(a 6 minute read) Casey and Dakota have been rooming together for 4 months now. They’ve known each other for quite some time before college but have never lived together. Oh how excited they were when they found out they can room together. You see, Dakota had so much respect for Casey. The things that Casey volunteered to do; to help with this neighbor or help with the local homeless shelter. Casey was always engaged with some project. Dakota also loved hanging out with Casey. The things Casey would come up with and say, always managed to have Dakota laugh from within if you know what I mean. It was just pure joy for Dakota to be around Casey.

Of course living together brings in a different perspective on things, and Dakota quickly found out that as much as Casey is such a servant to people out there, the story was quite different as a roommate. Little things that Casey did not do began to add up and irked Dakota. So for example, Casey loved to make peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches. Once done with making the sandwich, Casey would drop the spoon wadded with peanut butter into the sink. The interesting thing is the dishwasher is right next to the sink. The spoon typically would have bounced as it was dropped into the sink, creating a peanut butter trail stuck in several spots. Dakota would come after Casey, and have to clean the sink from the peanut butter, clean the clumps of peanut butter off of the spoon and place it into the dishwasher.

As things like that continued to happen, Dakota was not sure how to approach Casey about them, and ended up excusing such behavior with, “My love for Casey is stronger, I’ll let it slide”.

One bad habit of Casey’s was to use the last of the toilet-paper and not put a new roll on……….. That one was pretty frustrating, yet Dakota would excuse that with, “Casey may notice someday and work on improving.”

If I was Dakota, I would have read Casey the riot act by now, right?

Casey rushed into the room one afternoon, made a sandwich and tossed the spoons in the sink. Casey thought, “I ought to clean up my mess.” Diverted by the thought of getting to the next thing, Casey turned around and walked away from the sink. Casey returned to the room that evening and started to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I’ll clean the spoon I left in the sink earlier”, was Casey’s thought. As the thought formulated, simultaneously there was a realization that the sink is now clean………..  Casey stopped making the sandwich and with hands covering the face and the head shaking collapsed into the chair by the table.

As soon as Dakota came into the room later that night, Casey wanted to talk ,”Tonight I realized that my behavior here for 4 months now is actually pretty offensive. Dakota, you have not once confronted me with any of the things that I do around here. Not sure how you tolerate such actions and yet smile at me and laugh with me day in and day out. You have simply illustrated to me the meaning of the phrase ‘Your Grace is Sufficient’. Although I already think the world of you, somehow this has elevated how I feel and think about you.”

“The world does not revolve around the things I want to do or the things that are important to me.What I do here at ‘home’ is more of a reflection of who I am, and not what I do ‘out there’. I sincerely want to be better in who I am and not in what I portray out there”, Casey stressed.

“The simple recognition of your grace Dakota towards me, and let me tell you, I will be that much more cognizant of this grace now as you continue to portray it, as I am not going to change overnight or maybe ever………… “   Both Dakota and Casey just busted out laughing

 

You see, if I am not aware of the acts of Grace that my Lord and Creator is extending me, all day, how then can I express my gratitude?

If there is no Gratitude given to a specific act of Grace, then is the Grace sensed? Or is the Grace simply talked about?

I saw this line, “Grace works best on messy people” by Madyson Grace.

I may ‘know’ that I am messy, but do I ‘feel’ messy?  I won’t feel the Grace without feeling messy……….. Grace washes the messy, and therefore Grace sensed = No Guilt

My Lord my Creator and my Maker, may experiencing ‘Your Grace is Sufficient’ be sufficient to comfort my messy me, whether I change overnight or maybe ever, may my gratitude be the reminder that I ought to continue to try and try and try. I love you and I thank you my Lord.

(a 4 minute read) Reda was wondering about his own father? Then his thoughts quickly drifted to what his stepchildren think of him; “What do they think of me? Have I ever disappointed them? Were they miffed at me when…….? Did they ever think to themselves; maaaan, I thought Reda was better than that!”

It is funny that when questions like this pop in one’s mind, we automatically shift to thinking of all the so called ‘good’ things one has done for his/her children. But regardless of what I have done or not done, and just as I have disappointments in my father, I guarantee you that my children have had disappointments in me. I am sure that out there, there is a very small percentage of children that have never been disappointed in their father, a tiny percentage. The best quote I picked to share with you here is one from Mary Karr; “A dysfunctional family is any family with more than one person in it.” Hope you are laughing out loud right now because you know there is truth to this statement.

Although dysfunctionality can be attributed to the mother or to the siblings, a large amount of dysfunctionality is attributed to fathers; sad but true.

You know what the best line is? When a person is conversing with someone that has had a baaaad relationship with their father, and one says to them, “Don’t think about your relationship with God like your relationship with your father. It is nothing like that. Your FATHER in heaven is very different than your earthly father……………..”

You know what; the only reference that I have and ever will have is my earthly father. Where am I going to dream up this PERFECT father? I cannot imagine it, and I do not think you can either……….. as every earthly father is human, and just by definition, a human will err and disappoint; Period.

To dream up something is just that; it is not REAL. Why are we trying to equate our Lord and Creator to a “Father”? You, the reader, may say, “Because just like my dad, He created me!” My only response is; “My dad did not create me, he simply had intercourse with my mother and barabim baraboom, there is a fetus in the belly. In my opinion, this is not creation. It is simply a consequence to an action. Now creation my friend is indeed the line of business of my Lord and my Maker.”

For thousands of years we’ve referred to the Lord as ‘FATHER’. It is time to rid our Creator from such an inferior, substandard, second rate and mediocre description. I say this with no disrespect to any father or father figure out there. You know what I am talking about here.

Not sure what image you conjure up when you lift your prayer saying ‘Father’. Whatever that image is, please consider the image you will conjure up saying “Lord” “Master” “Designer” “Creator” “King” “Originator”, come on, conjure those images…………. Do You Feel the Difference?

I hope you do and I hope you and I would start addressing the Lord with what we can reference as Majestic, as Splendid, as Royal, as Magnificent, as Grand, as Marvelous and as Wonderful rather than use something that may conjure disappointment. Maybe using ‘FATHER’ is what summons that SPLENDOR, but if it ain’t change it. It is not the label you use, rather it is the image that comes along into your mind that matters no matter what label you may use.             The change will start by you and me, and not by someone else.

  (a 4 minute read) Hailey pulled her laptop and pressed play for a video about a 16 year old girl that’s been sent to detention at school. You see, she broke the school’s rules, by wearing a thin spaghetti strap shirt at school. Hailey’s sister Sierra, was engrossed into the video and she even shed a tear when the girl had inscribed “I am not a distraction” on her arm, in protest to the school rules.

Walks in mom, and interested in what her girls are watching, she asked to see the video.

During the video, Hailey’s mom expressed that school rules are made for a reason, and if someone breaks them, then a punishment is a good reminder that the rules are there to be followed. Sierra loudly interjected, “You are missing the point mom, this is about girls being told how to dress and how not to dress so they are not a distraction to ……..” Sierra did not finish her sentence when she heard her mom say, “Look at those tight leggings, they leave nothing to the imagination.” Hailey’s eyes were wide open as she hollered, “The leggings are not part of this discussion.”

Their aunt Shannon happened to have witnessed the later part of this discussion and said, “That’s why I favor school uniforms, it minimizes any of this stuff happening.”

“School uniforms suck”, Hailey objected, but heard her mom’s voice, “Some uniforms are quite nice.”

Hailey’s mind was completely astonished and she wondered to herself, “How did we deviate from an altruistic subject as women being blamed for distracting men to a mundane subject as school uniforms……………

You see my dear reader, this is what happens when we the people feel the need to control something; we create rules. They are easy. Fair or unfair, justified or unjustified, they are easy.

Think of how many rules are built into the Jewish faith? Dare I say a thousand? Then comes Jesus, a Jew, and says, and I paraphrase, “NO RULES”. You may say, wait just a second, Jesus gave two commandments; Love……………….. & Love………………. and the 2^nd is as important as the 1^st. The funny thing is we refer to them as commandments all the time. If I asked you, “Is Love really Love if it is forced?” If you say, “No it is not Love if it is forced”, then how can we say we are commanded to Love?? Do you now see why I paraphrased what Jesus said as “NO RULES”!

It is scary to have no rules, we the people feel we’ll lose all control, yet we are commanded to have no rules. Do we listen? Do we abide? Do we follow that?  You know the answer to that.

A quick example; we have 13 letters from Paul in the NT written over the last 12-15 years of his 25-30 years ministry. In his 2^nd letter to the Galatians Paul said, and I paraphrase, “If I think I can achieve something through following the law then Christ died for nothing.” Then towards the end of his 13 letters, there is 1^st and 2^nd Timothy. Look at them and decide if Paul after some 25-30 years in ministry felt like maybe humanity needs rules after all.

God wants us to choose to live well with NO RULES, to simply live well because we choose to, not because we have to.

Let us not deviate from the altruistic and harp on the mundane, let’s focus and work diligently to live well, live kind, live lovingly, live givingly, live compassionately, live intentionally, live for others, not because of the rules, rather because THERE ARE NO RULES.

(a  5 minute read)  Maggie and Brad are in their early twenties. One morning Maggie, Brad and Corbin, a friend visiting for the weekend, were sitting in the living room. It is almost a daily ritual that they toss the ball to their dog down the hallway in the mornings. They’ve had their dog Sully for almost 10 years. “Now, both of you are responsible for Sully, and you need to figure out how to share caring for him,” their parents told them when they brought Sully home.  To be honest, Maggie and Brad both cared for Sully, but as Maggie typically was up earlier than Brad, she would feed Sully more often. She would walk him more often and oh, Sully needed some medication and that also was administered by Maggie more often. Now the medication was typically wrapped in something yummy, which of course always captured Sully’s attention. You should see those ears standing up and those eyes wide open and the mouth open with the tongue just tipping outside of Sully’s mouth….. Sully always looked adorable.

Back to that one morning; Maggie, Brad and Corbin are sitting in the living room, and Brad and Corbin are chit chatting. Maggie found the ball, and tossed it. Sully delighted ran down the hallway, picked up the ball and headed back. As Sully approached the living room, the first person to cross was Maggie. “Sully…. Here Sully,” Maggie said as she clapped her hands. While Sully is still walking, he glanced at Maggie and passed her and stopped in front of Corbin. Corbin reached and took the ball out of Sully’s mouth, while he was still talking with Brad. Sully’s tail wagged anticipating Corbin’s toss. Nothing happened. Maggie motioned to Corbin to toss her the ball, which he did while still talking. Maggie tossed the ball down the hallway, and Sully pranced after it happy that the ball is on the move.

Maggie clapped and said, “Good boy Sully…. Here Sully” as he came closer. Wouldn’t you know it, Sully glanced at her but continued towards Brad instead, who was still talking. This happened like 4 times in a row, and Maggie cracked up laughing aloud, that Brad and Corbin stopped their conversation and Brad said, “I thought you’d be ticked off by now as Sully is literally ignoring you in spite the fact that you are the one giving him all the attention!”

With a huge smile on her face Maggie said, “Oh, no not ticked off at all. I am actually thankful to Sully as I learn so much from him.” Brad looked at Corbin and with a giggle said, “Wait for it, wait for it, here it comes.”

Maggie proceeded to explain that Sully over the years has learned that what I do for him, whether it be feeding him, caring for his wounds, giving him treats, loving on him as we play, is completely and utterly independent of how he behaves towards me, like now with the ball. Sully does not SEEK my attention because Sully KNOWS I am always here for him. ALWAYS. REGARDLESS. But Sully as a living being craves attention, so why seek it from where it is always available? Sully seeks it from where it is NOT available.

In our lives we see this in examples like; a mom that spends more time raising the children but the children are always seemingly more excited when the dad arrives. A girl giving supreme attention to a boy, but the boy is seeking the girl that is hard to get, and so on.

You know how I always say that I do not seek or crave attention from anyone around me? Well, Sully just taught me that as a living being I do indeed crave and seek attention. Maybe not noticeable to me or others, but indeed it is there. Therefore, I do need to acknowledge it, be aware of it and work with it.

On another front, I do KNOW that my Lord and my Creator has all the ATTENTION given to me ALWAYS and REGARDLESS of what I do or do not do. This fact and this observation this morning with Sully, explains why I don’t really seek and crave the attention of my Maker and Originator, rather I am typically distracted by what is going on around me.

My Father and my Lord, I come to You thankful for the attention that You give me ALWAYS. I will work on dwelling on, be intentional, meditate on, be mindful of this ATTENTION this LOVE this CARING that You have for me always, just as I have it for Sully with no strings attached. I thank You I thank You I thank You and I Love You. Amen.

(a 6 minute read) Renee was fascinated with her 7 year old son Rory. He was asking for an ice cream cone as they were walking thru the mall. Rory became insistent, as children do, stomping his feet to the ground, “but mom, I’ve been so good listening lately, please, please, can I have an ice cream cone?”

Renee reached that point of embarrassment; “Rory, if you do not stop this, I am walking away and will leave you standing here.” Rory, like every child, thought to himself, “Sure. Ya. Like you’d leave your child alone in public.”

Rory still standing in front of the ice cream shop threw a crying fit and loudly continued to beg his mom for an ice cream cone; “Please mommy, please. I have been so good lately. I want an ice cream cone.”

Renee was not going to give into Rory’s fit, so she turned around and started walking away from Rory. Of course, as it always happens, within less than 10 steps away, Rory had wiped his tears, started running towards his mom. As he approached, he saw her hand extended out without looking back. Rory grabbed onto her hand. If you saw Rory at this moment, it was as if nothing has happened a moment or two ago. Renee lovingly said; “My dear Rory, isn’t it better walking hand in hand than going through this episode. I know you always want ice cream. Sometimes I will offer it to you. If I don’t offer it then we just move on together hand in hand.”

Think about how we petition our Lord for things for us and for others. Petition is a kinder word for ‘begging’. How often am I begging my Creator for things for me? Things that I want or things I want for others? Sometimes even things I feel ‘entitled’ to?

You may be offended that I am portraying prayer as begging, but please take a moment to examine the requests we present to the Father! Prayer is awesome, but begging is for children. Sadly we teach our children that the way to the Lord is through asking for things. We may call it ‘protection’ or ‘healing’ or ‘doing good in a sport or talent’ etc. But if we are honest with ourselves, it is all like a child begging for an ice cream cone.

To stop begging is breaking from tradition, culture and beliefs that have been there for eons. Quite hard to do, very difficult to do. Better than very difficult; it is demanding, tough, challenging, sometimes grim and threatening. But if you are ready to call a spade a spade, then it is decision time; take on this challenging, grim and demanding task; CHANGE.

To offer a suggestion that is as old as time, Pray Always without ASKING for anything, Pray Giving Thanks ONLY. How delighted the Lord’s heart, the Creator’s being will be listening to THANKS instead of begging for things? You make that decision.  So when you are praying and realize you are asking for ‘things’, simply say, “Lord I am begging you for….. or begging you to……….” This will, over time, lead to a change in the way you are begging and probably lead to a growth process to THANKFULNESS instead of begging.

You all know this scenario; I meet a friend and ask how things are going. My friend says I just found out I have cancer. My immediate response, “Let me pray with you right now.” We both take the posture. Present petitions. Probably spend 2-3 minutes in prayer. Then part ways. When was the last time your friend said, “I found a job after a year of being without a job,” and you said, “Let me pray with you?” It never happens, right? We do say “Praise the Lord.” “God is great.” And then continue in celebrating with each other.

Why don’t we spend 2-3 minutes in Prayerful Thankfulness together!?

We simply do not know how!  Although we say do everything with Thanksgiving, we’ve never been trained on giving thanks……

It is time to chart the ways of Praying in a Communing, Connecting and Conversing with the Lord, and none of these last three words have anything to do with begging. Look them up. Oh, while we are at it, look for synonyms for the word ‘praying’ and see what comes up!   It is time to make a CHANGE so that 30 years from now, when you look up synonyms to ‘praying’ the words that come up would be Communing, Connecting and Conversing.

It is not for the world to make the CHANGE, it is you and you and you and me, individually applying such behavior that will one day make the world understand the true meaning of the word ‘PRAY’.

I thank you my God, my Father, my Creator, my Maker, my Originator for who You are. I am in awe of Your Creation all around me. I look at the waves as they break in an ocean and think of Your majesty. I see the colors that enrich my eyes and I marvel at the beauty of what You’ve made. We all are talking about an eclipse that will occur in a couple of weeks here in mid-America, may the wonderment turn into astonishment at the splendor of what you fashioned. I do beg you that I never grow weary from looking at what You’ve Created. That nothing becomes MUNDANE and that I never lose the respect, admiration and reverence to YOU my LORD. Amen

Back to my friend with Cancer, and it is a mere suggestion; “Lord I lift to you my friend. I beg that I would encourage him through what he has to go through. I beg that I can be there for him whenever he needs me. I beg that his spirit be lifted and his family is patient through this. May he and his family know and sense that they are held in the palm of Your hands. I thank you for his friendship and I am grateful to the wonderful family he has. You my Lord know how this will go and may your will be done.” Amen.

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(a 3 minute read) McKenzie and Robin have not seen each other for quite some time but they grew up as best friends. You can tell how close they are from the kinship between them.

“When my father passed away, it hit me hard. I did not think I’d cry as much as I did or for as long as I did,” McKenzie’s eyes watered relaying emotions to Robin.

“To be honest McKenzie, I am a bit surprised to hear that, knowing the relationship you had with him. I was there you know. Your dad was a nice guy and all, but ……….. No need to rehash the past.”

McKenzie smiled, “I know my dear friend, I was surprised myself, but in spite of anything I guess my love for him ran pretty deep. Isn’t it amazing, no matter how things went, I always found an excuse as to why my dad did this or did that. If it was my uncle or my teacher or a stranger, I would have written them off, but because he is my dad, made the difference I guess.”

Robin piped in, “It is indeed interesting. For each child, their dad is ‘all that’ regardless of what they do, who they are or how they raise them. There is this ‘hero’ figure regardless. Why do you think that is?”

McKenzie cracked up laughing and had to catch a breath between words, “As if ………..I can……….. solve…………. this conundrum!”

Maybe it has to do with the ‘he made me’ like ‘I am part of him’ like ‘I am his’. One thing for sure, it is safe to say that a child loves their dad not because their dad loves them, not because their dad treats them well, not because their dad gives them gifts, not because the lavish life they have, not because of the funny guy he is, not because the compassionate guy he is, not because of anything really other than he is their dad and therefore they love him.

It is the same with our Lord and Creator. We tend to preach that we should love the Lord for the Creator loved us first. It is like a LOVE BACK. You know that love is not about loving back, as this is the least of all loves. For love is not an obligation or a duty, rather it is a spring that pours out and engulfs.

Why do you love your dad?’ Why’ needs a reason presented to justify it…………. ‘LOVE’ is reasonless.

Why do you love your dad? Cause he is my dad. Period. End of story.

As much as we try to complicate things, life is truly just simple.

My Father, my God, my Maker, my Originator and my Lord, may I be able to love you and love you greatly for no other reason than that you created me. Cause You are my dad. Amen.

(a 3 minute read) Sebastian is an 11 year old growing up in an area where Jaxson is the Godfather figure in the neighborhood. For an 11 year old, it is mesmerizing to see how Jaxson is treated by everyone. Sebastian sees people giving him so much respect. Some would even bow and kiss his hand as he passed by. “Man it is just awesome to be loved that way”, Sebastian would tell his friends.

One time over dinner, Sebastian excitedly told his parents, “I want to be like Jaxson when I grow up!”

“Why do you say that son?” His father asked.

Sebastian quickly and eagerly responded, “Dad, can’t you see how much everyone loves Jaxson.”

“My dear son, this is not love, this is fear. There is a huge difference.”

Sebastian’s dad went on to explain that Jaxson, under the guise of protection, robs people of their own. The funny thing is; the protection Jaxson is offering is actually from himself and what his people can do to those that they are supposedly protecting.

The only reason people show respect or reverence to Jaxson is because they fear him. They fear that they would lose their protection, and fear to be on the ‘bad’ side of Jaxson. Therefore, the perceived love and loyalty is generated from fear not from love.

“You know why you do not want to be like Jaxson son?”

“Why dad?”

Jaxson is a very lonely man. Although he is always surrounded with many people, and you see them serving him at his beckon call, Jaxson cannot trust any single one of them. Believe it or not Jaxson craves love but instead, all he has is loneliness and insecurity.

“Dad, all I see is people giving him gifts and show him respect, and you want to tell me this is not love?”

Sebastian’s dad went on to clarify that if Jaxson did not have protection to offer, none of these people would even shake his hand, let alone kiss it.

“True Love my son is when you give someone something with zero expectation of protection and with Nothing/Zero/Zilch/Nada expected in return.”

A good example is how we view our Lord and Creator. Our God, Our Father craves us to exhibit our LOVE.  After all, we were created to Love the Lord if we so choose.

A true love based on nothing in return, based on ZERO expectation from the Creator. It is not the protection that we seek from the Lord, nor the favor that we want from the Lord, a simple, unhampered, unconstrained and unconditional LOVE. A love best described when you see a child stub their toe. What do they do? The child looks around for the mom and runs into her arms crying. There is ZERO expectation of the child that mom will make the pain go away……………….. Nothing/Zero/Ziltch/Nada expectation, ONLY the comfort of being in her arms.

May I love you my Creator and my Lord in this same way as this child does his mom. Just seeking you always for the comfort of Your Presence and your Presence alone. Amen

A confession, the story line of the Godfather came from watching “A Bronx Tale”, and figured it is quite applicable here.

(a 5 minute read) Patrick is a football player, has been for several years. We are talking he’s an NFL player. Imagine the life that comes along with that. Then came 9/11……. and the events of 9/11 affected him powerfully. You can say that Patrick had a calling to join the Armed Forces. More so, he felt convicted to do so, driven to serve his country and defend it. Defend his loved ones, his family, his friends and his fellow citizens. Patrick at the time was planning to get married, and did indeed get married in May 2002. Can you imagine the conversations he had with her before he enlisted?

I do not know what these conversations were, but I can only envision or visualize discussions about; you have a great job…………. We’re about to build a family together………….. What if something happen to you?? On and on, and please go ahead and picture and dwell on some of possible discussions they may have had. One line I can imagine said; “to serve and save others it requires sacrifice. That could be of a job, a status, of time with family and even of life itself.”

Pat did enlist in June 2002 and serve his country.

Patrick died while serving in Afghanistan in 2004.

At the next football game where Pat played, the crowd stood and a moment of silence was observed to honor him as an individual, honor his service for his country and honor all those that sacrificed their lives in the line of duty to save us citizens and grant us the freedom that we possess here at home.

Every time Pat comes up in conversation, as you may imagine, everyone would talk about the sacrifice him and his family had given. You can sense the air of RESPECT, ADMIRATION and even REVERENCE during these moments when his name came up. Soon of course conversation would drift to something else, but these were powerful moments dwelling on love of country and of sacrifice and of reverence.

Let’s think of what Christ did for us, or should I say continues to do? You choose! I say this as typically we refer to ‘What Christ DID for us.’ We do say it in the past tense almost ALWAYS…….

Think about how we handle or address the sacrifice on the cross? It does come up in conversations and comes up frequently, and indeed we talk about it in pure reverence and then move onto whatever comes up next, typically losing that reverence that we’ve experienced a moment ago……… Let’s be honest about how this goes, but then again, maybe it is just me.

Do you think the Lord our SAVIOR would want us to revere that moment more often?? If you ask me, I say YES, YES and YES. But how, is the BIG question………….. I can only offer a suggestion;

Instead of using the ‘SAVING’ for the redemption of SIN, with a capital ‘S’ ‘I’ ‘N’, why not use it for the little sins. Do you believe you still sin? Yes, you the reader! The only answer is, “of course I do.” Then go ahead and every time you do a ‘little sin’ follow it by, “Thank you my Lord for SAVING me from myself.” You will soon, and pretty soon at that, find out that the Lord is constantly saving you. CONSTANTLY SAVING ME.

Since really there are no ‘little sins’, and for clarification, we’re talking about; white lies, thoughts about greed or envy or just feeling you are not getting what one ‘deserves’, angry words, sexual thoughts or actions, and on and on………… you don’t need them all listed here, but it is a looooooong list.

Imagine, using my daily sin to REVERE my Lord continually and constantly. Did your hair on your arms just rise?? Or got chills / goose bumps all over?? I hope it did, for reverence is indeed a feeling and of course can exhibit itself differently. Just imagine getting these feelings on a continual basis. You do not need to imagine, practice and only the Lord will reveal it.

I must say that if Pat were to read this, he may just roll on the floor laughing as Pat was a professed atheist….. I do not personally know Pat nor of his circumstances. Only the dates are factual.

(a 3 minute read)  Without hope life is ……………….

Angie had her hands clasped and on her chest, with her eyebrows raised and eyes open wide, “Hope is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world!”

Denise asked Angie, “What kind of hope are you talking about?” The puzzlement on Angie’s face was priceless; words would have simply messed it up. Denise cracked a big smile and elaborated, “Well there are all sorts;

• Hope that your roommate will be a nice person
• Hope that someone you love loves you back
• Hope that your kids be great at…….
• Hope that you exercise regularly or eat healthy
• Hope that you overcome sickness
• Hope that you get a raise
• Hope that you grow stronger in faith
• Hope that you get what you want for Christmas
• Hope that you get out from under tough finance situations
• Hope that………………. and the list goes on and on and on

Denise went on, “I hope…”    as she smiled and winked, “…that this list reveals that ‘Hope’ is a matter of the heart. In other words, it is wishful thinking.” Angie was perturbed at Denise as she said, “Man Denise, you make it sound like Hope is a four letter word, while I think most people view Hope as an optimistic, encouraging and even an inspiring thing.”

Denise’s face was very sympathetic as she passionately went on to explain that people in general want to have things both ways;

• Think of ‘Hope’ as this magical feeling where things will simply turn out what we want
• Talk of ‘Hope’ as an inspiring and motivational force that can drive one to ‘act’

Hope by definition is a feeling……………….. But don’t feelings drive actions?

Love conquers all or Hate destroys people or Jealousy can break a home or Happiness acts and infects others. So in reality feelings drive action and are not, as often claimed, ‘just a feeling’.

So if a feeling like Hope is not viewed as a driver, then it will simply be a burdened feeling, as it will only build expectations void of action. Therefore, disappointment could be lingering around the corner, and if it happens it is devastating.

On the other hand, action accompanied Hope is ‘ACTIVE’ thus even if what you were hoping for does not pan out, then you will still feel that you have given it your ALL, and thus the disappointment is minimal. And when what you actively Hope for becomes a reality, then there is this GREAT lively vigorous accomplishment escorted with this sense of THANKFULNESS for the HAND that took you along through the fight through the combat through the path that led you there.

Let’s all view all feelings as drivers and combat the sense of them being just a feeling.

I want to thank my friend John for inspiring this post as, to me, he exemplifies this ACTIVE HOPE. Love you man  🙂

(a 5 minute read) Camden and Loretta were in the middle of an argument that focused on how people are entrenched in the blame game. Loretta remarked, “It is this new generation that is so focused on who to blame, and get distracted by the blame game instead of the issue!”

Camden tilted his head and as he pointed his finger at Loretta exclaimed, “Don’t pin it on the new generation. Remember, the 1^st blame game started with the 1^st generation ever; Eve, Adam & the serpent.”  Loretta almost fell off of her chair as she was laughing so hard, “You have a point there dear indeed you do.”

Camden’s eyes widened and said, “This blame is a tactic of distraction Loretta, and it is very effective. Hate is a very strong emotion and it can be harnessed by others to chart a path.”

Camden proceeded to explain it’s like we blame things on Satan. Satan is an angel, a fallen angel. An angel is basically a soldier that carries out duties; things we can hardly begin to understand. But Satan, although a fallen angel, still cannot do what Satan pleases; rather Satan can only do what God allows. But ‘man’, oh man, ‘I’ am definitely capable of doing what God does not allow.

Hope the following will resonate as how we, believers, think of Satan;

• Satan wants you and is coming after you
• Satan will use all methods to con and scam you
• Satan is the CEO of hell
• Satan and God are fighting over you
• You have a choice; Satan or God

These characterizations and many more will of course make me hate or at least want to hate Satan.

So what’s the big deal?

The big deal is; the ‘hate’ tactic ultimate goal is to pull you towards something, by hating the other, and to distract you from something else. Let’s look at pulling you towards something;

Divorce; if they hate their mom, they’ll love me more. Elections; I hate Trump therefore I gotta vote for Hillary or vice versa. Relationships; if I make him look like a jerk she’ll end up loving me.

Hope one of these examples resonate. More importantly hope you agree that if you hate something or someone, it really ends there. IT DOES NOT MEAN you’ll like, let alone love, the other any more or any less than you already do. Therefore, hating Satan does not mean that you’ll LOVE God more, as maybe some hope it would.

What about the distraction component?

Focusing on Satan is distracting away from ‘me’. It’s like saying it’s a ‘road kill’ as if no one killed it. ‘I’ am distracting away from ‘me’ and blaming it on Satan…….

• It is me that is getting in my own way
• It is me that comes up with a gazillion excuses to con myself into thinking/doing whatever
• I am the CEO of myself
• I am the one pulling myself away or disciplining myself to abide
• Indeed I HAVE A CHOICE, that’s what makes me human

Maybe it is time to recognize Satan as a weak force in the universe. Asking why and how Satan operates is a distraction, “for if God is with me then who can be against me”. Let Satan do what Satan is allowed to do. Remember, if God is the ocean then Satan is a micro-spit in the ocean.

Let’s stop demonizing Satan and the talk about fighting the devil and the thoughts/temptations that Satan presents to us. Such thoughts and temptations are arising from within. Never forget that we are a biological being with bodily demands like thirst or the joy of drinking; like hunger or the joy of eating; like the need for shelter or the joy of having; and sexuality…… that’s a whole different beast, and on and on.

Differentiate what we know about Satan and what we are told about Satan. Don’t be distracted by the ‘blame game’. Focus on ‘you’ and what you are capable of thinking/doing. Instead of fearing Satan, fear what ‘I’ am capable of choosing. Know your weaknesses and do not get distracted by hating Satan. Focus on the fact that Satan cannot do what God does not allow, but ‘I’ oh man, ‘I’ am definitely capable of doing what God does not allow…………………….. Let that simmer for a minute………. maybe for every minute of the rest of my life.

The more one admits and recognizes one’s weaknesses, day in and day out (exhausting, but well worth it) the more one can combat inner thoughts and inner ‘wants’ in all their shapes, and hopefully get better just an iota, just an iota. Thank you my God and my Father for giving me ‘choice’ and may I do all that’s in my might to direct it towards YOU. Amen.