Thought for the day.

When you are riding your bike to work,
And the headwind is deathly strong,
And it seems as a fitting picture for your place in life
Rememeber that which is described as the wind
And perhaps you'll see the situation differently.

Evening Thoughts

He who has ears let him hear
The words of the living Christ
They shall not be for the faint of heart
And only they shall suffice

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She who has eyes let her see
Behold! The man hung on the tree
A message made for bended knee
The truest humanity

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When Life for Us Is Full of Comfort

When life for us is full of comfort,
when wealth and plenty overflow,
Lord, make us truly see our neighbours;
their pain and need bring us to know.
Families that wander lost and homeless,
youth filled with hatred and despair
teach us to understand their anger,
help us to act your loving care.


When strife and turmoil rage around us,
when right and right in conflict stand,
save us, O God, from easy answers
that do not meet your truth's demand.
Lord, make us ask deep probing questions,
ponder our motives, search our soul;
teach us to live by love and justice,
striving to make creation whole.


Amen.

(Words by Joy F. Patterson, Hymn 718, Covenant Hymnal)

Grace Prayer

So I have been looking for camp resources online as we will be heading out to Clear Lake right away and I came across some "Grace Prayers" (praying for meals) and this is what I found:

JESUS WAS A COOL DUDE (To the tune of "We will, we will rock you" by Queen)

"Jesus was a cool dude,
40 days with no food,
Then he wrote the golden rule and that's O.K.
He's got love on his face!
Full of grace!
He's spreadin' his word all over the place!
Singin' we will, we will,
Praise him yah! Praise him WOO! (x2)"

Can you dig it?

Wisdom

There are people that we know whom we deem "wise." But what is that? What is it about them that makes them wise? How would we describe it?

There seems to be a difference between knowledge and wisdom, they are not mutually exclusive, but one doesn't automatically equal the other. There are some brilliant minds out there with not a lot of wisdom. In fact, if fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (so says the Proverbs) then knowledge can potentially be a dangerous thing, for it can create in us self sufficiency.

I think those poeple who I know who have wisdom are people who are essentially humble. They do not claim their wisdom, or lord it over others, but rather have a clear understanding that their Lord is Jesus.

Yet there is still an element of "knowing" for wise people. They have an ability to look into a situation and see something that nobody else can. And then they enlighten the rest, and it seemed so simple, something that should have been so obvious but it wasn't. I am amazed when that happens. I am amazed at the wise, and how their eyes can see quite clear, and how their ears perceive great mystery.

In conclusion, I think human beings would do well to pray as Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 3. He did not ask God for riches, or long life, or fame, or any material thing. He asked for wisdom. And not just wisdom, but the mind that would be able to deceifer between right and wrong. It seems so simple, and I think it is. This is going to be my prayer this week.

stocks and golfs

So I am sitting in a Starbucks right now waiting for a meeting to commence, and the "meetee's" to get here. As I have been here only about 10 minutes, I have already heard a guy have a 10 minute conversation with a worker at the store about which perfect water bottle to get, for he needs just the perfect one for his golf bag as he golfs away the summer.

The other guy in here is on his computer, I can see it right now, and as he is chatting with a person across the table from him he is simultaneously checking out his stocks... No lie.

The point of me writing this is not so much to condemn the stock market or golf, but simply to say, "really? that is the best we got?" "that is when we've 'made it?'"

I can account for myself. In light of this realize I spend much of my time on things quite trivial.

Meetee just arrived.... maybe I'll hit a round after this, or check up on my stocks...

Generous or not... that is the question.

I think my older bro may be right in thinking about money. It has been a common thought pattern (and trend) among those around my age category that making too much money is not a good thing.

Let's just get something straight. Making too much money is a tough statement to put forward, because how much is too much? Also, making a lot of money is not a bad thing, but rather a potentially dangerous thing.

Perhaps the questions should be more about what is coming out of our pockets, rather than what is going in. I have a feeling God is concerned when people ignore relationships in order to make that extra few bucks, yes. But I do feel God is VERY concerned with how generous we are.

So a guy or gal makes $80,000 in a year. Is that a reason to judge them, or think they are doing a bad thing? Maybe... if the situation is right. But, that is mostly not our place. We should start asking ourselves the question, "Am I a generous person or not?"

With money, I think the saying is true that it is not what comes in that defiles a person but what comes out. It is true that wretchedness can creep out easier when so much money is coming in, but it doesn't need to be that way.

Let us all seek to be generous people, whether we make ten grand or one hundred grand. Wrestle with it.