paravanes:meditations

JCPenney will open at 4am on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I predict in two or three years, many stores will open at midnight on "Black Friday". If you want to be there when the doors open, you won't have a chance for a full night's sleep after celebrating Thanksgiving Day. How many of us will become convinced sleep is unimportant relative to getting the "best deal" or the "lowest price"? In the meantime, I am focusing on carrying forward gratitude and thankfulness. Psalm 118:21 says: "I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation." Isn't it a little audacious for anyone to assert "God answered me"? Aren't we just naturally a little suspicious of those who say "God spoke to me"? How many times have we observed or learned of someone who "heard a voice" and did a bizarre, deadly, or dangerous thing? Is this really something for which to give thanks? Still, the psalmist cel...

I know the New Testament directive for believers in Christ to forgive those who have hurt them. I know the medical research shows those who truly forgive from their hearts are less likely to suffer certain types of illnesses. I know holding anger toward and disliking those who have caused hurt is, as the old saying goes, like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. Still, it was a passage from Lewis B. Smedes' book, Forgive and forget: healing the hurts we don't deserve , that convinced me beyond all doubt of the power and virtue of forgiveness. I can't totally control what others do, but I can cause a counter-effect to their actions. In other words, they may have the last word, but I can have the last action. Listen to the passage (click on this post's title) from Lewis B. Smedes' Forgive and forget: healing the hurts we don't deserve . San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984. There is a 2007 reprint available. Read this book; if you are ready for the...

Three years ago, President George W. Bush got into trouble for calling the victims of Hurricane Katrina "refugees." In his mind, they were refugees. Perhaps he didn't understand the correct use of the term. Click on the post title for more information about what is happening with the 14 million people who are real refugees . Derived from the French word refugie ,the term was originally applied to someone seeking asylum. After 1914, refugee was used to denote someone fleeing home, often because of political upheaval, war, or a massive disaster. A Refugee's Heart My home is gone, fires and burning flesh consume my life's memories and the fruit of my body. Screaming, pain, breathless running, hiding, thirst, headaches born from hunger. Moving into nowhere, looking for the unsought and unwanted, needing anyplace that is dry and secure. Noise, noise, strange, angry, frightened faces everywhere. No music. No laughter. No peace. Night, night, it is always night. The sunr...

Earlier today, I peeked in on a blog I visit from time to time; occasionally I comment there also. I was drawn to the title of the current post, which featured a request to pray. I pay attention when someone says "pray" because soon after, I can learn about or understand what they consider important. The tone of the post was quite negative, with the entire focus on praying something "bad" or negative would not overcome the Obama family. I believe what you think about all day long happens to you (in some form) and prayers should be positive, not negative. I do, however, totally believe in the power of answered prayers and spoken thoughts. Here is my prayer for the Obama family. Father God: I request You lift and hold the Obamas in your protective care. I request your Presence with them always. I request your controlling guidance in their thoughts, decisions, and actions. I request your strength inspires their daily energies. I request your strategic wisdom informs th...