2010-01-29
WE DO WHAT WE CAN
We say a kind word
We offer a prayer
And hope it gets heard
We write out a check
Or send a shoebox filled with love
It’s all in God’s hands
But we’re the front lines
Defending the weak, and stemming the tide
We can’t do it all, but we can offer a helping hand
We can’t do it all, so we make up our minds
And we do what we can
Words and music by Jonathan Hanks
Copyright 2005
2010-01-14
ANOTHER SHELL-SHOCKED FACE: HAITI
We've all seen the news, and the pain and suffering is just beginning. At this time, many of us feel powerless to make a difference. So, as the words to the song go: "We do what we can."
We can all pray for the victims and for the aid workers trying to bring some comfort and sanity back to these folks' lives. Many of us can also make a contribution to the relief agency of our choice, whose resources will be sorely taxed during this crisis. Together, we can help, because help is needed.
"LORD, Help us to keep our hearts open to those who cry out for mercy, as your hand extended to a world in need. Amen"
We can all pray for the victims and for the aid workers trying to bring some comfort and sanity back to these folks' lives. Many of us can also make a contribution to the relief agency of our choice, whose resources will be sorely taxed during this crisis. Together, we can help, because help is needed.
"LORD, Help us to keep our hearts open to those who cry out for mercy, as your hand extended to a world in need. Amen"
2010-01-11
MIEP GIES
has died. This blessed lady was one of the good folks who helped Anne Frank and her family hide during the Nazi holocaust in Holland. Although Austrian by birth, she married a Dutch man, who with her, and many others, worked to save Jews during the occupation. Never eager to accept any accolades for what she had done, she lived to the age of 100!
I have visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It is one of the holiest places I know. Now a museum, it is sparse, and nearly bare, and full of a palpable poignancy which makes it one of the great shrines to both good and evil that this world offers: We must remember that Anne and her family were betrayed, and almost all died during the ordeal that followed. But the human kindness that this attic represents reminds us that there are good people in this world too: "And light overcame the darkness."
"LORD, We are humbled and inspired by the courage shown by people of every age, who work to protect your children, and strive to do your will, even at great peril to themselves. Help us to go and do likewise. Amen."
I have visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It is one of the holiest places I know. Now a museum, it is sparse, and nearly bare, and full of a palpable poignancy which makes it one of the great shrines to both good and evil that this world offers: We must remember that Anne and her family were betrayed, and almost all died during the ordeal that followed. But the human kindness that this attic represents reminds us that there are good people in this world too: "And light overcame the darkness."
"LORD, We are humbled and inspired by the courage shown by people of every age, who work to protect your children, and strive to do your will, even at great peril to themselves. Help us to go and do likewise. Amen."
2010-01-05
"TRAVEL IS FATAL. . .
to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." So wrote American humorist Mark Twain.
What I have discovered - as many of you have as well - is that people are much the same everywhere. The same, in that we are all looking for tenderness, and compassion, and understanding in the faces of those we daily encounter.
"LORD, As we travel through this life, on the road to our final destination, help us to extend the same mercies we seek, to the 'strangers' among us."
What I have discovered - as many of you have as well - is that people are much the same everywhere. The same, in that we are all looking for tenderness, and compassion, and understanding in the faces of those we daily encounter.
"LORD, As we travel through this life, on the road to our final destination, help us to extend the same mercies we seek, to the 'strangers' among us."
2010-01-05
PERSPECTIVE
The old saying is that God, who could choose to live anywhere, chose heaven, not because of the fancy pavement, but because the view is so much better.
If I have learned anything, it is that perspective is nearly everything. Our tendency as creatures of this planet is to over analyze: We love to break things down until we can get them under a microscope, assuming then, that we will have greater understanding, and therefore more control over the conflicts and challenges that perplex us. This is a wonderful part of the scientific method, but often, I submit, leads to greater anxiety and more uncertainty when applied to interpersonal matters, and our view of personal relevance in this world.
So step back: literally and figuratively, and see how things change. This may not always be easy, or bring any quick fixes, but I encourage you to try this exercise for a month. Whenever you feel the urge to take an issue out of its box, crank up the magnifier, and go to work - STOP! Lay it down, walk away, stand on a chair, or on a ladder, or even better on a mountaintop, and take a look at this, and everything, in relationship to all of life's wonders and torments - never forgetting those issues that beset our family and friends and even adversaries. You will not always be happy with the answers you get, but in time you will have more peace and, paradoxically, a clearer and more insightful view.
"Oh, Prince of Peace, who promised to give us your peace, help us to see things through heaven's eyes, with the long view of eternity, knowing that in you there is no problem too small, or challenge too great, to fall beyond the powers of your redeeming love. Amen."
If I have learned anything, it is that perspective is nearly everything. Our tendency as creatures of this planet is to over analyze: We love to break things down until we can get them under a microscope, assuming then, that we will have greater understanding, and therefore more control over the conflicts and challenges that perplex us. This is a wonderful part of the scientific method, but often, I submit, leads to greater anxiety and more uncertainty when applied to interpersonal matters, and our view of personal relevance in this world.
So step back: literally and figuratively, and see how things change. This may not always be easy, or bring any quick fixes, but I encourage you to try this exercise for a month. Whenever you feel the urge to take an issue out of its box, crank up the magnifier, and go to work - STOP! Lay it down, walk away, stand on a chair, or on a ladder, or even better on a mountaintop, and take a look at this, and everything, in relationship to all of life's wonders and torments - never forgetting those issues that beset our family and friends and even adversaries. You will not always be happy with the answers you get, but in time you will have more peace and, paradoxically, a clearer and more insightful view.
"Oh, Prince of Peace, who promised to give us your peace, help us to see things through heaven's eyes, with the long view of eternity, knowing that in you there is no problem too small, or challenge too great, to fall beyond the powers of your redeeming love. Amen."
