(a 3 minute read) Having a best friend in your younger years is such a great blessing. I had one growing up and for that I am so very thankful. We were in our young teen years when we met. By no measure I can say I had a rough childhood. In fact I must say that I grew up in a loving home surrounded by great role models. I would consider myself at almost 54 a person that cares about others. For that, I have my parents and all the role models I encountered in my life to be thankful for. In spite of all that, I can share without going in details that many a time if I did not have my best friend’s house to escape to, and I am definitely being melodramatic here, I could have done something bad. If for that alone, I am ever so grateful to you my friend and of course to your mom, as she had that house always open for me 🙂

You see, my best buddy lost his dad at almost 7 years old. He died in a war.

Now my best buddy is a man of strong will. He loved and continues to love sports and was very involved in many activities. Of course he would get into all sorts of trouble, and many a time I would be right there with him. After one of such incidents, instead of my best friend taken to the principal’s office, here we are sitting in a classroom of about 30 students and in walks the assistant principal. He asks my best friend to stand up. This is our junior year of high school.  The assistant principal, in public, says, “If your father, a man died a ‘shaheed’ (you can think ‘martyr’ as an equivalent) would he, a shaheed, be proud of your actions?” This assault, as I would describe it, carried on for a few minutes. I do not think I ever have seen my best friend cry. I did see tears that day, but they were not tears of remorse or guilt, rather tears of anger, fury and rage. More like, “how dare you use my father’s sacrifice, martyrdom, witness for an occasion as such.”  I felt rage and fury, nothing compared to his of course, for mine was more like, “how dare you make my best friend, the strong willed, the resilient and tough best friend, how dare you ‘crush him’ like that.”

The slight but enormous difference is that ‘sacrifice’ is to give of oneself, while ‘shaheed’ (witness) is to point to someone else. The sacrifice and the witness are both part of the same act, the one and same act. We, as people, can choose to place emphasis on one or the other.

I believe, and I could be wrong, that for thousands of years we, the world, have emphasized the Death and the Sacrifice way way way more than the Witness of the Lordship of the Resurrection. With Resurrection Sunday approaching, I implore our leaders to emphasize and stress the resurrection for it is the LIGHT and it is the WAY. And for the rest of the year and years to come, emphasize the witnessing of what Jesus did rather than on the sacrifice. For just like my best friend, as His sons and daughters, it may infuriate us to have this act of LOVE be used to crush those around us for submission. Let us instead, use this act of LOVE to further the understanding and the witnessing of the spreading of the good news; the beauty and the splendor of the act of witnessing of the Resurrection as to who He is. God in person. For what is greater? To point to someone else and who They are? Or to point to oneself and to what one gains from that sacrifice?

(a 3 minute read) I have two brothers, both younger. This story includes the one that is 4 years younger than I. Hi ya 5illo  🙂  I will go back over 25 years ago for this story, man I am old but not you though, brother.

He has and continues to do research in a very niche area of linguistics. Because it is highly technical, when he started this career, his explanation to me, and I paraphrase, “Think of your fingerprint, it is 100% unique to each person. The goal of the research is to eventually have a voiceprint just as unique.” If I do not say this he may get mad at me, so here it is; “what we have now, in 2017, is voice recognition and not a voiceprint. They are oceans apart.” There, I think I made him proud saying that.

Remember, this is over 25 years ago. Hearing this voiceprint thing, I got very excited for him and said, “So how many years you think it will take to reach that goal?” The smile on his face told me, ‘oh how naive you are’, and his words floored me as they came at me as if in slow motion, so I hope you read it in that slow motion sense; “People many years before us have started this research, and people many years after us will continue this research. So getting to a voiceprint will not happen in my lifetime.” I was stunned ………………… and my mind, not my voice said; “Who in their right mind would embark on a lifetime quest, requiring dedications very few people in this world dedicate to their work, with the full knowledge that they are ‘maybe’ only contributing a building block or two to the larger scale of things?? Whooooo??” I hope you are catching the emotions of my thoughts there.

I believe Socrates described the above as; you are in a tunnel with a strong light at the end. You know, no matter how hard you try, you will not reach that light, definitely will not reach that light. Yet, you work with all your strength, power, might and being to reach that light.

Many may think this is depressing and not something one can do. Or maybe think that it takes a ‘SPECIAL’ person to do that. ‘It is not for me’, kind of a thing.

The interesting thing is; the Creator of the universe……….. let that sink in for a minute. The Creator of the universe decided to come down to Earth. The Lord and Creator knew that even this presence on Earth will not make people reach the light. At best, will help people strive towards the light. No one can reach the light no matter how they try. Yet the Creator set the example. It was not like, “What’s the use?” It was not like, “No one will reach the light, then why bother.” It was like, “I want you to strive towards the light with the full knowledge that you will not reach it.” Like, be a building block or two in the grander scheme of things.

“But it requires a ‘SPECIAL’ person to be like that!!”

You, yes you, are indeed SPECIAL because the Lord and Creator is ‘Especially fond of you’    Yes YOU, whomever is reading this or not reading it; The Lord is especially fond of you and therefore YOU ARE SPECIAL, for the Creator created you.

Thank you for the lesson my brother, Love you  🙂  and THANK YOU my Lord and Creator for Your Example, for Your Presence and most of all for Your Love.

(3 minute read)   So at the end, The Judge knows what I’ve done, like knows. Also, I know what I’ve done. The Judge does not ask if I have done these things, for there it is in black and white. To deny is to infuriate the Judge. As I seek the Judge’s mercy, grace and forgiveness, no way am I to try and deny, right?

Then why do many talk about the Bible as a measuring stick? All sin is the same to God, from a cuss word that crossed my mind without uttering the words, to desiring things for myself, to envy, to feeling deprived, to porn, to adultery, to many worst things your mind can imagine a man or woman can do to oneself or to others in their family or their community!  You believe that, right? Yes, you, the reader.

Then, again, why is there the belief out there that the Bible is a measuring stick??

To measure indicates a scale. A scale of benign sin, not so bad sin, this sin is really bad, that one is terrible. But there is no scale, do you agree??

So I hope you are on the same page when I say, “Since the Judge KNOWS ALL, and ALL is EQUAL to the Judge, then the Judge has no need to measure anything against anyone or measure anyone against anyone else.”

But the fact is, the Bible is indeed used by some as a measuring stick to point others to the path. Somehow we have forgotten that our role is to plant the seed, for the harvest is not ours, but God’s alone.

My prayer is that we do not hold our Bible as a closed book to smack someone on their head and point to their sins. Bringing shame on others crushes them, and the Lord wants a joyful spirit to come not a crushed one. Some may believe the path to joy is to be crushed first, but that’s not what the parable of the prodigal son teaches us.  The rich man did not hear his son’s confession and say, “glad that you know that you’ve sinned against me, and now that you have confessed……..” No, No, the rich man basically ignored his son’s confession and asked for the best robe, ring, sandals and prepared for a FEAST. Why did the father ignore the son’s confession? It’s simple. The father knows it, the son knows it and whom will it benefit to rub salt in the open wound?? Neither. Only some of the ‘observers’ were ticked off by the grace, love and generosity of the FATHER.

For none of us have NO splinter(s) in our own eyes. Let us use our Bible as a seed. Then use it again to water the seed periodically, and allow the harvester to harvest. For then and only then would the celebration be GRAND and the GLORY is to our Lord and Creator.

(a 2 minute read)  So this happened over the last couple of days. I love to discuss things, and I saw a post from a person I respect and believe he respects me as well. We entered into a discussion on FB. We stand on opposite ends of this issue. So over the course of 2 days and about 4 exchanges, each of us is making their case to the other. I fully believe that he, as do I, sincerely want to prove our point to the other, and each of us seem to be stunned that the other holds their view. In my book, this is good as iron sharpens iron.

Enters the discussion, another gentleman. It was one post. You know how on FB you scroll down a bit at a time on long posts? As you may imagine ours were prettttty long. You can smile now as you may cry in a moment.

This gentleman did a fantastic job drawing me into his post. He started with, “This sounded so familiar” and he repeated a portion of what I posted. As I am reading the repeated lines, I smiled to myself and said, “Oh no……….. I inadvertently copied someone else’s words and thoughts.” The suspense was killing me. Whom did I mimic? At the end of the repeated lines there was a double carriage return forcing me to scroll down with anticipation, wait for it, wait for it;

…”Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

A loud gasp came out of my mouth. The pain was like someone grabbed a baseball bat, held it up high, made sure I am held down tight, tormented me with how solid this bat is, then booooom, into the high end of my stomach rendering me unable to breath. This excruciating pain was immediately followed by complete shock as I have never met nor spoke with this gentleman, except in this one post, how could he say this?  Crushed, in my mind I typed a 4 page essay on the use of the Bible. This whole roller-coaster of emotions lasted 60 seconds.

I write all this not to invoke anger against him or sympathy towards me, rather invoke kindness and mercy from you the reader. Your words matter even to those you do not know. Your words impact and influence those you never met. Most importantly your words reflect the ONE you say you proclaim. Show mercy even under the cruelest circumstances, show love even when you abhor what’s in front of you.

I forgive him for the pain inflected and I ask for God’s forgiveness if I am, as he described, Satan.

(a four minute read) So here’s another true story. I just returned from a quicktrip…… no, no, not the gas station, an actual trip that was quick. I was in Dubai for two days. 14.5 hours flight from Dubai to Chicago, I tell you it seemed like days upon days of flying. Anyway, I digress, as you well know.

So here I am on day two, riding the metro, roughly a 35 minute ride. Although I was seated for the first few minutes, I got up and held onto one of those hand hang down things. Why I stood up is a whole different story by itself that I may share at a later time. Not sure what the name of these hand grabbers is, but whatever it is, you know your armpit is hanging in the air. I am a sweaty kind of person and always self-conscious about if I smell or not. A quick nonchalant whiff allowed me to smile and heard my inner self say, “you’re good.”

A few minutes later, as we approached a station, I saw quite a crowded platform, and here goes my inner self again, “man I wish I could have just stayed seated.” Wishful thinking I guess. A young gentleman squeezed next to me and raised his arm to grab one of them grabby things. Yep, you guessed it. If I could scream out loud and not embarrass myself or this gentleman, maybe it would have eased the pain my nostrils experienced. The problem is there is nowhere to go. I am stuck my friend.

My inner self is now having the rampage that I could only hope to have publicly. Here are some of these inner LOUD voices. Don’t judge me now. “Why don’t you people bathe. How can you people not smell yourselves. Deodorants are cheap you know. You should hide behind a rock and never come out. Stop rubbing that armpit in my face. Go back to where you came from.”

Then, as if someone slapped me across the face. I mean a full swing slap. The words of Debra Hirsch at a conference I attended just the day before I left to Dubai came pouring down on me, like that hot oil you see poured from atop a castle on intruders. Paraphrased it was something like this, “Think of this person that repulses you, the person that you see walk into your church and your jaw drops and makes your eyes as wide as an ocean. All you see is the ‘bad’ things about them. This person is still made in the image of GOD. Work hard to look past what repulses you and see the image of God that can someday come shining out of this person.” I tell you my friend I squirmed as I stood there from that hot oil.

“How the heck am I to tolerate this smell? It’s pungent.” I protested internally. Then I heard Debra say, “We typically want a person to repent first then we accept them, yet God accepts us first then waits for us to repent. We should do likewise”. Thank you Debra as these words exemplified our Lord in a clear, pure and concise picture. Do Likewise is the greatest commandment.

Although I knew nothing about this gentleman, what I know happened is that my hatred was somehow transformed to love. My anger and rage somehow transformed to peace. My exclusion somehow transformed to inclusion. You know what, I take back the ‘somehow’………….. It is our Creators LOVE, our Lord’s example here on earth that took out how this smell affected me. It reminded me of the words that I hear my wife always say, “You cannot love that which you judge.” Forgive me my dear if I messed it up.

I share this story with you with all the humility in the world, and with complete GLORY to God and copious thanks to the Lord for allowing me to see the image of God in this person.

You know for all I know, this person may have been internally screaming to himself, “How can these people not allow the natural smell of God permeate through the Lord’s creation. After all we are made in the image of GOD and I am sure the scent of God, the scent of man is a fragrance that should never be abolished.” Just saying.

I pray, as Debra said, that I always see the image of God in whomever I encounter and to always “Do Likewise”.

(a 3 minute read) This is my dog Sophie. She is 8 years old, a 65-70 Lbs. mutt of black beauty and gentleness. She is of course spoiled rotten, but she was trained as a puppy to mind. In her puppy years there were issues as with any other dog. Past that though, she has been an example of a well behaved dog.

My wife and I say that she is the most expressive dog we’ve ever had. Her love is evident in how she looks at you as well as in her actions. May be it is the way she tucks her head into your body, or places her jaw on your leg and press down, while raising her eyes to look at you intently. Or the way Sophie will just follow as you move from one room to the next, or wants into the bathroom so she’s just there with you. Then there is this thing where she sits next to you and places her paw on a part of your body, and just leaves it there. I tell you, you just feel the love.

Sometimes a thought creeps through my mind, “We feed her every day and care for her when she’s not feeling good. Of course she worships the ground we walk on. Her love is nothing but an instinctual behavior.”  Then I wonder, if it is just instinct, then why, if I forgot to feed her, and there is food left on the kitchen counter, well within her reach, she still does not go after that food, hungry or not. Why? That’s when I realize that Sophie, a dog, is making choices. Choices that she knows will make me proud of her, choices that please me.  If that is pushing it too far, how about she knows what displeases me and she chooses not to do that.

Think of a grown dog, Max, with an owner that punishes continually, as a training technique. If the owner saw in Max’s eyes a glimpse of misbehavior, he immediately presents the tool of punishment as a reminder of what may happen if Max misbehaved. Can you see it? Max immediately tucks his head down, and he is looking for a way to disappear, cannot find one, hunching turns around himself a couple of times then lies down. Max is probably a very well behaved dog. Hardly ever gets into trouble. Those that encounter Max by chance, are fascinated by his behavior and impressed by his owner. But is Max a content dog or is he in survival mode?

Sophie, just a few months ago, started tearing stuff up, like ripping furniture. The diagnosis was separation anxiety. She needs to be caged. We did that, shame on us……… During a couple of weeks of caging her, and the agony, for Sophie and for us that accompanied this action, we did some research to find out it could be an ailment and it’s her way of letting us know that something is wrong. It is the relationship that Sophie has with us that gave her the courage, the nerve and the audacity to express herself. She trusted us.

Indeed there was something wrong. Sophie is no longer caged, and she is feeling much better with the steps taken to alleviate the pain she had.

The question is; would Max have expressed himself in a manner similar to Sophie’s? Or would he have just taken in the pain, in fear of retaliation?

Our Lord and Creator wants a relationship that is full of contentment, full of audacity of expression and void of fear of retaliation. The choices to not do what displeases our Lord are a given, are assumed and are agreed upon. Therefore, let us focus on making the choices that will please the Lord, be intentional on choosing to do what will make the Creator smile proud of us. “This is my daughter/son, with whom I am well pleased.”

(a 3 minute read) Logan and Adam’s stomachs were growling as they were so very hungry. They approached a strip mall and saw the list of all possible restaurants. There were more than 7 choices to pick from. Adam looked at Logan with anticipation and asked, “Where do you want to eat?” Logan did not say a word but had that look. Adam has been with Logan for four years and by now can read that look. Adam said, “I know I know; just pull into the first one in the bunch.” You could hear the laughter from that car half way down the parking lot.

Past the appetizers, and past the hunger pains, Logan said, “It always amazes me how restaurants always congregate together.” Adam was about to pitch in, when he heard Logan continue, “I guess I would not eat the same food type day after day. So chances are I’d eat here today then maybe have Chinese tomorrow and Mexican the day after. But we all gotta eat. So it makes sense that they congregate.” Adam jumped in, “Only a very small percentage of people would want to eat the same food type on and on without mixing it up.”

“Do you think that’s why people church hop so much?” were the words that came out of Adam’s mouth, and the look on his face was like ‘did I just say that?’ Logan chuckled with a look of amazement. Adam went on to say; “It is an interesting question though as churches do tend to congregate, and they are typically of a different creed, almost never two of the same doctrine in the same ‘strip’ sort of speak.

Logan puzzled retorted, “But people do go to the same church and ‘eating the same food’ on and on, typically till they die!” Adam added, “Many though do hop, so much so that studies indicate that one church’s growth typically means another church’s decay, i.e. a single church may grow, but the collective church is not growing.”

Logan annoyed said, “That explains the high competition environment that is so palpable between individual churches. They try to be sly about it, but it is so tangible you can almost hold it in your hand and show it to someone.” Adam with sympathetic eyes said, “I feel your pain, but you know what they say; Different styles for different people. Some like it this way and some like it that way.” Logan almost yelled the following, but kept it under control, “You know how I feel about that. God is One, one flavor, one taste and one essence. To SAVOR our Lord requires work, instead we just want to satisfy our palate.”

Adam apologetically responded, “I am with you dear. The masses follow the leadership and the leadership ought to think of the collective church, not MY church, and find ways to cooperate, to work together. With so many churches in each small community, you’d think the impact of the collective church in any one community is what should be palpable and tangible instead of the competition between them.”

May our Lord and Creator guide me, you and you that someday His GLORY is indeed our individual and collective focus. Amen.

(a 3 minute read) Dave and Scott are sitting shooting the breeze. They both have plenty time to sit and talk as they are both presently unemployed. Life has been tough and jobs continue to be scarce. Scott is sharing with Dave what’s been happening lately.

Scott recalled his son asking him for a new pair of shoes. “I am about to be able to touch my socks through the sole of my shoes dad. Anyway I can get a new pair of shoes?”

“You know how it feels Dave to be helpless and unable to provide for your son?” Scott had a pleading look on his face as he said that. “Then last night, as we all are having dinner, the power goes out”, then Scott continued with a clinched jaw, “I knew this is coming, but when it actually happens, it just stabs you in the gut”. Scott shook his head and had a faint smile as he said, “I hope someday sooner than later this whole thing will be behind us.”

Dave sat there listening to Scott. Although Dave did not contribute to the conversation, Scott said, “Thanks Dave for listening, it just makes me feel so much better sharing these things with a friend.” Dave smiled and said, “What are friends for? It feels great to know that I can give you solace just by listening.”

The next morning, Scott visited another friend Jeremy, who owned a manufacturing plant. Scott pretty much told Jeremy the exact same accounts that he told Dave the night before. This time though, Scott knowing that Jeremy can change his present situation, he requested that Jeremy would look into providing him employment. Jeremy stated that he cannot promise anything, and that he will get in touch with Scott if something turned up.

Scott left and did not hear from Jeremy for two days. These two days were full of anxiety. Scott was not sure if his request will be granted. He thought to himself, “Jeremy has known of my unemployment, and he knows of my qualifications. He would have offered me a job without me asking if he had one.”  Scott felt the awkwardness of the situation.

Scott pondered to himself, “Man, I told Dave the same stories and it brought me peace just to vent it out, and Dave felt good as he was there for me. Then I told the same stories to Jeremy, and it has placed me and him in an awkward situation. It’s like he loves me, he loves me not, when really it’s not about that.”

You see, it is the same for you and me. When we pray presenting requests that we fully know that our Creator knows of, then it’s like we are asking for the course of what is to come, to change, while we fully know that what is to come has been fully determined and written way in advance. Therefore, let our prayer not be any sort of requests, rather a friend sitting with a friend venting out. The story is the same, but the delivery is way way different. Let your time with the Creator bring you PEACE and brings our Lord pleasure.

(a 3 minute read)  Jodi and Nathan are celebrating their first Christmas as a couple. It is the day before Christmas, and before the festivities and family gatherings ensue, they chose to take a bit of time to reflect on Christmas.

As Nathan loved to discuss life with Jodi, he enthusiastically leaned forwards in his chair and asked, “What do you think is the thing that people miss out on during this season?”

Jodi’s head leaned back with a gregarious laugh, “I’ll tell you what I think you and I miss out most during this season.” Nathan leaned back in his chair as he said, “Enlighten me my dear.”

Jodi became quite serious as she began to elaborate, “It is quite interesting that you ask this question, as I have been asking myself this same question lately. We celebrate the birth of a child tomorrow. We talk about this child coming amongst us. We sing and celebrate about a child is born. Then I remember that one of the many teachings this child emphasized, is to be like the children. Even as an adult, is to be like a child.”

Nathan leaned over the table and pitched in, “And isn’t this the biggest conundrum we have to figure out?”

Jodi had this peaceful look on her face and as she leaned forwards and extended her hands to cover Nathan’s hands, she continued, “I believe, for me, I now understand what this means. Think of my nephew Benji, and how often he asks to watch ‘Finding Nemo’, over and over again, day after day. The amazing thing is, Benji smiled, jumped, laughed and looked at me during the same parts of the movie, every time we’d watch it. Why? Why is that? Then it finally came to me. A child MARVELS at the same thing over and over again. It is this MARVELING that continues to supply a child with an endless stream of contentment, amazement, fulfillment, serenity, satisfaction and most of all JOY. Continual JOY.”

Nathan’s eyes were as wide as an ocean when his hands squeezed Jodi’s hands and said, “And we lose that marveling ever so slowly as we grow up. It simply disappears and as we get older we get filled with voids instead of fulfillment. We try to fill holes in our lives with ‘things’ rather than contentment. We end up with a vacuum and disappointments instead of Joy.”

Jodi was so excited that Nathan is getting her drift and continued, “You know how we always hear that all we need to do is look around us to see our Lord and Creator’s masterpiece? I asked myself, when was the last time I looked at a beautiful rose in the spring and truly ‘MARVELED’, or seen the dead tree branches in winter, or touched the rain when it fell, and truly ‘MARVELED’, or peered at the moon, the stars the sun or even at the bright yellow ‘M’ of McDonald’s, and truly ‘MARVELED’. The list goes on and on Nathan, and it is things we encounter every moment we have our eyes open!”

Nathan had tears in his eyes when he said, “Not only we need to TEACH ourselves to continually MARVEL lest we become like the children, that the child born tomorrow taught us, but more importantly let us work ever so diligently to help our own children NOT to lose their MARVELING as they grow older. If we MARVEL in their presence, they will learn how to continually MARVEL.”

Nathan stood up, walked around the table and gave Jodi a very tender and loving hug and whispered “Merry Christmas my dear.”

(3 minute read) Jordan and Courtney were feeling so blessed. They have a wonderful family and they have no want for anything. Life could not be any better. Jordan said, “It is so wonderful to know that my Lord and Creator is on my side.” “How do you know that the Lord is on your side?” Courtney interjected. Jordan began to list all the good things in their lives, like their health, their home, the cars they drive and ended by saying, “why then are we so blessed if the Lord is not on our side?”

“If the Lord is on your side then the Lord must be against some other side!” Courtney had a ‘you know I am correct look’ on her face as she said that.

“You know what I mean…”, Jordan exclaimed with a bit of frustration, and continued “how about if I said the Lord and Creator is ‘For me’, instead of ‘on my side’?”

“If the Creator is ‘For you’ then still, the creator is ‘against’ someone else, and you know that the Lord does not pick and choose between the children the Creator created”, was Courtney’s response.

The frustration on Jordan’s face was very evident when he said, “then how would you describe what we have? And are you saying that it is not the Lord that is giving us so much?”

Courtney had a gentle and loving expression as she took a step or two towards Jordan and proceeded to explain. My dear dear Jordan, I believe that most people of faith have the notion that the Lord is on their side or for them. In many cases they base that feeling on the blessings they have. Therefore, when things go a bit or a lot badly, they seek the Lord for improving their situation. Although there is nothing wrong with that, it confines the relationship from the believer to the Creator to a ‘give and take’ transactional relationship. Not a life the Creator hopes for, I believe.

All believers know that the Lord knows in advance what will and will not happen, and who will have, whether it is health or fortune, and who will not.

So there are lots that have been casted, decided and put in place. No one knows nor will ever know why. So the blessings we have happen to be our lot in life. Not because the Lord and Creator is on our side or is For us.

Courtney took another step closer, placed her palm on Jordan’s cheek ever so gently, and with her head titled just a bit said, “One thing is for sure my dear Jordan. The Lord and Creator is ‘WITH US’ as WITH every single person the Lord created. This ‘WITH US’ is true whether we are good or bad, whether we are following or not following. It is REGARDLESS of anything said or done. This ‘WITH US’ is the grace the LORD offers us, always and without end.”

 

As a believer dwells on the ‘WITH ME’ and ‘IN ME’, and forgets what I have or do not have, the more the relationship from the believer to the Creator is a transformational relationship instead of a transactional relationship. That my friend is the relationship that our Lord and Creator hopes for.

So yes be THANKFUL and ever so THANKFUL for the Lord being WITH you ALWAYS and till the end of time.