that if we took it back to any other location, there would be a $1500 charge.  YIKES.  But, we had to get home.  We got the car and took off.  A 9 hour drive.

About two hours into the drive, I called National customer service and told them that we had a change of plans... we did not want to return the car to Charlotte, we wanted to return it to Melbourne.  What would be the charge for that???  I was expecting her to say, $1500, so I was very pleasantly surprised when she said it would cost an extra $130.  [we just made $1370]

We drove home.  Got to the Melbourne airport, picked up our suitcases, which had arrived during the day.  And drove home.  Got home about 6:30pm.

The entire process was very frustrating.  Very aggravating.  But in the end, we have much to be thankful for.  We had a good trip, we at least got to Charlotte, and we did finally get home.

I think that it is important to remember in the crummy and stressful times, that these times too will pass.

We can't control our circumstances, but we can control our attitudes, and we can keep looking for the good.  It may take a 9 hour drive to find it, but there is good out there for those who are looking.

Nation wide computer outage pt 1

This is a post from a guy named Sean Dietrich, passed on to me by my friend Kim.

Kansas City International Airport. I was standing in a long, LONG line, waiting to board my plane. We were like cattle, clogging up the chute. Nobody was happy.
Namely, because yesterday the whole world underwent a historic global internet outage, which delayed and canceled nearly 3,000 American flights. And on this particular historic day in human civilization, I happened to be flying.

 
You could see boiling anger and frustration on every face in the airport.
The young man in line ahead of me was with his mother. He was maybe 15. He had Down syndrome. He was shouting hellos to people in line. He was a natural comedian. He was Mister Personality.
And you couldn’t help but smile when the kid landed his miracle gaze on you.
“Hello!” the boy shouted to a businessman in line. “How are you today?!”
The business guy was on the phone, having a heated conversation at the time.
“Uh, I don’t know,” the guy says.
Then the boy hugged the man. “Does this help!?” he said.
The businessman tentatively hugged back. Until, finally, he broke a smile, ended up terminating the phone call, and he said to the boy, midhug, “I guess I’m good, how are you?”
“It’s not ‘good,’” the boy said. “You never say ‘I’m good,’ it’s bad grammar. It’s WELL. You should have told me, you’re doing WELL!”

Everyone laughed at that. All the people in line, in foul moods, some of whom had been living in KCI for the past 20 hours, surviving on vending machine food, actually began chuckling.
The businessman was laughing too, when he said, “Okay, then I am doing WELL, and how are you today?”
“I’m good,” the boy said.
More laughter.

 
Then the boy addressed another woman in line. She was playing on her phone. She was mid-forties. She looked like she’d just sucked a lemon.
“Hi,” the kid said.
She looked up from her phone.
“Um. Hi?” she replied.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Laura.”
“Can I give you a hug, Laura?”
Laura looked around. “Um. I don’t think so.”
He hugged her anyway. He even closed his eyes. Laura was taken off guard. She put her phone away and committed to the hug.
“You smell good,” the kid said.
“Thanks,” she said.
“What about me?” he said. “Do I smell good too?”
Laura looked around again. “Sure.”

This made her laugh. Which was exactly what the boy was aiming for, of course.
The kid approached several others in line. I watched people’s rancid attitudes fade, one by one. And I watched a few hundred delayed airline passengers start to smile.
When it was time to board the plane, the kid stepped back in line. His comedy routine was over. He was with his mom once again. He was quiet.

 
“That’s one remarkable boy,” I whispered to his mother.
She smiled.
“He has a gift,” she said. “He can make anyone smile. And I mean ANYONE.”
“He must inherit that gift from you?” I said.
She laughed. “Lord, no. His biological parents left him in a dumpster as a baby, behind a restaurant.” She used a pinky to dab away a tear. “I was just the one who was lucky enough to find him.”
Some folks get all the luck.

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

Letter from Mother Teresa

I have posted about this before, but some things in life bear repeating. In fact, we learn by repetition, and this is something worth learning.

I was at St. Mary's hospital some years ago. I was waiting for the elevator. My mind was filled with worry and concern about some random thing that was going on in my life. Then my eyes fell to a framed letter that was hanging on the wall nearby. Evidently one of the hospital administrators had written to Mother Teresa - and surprise - she wrote back!

Dated March 10, 1986

Dear Mr. Coen,
Thank you very much for your letter and good wishes. Thank God for God. For using our nothingness to show his love. He calls me, he calls you – each of us to be his sign of love to each other. This is a great privilege that he shares with us.

I shall pray that you may learn to love him much and share this love with those around you, your loved ones, first, then your neighbors and every person that you meet.
God bless you

Mother M. Teresa

Reading that letter changed my day and gave me something to think about. I have never forgotten the moment or the concept that to love others is a great privilege to which God calls us. Today the letter has been moved to a different area of the hospital. If you go in the east door at St Mary's, take an immediate right and go up the elevator to the second floor. Nearby, hanging on a wall is the letter, still delivering it's timeless message.

It is a great privilege, the great privilege that we have, you and I, to go about, here and there, sharing God's love. That is what Christ followers are supposed to do and it is indeed an honor and a privilege to do so.

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

you killed my plant

We have a lawn service.  It is very common in Florida and very affordable.  But, most of the employees speak little to no English.  Also, their life experience and life paradigms do not always lend well to our expectations.

So after our favorite palm tree died, I reworked the flower bed where it had lived.  From left to right, I put in a foxtail palm, some crotons, some Hawaiian Ti  [the pink ones] plants and a Christmas palm.

I am very proud of this little plot.  I have taken great care of the plants and I enjoy watching them grow.

Then the unthinkable happened.  One of the lawn workers weed whacked off one of my Hawaiian Ti's.  I was upset.  The plant is 15 inches away from the grass.  How careless does a person have to be to weed whack down one of the beautiful little plants???

I sulked.  I sent pictures to the lawn crew boss.  I left the weed whacked plant lay there so that the next time they came by, they would see it and maybe understand what they did.

Then I was out of town travelling.  A week in West Palm working, a week in Jacksonville working, a week in Chicago helping my daughter.  

When I got back I noticed something that made me very happy.  Out of the ashes of defeat, out of the stump of the whacked off plant, new shoots were coming in.

Turns out that a little accidental pruning is bringing this plant back stronger than ever.  It doesn't always work out this way, but sometimes lemonade does come from lemons.

Moral of the story.  It is only a plant.  Don't kill the lawn worker over a plant.  Good things can come from difficult situations.  Have faith, stay with the program.

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

the root of Christianity

As a follow up to yesterday's post, I want to pose a question...

Is the root of Christianity, is the core of the Bible about love or sin?  Is this faith all about how bad we are or about God's love for us?

I suggest to you that there are tons of examples in the Bible of people that did bad things and were still deeply loved by God.  Moses killed a man and married the daughter of a pagan priest, yet he was chosen to lead Israel out of Egypt.  On and on we could go with examples of this.

My point is simply that far too many Christians and pastors have made Christianity all about sin and how bad we are.  When in fact, the opposite is true.  Christianity is about how much God loves us.  It is about how valuable we are to him.

If your brain is stuck thinking about sin, its time to turn those thoughts off and start thinking about love.

I am a wretched sinner or, I am a beloved child of God.  Which thought do you want rolling around in your brain?

Choose love.

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

worst message ever

The weather in Florida in July usually hovers around 92 degrees.  It is a hot heat.

So you know- just down the street from our house is this little church.  It will always be a little church because of hateful messages like this...

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all, if you are trying to get people to attend your church, this isn't going to help.  Not only will this message keep people from trying your church, it will cause people to stay away from any church.  This hateful message is actually going to drive people away from the church.

Then there is a theological issue that I have... stop sinning?  Can you do that?  Yes you can control many things in your life, but selfishness will never be completely eradicated from our lives.  The apostle Paul talked about his struggle between the spirit and the flesh.  We are never going to be perfectly sinless in this life.

But it sounds like the people that attend this church are sin free.  I doubt it.

Anyway, the moral of this rant is that there are many "Christian sounding" phrases that are not Christian at all.

May our words and thoughts always be kind and gracious.

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

more on elevator etiquette

One of my pet peeves is bad elevator etiquette.  Read thru the old rules and wait for the new at the end.

Oh my gosh.... I have posted about this in the past.

When it comes to elevators, some people have not been trained in proper etiquette.

When waiting for an elevator, one should stand to the side to give room for those who will be exiting the elevator. The elevator should not be entered until everyone on it that wishes to leave has done so.

When waiting for, and boarding an elevator, pay attention to the line... do not cut in front of others who were there before you.

When you board the elevator, move to the back so that others can board as well. If you find yourself on a crowded elevator and you are by the door, step off when the door opens so that others can get off easily, then step back on.

Never talk on your cell phone on an elevator.

And so I had an experience last week that taught me a new rule for elevators.  Here is the story.

I push the button.  I am waiting for the elevator.  I am on the first floor so in theory, everyone on the elevator will want to get off.

The door opens.  There are two people on it.  A young man and a young woman.  The door opens.  I am waiting for them to exit the elevator, but they do not move.  They are both engrossed in texting or instagraming on their phones.  I wait.  I wait.  I wait.  The door starts to close.  I stick my hand in to stop the door from closing.  I ask them if they want to get off the elevator.

Oh, my yes.  Thank you. The guy said.

OMG!!!

Stay off of your phone when on an elevator.  Think of others, please.

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

I did not get the blog post email

I heard from a couple of you...

For some reason, from time to time, the blog actually posts as scheduled, but it will not send an email to those of you who have subscribed for email delivery.

I am not sure what that is about.  If you miss a day, there are three [3] options...

• check your spam or junk folder
• go to the actual website to view today's post www.canyouhearthebirdssing.blogspot.com
• or wait til the next day and then usually they will come by email, the day before and then todays as well.

Hope that answers some of your questions.

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

selfishness

Selfishness, in my opinion, is the root of most evil in this world.  We humans keep finding new ways to make it about us, without any care about how it affects other people. 

Recently I was on a job in Jacksonville.  I was staying in a hotel on the east side of town.  I noticed a couple of things that I found to be very selfish and, very annoying.

When trying to find a place to park, I find that some people who are taking up two places.  I am not talking about a bad parking job, where the person is too close to the line.  I am talking about people who intentionally take up two spaces.  ARUGHHHH!!!  Obviously they are better than, and more important than the rest of us.

And then the final straw.  It is 2pm and I am trying to check out of the hotel.  Since I am on a work trip, I have lots of stuff in my room.  Suitcase, backpack, box of food, two tool boxes and two tool bags.  I need a cart.

I need a cart, you know, one of those things that the hotel has so that people can roll their stuff to their cars.   [this is a stock picture that I found on line... since there were none to be found]

But guess what?  No carts to be found.  I enlist the help of hotel staff.  We look everywhere.  In the foyer where they are supposed to live.  In the parking lot... maybe someone left them in the parking lot.  Then on every floor of the hotel.

No carts to be found.  At 2pm in the afternoon.

Where are they?

People who are staying in the hotel have pulled the carts into their rooms.  They want to make sure that they have a cart when they need to take their stuff out.  Who cares if other people need a cart, they make sure that they have what they want for themselves.

And so I carry my stuff out of the room, down the hall to the elevator and out to the car.  Four trips.

I guess that the moral of this story is that we should all spend a little more time thinking about how our choices and our actions affect others.

It's not just the inconvenience that we sometimes deliver to others.  There is also a residual memory of an experience, fraught with pain and disbelief.

Selfishness has a half life that lives on in our memories.  Let's do all we can to keep fighting it off.

And yet, it is a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to do the good.

thumbs down

From time to time I run across pictures of family or friends that I really like.  I often forward the pictures to them.

Recently, I got a "thumbs down" response to a picture that I sent.  Hmm.  I thought, my friend does not like that picture of them.

Do you ever look in the mirror and see a list of things that you do not like about yourself?

My calves are too big.  I would be the first on a cannibals list.  My face is sagging.  I have scars all over the top of my head, which you can see since my hair ran away from home.  My teeth are not pretty and white.  My midsection has lost it's six pack.  My nose is too big, and it is only getting bigger.  I have a massive scar on my abdomen from a botched gall bladder surgery.  When I take off my shirt, people turn their heads away.

On and on this discussion could go.  But, there is nothing constructive about such discussions.  And, the people that love you don't want to hear it.  They want you to feel good about yourself even if you aren't perfect.  The things that you see that are "wrong" with you, no one else sees.

There is nothing wrong with you!!!

I am friends with my friends because they are beautiful people.  I want them to see themselves as beautiful people too.  After all, isn't that how the good Lord sees us?

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

Kind People

I am looking for kind people.  I see it on t-shirts.  I see it on desk signs.  I see it lots of places.  When I see kindness, I comment on it.  I try to express it every time that I can. 

I find it interesting, the number of conversations that I find myself in with people about kindness.  There are lots of people out there that are coming to understand and believe that treating each other with kindness is why we are here.

Jesus said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  I boil that down to this.  "show kindness."  "be kind."

It makes my heart glad and it makes other people happy too.

If you get a chance to talk kindness with someone, egg it on.  Cheer it on.  We need more kindness in this world.

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

This American Life

This American Life is a pod cast that my friend Di introduced me to. I love it. I just listened to episode #831 on "lists."

One of the stories was about a young college man who had a list taped to his closet door. Here is the list:

16 principles to live life by
Goals for success


1. Make a commitment
2. Be unselfish
3. Create unity-Come together as never before
4. Improve everyday as a player person and student
5. Be tough
6. Be self disciplined
7. Do it right
8. Don’t accept less
9. Give great effort
10. Be enthusiastic
11. Eliminate mistakes
12. Don’t beat yourself
13. Expect to win
14. Be consistent
15. Develop leadership
16. Be responsible

When I first heard the list, I thought about how positive it was.  How constructive.  How organized and driven the young man was.

His brothers commented on the list.  Evidently the brother that made the list took his own life.  They blamed the list.  Too much toxic positivity.  No room for error.  No grace.  No enjoyment.  They said it was guilt laden and unrealistic.  They said that there was no room for being vulnerable.  They said that they wanted nothing to do with his list.

So I wanted to say that after listening to the brothers respond, I agree with them.  Sometimes we hold ourselves to unrealistic standards.  Much of the list is good, but the lists in our lives ought to include more things like...

• it's ok to cry
• be creative
• celebrate the day
• smile
• make a new friend
• value people
• forgive everyone including yourself
• share love

It's a beautiful, guilt and pressure free day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

compassion

I credit my friend Bruce with sharing this quote...

"Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well, can we be present with the darkness of others."
   

                                                         PEMA CHÖDRÖN

Wow... that is some vulnerable thinking.  When we know how broken we are, we can actually have compassion on others.  Being willing to examine and embrace our brokenness will make us acutely more aware of the pains of others.  We will smile when they smile and we will weep when they weep.

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

One Year Ago

One year ago on June 28th, I had my knee replaced.

It took a while to heal.  The first four days were miserable.  But after that it got better.  When I first started travelling again, I used a lot of wheelchairs in airports.

I went up my first stair case while on a job for Diamond Contractors in  Paso Robles, California in September.  

Last week I was walking through the Ft. Lauderdale airport, carefree and feeling great and it occurred to me that I was walking like a whole person.

I thank God for the miracle of science that can replace a knee.

☺☺☺

So happy to be on the other side of it.

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

finding peace...

From my dear friend Grace...

If you're depressed, you're living in the past.
If you're anxious, you're living in the future.
If you're at peace, you're living in the present.
                                            ...............Lao Tzu

The world is not sure that the guy is a historical figure.

But those are good words.

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

Sing Out

Too many people do not sing because they do not have the voice of Frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee. Too many people do not play baseball because they cannot hit like Babe Ruth or field like Frank White.

Too many Christians hold back from what they could be because they are not big famous souls like Billy Graham or because the are not Mother Teresa.

Friends, we will never be what God calls us to be until every single one of us jumps in with both feet. Head over heels, committed to the mission. No holds barred, no excuses, lets just go pursue our potential in Christ.

"Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. "
Henry van dyke

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

kindness

A friend sent me this email...

Lately, I have received several messages on kindness that woke me up.  In the past, I had shut down friendships because I was working so many hours!  

I am now contacting family and friends.  We hang out together and laugh and talk for hours.  I even am on my high school reunion committee and hosted our first meeting at our home.  It was humbling to be hugged by old friends who haven’t seen me in 49 years.

Jeff comments...

Maybe more of us could wake up?  Kindness is good stuff!!!

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

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 67th birthday!

I have now lived four years and two days longer than my mother did.

Cathy asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I said nothing particular. Heck as a mostly retired person I can do just about what ever I want every day. What do I want for my birthday? Nothing. I can't think of anything that I want.

As far as the kids go, don't buy me a necktie or underwear.  I want something from the kids.  I want them to take me for a hamburger on their dime.  I want to spend time with them.

Now think about all of this. How fortunate am I. How fortunate are most of us. We have more stuff than we need and we have time for all kinds of enjoyable things.

That alone should make me/make us very grateful. We are so blessed. We are so fortunate.

To see what we have and appreciate what we have should make us thankful and humble.

I thank God for 67 years and for the gift of life. I thank God for friends and for every person that loves me.

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

Freedom

On a day that we celebrate freedom, I am concerned about the recent supreme court decision that makes the president immune from certain actions.

I would like to believe that no one is above the law.  Whether you support Trump, Biden or someone else, the moment that we have a president that is not constrained by the law, we no longer have a president, we have a king.

If such limited liability was in place when Nixon was president, he would never have had to resign.

I fear that we are sliding down a slippery slope.

On a positive note, the character of good men and women can keep our nation on track.  May we all pray for the leaders of our country.

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

I am such bad luck

If you see me in the grocery store, in a line, pick another one.  I always pick the slowest lines.

And I have noticed that if I like something too much, I lose it.  I loved this car that I had in 1983, and I totaled it out.

I had a favorite hat.  I lost it.  I had a favorite key chain.  No one knows where it went.

A few days ago, I lost my favorite shirt.  I guess it is probably in a hotel room in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I had another favorite shirt that I lost on the last Holy Land trip.  UGH!!!

I shouldn't get so attached to things.  They tend to leave me.  And I think that there is a lesson here... things come and things go... love people more than things.

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

a response to the sermon

I received this email in response to the sermon that I posted last week. Remember, part of the sermon was about opening our minds to ideas that are different to us.

Good Morning Jeff,

Thank you for posting the link to your sermon this past Sunday. It worked well and your sermon spoke to my heart. Love the story of Zacceaus, as I always identified with the part about being short and many times needed a tree to climb to see what was going on! No, seriously, what pains me the most about my family and friends is when they have a point of view entirely based on how they were raised and treated. They keep those blinders on you mentioned and never want to see the other person's point of view or even give them a chance to think differently.

Last summer I was asked to find a Bible study about the LGBTQ issue in the church. You helped me by sending me some good references. Before the study, I did not believe in same sex marriage. I know and love several people who have family members who did this but always felt it should be called something else and even it was not what God wanted for us. After the study, I realized the hurt and guilt and self loathing people who have these inclinations felt. I saw how we as Christians continue to devalue these sons and daughters of ours almost to the point of suicide for some. I heard stories of people in a church I went to for over 30 years felt, how some of my former Sunday school students felt and I cried. Your story about playing the Christian music was especially enlightening as I remembered my feelings about what marriage meant to me and how selfish I had been to think only I knew what was right and what was wrong in God's eyes. After the Bible study, my little church in Vermont voted to become an Open and Affirming church and hung a Rainbow Flag outside to let the community know it changed! This is a church with mostly people in their senior years and very few young people But when they had the celebration of hanging the flag, several of our former young people attended and said for the first time in their lives they felt safe to worship Jesus!!!

I didn't mean to write such a long email, but I just wanted to let you know how much your message meant to me this morning and that even an old woman like me who thinks she is welcoming to everyone, but in her heart was not, can remove those blinders and change.

Thank you so much,

Your friend...

it's not a sign of the end times

If someone starts spouting off to you that this thing or that thing is a "sign of the end," don't listen to them.  In fact, run the other direction.

Every time that there is a war in the middle east, some so called "Bible teachers" indicate that it is a sign of the end times. They sell some books and make some money. The "Left Behind" series for example was totally wrong, except that the authors made millions. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

So this came across the news the other day:

Fifty years ago today, the first official barcode was scanned at a grocery store in Troy, Ohio. The symbol of parallel lines has since become the most prevalent tracking tool for products around the world, though many dispute who deserves the credit for its eventual success.

I remember when barcodes first came out. "Good Bible teachers" insisted that this was the mark of the beast. They said that soon, no one would be able to buy or sell without a bar code tattooed on their hand or forehead.

Rubbish. Ridiculous.

Can we please just live in the present? Can we apply ourselves to living and loving today and stop speculating about tomorrow? Some people fill their minds with speculative theology... it keeps them from having to think about how they interact with people day to day.

How we treat people day to day is much more, much more important that what we might think about Jesus' return.

Let's focus our minds on what is really important. Kindness, grace and love.

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

fortunate

From time to time, I run into people my age who are in poor health, and it causes me to think.

I am so grateful for good health.  I am so thankful that at the young age of almost 67, I can still work.  I can climb ladders and swing a hammer and I love it.

From time to time I pinch myself.  My gosh, here you are Jeff... you can see pretty well, you can hear pretty well, you can walk pretty well [thanks to a knee replacement] you have your wits about you, you pass the annual memory tests, and you are in good health.

I think about this every day and I give thanks to God for all of these things.

IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN GOD'S WORLD, BE SURE TO SEE THE GOOD.

submitting my attitude

Years ago, when I was the Sr. Pastor [code for old guy] there were times that I had to send difficult emails or have difficult conversations with someone.  Sometimes members, sometimes employees.

Somewhere along the way, I learned to submit my emails to key staff for their review.  They would often offer some edits to make the email sound nicer.  I was always glad for their input.  We get smarter when we run our attitudes by solid humans.

If I had to have a difficult discussion with someone, I would sit down with my XO, still the XO at Woods Chapel, Sherri Swanson.  A brilliant human.

I would run through what I was planning to say and she would listen to my spiel and almost always say, "the content is fine, but it needs to sound nicer."  I was always grateful for her advice.

If you have to have a difficult communication with a friend, family member or employee, you might want to run it by a trusted person.  Others can see things in our words that we often cannot.

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

hurt

Recently, I was hurt by someone.  It is not you, for the person who hurt me does not read the blog.

I know what the person was trying to accomplish by their words, but it still hurt.  And as I reflect on the communication [I tend to reflect on things...] I feel strongly that the tone was not necessary.  

We can share our messages, our thoughts and our words without hurting others.  It may take a little practice, but it can be done.

The words that we share echo in the minds of those who receive them.  Hurtful words bring pain that lingers for days.  Kind words bring joy.

How we come across is so important.  Let's be those who work hard at expressing words in constructive, helpful and kind ways.

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

gratitude

I love this quote!!!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have, into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity...  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

Melody Beattie

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

the loud person

So I am staying at a hotel in West Palm.  After the free breakfast, I am on the way to the elevator when I hear a good deal of noise coming from the front desk.

It sounds like someone is being hateful to the desk clerk.

My brains says, go see what is going on.  Then my brain says to get on the elevator.  But as the door is closing, I keep thinking about the clerk at the desk.  I open the door and follow the noise.

I get about ten feet away and I realize that the guest is not being ugly, she is just loud, very loud.

- - - - 

And so I ask myself what I was going to do if the guest was being ugly.  And I know the answer.  The first thing I would have done if the person was actually being ugly, would be to go stand at the desk a few feet away.  Sometimes the presence of another human can pull an ugly person out of their rant.  Had that not worked, I would have made intentional eye contact with the guest and the clerk.  Finally, I imagine, if the imagined hatred continued, I would have said something to the effect of "this is a person you are talking to... being nice isn't that hard."

I hope that we don't encounter any mean people today.  And I certainly hope for sure that we are never the mean person.

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

missing the good

"It seems to me that we often, almost sulkingly, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good."   C. S. Lewis

Or to say it another way...  we miss the good in an ordinary day because we selfishly longed for something different.  We miss the good that our Father has put in this day because we could not, would not, see that it was good.

We should learn to accept things as they are and see the good in them instead of always wishing for some unreasonable ideal.

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

yesterday's sermon

I had the wonderful opportunity to deliver the message yesterday at my home church, Fort Pierce First United Methodist.

Someone asked me after service how I thought it went.  I told them, that was like asking the cook how the meal was.  They should ask the folks who were in the service.

Personally, after having a very difficult experience at a church 3 weeks ago, I thought that yesterday went well. 

If you want to watch or listen, here is the web address and the link.

https://www.firstchurchfp.org/worship

click here and scroll down to 6/23/24 classic worship

Those of you who actually try to watch or listen, let me know if the instructions are helpful and if the link works.  thank you.

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

happiness or?

So I am watching the series "Vikings" on Netflix.  In season two, the father is having a talk with his son.  The son wants the father to send away his mistress.  The son says, "All she brings here is unhappiness."

The father responds by saying, "get used to it son, in this life, unhappiness is more common than happiness."

I got to thinking about that.  Stop for a minute and ask yourself, do you think that unhappiness is more common than happiness?

There certainly is a great deal of unhappiness in the world.  Political strife, wars, food scarcity, immigration, drugs, and such... there is plenty of unhappiness to go around.  Plenty of pitfalls, plenty of traps, plenty of quicksand in this life.

And into each life a little rain must fall.  We must choose.  To focus on what is wrong, or to focus on the good.  To see the pain, or to look past it.

For those who want unhappiness, the roads into it are by the 1,000's.  But there is also a road, a way to happiness for those who choose, in spite of circumstances to see the good.

May you and I both be among those who choose to see the good.

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

believe or follow

How many times did Jesus say, "believe in me?"

And how many times did Jesus say, "follow me?"

When he was recruiting disciples, did he ask them to believe in him or to follow him?

If we only choose to believe, then we fall into what the church tells us about who he is.  We choose our beliefs and we are saved.  Because they told us what to believe.

But if we choose to follow, we step outside of what the church taught us.  We simply look at where Jesus went and what he did.

Believing can be contrived.  Following is simply about watching what he did and emulating that.

It is much easier to believe than it is to follow.  That is why Jesus is still looking for those who would follow.

Where did he go.  What did he do?  Do you wish to follow?

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

preaching

So, I am preaching this Sunday at the Ft. Pierce First United Methodist Church.  That is, I am preaching if the Lord is willing and the Creek don't rise.

I have been thinking about this for a month.  I have been worried about it.  Seems odd, but when you don't do it, don't preach very often, you get pretty nervous.  Well I guess I was worried in the old days when I did it every week...

Pray for me.

I guess that you hope that when you stand in the pulpit or the holy desk, you hope that someone will hear something that will help them.

That is what I am hoping for, praying for...  for Sunday...

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

wrong

I am wrong about many things.  I think I know what is right.  I think I am taking the correct steps.  But then life surprises me.  I am not as smart as I think.

Each of us are navigating the river of life.   Sometimes we float down stream as if we know the way the river runs.  But none of us have been this way before, and none of us will travel this way again.

If you are 51 years old, it is the first time, and the only time that you will be 51.  The same is true for me at 66.  For my daughter at 36.  And for each of us.  We will never pass this way again.

We are not as smart as we think that we are.  Consequently, may we all walk with a humble and gracious heart.  May we all understand that there is much to learn along the journey.

I am, we are, wrong about many things.  There is much to learn.

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

I love you, but...

I love you, but.  But, there is this thing about you that I don't love.

Some have said, "hate the sin, love the sinner."  What a nice sounding bit of religious mumbo jumbo.  I love the sinner, but I hate what you do.

How does that sound to someone?  I love you, but I hate that you are a democrat.  I love you but I hate that you will vote for trump.  I love you but I hate some of what you do.

Is this love???  Who can tell me that this is love?  Again, we have found a way to practice excluding and shaming people and somehow call it love.

Here is how I see it... there is no, but.  I just love you.

What ever your weaknesses or faults are, I just love you.  I think that is how Jesus rolled.  Hate the sin, love the sinner??? Jesus never ever said anything like that, ever. 

He just loved people.  And so should we do the same.

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

If I have an asterisk, it is not love.

An article from the KC Star, shared with my by my friend Jim...

Kansas pastor taking LGBT books out of public library has an odd view of Jesus’ love

Opinion BY JOEL MATHIS REGULAR OPINION CORRESPONDENT UPDATED JUNE 10, 2024 3:51 PM 

Kyle Lammott, lead pastor of Exodus Church in Wichita, urged men to “go empty the local library of all their LGBTQ+ books” during Pride month. exoduschurch.net; Screengrab from Instagram 

For the moment, at least, Kyle Lammott might be in possession of one of the largest collections of LGBT literature in Kansas. Let’s be clear: That’s not because he’s a deep reader of such materials. TOP VIDEOS Instead, the lead pastor of Exodus Church Wichita doesn’t want anybody else to read those books. That’s why he went to the Andover Public Library recently to check out as many as he could — reportedly more than 100 in all — in order to take them out of circulation during Pride Month. Then he posted the results to Instagram: A picture of bags and shelves stuffed with titles like “The Gay Best Friend,” “Be Dazzled” and “To My Trans Sisters.” 

“It’s Pride Month, a good time to recalibrate what it means to love your neighbors,” Lammott wrote. “One way you can love your neighbors and your community is together some of the men in your church and go empty the local library of all their LGBTQ+ books. Start with the kids’ books and work your way up. “This,” he concluded, “really is a great way to love your neighbors and serve your community.” 

Not really. I’ll explain why in terms I hope Lammott might understand. For more than a century, Christians around the world have guided themselves with a simple question: “What would Jesus do?” It was first posed by Charles Sheldon, a Topeka minister, in his novel “In His Steps.” “After asking that question,” Sheldon wrote, “each one will follow Jesus as exactly as he knows how, no matter what the result may be.” And so the question here is: Would Jesus raid a library to make sure that nobody else in his community could read books he didn’t like? I’m skeptical. TOOK AWAY ANDOVER LIBRARY PATRONS’ CHOICE The Jesus I grew up learning about tended to love people by, well, loving them.

 He didn’t bully them, nor did he try to control what they could see or hear. Given a chance to condemn an adultress, he told her accusers that the one without sin could cast the first stone. He dined with men of ill-repute, like Zaccheaus the tax collector. The one time he really showed his temper was when he drove the money changers out of the temple. Grifters got on his nerves. Everybody else was welcome. 

“Jesus never said ‘Love your neighbor, except …,” said the Rev. Nancy Tuma, pastor at Ward Parkway Presbyterian Church in Kansas City. “Jesus said, ‘Love God, love your neighbor,’ and your neighbor is everyone.” Tuma, as you can tell, didn’t much approve of Lammott’s actions, or his anti-LGBT interpretation of what it means to “love your neighbor.” Love “means allowing people to see themselves in literature and books, and where many people find those are in the libraries,” she said. “I don’t think love means taking things out.” We won’t resolve any theological debates today. People believe what they believe — often, it’s stuff I don’t believe — and it’s usually impossible to change their minds. 

Ideally, we should all be willing to live and let live. The problem, of course, is that Lammott didn’t live and let live. He didn’t quietly decide not to check out LGBT books for his family, nor did he advise his congregation to do the same. Instead, Lammott decided that he has the unilateral right to make a decision for the entire community — Christian or non-Christian, straight or otherwise — to deprive every single other patron of the Andover library of the ability to decide what they will and won’t read. That’s antidemocratic. A bit authoritarian, even. The good news here, if there is any, is that Andover should get its LGBT books back. In an email, Lammott told KMUW — which first reported this story — that he plans to return the stacks of books he checked out. But the damage has been done. Let everybody else learn a lesson: You don’t “love” anybody by trying to control them. 

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.

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

Change your mind

It is ok to change your mind.  In fact, some of us need to change our minds.  We need to change our opinions on some things.  Because frankly, sometimes we are wrong about things.  You are wrong on some things and I am wrong on some things.

It is not a sin to decide that you have been wrong.  It is a sin in my opinion, to continue to hold to antiquated beliefs simply because that is what you were taught or because you have held them for so long.  Some refuse to change their beliefs about certain things because they are filed away in the "faith file..." they were taught such things by their pastors so they must be right.

Just because a pastor taught you something, does not mean that it is right.  There is a good deal of toxic "christianity" out there and it has been swallowed by way too many people.

My heart and mind started to change when I started to see how my ideas were hurting people.  I don't want to hurt or judge people anymore.

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

Barbara Bass

Barbara Bass was a lovely woman with a huge heart. When she smiled at you, she made you feel like you mattered. She passed away a few weeks ago after a long battle with cancer.  She will be missed.

She did a good deal of journaling during her illness. Some of what she wrote was read at her memorial service... I found these words of hers to be quite profound...

Don’t be afraid of death,
Be afraid of unlived life.
You don’t have to live forever,
You just have to live.

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

Too Funny

I find this too funny to not share it.  Here is a little background.

We always tried to teach our children a sense of humor.  The first joke we taught Allison was this... "what do you call a cow with no legs."  answer... "ground beef."  When she was first telling it at 3 years of age, she would go up to someone and say without a pause, "what do you call a cow with no legs ground beef."  So then we had to teach her timing.

Now she is 36  years old and has a 4 year old daughter.  Alli has grown up to be a very very funny human and some of this has evidently passed on to her daughter Bella.

I have always loved rubber chickens so I have made sure that Bella has had one since day one.  I keep one at the house so that she can play with it when she visits.

So in this video, Dad [Bobby] is watching TV.  Alli is taking a nap on the couch.  Bella grabs the chicken and with encouragement from Dad, well you can see what happens.

The video ends with Alli thanking me for sending the rubber chicken...

link to video on youtube

Its a beautiful, funny day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Close to God

There is an old saying... "if you are not as close to God as you used to be, guess who moved."  When I was young, I loved this saying.  Now, I hate it.  I think it is terrible theology and it places a tremendous amount of guilt and shame onto anyone who takes it in.

First of all, feelings are fickle.  How you feel about God has nothing to do with God's presence in your world or his love for you.

Secondly, God is everywhere and in everything.  If you don't "feel" close to God, I would suggest that you simply start paying attention to what is around you.

The beach. An oak tree. Baseball. Your dog. A friend. The ability to think. There are 10,000 things around you and I right now that remind us that God is here and that he loves us.  One of my favorite quotes...

"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." –G. K. Chesterton

For those who are paying attention to the gift of life, there is never a question that God is present or that God loves us.

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

A note from Grayson Murray's parents

As you probably know, a professional golfer, Grayson Murray took his own life a few weeks ago.  He was 30 years young.  My friend Mike sent in this news article.  I thought the article was touching.  I also want to take a moment to reach out to anyone who is thinking of suicide... the pain that is left behind is enormous.  Please find it within your heart to know that you are loved...

Statement on behalf of Eric and Terry Murray [Grayson's parents]:

We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.

We have so many questions that have no answers.
But one.

Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.

We would like to thank the PGA TOUR and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.

Please respect our privacy as we work through this incredible tragedy, and please honor Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.
Thank you.

Jeff continues... please honor Grayson by being kind to one another.  Please honor Jesus by being kind to one another.  Please honor and value the gift of your life by being kind to everyone and by being kind to you your self.

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

no preacher needed

The pirate Captain Charles Vain is going to be hung in season three, episode nine of the Netflix series "Black sails." The pastor comes to see him before his execution and asks him to repent. The pirate says, "whatever I have to say to God I will say to him or not. I have nothing to say to you."

That reminds me of the joke about an airplane flying along. There is a boom and an engine goes out. The Pilot comes on the microphone and tells everyone, "yes we have lost an engine, but we still have three good ones, but if you are concerned, for your consolation, there are 4 clergymen on board." A bit later, another boom and another engine goes out. Again, the pilot comes on, tells everyone that we are still ok, and reminds them of the 4 clergymen on board. Of course, as jokes go, a third engine goes out... the pilot tells everyone that they should be ok still, flying with just one engine. And of course, for your consolation, there are 4 clergymen on board.

About that time a flight attendant is walking up the aisle. A passenger gets her attention and says to her, "please tell the captain that I would prefer 4 good engines and no clergymen on board."

While we are on the subject, my favorite conversion stories and stories where people felt like they were touched by god, my favorite ones are the ones that happen at home. Just the person and God. No clergyman or clergy woman was needed.

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

How time changes us

My friend Bruce sent me this picture.  It got me thinking about how we change as we get older.  There is an old saying, "when you get older, you can get bitter or you can get better."  May we all choose the better.

I would also say that as I have aged, I see that the most important thing in life is to show kindness and love... as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 13... if I do all of these things, but have not love, it is nothing.

and now on to the picture...

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

what do you choose to love?

Some have contacted me lately and informed me that they love the bible so much that they cannot love certain people.

I told them that they are reading the bible wrong.

Friends... Jesus used the scriptures to love people.  He did not use them to exclude people or to set them aside.  

If you have put a "love" of the bible before a love of human beings... well something is wrong with that line of thinking.

In God's world, everyone is loved, everyone is welcomed, everyone is included, and everyone is accepted. 

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

John Wesley speaks to those who disaffiliated...

So I have to tell you that I am very disappointed that the Princeton and Mercer MO Churches that I served from 1991-1994 both voted to disaffiliate. They have left the denomination. I don't blame the churches because this is a result of their pastoral leadership.

And so I ran across this quote from John Wesley that someone attached to those who have chosen to leave the denomination...

"I dislike your speaking of yourselves as though you were the only [ones] who know and taught the Gospel ...But what I most dislike is your littleness of love...your want [lack] of union...your want of meekness, gentleness, long suffering; your impatience of contradiction; your counting every [person] your enemy that reproves or admonishes you in love; your bigotry and narrowness of spirit, loving in a manner only those that love you...your censoriousness... of all who do not agree with you; in a word, your divisive spirit.” 

 ~ John Wesley
Letter to the perfectionists in London
November 2, 1762

Some day, love will win out.  Someday, people will stop disguising exclusion as love.

Until then, let us love each other.  Let us love one and all.  Let us show our love on every day, in every way, to everyone that we can.

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

ways to save money

In response to my post about inflation, my friend Bruce sent in some ideas about how to save money when things are tight.

I love lists like this... everyone needs to save money these days.

-eat at home, Dave Ramsey says beans and rice
-take a look at your cable bill and figure out how to reduce it.
-take a look at you cell phone bill, mint mobile is an inexpensive option
-shop Aldi’s
-don’t go to Starbucks
-only buy what you need
-cut entertainment by using city parks
-use the public library

Please send in any ideas to me that you have about saving money.

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

preaching clothes

So, last Sunday, June 2nd, I was the guest preacher at the White City UMC in Ft. Pierce.

Evidently their pastor left the UMC for the new Global MC and they are left without a pastor until the new one arrives in July.

So I got to fill in for one Sunday.

And I had this very interesting experience.  On Saturday night June 1, I got out my "preaching clothes."

This is a suit and tie.  This is my black dress shoes.  The whole ensemble does not get out very much.  I was so excited to get out my preaching clothes.  It was almost a year since the last time that I got to fill a pulpit.

On a side note, two of my handyman customers here in Florida made the trip to be in service.  That made me feel like a million dollars.

I am not sure of the value of this post to anyone else, but it sure made me feel good to be back in the game again, at least for one Sunday.

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

I started

I started a prayer.  I started a prayer - - - and I got stuck.  I got lost in this prayer...

Dear Father, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

One of my favorite quotes of all times is from the medieval mystic, Meister Eckhart who said, "if the only prayer that I learn in this life is thank you, that is enough."

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

I can't see it

I get emails from time to time with "funny church signs."  I think that many of them are photoshopped and are not real.

This is real... I am driving in Niagara Falls, NY and I see this school.  I see the sign and I start to laugh.  Who would name a school this?

In case you don't believe me, here is a link to their web page

Who would name a school this???

I just can't see it.

And that reminds me of a joke.  The nurse answers the phone at the doctor's office.  She shouts, "doctor doctor there is a man on line two, he says that he is invisible."  The doctor replies, "tell him we can't see him today."

And on it goes... the invisible man married the invisible woman... their kids aren't much to look at!!!

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

a letter to a friend

So I was engaged in an email exchange with my friend Bob in Texas. We are on the same page on probably everything in life.

I wrote him this... I wanted to share it.

I spent many years judging others.  I wasted many years that I could have been sharing love.
Whatever I have left, I want to be engaged in loving others.   I want to show kindness in every way that I can.
I hope that other people, who are still currently engaged in judgment as I once was, will see the light sooner than I did.
I can't change the past, but I can certainly paint a new tomorrow. Love to all.

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

If I want something from you

If I want something from you, it is not love.  If I want something from you, I am not seeing you- - - as I am mostly focused on whatever need I want to have met.

When you love someone you see them and you value them.  When you love someone, what you want is turned off.  When you value someone, you enjoy them for who they are with no strings attached.  When you love someone, you invest in them and you help them work for what is best in their lives.  

When we make it about us, it is not love.  So, lets make our lives about seeing people and investing in them.

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

2 days

Read recently...

"There are two very important days in your life.  The first is the day that you were born.  The second is the day that you find out why."   Mark Twain...

And so in my 60's I have determined the why.  To show kindness.  I cannot think of a better reason to live.  I cannot think of a more fulfilling goal than to wake up every day and to do one's very best to be kind.

You and I can make the world, our world, a better place, just with the practice of kindness.

It is a beautiful day in God's world... see the good and show the kindness. 

Gracie

I was watching Netflix in my hotel room. It was about 8:30pm. I heard knocking on the door of the room next door. More and more knocking. Then pounding, then crying. Finally sobbing. I decided to investigate. In the hall I found a young girl trying to get into the room next to mine. I told her my name and I asked her for hers. Gracie she said. I told her that she had a lovely name. I asked her how old she was... I am six. I asked her what was going on. She said that her mom would not answer the door.
I told her not to worry, that everything would be ok. I said, well, lets go to the office. At the office I explained the situation to the employee who was from another country. The employee did not seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. [This could have easily escalated to a police and family services matter.] Finally we figured out that Gracie had a grandma in room 231 upstairs. So the clerk called grandma and grandma agreed to meet us at the top of the far stairwell.

I walked Gracie down the hall. I told her again that everything was going to be ok. We got to the stairwell and her grandma was calling. Gracie was back in her grandma's room, safe and sound.

I will probably never see her again in this life, but she left a mark on me. When we were talking, I told her that I had kids too. I told her that they were 32, 34 and 36. She said, Mr. Jeff, you don't have kids, you have adults!!!

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