Aloha Friday Message – June 24, 2011 – Short Work

June 24, 2011

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Someone is trying to get in touch with you. Read about it here.

Aloha Beloved. I have felt numerous pushes to use this passage, particularly verse 18, for quite some time. Every phrase in this passage is pure dynamite and an entire book could be (and probably has been) written on each and every one.

John 12-21
[… and Jesus said to Nicodemus,]
I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven— the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

Many – most – of you who receive this profess, acknowledge, and/or proclaim that you are Christian. But some do not. Today’s message is not exclusively for those who do not claim Crist as a personal savior. Some of us go to a Christian church, but are still not Christians. Some of us who never go to church of any kind are closer to being Christian than we’d admit publicly. And some of us know beyond any doubt we are accurately described in the words of John 3:18.

Let me start off by saying that I am not going to tell you people who don’t go to church are going to hell. That’s not my call. I’m coming at this from the position, “What possible alternative could be better that this?” I have great concerns for “Spiritual America.” And even graver concerns for anti-spiritual America – and anywhere else in the world where earthlings have expressed indifference or hostility about God and his one and only begotten son.

“I don’t need a religion, a building, a hierarchy, or any human organization telling me what to do, what not to do, or how to think about my relationship with God!” You know, you’re probably right. You just need to do what Jesus commanded: Love the LORD GOD with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Love one another as I have loved you. Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Ask and receive so that your joy may be full. Maybe you can pull that off all by your little self, but – since all of that only works when done as part of a community (a community of believers at that) – well, it’s just not likely to happen. You’re going to be off the mark a wee tad. You could still be in the ballpark, but maybe as a spectator instead of as a team-member. As the old adage goes, “sitting in a church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than sitting in an garage makes you a car.”

So, here’s the deal – in a nutshell. If you are not an active, believing, believable, committed, assured-of-your-salvation Christian, I am asking you to give it a try – and I’ll do everything I can to make your effort a success. If you don’t have a “church home,” I want you to know how important it is to have one and what you should be getting out of going there. If you are an active, believing, believable, committed, assured-of-your-salvation Christian, I am asking you to pray for the earthlings who are not committed like that – from Muammar Gaddafi to your own family members – and pray especially for the children whose families are without understanding about the importance of this ONE thing in life. Send someone the link at the top of this letter and tell them, “Someone is trying to get in touch with you. Read about it here.”

I’m telling you this – whichever group you’re in … believer or not – because I love you just as much as I love Jesus. For reals. Really-really. I want YOUR JOY to be complete.

Share-A-Prayer

• Thank you to those of you who have prayed for Bryce, the 10-year-old with stomach cancer. He has passed this past week. Please pray for his family. This has been a hard time for them emotionally and financially. We may look for a way to help them out financially in the near future. Please visit this location to learn more: http://www.currentobituary.com/Memory.aspx?Memory_ObitdID=96720
• Pray for SP – dealing with prostate cancer (and remember our other members with cancer as well)
• Pray for EP and associates to experience the joy of born-again new faith in Christ
• Pray for DN – escalating family problems are really wearing. Pray especially for son CN going to a very difficult transition.
• Pray for JL and her parents. J is deep into the drug scene and parents are brokenhearted.
• Continue in prayer for all those suffering nature’s rampages, financial ruin, war, terror, famine, and disease.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved. As I look at your E-Mail addresses and remember each of you I am convinced I want your joy to be complete because that is how much I love you.

Age Quod Agis
chick

Aloha Friday Message – June 17, 2011 Wisdom on your Aloha Friday

June 17, 2011

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A reading from the book of Wisdom Chapter 9 verse 9: Now with you is Wisdom, who knows your works and was present when you made the world; Who understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what is conformable with your commands.

Today is another Guest Author presentation. This story was chosen because in it you will find human wisdom to help you reflect on Godly Wisdom. This is a story of an aging couple told by their son who was President of NBC NEWS.

You may have seen this before, but it is worth another reading.

This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Well worth reading. And a few good laughs are guaranteed!

My father never drove a car. Well, that’s not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car. He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet.

“In those days,” he told me when he was in his 90s, “to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it.”

At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in: “Oh, bull—-!” she said. “He hit a horse.” “Well,” my father said, “there was that, too.”

So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars — the Kollingses next door had a green 1941 Dodge, the VanLaninghams cross the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford — but we had none.

My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines, would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together.

My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we’d ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. “No one in the family drives,” my mother would explain, and that was that. But, sometimes, my father would say, “But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we’ll get one.”

It was as if he wasn’t sure which one of us would turn 16 first. But, sure enough, my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown. It was a four- door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn’t drive, it more or less became my brother’s car.

Having a car but not being able to drive didn’t bother my father, but it didn’t make sense to my mother. So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, and a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving.

The cemetery probably was my father’s idea. “Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?” I remember him saying once.

For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps — though they seldom left the city limits — and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work.

Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn’t seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage. (Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.)

He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustine’s Church. She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish’s two priests was on duty that morning.

If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home. If it was the assistant pastor, he’d take just a 1-mile walk and then he’d head back to the church. He called the priests “Father Fast” and “Father Slow.”

After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he’d sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio.

In the evening, then, when I’d stop by, he’d explain: “The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored.”) If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out — and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream.

As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, “Do you want to know the secret of a long life?” “I guess so,” I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre.

“No left turns,” he said. “What?” I asked. “No left turns,” he repeated. “Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in, happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic. As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided; never again to make a left turn.”

“What?” I said again. “No left turns,” he said. “Think about it. Three rights are the same as a left, and that’s a lot safer. So we always make three rights.”

“You’re kidding!” I said, and I turned to my mother for support.

“No,” she said, “your father is right. We make three rights. It works.” But then she added: “Except when your father loses count.”

I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing. “Loses count?” I asked. “Yes,” my father admitted, “that sometimes happens. But it’s not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you’re okay again.”

I couldn’t resist. “Do you ever go for 11?” I asked. “No,” he said. “If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can’t be put off another day or another week.”

My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90. She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102. They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom –the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.)

He continued to walk daily — he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he’d fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising — and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died.

One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news. A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, “You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred.” At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, “You know, I’m probably not going to live much longer.”

“You’re probably right,” I said.

“Why would you say that?” He countered, somewhat irritated.

“Because you’re 102 years old,” I said.

“Yes,” he said, “you’re right.” He stayed in bed all the next day.

That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night. He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said: “I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet.”

An hour or so later, he spoke his last words: “I want you to know,” he said, clearly and lucidly, “that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have.” A short time later, he died.

I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot. I’ve wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long. I can’t figure out if it was because he walked through life or because he quit taking left turns.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets, so love the people who treat you right and forget about the one’s who don’t. Know that it’s ok to believe everything happens for a reason, because it does. If you get a chance, take it; and if it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, but those who truly lived their lives probably figured it would most likely be worth it. And it is! So, next time you come to a crossroad in life, remember this story, and take a right. And if that doesn’t work out, take two more.

ENJOY LIFE NOW – IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Thank you to all of you who prayed for KL. Your prayers were answered.

Please, remember to pray for leaders and rulers all around the world – from the head of your household to the heads of governments – that they will govern with morality, compassion, wisdom, and justice so we can all live together in Peace.

Remember also to give prayerful support for all the people and place suffering in horrendous disasters (as we learned last week).

And Beloved, pray for the children. So many children have no sense of the Wisdom of God because they know nothing of God’s infinite love for them. Pray for them, help them, and be an angel in their lives:

When Angels Visit
When angels visit us we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel a feathery touch, but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts – unknown…Take someone under your wings today and provide them with kind and loving shelter 😉
I.D. on Facebook

Age Quod Agis
chick

Aloha Friday Message – June 10, 2011 – Destruction or Salvation?

June 10, 2011

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Read it online here. Please follow the Hands and Feet Project here, and here.

Today I’m going to give you some Guest Author stories. These are items that are on the ‘net, and perhaps you have seen them, perhaps not. I received them from MBN member DG (Thanks!). First a short Bible passage:

Hosea 11:8-9 How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver you up, O Israel? How could I treat you as Admah, or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give vent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy Ephraim again; For I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you; I will not let the flames consume you.

Admah and Zeboiim were cities that were destroyed when judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. Here God is telling the regions named Israel and Ephraim that he will not give them over to such punishment, but will instead sustain and redeem them. When God struck down the wickedness in the Valley of Sidim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale_Of_Siddim), all the valley and its sin-filled cities were destroyed, literally becoming unrecognizable and unfindable. This is what happens to nations that make themselves an affront to God. Ponder that for a while.

Now the Guest Authors. This is a poem I first saw on a very LARGE plaque in the dining room at Utah State University in Logan, UT when we went there to take Timothy to the Suzuki Intermountain Institute.

The Juniper

There lay the berry, shriveled, infirm,
Lodged between sky and limestone cliff;
Not the wraith of a chance, but the giant in the germ
Stared back unblinkingly at the monstrous if . . .

Sun Arrows overhead and Flint below,
Ice from the North and Thirst from the South;
There the seedling drew its milk from the snow,
Bread from Stone, sinew from Drouth.

Now the giant leans upon the summit of years
Weary from the battle in cloven lime,
Gnarled arms dropping the last brittle spears – –
And small berries taunting massive jaws of time.

Carlton Culmsee

And now a story about an old fisherman (with thanks to DG for sending it to us).

THE OLD FISHERMAN

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs & rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the Clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. “Why, he’s hardly taller than my eight-year-old,” I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body.

But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red & raw. Yet, his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, & there’s no bus “till morning.”

He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success; no one seemed to have a room. “I guess it’s my face. I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments…”

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me, “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.” I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside & finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. “No thank you. I have plenty” And he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, & her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn’t tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He was thankful for the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children’s room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded, & the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, “Could I please come back & stay the next time I have a treatment? I won’t put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair.” He paused a moment & then added, “Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don’t seem to mind.” I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish & a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice & fresh. I knew his bus left at 4 a.m., & I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.

Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish & oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these & knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. “Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!”

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice but, oh if only they could have known him, perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint & the good with gratitude.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, “If this were my plant, I’d put it in the loveliest container I had!”

My friend changed my mind. “I ran short of pots,” she explained, “and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden.”

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. There’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. “He won’t mind starting in this small body.”

All this happened long ago — and now, in God’s garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.

“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Friends are very special. They make you smile & encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear & they share a word of praise. Show your friends how much you care.

Pass this on, & brighten someone’s day. Nothing will happen if you do not decide to pass it along. The only thing that will happen if you do pass it on is that someone might smile because of you!

Never look down on anybody, unless you’re helping him or her up.

Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.

WISHING YOU LOVE IN YOUR HEART, PEACE IN YOUR SOUL, HOPE IN ALL THINGS, AND JOY IN YOUR LIFE … ALWAYS AND ALL WAYS.

GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE, AND PRAYER CHANGES PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

My niece, Nicole (Todd) Miller opened a new website. The moment I saw it I wanted to share it with you. The things she makes are just so cute! 🙂

Also, my jewelry-making mentor, Chanson Fujioka, has some great new designs! Pop over to FUJIOKA DESIGN and take a look. There are some truly amazing pieces. 😉

Beloved, many of us have friends in Arizona (in fact many of you LIVE in Arizona!). The incredible fires there are destroying some of the most beautiful forests in the country, and are destroying homes and other property as well. We heard recently another fire broke out just east of Flagstaff. Friend in Springerville have lost pretty much everything. Much prayerful support is needed for everyone, especially the brave men and women who are fighting the fire, and of course those who have lost homes or other buildings. One report said the size of the blaze was greater than the size of the city of Chicago. Please, MBN, pray for everyone suffering in so many “natural disasters” from Japan to Arizona to Missouri and Mississippi, and even throughout Europe. Check out the European Severe Weather Database.

red: tornado, yellow: severe wind gusts, green: large hail, blue: heavy rain,
white: funnel cloud, pink: gustnado, orange: dust devil

Aloha Friday – June 3, 2011 – Not So Preachy Aloha Friday?

June 2, 2011

1122AFC060311 Preachy Aloha Friday!

So, today I am going to try not to be so-o-o-o-o PREACHY. We’ll see if that works! If you’ve felt previous messages were “too preachy,” I hope this one will be easier to read. I also hope you’ll go to the MBN and look up some of those you deleted because they were written just for you.

Luke 7:7

Today I want to look back at something call “The Healing Word.” You can see a copy of it here. The idea for that title comes from Luke 7:7 (there’s a parallel account in Matthew 8:8). A centurion sent some synagogue officials to Jesus seeking healing for his servant. Jesus says he’ll go with the messengers to see the servant. As the near the place, the Centurion sends another messenger out. This servant says his master, the Centurion, wanted Jesus to just turn back because he felt unworthy to be in His company, and the Centurion – who was very well-acquainted with Jewish customs – concluded the message thus: That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Based on this, there is a part in the Eucharistic prayer that goes, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you. Only say the Word and I shall be healed.” From that came a very long series of moments in Mass where I found myself listening for “Today’s Healing Word.”

It is always there. Sometimes the reason for it is clear as can be, and other times I have to reflect on it for hours or even days to understand. Again, if you want to get a sense of what that’s all about click here.

So I am going to just list several words that were “Today’s Healing Word.” I will tell you, briefly I hope, what that word meant to me. In looking back, I found that the words are not as random as I thought. And I hope you will see that too.

Here’s the list: Alleluia, doubt, trust, beloved companion, commander, Light is Love, indwelling, wash, drink, and become a part or come apart.

Alleluia: We are an alleluia people. Alleluia means Praise God (YHWH). Everything we do should be part of our Alleluia or Hallelujah – same difference. When you think about who God is and what He has done for you – yes you (hands off the delete button), don’t you just feel like shouting “Alleluia” over and over again?

Doubt: Thomas gave this word an indelible character in our minds. Doubt is one of Satan’s greatest tools. “Do you really think God will kill you if you eat the fruit?” Doubt and lying go together, because lying is designed to induce doubt. “No! Of course He won’t kill you. He just doesn’t want you to be like Him!”

Trust: Trust and Obey Together, those are the antithesis of Doubt and Lie. Trust is a fundamental ingredient of Love, and not coincidentally, Love is a fundamental ingredient of Trust. When I tell you I love you, Beloved, it also means I trust you. When I tell you I trust you, it is because I love you.

Beloved Companion: Jesus is alive. He has prepared a place for us. He is waiting there for us. He is also here, with us and in us, all the time. But he also sent us a Beloved Companion – the Holy Spirit – to walk with us, to comfort us, to advocate for us and to defend us against the doubt and lies the Devil tries to use against us. The Lovely Companion never leaves us, because Jesus gave the Spirit to us so we would not be alone on our journey. (Look out; the delete button is looking tempting again)

Commander: Our Lord said, “This is my command, that you love one another.” Commanders give commands (DOH!) They have the authority (All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me Matthew 28:18), and experience (See John 1:1-12) to issue commands for the good of the followers. As the commander orders, we are to obey.

Light is Love: God is Light and God is Love, so Love = Light = God. See 1 John 1:5 and 1 John 4:8. Same God, same attributes, same equality. God is Love is Light is God. If you are in God and God is in you, you are always in the Light and in the Love of God. Sometimes it’s just too easy to know what God is saying, especially when He’s saying it directly to you. (If you haven’t deleted this yet, I hope you’ll stick around. It won’t be too much longer now.)

Indwelling: Who is indwelling in whom? God is in us if we are in Jesus. Jesus in is God and God is in Him, so if we are in Jesus, we are in God. If God is in us, we are in Jesus. I think you get the picture. It’s a paradox. We can be all in one place all at the same time because in God, there is no Time. There is only Light, Life, and Love. We have already begun eternity and because we are in God and God is in us, we share eternity with the Trinity although we did not begin as Eternal, we shall live on that way.

Wash: Since creation, we have washed. We wash our bodies, our food, our garments, and in Christ even our hearts and mind. Revelation 7:14 and Revelation 22:14 talk about washing our robes in the blood of the lamb and making them white as snow. In baptism, we wash away the stain of Original Sin and prepare our souls for eternal union with the Trinity. The blood of the Lamb washes away our guilt as the Waters of Baptism wash away our separation from God. Jesus washes our feet to show us how to be servants. Those who wash are the servants of the servants. Selah.

Drink: Water washes and water is essential for life. We drink water to keep our physical self alive, and drink The Cup to keep our Spiritual self alive. John 6:55-56: For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. If you have the time, find a commentary that talks about the meaning of “True food” and “True drink.” You will see that Jesus is making it quite plain here just who he is.

Become a part or come a part: This is a Golden Oldie in Christian commentary. Come away from the world or you will be taken apart by the world. The World starts and ends with death. Eternity is not in the World or of the World. All this will end – although probably not on October 21, 2011 or December 21, 2012. For some of it it will end sooner than for others. Someday it will all end for everyone. I am happy to know I will be there when that happens – no matter how long it takes!

Beloved, love one another, but love God most. Pray for everyone always.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Now you can hit delete.

I love you ….

Age Quod Agis; in other words, be faithful in all things at all times by doing what you are doing while you are doing it.

Aloha Friday Message – May 27, 2011 – Our Aloha Friday

May 27, 2011

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View it online here

1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Beloved, I am in a bit of a bind here because the motherboard on my computer gave up the ghost, so I am using a new one on a test run. For that reason, I am going to keep things a bit on the slim side today.

What Paul is saying to Timothy here is basically, “If you talk the talk you’ve got to walk the walk.” That is something that is becoming increasingly important nowadays. You have to be true to the Truth in you life and remember the doctrine – the set of guidelines – you claim to be the center of your life. Is Christ your Life, your Light, your personal savior, and the center of all that you do? Then what you do will be who are, and you are then part of the Body of Christ. That is an excellent station in for your life. Here is a quite that was published in Catholic Digest recently.

Today’s Quiet Moment
Sunday, May 22
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.
Henry Ward Beecher
American preacher, 19th century

With all the things that are going on in this country – indeed the whole world – we can find it easy to worry about what’s happening. The old adage is, “If you pray, don’t worry. If you worry, start praying.” Here are some passages about worrying that you can look into when it seems like things are getting to be just too much for you to bear:

Why Worry? Check out these verses: , Matthew 6:25-33, Proverbs 12:25, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14:27, John 14:1, Psalm 4:8, Matthew 11:28-30, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 55:22-23, Psalm 42:5, Proverbs 3:5-8, Philippians 4:19, Romans 8:26-28, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 28:20, I Peter 4:12-13, Revelation 21:4, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Click on each link and it will take you to that verse or passage.

You can actually read the whole Bible in a year following this plan: http://www.westnewbury.org/Bible/Bible-chronological.pdf

This is a great site for looking up any passage or any subject. Just enter the parameters in the search box and Go. http://www.biblegateway.com/. In my Aloha Friday Messages, I use this site often to let the readers see the verse I am writing about.

This is also an amazing site, an amazing sight, and an amazing cite~!! 😉 http://bible.cc/ I do a lot of my research here. There are dozens of Bible translations, commentaries, cross-references, concordances, everything you need. But, it’s still nice to have your very own Bible you can hold.

Peace be with you, Beloved. I can tell the Lord is speaking to your heart. Try checking out https://aloha-friday.org. You may find some other things there that will help you.

This week I had a joyous visit from the Pierces from Haiti! Talk about a good place to worry!! Well, there were back on Kauai arranging for more assistance for their compound and the scores of children they take care of plus all the staff they have hired to help. Ken told me they do their best to support the local economy, and so they buy as much as the can locally (for those of us in Hawaii “Buy Local” is something we really understand). Diane updated me on several of the kids we have been praying for. I asked what we, the MBN, can do to help them.

First, PRAY! Pray for the kids, for the health of all the people on their compound and for their safety. Disease, poverty, and lack of many resources makes their work extra challenging. Remember that the disaster in Haiti occurred well over a year ago, and the recovery is very, very slow. They are making progress, though, and the Pierces attribute that progress to prayer. Son on behalf of Ken and Diane, I thank you in the MBN for your prayers. Keep them going.

Secondly, donations. Everything they do, everything they have comes from our donations. You can contact Kauai Christian Fellowship at [email protected] to find out more, or send your donations to Kauai Christian Fellowship at 2731 Ala Kinoiki, Koloa, HI. 96756. On your check, mark it for Haiti or The Pierce Family. What you send to them gets swept into their account and goes to Haiti to save lives and souls.

So that’s going to be it for today as far as the AFC goes. Next …

Share-A-Prayer

➡ From GC: Please keep PB in your prayers for me. He is really struggling with his Drug Addiction, and I am praying that he will get into the Salvation Army in Phoenix……… Also, please keep TAD in your prayers, she is my dear friend who is struggling with very, very bad cancer. Also, our friend JT, who recently lost his dear wife, (and my dear friend), to cancer.

➡ From all the MBN: Please pray and help the people whose lives have been devastated in the recent cataclysmic weather in the Great Midwest. Joplin was especially bad.

➡ Pray also for the people who are going to these troubled areas in the world to be helpers. Ask for safety, wisdom, courage, strength, and financial and spiritual support.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Chick

Aloha Friday Message – May 20, 2011 – Body by Christ

May 20, 2011

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Read it online here.

Aloha pumehana, ‘Ōmea. A blessed and grace-filled Aloha Friday to you all. Today’s scripture comes from the powerful and compelling book of Romans, chapter 12, verses 4-5:

For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

As I look back over previous Aloha Friday messages, I can see that there is a lot of emphasis on reaching out to others, especially those who are suffering misfortunes, to give an hand through acts of mercy whether spiritual or temporal. Today I am thinking about the opportunities that we have to help each other in the Church. We go to church to feast on The Word, first by hearing, then by sharing, and finally by consuming in communion with all Christians everywhere regardless of Rite or Denomination. We are fed the Body of Christ in Holy Communion so we can feed the Body of Christ in the community of the World.

We are the Body of Christ. In the rite of Communion we become what we eat – the Body of Christ. It is a wonderful mystery, and stupendous riddle, and an elegantly simple truth. When He is in us, we are in Him, and as part of the earthly Body of Christ – the church – we all have a job to do. When our part of the Body of Christ goes into action, we do so with the entire Body of Christ.

Paul’s example in 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 (please to take a look at this beautiful passage) was directed at people who argue about which part of the body is the most important. In other passages, Paul says that the least-favored, least-dignified body parts are the ones we give the most protection for privacy. Every part is important, and every part has to work along with all the other parts. The hands cannot say, “We are the most important. We feed the body, defend the whole body, and do work to earn the body’s bread. Without us nothing would be able to survive.” The eyes cannot say, “We are the most important because without us, the hand would not know where to go or what to grasp. Without us, the hands are useless.” The feet cannot say, “Hands and eyes are useless unless you have us to move you to the places where you can see and grasp what the body needs to survive. Without us, the body would perish.” And so the argument would go. We know, of course, that all of those arguments are pointless because unless the whole body works together, then survival is imperiled. When they fail to work together, bad things happen

The parts of the body can also do things that damage the body. Smoking, irresponsible use of drugs – legal or illegal notwithstanding – immorality of every kind, irresponsible risk-taking – all of these things can endanger the health of the body. And if that happens, it also affects The Body of Christ.

Beloved, you can see where I am going here. If I am, if you are, if we are part of The Body of Christ, then we have to take care of our bodies, our lives, our actions, our contributions to the functions of The Body of Christ. “I want to be more than a Sunday-Go-To- Meeting- Christian. I want a religion that serves me every day.” Are we living on Spiritual Junk Food, substituting sports, or comforts, or pleasures for The Bread of Life? We should cut that out of our Spiritual diet. Are we ruining our physical bodies with chemicals or activities that tear us down physically? We should cut that out of our physical life to improve our Spiritual life. Are we skipping the Meals we share as community with other parts of The Body of Christ? How can you live if you are not fed? We should let nothing keep us from sharing The Body of Christ with all of The Body of Christ. In Word, in Liturgy, in Community we share a Communion with all who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Living God.

Beloved, it is indeed important that we do all that we can to provide all earthlings with every opportunity for survival, including Spiritual survival and Eternal Life. We cannot be as fully effective as possible in doing that unless we ourselves ensure we are health in body, mind, and spirit. Imagine Jesus singing to you …

Button up your overcoat,
When the wind is free,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Eat an apple every day,
Get to bed by three,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

Be careful crossing streets, ooh-ooh,
Cut out sweets, ooh-ooh,
Lay off meat, ooh-ooh,
You’ll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum!

Wear your flannel underwear,
When you climb a tree,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

… … …

We ARE the Body of Christ!

We ARE the body of Christ!

Don’t sit on hornet’s tails, ooh-ooh!
Or on nails, ooh-ooh!
Or third rails, ooh-ooh!
You’ll get a pain and ruin your tum-tum!

Keep away from bootleg hooch
When you’re on a spree,
Oh, take good care of yourself,
You belong to me!

If He sang that to us, we could sing back to him …

One bread, one body,
one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many,
throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.

Beloved, through his love we are one with the One who is in us as one of us. See John 17:20-23* where Jesus says:

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.”

Jesus commanded us, “Love one another as I have loved you, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Beloved, before you can do as God commands by taking care of your neighbor, take care of yourself as he has also commanded. Watch your Spiritual diet, be faithful in getting our Spiritual exercise, and make sure you are fully aware of how the rest of the Body of Christ is counting on you to be there when needed. Feed your body, soul, and spirit so you can feed His Body.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
Share-A-Prayer

➡ For people in the Mississippi River valley, for their animals, property, farms, and very lives, let us pray to the lord for merciful deliverance.

➡ For The Body of Christ everywhere, regardless of rite or denomination, let us pray that God will help us better understand the immense power we can have in working together for all earthlings everywhere.

➡ For AMT – return to morality and faith with renewed love for The Body of Christ.

➡ JB, TH, KD, CI, and all others still seeking meaningful work so they can support their families in The Body of Christ.

➡ Let us pray for renewal, reconciliation, and restitution of trust for couples experiencing marital stress and strain for whatever reason

➡ For the students who are graduating this year – all levels of education from preschool to graduate school – let us pray for continuing determination to do well and God’s blessings on all their endeavors.

➡ for DH – peace of heart and mind as he begins a new stage of his life without his beloved wife.

* The link in the emailed version of this message was incorrect. I got a note from my Brother in Christ, Pastor JK, alerting me to the error. Thanks to that timely tip I was able to repair the link. It was in chapter 17, not 15. Thanks so much, John, for keeping me on my toes!

Chick
Age Quod Agis

Aloha Friday Message – May 13, 2011 – The House that God Built

May 13, 2011

1119AFC051311 Read it online here.

Here is today’s Scripture
Psalm 119:2-3 (KJV) – Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Aloha, Beloved. Today I am thinking about the ways God has shown us what is true about Him. As I reflect on that, I can see at least three ways God has revealed His existence. First, there is what I could call the Natural Way. A rational person can look at the entirety of creation and see that there are patterns, a sense of order, and conclude that what they observe implies that there is a unifying manner in which all matter in the universe fits together. Despite the entropy and ensuing chaos (or is it the other way around?) which we can measure throughout what we call Nature and the Universe, we can conclude that there is continuity and elegance in what we can observe and measure, and that this continuity is evidence of a primordial source. Humanists and so-called agnostics will call that evidence “Intelligent Design,” or “a Higher Power,” or maybe “The Force,” or even “The Universe.”

In this Natural Way of observing what is around and within us, each of these things named is the expression of what is Divine. For example, “The Force” does not come from somewhere or something or even someone. It simply “is.” And in order for it to have purpose and influence, The Force has to be in balance so there is The Force and “The Dark Side.” Of course that implies that there is also “The Light Side.” Or maybe it would be called The Bright Side or The Right Side. Without something more specific and solid to hold onto, “The Universe” is capable, somehow, of deciding our fate, directing our lives, answering our questions, blessing or cursing our decisions, and at the same time contains all of creation because the Universe is all of creation. As an integral but infinitesimal and probably insignificant part of The Universe I can exercise no influence over the outcome of any event because The Universe is doing it all. I’m merely part of the order – or part of the chaos, be that as it may. That’s kind of a pessimistic understanding of what’s going on in our lives.

The second way God has revealed His existence is through Scripture. Scripture comes to us through direct exposure (Abraham and Moses conversed directly with God in His presence, for example), through inspiration (Paul’s instruction to Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God, …), and it also comes to us through Tradition in that it is handed down to us from those to whom God has been present either directly or as an inspirational Spirit.

Scripture helps us find God by describing a path, a trajectory, and gives us a set of vectors which point us in the right direction. The ambiguity of the Natural Way is replaced by a more rigorous and better-defined set of criteria which have inherent continuity and integrity. Not only can we see the presence and action of God in Nature and The Universe, but also we can understand how Nature and the Universe are related to each other and to God. God is the Creator. Nature and The Universe are His creation. Nature is the set of “laws” that govern the events of The Universe. The Universe is the tangible, measurable result of creation and its existence is perpetuated through the Laws of Nature. God, however, is not Nature and not The Universe. He is outside those things – and they are things, not gods – and separate from them. He is Creator God. Nature and The Universe are His Creation. Although he inhabits His Creation, he is not the same as His creation. If a man builds a house, do we say that the house is him and he is the house? No. The man inhabits the house, but the house does not inhabit the man. The house and the man are separate. For something that simple, it is relatively easy to see what makes sense. For the Infinite Presence of God – well, that is a bit beyond the range of human comprehension. It is Scripture that puts it enough within our understanding that we can better perceive and comprehend what God is telling us when He shows us Who He is and how He works.

The Scriptures are God’s “testimonies.” The word David used in this passage is`edah {ay-daw’}. It is always plural and always indicative of laws as divine testimonies. “Testimonies” is a word that also means “witness” and directs us toward every scrap of evidence God has given us in Nature, in The Universe, and in the Word. These testimonies include all of our evidence of the Mind and Hand of God. They direct us to demonstrable evidence of His love and grace which we experience through the Salvation won for us through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. They direct us to The Law which is a testimony to God’s Wisdom, Justice, and Mercy, the ways we understand His perfection, faithfulness, and integrity, and especially His Love. The Tablets of The Law were originally stored and transported in the Ark of the Covenant – and a Covenant is a legally-binding agreement, a law. The Ark was also called the Ark of The Testimonies. Along with The Law, God gave us the Prophets who reminded God’s chosen earthlings, Israel, that their part of the Covenant was to obey the Law and to demonstrate to all other earthlings not so highly-favored that God is Great, God is Good, and God alone is worthy of adoration, praise, and glory.

Even though The Law and, later, the Prophets, were the basis for Scripture, today we know that there is more to Scripture than The Law and The Prophets. We have been given The Living word, The Living Bread, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. All of that is discoverable only in the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus the Christ, The Anointed One, the Holy One of God. Jesus told Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) And so we see that the third, but perhaps not the last, way God has revealed himself to us is in and through His Son, Jesus. Do you remember the cumulative tale and nursery rhyme called “The House That Jack Built?” (read it here) Maybe we could hijack (no pun there) that story as an example.

• This is God.
• This is Israel, the House that God built.
• This is the Law that guided Israel, the House that God built.
• These are the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• These are the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• These are the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• These are the Scribes and Pharisees who were servants to the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who exposed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees who were servants to the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• This is the Bible which is entirely the story and revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who exposed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees who were servants to the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• This is you, encountering God through His Word, the Bible which is entirely the story and revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who exposed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees who were servants to the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.
• This is your Eternal and Complete Joy in discovering that your Salvation through Jesus Christ is clearly explained to you by encountering God through His Word, the Bible which is entirely the story and revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who exposed the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees who were servants to the Kings and Priests who ruled the Kingdoms that persecuted the Prophets, that proclaimed the Law that Guided Israel, the House that God built.

Jesus is the Son of the Living God. He is from God, He is with God, and He is God. If you have seen Jesus, you have seen God. How can you see Jesus? In Scripture Jesus is revealed to us as He reveals to us His Father. So, let us then take a moment to lift up this offering to our God who has so lovingly endowed us with these Gifts of knowledge about Him and about his Nature, His Universe, His Son, and even His Very Being.

Holy and Almighty God in Three Persons,
I offer You this day, and my entire life, as a sacrifice of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise. Bless and approve this offering; sanctify it, and make it Holy so that it becomes for you a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to You, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer; an offering made in Spirit and in Truth.

I offer You this day because You are my God and I am Your servant and this is my reasonable service of worship.

I offer You this day because You are my Creator and I am Your creation, and all creation rightly gives You thanks and praise.

I offer You this day because I love You, and I love You because You first loved me.

Thank You for this day, this life, this love; and help me to share it with whomsoever or whatsoever Your will allows. I offer you all of this day and all of my life in Jesus’ name. I offer this prayer in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

Beloved, let us also thank God for His giving each of us to all of us. The inexpressible love I feel for you is yet another way for me to know that God lives and moves among us, because I find and see His Spirit working in you. Seek Him with your whole heart. Blessed be God forever! AMEN.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

chick

Aloha Friday Message – May 6, 2011 – A Great Hymn!

May 6, 2011

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Blessings to you, Beloved, on this Aloha Friday. Today there is something I want you to see and hear. I have been hearing it for over a week. I cannot get it out of my head, and I know it is necessary to share it with you – it is the center of this week’s message. In fact, it is the message!

When I was in Junior High, this was my second-favorite hymn. The first-favorite was “Ivory Palaces” by Harry Barraclough. It dates back to around 1915. It was my dad’s favorite hymn, too. But this one I want you to see and hear is older, and the lyrics really hit home with me these past few days. Here is what it looks like:

And here is what it sounds like: God Of Our Fathers. Please take about 2 minutes to listen to it. I think you’ll love the trumpet part. I always did. It’s simply GRAND.

The message is this: This is also called “A National Hymn” or “The National Hymn. Look at and listen to the word carefully. That is how we should be living as a nation. That is what we need to help focus our hearts and minds on what is True and Right. Here is a Scripture to speaks to that: Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” And in a similar vein there is this passage in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 – “1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

This is an example of something you could pray daily, even several times a day, for our leaders and all leaders everywhere – even those who oppose us.

“Gracious God, we pray for leaders throughout the world and all of those in authority that they might govern with morality, compassion, wisdom, and justice so that we can all live together in peace.” Isn’t that what you want from your leaders – your boss, your pastor, your government, and even leaders who oppose what we believe, who undermine and attack what we hold dear as Americans? Read verse three of this hymn out loud. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Beloved, we have seen many fearsome days in the past few weeks, incredible disasters on nearly every continent. Remarkable events have come with overwhelming frequency, and still more are possible. America! Bless God!

So I ask now, how to we come to have “knowledge of the Truth?” I’ll close with this passage from the Gospel of John 3, verses 31-36, John is describing Jesus:

The one who comes from above is above all.
The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things.
But the one who comes from heaven is above all.
He testifies to what he has seen and heard,
but no one accepts his testimony.
Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy.
For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life,
but the wrath of God remains upon him.

Please notice this phrase: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” It does not say will have; it says HAS. That is because in Christ we are invested into the Life of God! Eternal Life begins the moment we believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and commit to accepting him as our personal savior. That is certainly true for each of us individually. I believe it is also true nationally. “In this day and age” I believe we are challenged to once again live out our lives as the lyrics of this beautiful hymn indicate. That is our challenge in light of current events. You know about “Garbage In – Garbage Out.” Do what Paul urged you to do. Give up the garbage. Come to the Feast of Heaven and Earth!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!

This week set aside ample time to pray for all leaders and pray for Peace like you really believe it, and then live in Peace for you will truly possess it. Please stop in at aloha-friday.org and check out the prayer requests and praise reports. Thank you.

Just learned that my brother, John, was admitted to the hospital for his 41st abdominal surgery. The illness and the pain are unrelenting. we are asking for prayers for a successful surgery and quick recovery that leads to a full recovery and fredom from the pain and illness.

Aloha Friday Message – April 29, 2011 – “You are my Beloved.”

April 29, 2011

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Aloha pumehana, ‘Ōmea …Warmest Aloha, Beloved. Here is today’s Aloha Friday Message Read it online here.

Today’s Bible verses is John 13:34 and its companion verse, John 15:12.

NIV: John 13:34 – A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

NIV: John 15:12 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Have you ever wondered why I call you “Beloved” when I address these messages to you? I learned more about it this past weekend during the Triduum – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil as a prelude to Easter Sunday. It was probably the best, most uplifting, and most spiritually satisfying Triduum I have ever celebrated. I wish to share with you some of the things I learned during the homilies given by Reverend Father Ramelo Somera and Reverend Father Peter Miti.

Over the past seven weeks, our theme for the Lenten Series of Aloha Friday Messages was LOVE. We ended with the message on Good Friday that Jesus did the things he did because of Love. We learned about how his tortuous death was the greatest love story ever told. That is the end of one story and the beginning of another. The other story begins with Easter. In the Gospel accounts of Resurrection Day, Christ breaks the bonds of death in the morning.

Morning is the beginning for us now. I remember how surprised I was years ago to learn that the Sabbath begins at sundown Friday night. The Sabbath begins in darkness just as creation began in darkness. Our calendar days begin in darkness in most places in the world – the exceptions being the North and South Poles. Midnight is the beginning of a new day and it is always dark at midnight. A popular proverb is “It’s always darkest just before the dawn.” At dawn, we begin to see the sun rising, and most of us reckon that to be the beginning of our new day, for we no longer are sleeping (most of us anyway) and we get up, get ready, and go do something in the World and the light of the sun. When the sun rises, darkness ends, and a new day is beginning. Similarly, when the Son rises, Darkness ends, and a new Day is beginning. His rising brings Life and Light into our lives. We see the Son rising, and reckon that to be the beginning of our New Day, for we are no longer sleeping in the Death of sin, but living in the Light of Christ. We get up, get ready, and go do something in the Spirit and in the Light of the Son.

When we are one in the Spirit, we speak and pray without regard to who is watching or listening. We are in God and therefore with God. We can shine through God, with God, and in God, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, giving him glory and honor forever in the Light of the Risen Son. That is because the Light of Christ is no longer in the tomb. It now shines throughout all Creation. It was once unseen but expected. Now it is seen and accepted. Christ is alive; the Light of Life is restored to Earth. He is here in our midst (Matthew 28:20), always and all ways, returning to us in the Eucharist, our Holy Communion with Him.

The Risen Son is out of the tomb because the stone has been rolled away. The Light of Life has overcome the Darkness of Death. Because that Light is now perfectly and completely accessible to us, we no longer need to live in the shadow of the stones, the barriers, and the other things that block us out of the Light. Take the stone away! Let the Light in the tomb of your own flesh come out in union with the Spirit of Light, the Spirit of Love, which is the Spirit of Life Everlasting. Let your little light shine, Beloved! It is an integral part of you because it is an integral part of God, and you are created in His image. The indwelling of God’s Light in you is like a compound, not a mixture. It is inseparable from you. It is there, but you can hide it. You can deny it. You can fail to acknowledge it. You can attribute it to Gaia or The Force or The Universe. You can ignore it in yourself and others. It doesn’t matter. It is still there, and it still comes from God. Period.

This Light we have is there because it is God’s Light, God’s Life breathed into us, and God’s Love which makes us substantive, such that we experience a firm basis in reality and are therefore important, meaningful, or considerable in God’s heart. We are really real because God is really Real, and in Him, through Christ, with the Spirit, “we live, and move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) We go where God goes when we go with God. That sounds perfectly logical but maybe a bit simplistic. Beloved, have any of us always gone with God? Have we not often gone away from or without Him, turned our back on Him, and covered up His Light and Love within us? Maybe the stone we need to roll away – or drop from our clenched hand – is the stone we are eager to hurl at another who has wronged us. If we are the vessel of His light and Love, then we must follow his commandment. We must love one another just as He has loved us.

That Command is powerful, and I guess you could say that the One who issued that Command is our Commander. To command is to order, to enjoin, and to direct action. A command is not a request or a suggestion. It is a lawful instruction issued by a leader. Christ’s lawful order for us to love one another as he has loves us is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. The entire World is ordered to Love one another as He as Loved us. All who follow His Command are His companions, the people who go with Him as He Commands. We are Companions of the Lord because He has commanded us to love each other. If we love him, we will obey his commands (John 15:14), and we will love our companions, those others in the World who also follow his commands, and even love our enemies because He died for them, too. When we Love him, we are empowered to Love; because through obedience to Love others we fulfill our Love for Him. We live in our love through obedience – just as He did – and we love our companions in that obedience. You are my companions. You are on this Journey with me and I am on your Journey with you because together we all are His companions, His Beloved. You are, therefore, my Beloved, and in this I take great delight. We share joy, pain, meaning, love, faith, sorrow, Light and Life with one another. Jesus shared all of that, too; He shares it even now with all of us.

Last week we commemorated the moment in history when everything went from Darkness to Light. We remember the moment when He gave up everything he shares with us except Death. He did not “give up” Death. He defeated it! He went alone to become our completion so that we could forever be companions in loving obedience to his command. God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as if it was our own sacrifice. Because of Him I am not alone (Matthew 28:20 again). Because of Him, I have you; and that is why, like Him, you are my Beloved in the Lord. (Romans 16:8, Philippians 4:1)

Share-A-Prayer

For DL, AK, and others with Stage IV Cancers, pray that they and their Beloved family, friends, and prayer partners will grow in their faith in God’s promises for healing. Ask God to permit the healing and thus delay the departure of our companions, we pray to the Lord, “Jesus hear our humble prayer.”

For all the requests on the MBN site: We pray to the Lord “Jesus hear our humble prayer.” (Please follow the link and take a moment to view all the requests there. Add your own as well.)

For the many who died and the thousands whose lives were utterly disrupted by the hundreds of tornadoes that have raced across the Eastern half of the U.S. we pray that God will help them in their recovery, and that we – as their companions – will lend a hand to them as well. We pray to the Lord, “Jesus hear our humble prayer.”

Pray for the conversion of sinners everywhere. May we, through our obedience to Christ’s command to love one another, help them to nurture and cherish the spark of God’s Spirit that dwells in every living soul. We pray to the Lord, “Jesus hear our humble prayers.”

For TH, NA, CI, DM, KD and the hundreds of thousands of people who need meaningful work so they can support their families and take care of their Beloved companions, we pray to the Lord, “Jesus hear our humble prayers.”

For all the needs, prayers, and intentions we hold in our hearts, and for all the MBN, who are our companions, and our Beloved, we pray to the Lord, “Jesus, our Beloved Commander and Companion, hear our humble prayer.”

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!

He is always looking for new companions. Is He asking you to accept him as your beloved? I am asking you to do that.

An invitation like none other!

Come with us, Beloved.

Aloha Friday Message – Good Friday – April 22, 2011

April 21, 2011

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Read it online here.

Today is Good Friday. Today I am thinking about what happened on Good Friday in Jesus’ life. I am thinking about how and why it happened. I am thinking how you or I, how we, might have connections to that moment of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is not a pleasant subject, but it has been laid on my heart since before Lent began to cover this topic, the connection between Love and human depravity.

I have stated previously that Jesus certainly was not the first to be crucified and definitely not the last. There is evidence of crucifixions and other forms of torture going back thousands of years – at least as far back as the sixth century BC – and they continued to be widespread until about the fourth century AD. Crucifixion is execution by torture. The process of dying can last for days in some instances. It is a method of execution specifically designed for maximizing pain while dehumanizing the victim. Jesus died in great pain in the dark, in the cold, totally alone, deprived of freedom, dignity, and even – at the end – the company of his Father. But, despite all that, he died with faith, hope, and love. He died for you, for me, for us in the faith that God would accept his sacrifice, knowing that that sacrifice was the only hope for reconciliation for the entire world, and he held that faith and hope because he gave up everything he was out of love for God and for us. He stretched out his hands between Heaven and Earth, and gave us back our humanity, which is our oneness with our Creator.

Torture is a gruesome, evil, deliberate act of inflicting pain and suffering for the purpose of coercing, terrorizing, or punishing enemies. Sometimes it is also a form of personal gratification. I believe the Crucifixion Squads the Romans used were comprised of men – usually a team of four – who enjoyed their work immensely. Execution by torture is mentioned in many ancient histories of empires and nations including some in the Bible. Crucifixion is one of the cruelest forms of execution. There are others that fall into that category of extreme cruelty, but they are so gruesome I cannot mention them here. There is no civilization, no nation, or no empire that has not employed torture at some time in its history. Does that seem remarkable, or odd, or inaccurate? It is none of those things.

All of us have the capacity for inhumane treatment of others. That is why inhumane acts are so prevalent throughout history. I’m not really a history freak, but I do explore history a lot and in every history of humankind there are examples of torture. It’s not always horrific like crucifixion, but it is always dehumanizing. That is the penultimate purpose of torture, to dehumanize an enemy whether it is a single person, a class of persons (like slaves or enemy soldiers for example), or an entire nation (like a pogrom – so-called “ethnic cleansing”). Think of it: Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Japan, and the United States (on “foreign” soil). There was horrific torture in all of those places in the 20th century!

“What makes you think that’s part of my make-up?” you ask. Beloved, we are human. We can get angry and strike in anger. We can hold a grudge. We can think hateful thoughts. We can get carried away with punishment, mistaking it for “correction.” We can be unloving and unforgiving. We can curse a loved one. We can strike out at another for the most foolish reasons. “But that is not as atrocious as torture! It’s just that we are human.” Look at what Jesus said about many other things that are “merely human.”

“You have heard it said that …” In Matthew 5:21-48 Jesus tells us that fulfilling the Law isn’t the answer. Hating your brother is equivalent to murder. Lusting after someone is equivalent to adultery. Lusting after some thing is idolatry. Swearing by or about anything is blasphemy which comes from Satan, and is not from God. Only God-given self-control centered in compassionate commitment to morality prevents us from becoming brutal, ghastly, and capable of being inhumane. It is possible, even probable, that most earthlings will never, ever do anything as monstrously cruel as torturing another earthling for any reason; but the germ for it is there in our sinfulness, and it is a mark of meekness to recognize it. It is an appalling aspect of human nature. Jesus knew that. He knew what would happen to him. He knowingly, willingly, totally surrendered to ignominious, cruel, tortuous execution on a cross. He did that because of what has been behind every single topic we’ve covered this Lent. He did it for Love.

“Greater love has no man than this, …” Look at John 15:9-17. Click on the link and read the passage. That is what was at the core of every study we have submitted in the Lenten Series. God is Love and that Love is perfected in Jesus’ sacrifice and conveyed to us in his Resurrection. It is that Love, and only that Love, which makes being a humane earthling possible. Only because of the Love of God, manifested in Christ Jesus, can we be caring, kind, gentle, meek, humble, compassionate, charitable, benevolent, good, and holy. “There is no other way?” you ask? No, there is no other way. Not so interested in being a Christian because religions bum you out? It doesn’t matter. It is still because of God’s Love and Christ’s death and resurrection that you and I have the capacity to be all those wonderful, Godly things. “How could there have been good people who were wonderfully humane before Christ, and how can people today be all of those things and more without being Christians?” Because of God’s Covenant of Love which begins and ends in the eternal love of God given to us in Jesus by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is Love that saves me, saves you, saves us from the evil that has consumed every soul that devised and committed any kind of sin – including torture.

When you listen to the reading of The Passion, think of Love. It is the greatest Love Story ever told.

Look at him. He did that for us. He did all of that for all of us. He did it because he loves us so much more than we can possibly comprehend. He can do that because he alone is Love.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved!

Share-A-Prayer

EP in Haiti – sick now for three weeks and struggling to get well. Pray for a complete healing in the shortest possible time.

FO – In complete remission! Praise God!

MC – Still in a terrible situation with her family and in-laws. Pray for resolution, reconciliation, and deliverance from the ongoing consequences of poor decisions.

TM – Ask for discernment as we pray for guidance about choosing a vocation.

“If today you hear is voice” Jesus is inviting you to share his Joy. If you have not accepted Christ as your personal savior, pray this short prayer from your heart and Jesus will answer it. If you already know the Lord and have found peace and joy in his presence, pray this prayer to recommit and reconsecrate your life to him.

Jesus, I realize now that you are God’s only begotten son. I know you chose to die in my place for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank you for loving me so much. I want to love you that much, too, and I claim you as my personal Savior. I give you my heart, my life, my soul, my all. I ask you to be in my life forever. Bless me with your Presence, and send your Holy Spirit to pray with and for me so my faith in you becomes permanent and real. I accept your love, your forgiveness, and your Salvation. AMEN

Remember, saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save you. Only believing in Jesus Christ, His finished work on the cross for you, and his resurrection into Glory can save you from sin.

chick

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